Good Coffee

[Pollywaffle]

Hi there,

Can anyone point me in the direction of a good coffee brand (beans/ground) that does not cost a fortune. Have tried various Thai coffees and have yet to find the right one, I know they are out there because Bake use a Thai brand, but they won't tell me the brand. Imported brands cost THB 500 plus for 200 to 250gms.

Thanks in advance

[Valentine]

You could try Bon Cafe just down the road from Tesco Lotus leading to Samkhong. They may let you taste some samples but they have a fairly good selection considering they are wholesalers.

Edited August 17, 2012 by Valentine

[hansgruber]

You could try Bon Cafe just down the road from Tesco Lotus leading to Samkhong. They may let you taste some samples but they have a fairly good selection considering they are wholesalers.

You're joking right?

Bon cafe is rubbish

Edited August 17, 2012 by hansgruber

[amyb]

go to starbucks, get their new brand of thai coffee, have the beans grinded for you and take it home. cost is about 450 baht.

[Kopitiam]

You can get them at Makro near Central Fest and they cost much less than quoted above.

[steelepulse]

Here's a couple, if you want to order a kilo or more. Think it's around 400-500 baht per kilo. I can't remember which one I drink, but it's a lot better than doi tung and the other coffee's on offer at most markets.

duang dee hill tribe coffee-tel no.053 219361 mobile 0816029180

Landoy coffee

087--014-5070

[iSabai]

Actually there is one variety of Bon Cafe that is good. Not sure the name (Cafe Crema maybe?) but it comes in the bag with a yellow or orange label. Some of their varieties (gray, red, and blue labels) I rate as pretty bad to meh, but this one I like. It sells for ฿170 for a quarter kilo at Big C. And it's Thai grown coffee.

Starbucks has some good varieties but far too expensive here IMO, ~ ฿500 for a quarter kilo. There was a couple of places downstairs in Jungceylon that sold Thai 'gourmet' coffees that were pretty good, but of course you pay the JC premium there for everything. It's been a while since I've bought any there but if I remember it was around the ฿300 range for a quarter kilo.

The Duang Dee Hill Tribe coffee that SP mentioned is also very good, but for some reason I've never found it in whole bean, only ground. If that matters to you. Or maybe I just haven't looked hard enough. I think there were two varieties, and I found them quite tasty. And if I remember, only around ฿120 a quarter kilo. Great bargain.

I'm actually surprised that there aren't more Thai grown coffees available in Phuket, some of them are very nice. Up north there are many brands to choose from and some are very tasty. Hillkoff, Lanna, Doi Kham, and Doi Chaang are some Thai coffees I've tried that I never see in Phuket.

I personally would rather drink Thai coffee than overpriced Starbucks or Lavazza. And I don't understand why more restaurants or coffee shops don't feature Thai coffees, rather than all the places that serve Lavazza. It's local, good quality, and hell, we are in Thailand after all. And though Lavazza is a good coffee, I don't think they grow coffee in Italy. But I may be wrong?

Anyhow, just my personal tastes, YMMV.

Edited August 17, 2012 by iSabai

[FrankBlunt]

You could try Bon Cafe just down the road from Tesco Lotus leading to Samkhong. They may let you taste some samples but they have a fairly good selection considering they are wholesalers.

You're joking right?

Bon cafe is rubbish

Quite right - Bon Cafe is not for the connoisseur. Give me a Nescafe 3-in-1 any day, especially the 3-in-1 Creamy.

[Shot]

Nescafe 3-1 Slim. That way, I can drink as much beer as I want.

[cooked]

Only drinkable along with a good dose of whisky boyo.

[Valentine]

You could try Bon Cafe just down the road from Tesco Lotus leading to Samkhong. They may let you taste some samples but they have a fairly good selection considering they are wholesalers.

You're joking right?

Bon cafe is rubbish

Quite right - Bon Cafe is not for the connoisseur. Give me a Nescafe 3-in-1 any day, especially the 3-in-1 Creamy.

I was at Bon Cafe just a few days ago & pretty sure the girl said all their coffees were Thai. I am definitely not a connoisseur but just making a suggestion for the OP to try & besides, each to their own. If your opinion is they are rubbish it is purely that, an opinion.

[Wikinger2]

Big C Patong has the french(?) brand Casino. They have different tastes from different countries, Guatemala, Mexico, Ethiopia but 100% arabica beans. About 150 Bt./250gr. Packed in the right way, milled with a breathing hole. You can smell the aroma. And another sort is vacuum packed, ca. 120bt. Not worse.

