coffee lovers unite

beebop

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Jul 31, 2016
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72
Hi, so first off im not sure where this thread belongs? Is there no food, drinks and dining section in this forum?
Im a coffeeholic and, Well since discovering online shopping and realising that i can get anything delivered to my door within a day or 2, i was wondering if we could compare coffees here.
Where i stay near lake toba, ive become fond of kok tong coffee, the coarse grind. But lately i find their flavour to be inconsistent, with only one in about 5 packs being drinkable. I think they changed their recipe and i dont enjoy it anymore.
So i was wondering, what brands of coffee do you guys swear by? I want to find something thats decent and consistent from pack to pack. I particularly looking for a preground filter coffee, but i suppose discussion can be open about anything related to coffee.
Thanks
 
Mmmhhh... Indeed, there is no dining out and food sections. Maybe that's something we will need to bring to the discussion alongside splitting In The News between Indonesian and International news, ad well as a vehicle and transportation section.

As for coffee, I get it freshly roasted near my house, whole beans, and I grind them myself using an electric burr grinder. This let's me experiment between different grind settings for different brewing methods (moka pot, French press, aeropress and pour over). I've settled on pour over though.

The supplier is called Opal Coffee and as for the beans, it depends on my mood and what they've just roasted on the day.

I usually get some Gayo, Toraja, Long Berries or Wamena, but they have a lot more. They all mostly taste pretty the same when drunk one at a time. I'm sure there would be more obvious differences if compared side by side.
 
There is a place nearby selling several types of raw coffee beans, but now that means i have to not only buy a grinder, but a roaster as well.
 
I used to live in Porsea.

im in pematang siantar. Ive been here a good couple years and witnessed how the population has exploded. The roads are starting to get busy to the point that i dont enjoy using the car anymore
 
I know it well from my weekly/bi-weekly motorbike trips to Medan. I have/had a friend who lives/lived there. Mr. Ben's? bule supplies shop, the one way system, The Siantar Hotel, etc. Climate no bad? as it used to be the Japanese HQ.

But reminiscing isn't what it used to be.
 
I drink a lot of coffee but I think I am one of those people who likes coffee out of conditioning rather than a real appreciation of the subtleties. Okay, I much prefer REAL coffee to instant (which isn't coffee at all). But beyond that I have a sneaking suspicion that my preferences run to what real coffee drinkers would turn their noses up at.

In Indonesia I generally drink Caswell's mocha java. I dislike the other varieties they sell - they aren't mellow enough for me. Really strong beans/roasts taste rancid to me.

Here in Hawaii I drink stuff that is 10% Kona blend - the 100% Kona coffee is a lot more expensive and seems too harsh somehow.

I always used to grind my own beans but when I first got here and didn't have my grinder out, I reluctantly bought ground coffee. I noticed that it tasted fine to me and decided to stop grinding my own.

Mind you, I do believe that grinding the beans fresh just before you use them produces a superior result. But if I'm too much of a clod to taste the difference (and apparently I am), I'm not going to grind the beans just to be a snob. So now I have a few more minutes of time in the morning, and less mess to clean up (since I am my own PRT here that's good).
 
I'm no connosseur I only know what I like. I enjoy Aroma coffee out of Bandung, though quality seems a bit random of late. Still, if it says coffee on the bag, I'll drink it
 
@El_Goretto, which pour over are you using? I'm going go try this folding one from Muniuqe (or something like that) since I've been traveling a lot the past 12 months. That and I broke my faithful ceramic V60.
 
I'm no connosseur I only know what I like. I enjoy Aroma coffee out of Bandung, though quality seems a bit random of late. Still, if it says coffee on the bag, I'll drink it

dont know whats with random tastes in indonesian coffees? My favourite brand (kok tong) has the same issue. I really loved it so much, but recently its become terrible. Sometimes i get the odd pack thats good, then i treasure it. I end up giving away all the packs that im not satisfied with.. works out expensive
 
@El_Goretto, which pour over are you using? I'm going go try this folding one from Muniuqe (or something like that) since I've been traveling a lot the past 12 months. That and I broke my faithful ceramic V60.

I alternate between a simple kalita dipper with paper filter and a plastic v60 with cloth filter, depending on whether the cloth is clean.
 
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I alternate between a simple kalita dipper with paper filter and a plastic v60 with cloth filter, depending on whether the cloth is clean.
No more aeropress? Any reason? I'm about to get one with the standard stainless filter. Perhaps you're gonna end up saving my RP 790k! :D
 
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No more aeropress? Any reason? I'm about to get one with the standard stainless filter. Perhaps you're gonna end up saving my RP 790k! :D

My aeropress needs a new rubber part on the plunger. It started melting and became a sticky mess.
 
Oops, I wrote kalinya instead of kalita for my dropper brand. I've edited both my post and your quote.
 
Oops, I wrote kalinya instead of kalita for my dropper brand. I've edited both my post and your quote.
And this one... Dripper ;)

So had the aeropress rubber seal hadn't melted (what did you do, microwave it to preheat the whole thing??? :D) would you have preferred the Kalita or aeropress?

Any thoughts on Kalita dripper vs V60 dripper? :)
 
I take my much needed kopi tubruk break, down the alley where the mbak barista there basically the hooters of the hood warteg.

For the uninitiated kopi tubruk or true brew is simply a couple of tablespoons of ground coffee mix with hot water (cream and gula jawa is optional) in a bir bintang mug, stir well with a spoon then let it sit for a few minutes until all the ground coffee dregs settled in the bottom.

No expensive machine, fancy funnel or special filter required and yet it tastes fantastic and invigorating.
 
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And this one... Dripper ;)

Butter fingers!

So had the aeropress rubber seal hadn't melted (what did you do, microwave it to preheat the whole thing??? :D) would you have preferred the Kalita or aeropress?

You know how some plastics tend to melt in this weather? They become all sticky suddenly out of the blue. I hadn't used my aeropress for a while and one day I decided to use it but it had become unusable.

As for pour over vs aeropress: I prefer pour over on a day to day because it's faster and easier. But I like to keep the aeropress for when I'm bored and want to experiment.

Any thoughts on Kalita dripper vs V60 dripper? :)

Honestly, I think the differences are mininal. In my opinion, the only way to tell the difference would be to brew 2 cups with each method side by side and taste them back to back.

There's probably more difference in the type of filter used (bleached paper vs unbleached vs brand new cloth vs "seasoned" cloth).
 
Phew, thank goodness nobody has mentioned that awful gimmick white coffee, I had some once and only once, it gave me dreadful indigestion, they are always advertising it on TV, but I don’t think there are too many buyers
 
As for pour over vs aeropress: I prefer pour over on a day to day because it's faster and easier. But I like to keep the aeropress for when I'm bored and want to experiment.

Honestly, I think the differences are mininal. In my opinion, the only way to tell the difference would be to brew 2 cups with each method side by side and taste them back to back.

There's probably more difference in the type of filter used (bleached paper vs unbleached vs brand new cloth vs "seasoned" cloth).

I like a nice coffee as i like what I like as far as red whine is concerned but I don't know my ass from my elbow otherwise.

I have heard the filter is better than the French/Danish press. Something to do with oil(s) in the coffee which are absorbed or filtered by the paper.
Bleached or unbleached will be the same. Bleached pulp has the bejesus washed out of it before being formed into a sheet. Then the converter dilutes the pulp to 0.5% pulp to make the paper. The type of wood (fibre) probably make more difference ie shorter vs longer fibers. There are always those stainless filter screens.
 

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