I'd like to find a good whole bean, grocery store available, morning coffee. I love Dunkin Donunts when I get it to go but their home brew is unfortunately horrible. Starbucks is fine but I'm certain there is better. While I keep meaning to stop by Cup-A-Joe to get something good, that has yet to happen. This needs to be something simple and readily available when I do my 6pm dash or 11pm stumble to the grocery. Most mornings I usually brew ~5 cup pot and drink most of it. I don't know how much I was planning to spend but $10 a bag sounds reasonable unless it's just freakishly good. While I prefer to grind my own beans, I'm not opposed to a good pre-ground if someone has a recommendation. Lastly I take my coffee black so the taste makes a difference to me.


Looking forward to what tww has to say

12/13/2011 11:17:53 PM

I prefer Caribou...mmmm...drinking a cup right now.

12/13/2011 11:24:48 PM

I usually get something from Larry's Beans or Peet's Coffee.

Whole Food's store brand isn't too bad. It's not going to blow your socks off, but it's better than brown swill.

Try some of the bulk coffee beans from just about any store.

Do you have a burr grinder?

[Edited on December 13, 2011 at 11:30 PM. Reason : ^ Caribou is good too!]

12/13/2011 11:30:23 PM

I'm sure the beans from any of those stores are wonderful but the problem is that I never think "Hey, I've been sitting in traffic for an hour on my way home from work but you know what I need... good coffee beans!" And should that thought occur, it's usually followed with "No no no, no more time in this f*@5 car, I want to go home or other more pleasing location".

I know any specially store will have something good and I should just go get something but honestly, I just want something easy. I'm looking for a decently priced, above average tasting coffee, I can buy from Harris Teeter

12/13/2011 11:44:53 PM

message_topic.aspx?topic=237279&page=32

I'm sure you can get one of the mods to delete this thread and bump the other one.

[Edited on December 13, 2011 at 11:47 PM. Reason : link]

12/13/2011 11:47:07 PM

Also, try Peet's.

12/13/2011 11:48:08 PM

Larry's, Peet's and Caribou are all available at Harris Teeter.

12/13/2011 11:49:17 PM

Larry's Beans.
https://www.larrysbeans.com/coffee/findcoffee.php (locator)

Counter Culture Coffee.

Some restaurants sell them, a whole bunch of coffee shops, Harris Teeter, Whole Foods, and some random stores. Personally I would get Larry's Beans.

/thread

12/14/2011 12:00:24 AM

Larry's Beans suck ass. Counter Culture FTW.

12/14/2011 1:53:35 AM

Oh please. I've found myself switching between them every so often.

12/14/2011 2:07:54 AM

I'm another for Larry's and counter culture. got a bag of each holiday blends and they are awesome.

I am pretty sure you you can order online if you can't make it to a store

12/14/2011 5:32:51 AM

This many posts and not a damn mention of Trader Joes? Shame on you folks. For a nice medium body roast I like their Coasta Rican Terrazu (sp?).

12/14/2011 7:02:33 AM

Larry's Beans

Eight O'Clock Coffee

12/14/2011 8:30:03 AM

Just order beans from the internets. Whenever I think to order online, I order from Porto Rico Imports: http://www.portorico.com/store/ I love their coffee so much and if you catch them on sale CHEAP.

I also like Counter Culture and Larry's Beans for local coffee roasters. Also a good grinder and a French press can make all the difference in the world.

12/14/2011 8:34:09 AM

All the cool kids do hand poured coffee in San Francisco. It's actually pretty good, though I still prefer drip and french press.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/magazine/13Food-t-000.html

Cup-A-Joe uses moldy beans and look how fucking dirty it is! If the seats are that dirty imagine what the coffee pots and beans are like.

Counter Culture FTW. 3-Cups has the best coffee in the state of NC and maybe the country... I don't care what the hippies here say.

12/14/2011 12:43:32 PM

If you are ever out in the Pittsboro area I highly recommend stopping by the coffee shop at the Fearrington House and picking up a bag of their coffee. After I found it it was all I bought and if they shipped I would still get it.