Tastes completly simular to what you buy in european supermarkets. Not this black overroasted stinky something like the Thai robusta sh...

All the thai and asia coffee are the cheap robusta beans, mostly from Vietnam. Robusta is for people with no taste. Thais try to sell it completely overpriced to all the idoits with no idea what a coffee is and how to prepare it to have the full flavour.

Starbucks is overpriced, overroasted too and overestimated. Very often to long in the shop, all the aroma is gone.

To know more about the content just turn around the packege and have a look and read. When it's not 100% Arabica - leave it.

Edited August 17, 2012 by Wikinger2

[Jimi007]

Big C Patong has the french(?) brand Casino. They have different tastes from different countries, Guatemala, Mexico, Ethiopia but 100% arabica beans. About 150 Bt./250gr. Packed in the right way, milled with a breathing hole. You can smell the aroma. And another sort is vacuum packed, ca. 120bt. Not worse.

Tastes completly simular to what you buy in european supermarkets. Not this black overroasted stinky something like the Thai robusta sh...

All the thai and asia coffee are the cheap robusta beans, mostly from Vietnam. Robusta is for people with no taste. Thais try to sell it completely overpriced to all the idoits with no idea what a coffee is and how to prepare it to have the full flavour.

Starbucks is overpriced, overroasted too and overestimated. Very often to long in the shop, all the aroma is gone.

To know more about the content just turn around the packege and have a look and read. When it's not 100% Arabica - leave it.

I agree with your assessment of Starbucks, they roast their bean to death! I don't drink much coffee anymore, but when I do I enjoy a lighter roast. I usually buy Sumatra Mandheling coffee from a local coffee roaster in the US when I'm there. I really like Kona Coffee too, but it's very pricey in the US, and I doubt you could even get it here. If I was a coffee nut like some of my friends, I would be tempted to try to find a local source up north and roast my own beans.

[meatboy]

duang dee hill tribe,they produce 3 diff.flavours,unique strong,classic blend andextra smooth i order 5kilo' every time at 340bht pr kilo.cost of post 90bht.i have not tasted any better in thailand.i think you can buy it in tops.

[KarenBravo]

To know more about the content just turn around the packege and have a look and read. When it's not 100% Arabica - leave it.

Depends......if you want a caffeine "kick" a bit of Robusta blended in to the Arabica does the trick.

[Shot]

Someone mentioned Kona coffee. It is very, very good if you can find it. Starbucks has a deal with that brand, and some locations may have it. It is not roasted by Starbucks, so it's not over roasted. Last I checked it was about 35 USD a pound.

[steelepulse]

Someone mentioned Kona coffee. It is very, very good if you can find it. Starbucks has a deal with that brand, and some locations may have it. It is not roasted by Starbucks, so it's not over roasted. Last I checked it was about 35 USD a pound.

Actually Kona is a location on the Big Island of Hawaii, and there are many farms there. I used to have Kona shipped in 20 pounds at a time, but I found that the 2nd coffee I posted earlier in this thread tastes just as good if you don't like a bitter tasting bean. Off to grind up some beans now for the first cup of the day.

[TongueThaied]

Buy and Store Coffee in LOS

Making good coffee consistently is a science -- NOT an art. I confess I am a bit of a coffee snob. I enjoy drinking fresh roasted and ground coffee each morning, and insist on grinding the beans myself. I wrestled with the coffee thing for a couple years after arriving here (Phitsanulok). At first I could not even find whole beans, then discovered Doi Tung at Lotus, but at 250 baht for 200 grams, the price was ridiculous. Also, it had been on the shelf several weeks since roasting and was not fresh. I drove up to Chiang Rai and went to the Doi Tung facility, got their contact info and began buying 5 kg at a time (their minimum) from them, but it came routed through Bangkok. It was still fresher than the off-the-shelf stuff, but at 700 baht/kg, it was still expensive, too. Then one day about three years ago I was driving north from Phitsanulok and stopped at a little roadside hill tribe coffee shop called Landoy Coffee. It was in Uttaridit or somewhere.

