International Coffee Day

[shy coconut]

58 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

Yo Tiger - - you lost me there... i buy the beans and let them grind it for me then drip a cup in the morning... never had an instant that even lived up to a Starbucks... though that is a rare purchase for me... prefer to make my own at home.. 

 

ps - wife and I are tiger/dog too... 20 yrs? 

Me and my Mrs are tiger/tiger, I won't reveal how many cycles separate us

as there would be too many indignant replies.

 

My parents were tiger/tiger as well and they were married for over 50 years!

 

 

As for coffee, I can drink anything, even the sachets of instant,milk and sugar.

But give me a bad cup of tea.....

[pmarlowe]

I drink most of my coffee at home and find just about all coffee shops -- chain and independent kind of: meh. Anyway, this may generate some boos but i like Starbucks Muan Jai beans. I get it ground in the shop for drip. It's pricey but to my knowledge only sold here in Thailand as it is local (with some beans grown in Thailand and others from "other islands in SEA"). I've not seen it at Starbucks anywhere else around the world. A Starbucks passport gets you one bag free after you buy four so it cuts the price down over time. Also one level standard coffee scoop per cup is enough for a strong brew, making it even more economical. It's good and strong if you like black coffee -- but not crazy laxative-like strong. On the related subject of coffee makers (a good one is a must for home brew), it is getting harder and harder find a good 4 cup drip machine, which is really the only size anyone really needs unless you have a big family of coffee addicts. Verasu kitchen shop has a good relatively inexpensive one, Severin brand. If you fill it to the 4 cup line it really generates about 6 standard 8 oz. cups (not talking huge mugs here). If you need more you can go about a cup beyond the 4 cup line. My experience is these and equivalent coffee makers last a very long time.

Edited October 3, 2019 by pmarlowe

[Captain 776]

Hilkopf.   Absolute BEST.... Hands Down

[Mick501]

Pretty good rule of thumb is that any place there is a proliferation of Starbucks means it's hard to get a decent coffee elsewhere.  They failed in Aus because there are good Cafes on every corner.  But at least they are reasonable and consistent wherever you go around the globe.

 

my first purchase in Thailand was a Nespresso compatible machine.  Cheap enough on Lazada.  Have tried several local brands.  Price is generally around 15b per capsule, around half the cost of anything imported.  Duchess average, Cafe Cap average, Monoprix average.  Settled on Cafe R'onn which is 100% arabica and grown in the Chiang Mai region.  Good daily brew.

 

 

[Fairynuff]

3 hours ago, TigerandDog said:

Preferred coffee is Latte or Capuccino. At home drink a Thai brand of instant coffee.

Your post was going so well until you said this! Latte is a coffee flavoured drink....instant coffee is NOT coffee!

[Fairynuff]

There’s no such thing as the best coffee because it’s a very personal thing. Everyone likes it in a different way so my post is about what I like best.

i bring most of my coffee from Vietnam, three or four different ones. Cambodian coffee is good too but haven’t been for a while now. Thailand grows some excellent coffee. I have a nespresso machine  and a Gaggia heavy duty machine I brought from home and I also have a filter machine.

Outside of home I wouldn’t go near Starbucks, I don’t like brown water, or what they charge for it. For a simple cappuccino it’s Amazon every time. It’s consistent. Hot, strong and 45 baht. 

[rbmcn]

I’ve tried dozens of different Thai-produced coffee ( from Chiang Mai to the south) and all of it falls short of anything I’d recommend.  

[VocalNeal]

Yesterday was also Batik Day. So if anyone spilt coffee on their batik yesterday......

[andy72]

I gotta disagree
I think there are many fine cups to be had in the North and so many artisan cafes & roasters
 

[Cricky]

Recently I had a coffee from a small restaurant on the main street in Koh Kong (Cambodia), I should have asked what type of coffee it was as it was really nice. It wasn't the main stream type - Nescafe etc, I drink a lot of coffee and didn't recognise it.

 

Any ideas out there?

Could it have been Vietnamese coffee?

[beau thai]

I do agree that coffee is very much personal taste and I like mine to be full bodied with no acidity. I have tried many different beans and for a while I was sold on Hilkoff Peaberry until I had a batch that had been burned. So I looked around again for beans where the roasting was quality controlled. I tried a few from Lazada and settled on Nam-Phu Organics @ only 150bht for 250gms. (I would happily pay more if I found anything better). They have an interesting website that gives details of their methods etc.

Just ordered another batch, this time dark roast and I look forward to trying that very soon.

 

[1FinickyOne]

2 hours ago, shy coconut said:

But give me a bad cup of tea...

Hi Tiger.. 1950 was a good year... 

 

and as to your request for a bad cup of tea, let me know where you are and I will brew one and send it over...