12/14/2011 12:47:52 PM

^

That's the Fearrington House blend from Counter Culture.

12/14/2011 12:50:46 PM

Quote :

"I take my coffee black"

Like my men.

12/14/2011 12:52:36 PM

Quote :

"That's the Fearrington House blend from Counter Culture."

Is it on the website? I couldn't find it.

12/14/2011 12:54:54 PM

^ Counter Culture doesn't sell all of the custom blends they do for various retailers on their website.

12/14/2011 12:59:25 PM

darn, I was really hoping I could get that delivered

[Edited on December 14, 2011 at 1:01 PM. Reason : .]

12/14/2011 1:01:22 PM

Quote :

"If you are ever out in the Pittsboro area I highly recommend stopping by the coffee shop at the Fearrington House and picking up a bag of their coffee."

I am almost positive they sell this at A Southern Season in their coffee section.

12/14/2011 1:02:08 PM

^

Yep. They have a few of the speciality blends at Whole Foods as well (Magnolia Grill Blend being one).

12/14/2011 1:09:53 PM

Quote :

"All the cool kids do hand poured coffee in San Francisco. It's actually pretty good, though I still prefer drip and french press. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/magazine/13Food-t-000.html"

I inwardly laughed at this article. The one or two times I went to coffee shops that served their coffee this way, I felt like I was getting royally ripped off. It was usually $5 for a cup of coffee when prepared this way. And it really didn't taste much different from well-prepared French press coffee. I never really thought about buying the supplies to make it at home though. Guess I should have done that while over there.

12/14/2011 1:20:29 PM

^

Yeah the $5 pisses me off. The thing the coffee snobs like are that the flavor notes hit you in the face. When they say, oh a Kenya has notes of blackberry and fruit. It's not subtle at all, the hand poured Kenyas really fucking taste like blackberries.

Yes people here really do that with coffee like they do with wine. I know it probably offends the consciousness of every southerner that just wants a cup of kawffee.

12/14/2011 1:28:14 PM

^, ^^ $5 for a pour over? Morning Times does them for $3 and most place I've been to do them for less than that. I guess the moral of the story is fuck California.

12/14/2011 1:44:23 PM

THE SMOOTH AND MELLOW NOTES REALLY HIT YOU IN THE FACE

12/14/2011 1:45:44 PM

^^

Hipsters have to be able to afford the $2000/month studios somehow.

12/14/2011 1:48:32 PM

Quote :

" $5 for a pour over? Morning Times does them for $3 and most place I've been to do them for less than that. "

Yep, that was the going rate in most coffee shops in Japan. But they also are willing to spend $3.50 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks so they're obviously willing to throw money at any coffee offered to them

12/14/2011 1:57:20 PM

I usually just buy World Market's house brand stuff when it is on sale for half price. Just about to finish this up:

12/14/2011 2:07:38 PM

Quote :

"I'm sure the beans from any of those stores are wonderful but the problem is that I never think "Hey, I've been sitting in traffic for an hour on my way home from work but you know what I need... good coffee beans!" And should that thought occur, it's usually followed with "No no no, no more time in this f*@5 car, I want to go home or other more pleasing location". "

So you want it delivered?

12/14/2011 2:22:52 PM

Also...I lived in Hawaii for two years.

That's where I started drinking coffee.

Bad place to start and then have to move.

Trader Joe's has some good coffee.

But it ain't Kona.

12/14/2011 3:11:28 PM

You can get Kona for about $25/pound online

12/14/2011 3:15:27 PM

loved the swedish coffee while working at Sony Ericsson


[Edited on December 14, 2011 at 3:18 PM. Reason : f]

12/14/2011 3:15:41 PM

Hmm...Counter Culture, Whole Foods whole beans are good. I find it's worth the extra 5 seconds to grind my own before I stick it in the French press.