The coffee was delicious, so I asked about buying beans by mail, she said yes, and I have been one happy coffee drinker ever since. Their coffee is nothing less than outstanding. They grow it somewhere in Chiang Rai. It has had a couple of price increases since I started doing business with them (was 350 baht/kg), but is still a bargain at 450 baht/kg (for Thailand, anyway). I think their price has now gone up, but they have held it at 450 for me as a continuing customer. You might have to pay 500. The beans are large and uniform (number 2). It comes packed in convenient 500 gram Mylar sacks, and I order 4 kg. each time (8 sacks). You MUST request the 500 gram sacks, as they also pack in larger sacks, which is not good for the non-commercial consumer. They send it by post collect, which costs about 200 baht. When I open the last 500 gram sack (must ask for this size when ordering), I have my wife who speaks Thai call them to place another order. I highly recommend these people. Their quality has proven consistent and they have proven themselves completely reliable. They tend to roast a little dark, so if you order a medium roast, it will be nearer medium/dark (like a French roast), which is perfect for me. After you order the first time, you can adjust your roast request to your tastes. The beans are roasted to order, so they are extremely fresh when they arrive -- much fresher than anything you will ever find on a store shelf. I have attached their business card. Just tell them the farang named John from Phitsanulok sent you. If you feel four kilos is too much, they may be willing to ship three, or perhaps you can share an order with a friend.

Some people worry about the coffee staying fresh. If the Mylar sacks are UNOPENED, you can (must) freeze them and they are perfectly preserved. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER open a frozen Mylar sack as moisture will immediately condense on the beans, and moisture is the enemy of coffee beans. After the sack reaches room temperature, I open it and immediately put the contents in a Tupperware container that holds exactly a half kilo. NEVER refrigerate this Tupperware, as moisture will condense on the beans every time you open it. Leave it at room temperature. Half a kilo lasts me about a 5-7 days. When I fill the grinder with the last of the coffee from the Tupperware, I take another sack out of the freezer to thaw for the next morning. Using this method, the last sack is as tasty as the first. And as I said, if you place a new order when you take the last sack from the freezer, it will arrive right on time.

One more thing. For the best coffee, get a burr grinder like the Krups sold by Central World and ThaiMart. Well worth every baht if you like great coffee. Blade grinders get the coffee overheated during grinding and do not grind uniformly; the coffee tastes like shit. If you use a blade grinder and wonder why your coffee is not that great, well, it's the grinder, don't blame the beans.

Enjoy.

[Shot]

Someone mentioned Kona coffee. It is very, very good if you can find it. Starbucks has a deal with that brand, and some locations may have it. It is not roasted by Starbucks, so it's not over roasted. Last I checked it was about 35 USD a pound.

Actually Kona is a location on the Big Island of Hawaii, and there are many farms there. I used to have Kona shipped in 20 pounds at a time, but I found that the 2nd coffee I posted earlier in this thread tastes just as good if you don't like a bitter tasting bean. Off to grind up some beans now for the first cup of the day.

Correct. But Kona Coffee is a brand and or trademark distributed to Starbucks, and many other locations.

[steelepulse]

Landoy coffee, good stuff.

Kona coffee is a brand? Really? Couldn't find anything about it on google.

Starbucks trademark? Don't think so.

>>In 1993, the Kona Coffee Council, a regional coffee growers association, tried unsuccessfully to protect the name "Kona Coffee" by trademarking their logo with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. They were opposed by Kona Kai Farms, Inc, Captain Cook Coffee Co., Hawaiian Isles Enterprises, Hawaii Coffee Company. In 2000 the Department of Agriculture of the State of Hawaii registered a "100% Kona Coffee" certification mark with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Administration in regard of this certification mark was handed over by the State Department of Agriculture to the Hawaii Coffee Company, part of Topa Equities Ltd, based in Los Angeles.

[cooked]

Any point in roasting green coffee beans myself? I find the lack of decent coffee in Thailand worse than the lack of decent beer.........

[Shot]

Landoy coffee, good stuff.

Kona coffee is a brand? Really? Couldn't find anything about it on google.

Starbucks trademark? Don't think so.

>>In 1993, the Kona Coffee Council, a regional coffee growers association, tried unsuccessfully to protect the name "Kona Coffee" by trademarking their logo with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. They were opposed by Kona Kai Farms, Inc, Captain Cook Coffee Co., Hawaiian Isles Enterprises, Hawaii Coffee Company. In 2000 the Department of Agriculture of the State of Hawaii registered a "100% Kona Coffee" certification mark with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Administration in regard of this certification mark was handed over by the State Department of Agriculture to the Hawaii Coffee Company, part of Topa Equities Ltd, based in Los Angeles.

Never said Starbucks trademark. I said they distribute to them and many others.

Brand, trademark, certification. Whatever, its coffee and its good, and they sell it at Starbuck under the Kona name.

