I do too but I am not a connoisseur.
I happen to love Starbucks. I buy Pike and French roast. It’s full body with a lot of flavor. Many people say negative things about Starbucks but all those people lined up hundreds at a time every morning and during the day can’t all be crazy. Starbucks has a real cult following.
Not talking about the Frappuccino crap they sell, just the real drip coffee.
I think they take their business very seriously and it shows.
I finally got mu goat-leggings from them last week. Took long enough…
(They don’t let you into the ritual sacrifices without them.)
I know the feeling. If they relax the rules for one person everyone will follow.
I used to patronize Starbucks. I stopped when I felt their prices were going way too high and great quality coffee could be had for less elsewhere (though not as consistent). Starbucks beans can be very good, but I have found their dark roast is over roasted. I have to confess, I didn’t realize it until someone pointed it out. In fact, a few people have. The reason why I enjoy their lattes is that the milk is effective at countering the bitterness. I also add sugar and coca. But the naked coffee? Yikes. And yeah, I did do some taste testing. Peets is remarkably better. But unfortunately that brand has suffered some over roasting as well.
Starbucks is very consistent. And that’s what sells. You can go to a Starbucks anywhere in the nation and the baristas will be serving coffee pretty much the same across all stores. And I think that’s what draws a lot of people.
What helped wake me up to the nuances of coffee was going back to medium roast. That’s where the more natural, desirable flavor is. Nothing wrong with enjoying dark roast, but just be mindful that we adjust to what we know.
I’ve been home roasting for almost 40 years, and posted a bit about that earlier in this thread. A couple things I wanted to add:…
I roast almost exclusively for espresso brewing. My favorite beans are naturals (dry process) from Ethiopia and washed centrals from generally Guatemala and El Salvador. I roast almost always to a Medium, Full City. This is the peak of aroma and flavor balance. For roasters, this is after first crack finishes and before second crack begins.
Light roasts would terminate before or as soon as first crack completes. Dark roast range begins with the onset of second crack.
My daughter spent last semester in Rome, Italy and found her coffee spot there:
” La Casa del Caffè al Pantheon”:http://www.tazzadorocoffeeshop.com/azienda/?lang=en
She brought home a pound of their La Regina Dei Caffe for the holidays.
It was an awesome delicious coffee! Smooth, balanced, complex, a crowd pleaser flavor profile and so easy to dial in a great shot! Clearly those folks know what they are doing in roasting and blending a world class coffee!
I find it absolutely amazing that so many people on this forum home roast.
Is this equivalent to making your own moonshine?
Not shaming anyone, I find it very cool.
DIY sense, yes. Moonshine can have legal risks, but shouldn’t if it’s only for personal use.
Intriguing. That particular coffee does get exported to the USA. But current supplier is completely out of stock. Very expensive too! LINK
Bean origin and level of roast is like preferred CCT, tint and CRI. No right or wrong answer, I’m a big fan of weird flavours in a light roast bean, but I get it that people want something more dark and rich, it’s not better or worse, just preference.
Without a good DIY setup or home roaster, it’s hard to get the consistency I want, plus price of green Vs roasted not really that great either, so it’s not much of a cost saving.
A strong and fairly traditional (but not burned tasting) flavor profile is possible with a light roast. I presently have a light roast “natural” process Ethiopian coffee which is very strong and I think it would please most people. I also have a light roast washed Ethiopian from the same roaster which is not nearly as strong.
The brewing method makes all the difference as well. I have on occasion gifted some good coffee to my parents, who use a drip brewer. The resulting flavor was nothing special. Tasted like any generic coffee.
I brew with an immersion method that I call the “transfer method” where I brew in my actual mug, then pour through a screen into another vessel, then back into my mug. It works great and tastes like french press coffee but there is minimal cleanup. I preheat my mug with boiling water beforehand, cover during brewing, and after four minutes time, the coffee is is still at 180 degrees, which means it maintains a nearly optimal brewing temperature for the duration of the brew.