I also drink my coffee black, so I don't like the darker roasts, because they have a tendency to taste burnt if I
forget to press the plunger after 5 minutes or so. Also, lighter roast = more caffeine.

Also, I do prefer the French press over a normal coffee pot- coffee pot coffee tastes like water after all these years.
(Not applicable when on the road, or at the hospital. I'll take whatever I can get then).

Hmm..I might have a caffeine addiction.

12/14/2011 4:27:30 PM

Costco's Kirkland brand is damn good imo. I have been making whole bean for years, and I haven't found one any better......especially for the price

12/14/2011 4:34:35 PM

Try the Fresh Market. The New Orleans Blend is really good.

12/14/2011 5:33:46 PM

Quote :

"You can get Kona for about $25/pound online "

Or you can get it at World Market in Crossroads for $21 per 1.5 lbs.
They do sales and coupons fairly often and they have some sort of coffee club where you buy 10 bags and get a free one or something.

http://www.worldmarket.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11587601

[Edited on December 14, 2011 at 6:32 PM. Reason : s]

12/14/2011 6:32:25 PM

Is it pure Kona or a Kona blend?

Quote :

"The Hawaiian Isles Kona Coffee Co. is committed to offering java lovers a true "Kona blend," an infusion of no less than 10% Kona coffee from the Big Island's Kona Coast, plus premium arabica beans from around the world. "

Kona blend and a pretty expensive one at that if they don't want to tell you the full percentage.

[Edited on December 14, 2011 at 6:44 PM. Reason : a]

12/14/2011 6:44:04 PM

^ Hawaiian Isles does have 100% Kona. At the commissary it sells for about $8 or $10 a bag. The majority of their coffee is 10%, and a lot of it is flavored. It isn't bad at all, and it goes for usually $5 a bag, sometimes $4.

12/14/2011 7:47:09 PM

Are you talking about the little bags they sell or a full pound?

12/14/2011 7:52:02 PM

Neither. The bags we used to get in Hawaii were 12 ounces.

And they came in whole bean or ground.

12/14/2011 8:14:20 PM

Yeah I think those bags equal out to 1/4 pound or something.

12/14/2011 8:21:52 PM

3/4

12/14/2011 8:41:36 PM

I'm thinking about getting a French Press, but I've never had GOOD French Press--only had it at a friend's house who clearly was awful at it. Can't remember where in Raleigh it is that serves French Press other than PieBird (or was it Humble Pie? some place I don't care for).

I've now had the Holiday Blends of Larry's Beans and Counter Culture, and Counter Culture's is miles ahead, personally.

[Edited on December 14, 2011 at 11:29 PM. Reason : f]

12/14/2011 11:28:50 PM

I have two presses, one single cup, and one 12 cuper.

Just make sure your grounds are coarse!!!

12/14/2011 11:42:36 PM

^, ^^ How long you steep is also important. I've found that as little as 30 seconds variance can make a big difference.

12/15/2011 12:39:40 AM

Yeah. The recommended time for the presses I have (when I bought them) was 4 minutes. That's usually what I do, +/- 10 seconds if I forget to set the timer.

It's still, though, sooooo good.

12/15/2011 1:32:19 AM

Quote :

"Can't remember where in Raleigh it is that serves French Press other than PieBird (or was it Humble Pie? some place I don't care for)."

Pretty much any coffee shop in the area can serve French press. Don't bother with Caribou since they do a shitty job training their baristas on how to properly serve it. When I worked at Starbucks we used to pour the hot water, set a timer, then give press and timer to the customer. I have no idea if that's how they still do it or it may have just been our manager that liked to do it that way. Cafe Driade if you're up in Chapel Hill knows their shit when it comes to French press coffee. Global Village on Hillsborough also knows what's up.

12/15/2011 9:00:57 AM

About French presses: roommates or I kept on destroying the glass carafes because we do our dishes by hand (too much cast iron and handthrown bowls). I finally found a stainless steel version, because it can go bombing off the counter and not even get a dent.

12/15/2011 11:33:32 AM