Please don’t start a stevi/petercallen debate

[stevenl]

Landoy coffee, good stuff.

Kona coffee is a brand? Really? Couldn't find anything about it on google.

Starbucks trademark? Don't think so.

>>In 1993, the Kona Coffee Council, a regional coffee growers association, tried unsuccessfully to protect the name "Kona Coffee" by trademarking their logo with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. They were opposed by Kona Kai Farms, Inc, Captain Cook Coffee Co., Hawaiian Isles Enterprises, Hawaii Coffee Company. In 2000 the Department of Agriculture of the State of Hawaii registered a "100% Kona Coffee" certification mark with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Administration in regard of this certification mark was handed over by the State Department of Agriculture to the Hawaii Coffee Company, part of Topa Equities Ltd, based in Los Angeles.

Never said Starbucks trademark. I said they distribute to them and many others.

Brand, trademark, certification. Whatever, its coffee and its good, and they sell it at Starbuck under the Kona name.

Please don’t start a stevi/petercallen debate

As far as I can tell this discussion would be between 2 reasonable thinking people, so that would be a major difference between a stevi/petercallen debate

[TongueThaied]

Any point in roasting green coffee beans myself? I find the lack of decent coffee in Thailand worse than the lack of decent beer.........

You obviously have not tried the Landoy option mentioned above. Everybody that's tried it that I've heard from says its great. If you haven't tried it, you can't very well say there's no decent coffee in Thailand.

As for the rest of your question, I used to roast green coffee beans back in the States. I had a small (and quite expensive) drum roaster. You have to be not only a dedicated coffee drinker, but a coffee hobbyist to roast decent coffee. It is quite time consuming to get a process down that both satisfies you and that you can successfully repeat time after time. When I was into it, I often wonder <deleted> I was doing when I could buy delicious fresh roasted coffee from Costo for about $7/kg. With Landoy available here, I would never consider it again.

Roast-masters are highly skilled and good ones sought after. Sure you have to have a decent bean to start, but as to the finished product, the roast is more important that the bean itself. This is where uniformly sized beans come in. If the beans are not almost perfectly uniform in size, they roast at all different rates, giving you some a little green, whiles others are burned.

[cooked]

Any point in roasting green coffee beans myself? I find the lack of decent coffee in Thailand worse than the lack of decent beer.........

You obviously have not tried the Landoy option mentioned above. Everybody that's tried it that I've heard from says its great. If you haven't tried it, you can't very well say there's no decent coffee in Thailand.

As for the rest of your question, I used to roast green coffee beans back in the States. I had a small (and quite expensive) drum roaster. You have to be not only a dedicated coffee drinker, but a coffee hobbyist to roast decent coffee. It is quite time consuming to get a process down that both satisfies you and that you can successfully repeat time after time. When I was into it, I often wonder <deleted> I was doing when I could buy delicious fresh roasted coffee from Costo for about $7/kg. With Landoy available here, I would never consider it again.

Roast-masters are highly skilled and good ones sought after. Sure you have to have a decent bean to start, but as to the finished product, the roast is more important that the bean itself. This is where uniformly sized beans come in. If the beans are not almost perfectly uniform in size, they roast at all different rates, giving you some a little green, whiles others are burned.

Thanks for that, I maybe wasn't talking about Thailand, but the little corner of rustic Isaan where I live. I will give it a try.

There is a whole alley in Buriram BigC dedicated to 'coffee' and it seems to be divided into 'instant' crap, 'slimming/health' crap, (taking up about 90% of the shelf space) and a very small part with real coffee. We found a good coffee a week ago, and of course, when we went back we found it no longer. The stuff we bought (Dino) wasn't the same Dino we bought before., hardly drinkable. For the first time in 40 years I have someone that brings me coffee to the bed in the morning and I find it difficult to hide my disgust from her when I drink the usual Thai stuff that is served up as coffee.

I'm not surprised that Thai coffee is generally so bad, one taste of the usual gunk and you don't try again, hence the attempt to sell it as a health drink. What marketing genius thought that one up?

[TongueThaied]

Any point in roasting green coffee beans myself? I find the lack of decent coffee in Thailand worse than the lack of decent beer.........

You obviously have not tried the Landoy option mentioned above. Everybody that's tried it that I've heard from says its great. If you haven't tried it, you can't very well say there's no decent coffee in Thailand.