[andy72]

1 hour ago, beau thai said:

I do agree that coffee is very much personal taste and I like mine to be full bodied with no acidity. I have tried many different beans and for a while I was sold on Hilkoff Peaberry until I had a batch that had been burned. So I looked around again for beans where the roasting was quality controlled. I tried a few from Lazada and settled on Nam-Phu Organics @ only 150bht for 250gms. (I would happily pay more if I found anything better). They have an interesting website that gives details of their methods etc.

Just ordered another batch, this time dark roast and I look forward to trying that very soon.

 

I too liked their peabury but i used to buy 3 types of Hilkof and peabury was my afternoon cuppa
the peabury and special mild were roasted too much i did write to them saying as much
they done a batch test and admitted it was off, this was april/may of this year.

since that time they have brought in a few more lines and more expensive
they used to let you try before you buy in their last place now relacated dont know about the other branch nothing worse than buying an expensive bag of beans only to find its not to your liking

[jobsworth]

8 hours ago, VYCM said:

Recently I had a coffee from a small restaurant on the main street in Koh Kong (Cambodia), I should have asked what type of coffee it was as it was really nice. It wasn't the main stream type - Nescafe etc, I drink a lot of coffee and didn't recognise it.

 

Any ideas out there?

Could it have been Vietnamese coffee?

Yes it was Vietnamese Robusta coffee.

Come out of Fat Sams which is near the Vietnamese roundabout.

Turn left.

Walk 30 metres.

On your right is a busy side road.

On your left is a family run coffee shop with TV and cigarettes.

Just before you reach it is a shop that sells coffee.

They all buy his imported coffee for $5 per kilo.

You will be charged $10 but never mind it is a good buy.

I get him to grind me some roasted coffee beans from a sack he keeps there.

I don't buy the plastic packets he displays out front.

 

Edited October 3, 2019 by jobsworth
incorect information

[Fairynuff]

1 hour ago, jobsworth said:

Yes it was Vietnamese Robusta coffee.

Come out of Fat Sams which is near the Vietnamese roundabout.

Turn left.

Walk 30 metres.

On your right is a busy side road.

On your left is a family run coffee shop with TV and cigarettes.

Just before you reach it is a shop that sells coffee.

They all buy his imported coffee for $5 per kilo.

You will be charged $10 but never mind it is a good buy.

I get him to grind me some roasted coffee beans from a sack he keeps there.

I don't buy the plastic packets he displays out front.

 

Who are “they” and why do they get it for $5 but you have to pay $10?

[thrilled]

I bring Dunkin with me when I come.

[moogradod]

As has been said before, the "best" is what you like. Applies to everything. Nevertheless my short condensed view. I grew up with coffee and I like it.

 

Acceptable methods of preparation (for me):

1. High pressure espresso machine

2. Filtered ("Melitta") - did not try this in Thailand yet but we will for sure since it produces wonderful coffee and smell all over the place

3. Italian Espresso Cooker (Caffetiera) - for the real strong shot

4. For Arabian/Greek/Turkish: Cooking the grounded coffee together with sugar and water - only for special events

 

Not acceptable (for me):

Instant Coffee, use of coffee creamer powder, use of plastic or paper cups

 

Drinking a coffee outside of the home, the coffee shop matters. Ranging from something decent like Café Landtmann in Vienna over the interesting coffee shops in Tokyo offering a vast variety of different coffee beans down to the fast-food-ressembling-not-so-much-enjoyment-for-the-buck venues (avoided by us by all means). I did not yet see a specialized "coffee house" in Pattaya (in BKK there may be some) but coffee served at Black Canyon or Boncafé is at least acceptable from the pure viewpoint of the brew itself and for a quick sip on the go - "only" the ambience might not live up to the highest standards.

 

We like nice porcellain coffee cups. I brought a Villeroy & Boch cup from Switzerland especially for my morning coffee (picture below).

 

At home we use a Nespresso machine with capsules and Mont Fleur as water. We are well aware of the downsides. But the coffee is lightyears better than anything instant and easily prepared. The capsule system allow to use different style coffee without the need for large packs of beans/ground powder for each variety. We use the varieties Cosi (our standard), Nicaragua and Colombia and the strong Kazaar.

 

A challenge remains the cream here in Thailand. It must be definitely cream, not milk (if you do not want to prepare a milk coffee). Really a pity that there is no coffee cream available at every supermarket. I do not really favour UHT, but for the coffee cream it is perfect. Carnation may be used, but it is sweetened. So the last resort is whipping cream, but the pack does not last long once opened. This is as well a very costly option - as is the whole procedure anyway but holding up some standard has always been.

 

Some sidenote: Coffee makes me wake up and I can hardly sleep, but on the contrary my wife feels sleepy after a cup. Same as my father before.

 

Happy belated Coffee Day !

 

Edited October 4, 2019 by moogradod