As for the rest of your question, I used to roast green coffee beans back in the States. I had a small (and quite expensive) drum roaster. You have to be not only a dedicated coffee drinker, but a coffee hobbyist to roast decent coffee. It is quite time consuming to get a process down that both satisfies you and that you can successfully repeat time after time. When I was into it, I often wonder <deleted> I was doing when I could buy delicious fresh roasted coffee from Costo for about $7/kg. With Landoy available here, I would never consider it again.

Roast-masters are highly skilled and good ones sought after. Sure you have to have a decent bean to start, but as to the finished product, the roast is more important that the bean itself. This is where uniformly sized beans come in. If the beans are not almost perfectly uniform in size, they roast at all different rates, giving you some a little green, whiles others are burned.

Thanks for that, I maybe wasn't talking about Thailand, but the little corner of rustic Isaan where I live. I will give it a try.

There is a whole alley in Buriram BigC dedicated to 'coffee' and it seems to be divided into 'instant' crap, 'slimming/health' crap, (taking up about 90% of the shelf space) and a very small part with real coffee. We found a good coffee a week ago, and of course, when we went back we found it no longer. The stuff we bought (Dino) wasn't the same Dino we bought before., hardly drinkable. For the first time in 40 years I have someone that brings me coffee to the bed in the morning and I find it difficult to hide my disgust from her when I drink the usual Thai stuff that is served up as coffee.

I'm not surprised that Thai coffee is generally so bad, one taste of the usual gunk and you don't try again, hence the attempt to sell it as a health drink. What marketing genius thought that one up?

I love my morning coffee and like the good stuff. You can't imagine how shocked I was when I got here and found out that it was basically Thai Taster's Choice loaded with sugar or nothing. I wrestled with the problem for two years, having to deal almost exclusively with Lotus (Big C didn't have anything). This is why I'm such a booster for Landoy. It was the complete answer, in terms is price, quality and convenience (price is reasonable by comparison, quality is fresh roasted and consistent every time, convenience, shipped to your door on demand.) The only downside is if you have no freezer space for four kilos. Coffee begins to age the minute it leaves the roaster. Freezing it in sealed Mylar pretty much stops the aging process. Grinding accelerates aging, which is why almost all preground coffee you buy tastes like shit (just how long has it been on the shelf?). Whole roasted beans should be used within ten days of roasting, freezing extends that, and ground coffee should be used the same day it is ground.

The Landoy woman doesn't speak English; you need to have a Thai call her. If you mention the farang named John from Phitsanulok, she probably be right on it. Because a shipment is valuable (2,000 baht), she likes to send EMS, but she ships post collect. I have never had any problem with regular mail and tell her NO EMS, because I do not want to pay for it. If you live in high theft places like Pattaya and Phuket, EMS might be a good idea. I think I've sent her quite a bit of business. No kickbacks yet, though. Still waiting . . . I hear kickbacks are big in Thailand, but nobody's kicking anything my way. Hmmmm . . . .

[TongueThaied]

By the way, it's my wife that has somebody bringing her coffee to the bed for the first time ever every morning -- and it's the good stuff. I have the my entire extended Thai family weaned off the shit. They all love to drink my fresh ground coffee -- black! they say it's hom.

the hell of it is that they do produce some very good coffees here, but I think most is exported, while Nestle spends millions in advertising zealously guarding its chemical coffee market.

Here's a math problem for you: Sonchai as 32 packs of Nestle's 3 in 1. Yom walks in and hands him 23 more packs of Nestle's 3 in 1. Now what does Sonchai have?

Diabetes! Sonchai has diabetes.

Edited August 18, 2012 by TongueThaied

[cooked]

ha ha? (32 plus 23 = 55).

We have by a stroke of luck a good friend in Lampang, so she will go visit the shop today, we'll find out if you are actually paying 'Farang price' (who cares, the price looks ok to me), and how much I have to order. The friend will send it on so no ฿200.- surcharge.

I had a friend in Switzerland working for Ciba-Geigy that was involved in the original research into the lypholisation (freeze drying) of coffee. He said he would never touch it, never let anybody in his family touch it, he said something about additives.

[cooked]

Well we got 3 Kg, unfortunately in 1Kg bags, for ฿1500.-, and just realised that we can't get a decent coffee grinder. Tomorrow rough ground coffee, looks a little over roasted to me but it has to be better than the stuff I get served here generally. Thanks for the tip...

Edited September 3, 2012 by cooked

[bobobo]

Took a Nespresso brewer with me last time I was back home..just perfect..for me..but I understand You guys are connoisseurs so I rest my case..