Coffee

[fishbrando]

I buy direct from the grower/roaster in Chaing Mai. Roasted to order. 3kg delivered by express mail 1500baht. For me well worth every baht.

Details would be much appreciated.

[mania]

Thanks guys for the good info. Plenty of stores/coffee/equipment to check out.

Looks like there are some good equipment dealers in Bangkok though I'm a bit shocked at the markup...I should be used to it by now. I realize a good grinder is important but I'm probably not going to spend an iPhone's worth of money on a grinder. Wish I could get a lower end Baratza like a Baratza Preciso for a reasonable price here.

The hand grinder might be a good option if it can grind out a double-shot worth in 15-20 seconds - the Lido 3 looks nice. I know some people have also hacked their hand grinders so they can be driven by a power drill:

Hi FB

Yes that Lido3 is awesome & you will not mind hand grinding at all with it I think

It is so fast & smooth ! Really easy & the smells start coming while grinding

For my usual pour over or aeropress I use 15-18gr & it takes roughly 25 turns so I would guess

20 sec or less

I would not recommend that Hario type in the video I had one

& it is ok but the shaft is only supported at one end

The Lido for instance has support at both ends

The Hario cannot produce consistent same sized particles

So you end up with a lot of fines in there that will make the coffee bitter/over extracted

Edited July 24, 2016 by mania

[HamburgToBKK]

Hello,

 

I heard many good things about Doi Cha(a)ng coffee from Chiang Mai. Unfortunately it seems that there are two different Doi Chaang brands:

 

http://www.lazada.co.th/doi-chaang-coffee-premium-500g-7155111.html

 

http://www.lazada.co.th/doi-chang-professional-french-roast-4-1000g-331668.html

 

I would give the Doi Chang one a try first (for ~500 THB per kilo).

 

What do you think?

Edited August 31, 2016 by HamburgToBKK

[lj cm]

1 hour ago, HamburgToBKK said:

Hello,

 

I heard many good things about Doi Cha(a)ng coffee from Chiang Mai. Unfortunately it seems that there are two different Doi Chaang brands:

 

http://www.lazada.co.th/doi-chaang-coffee-premium-500g-7155111.html

 

http://www.lazada.co.th/doi-chang-professional-french-roast-4-1000g-331668.html

 

I would give the Doi Chang one a try first (for ~500 THB per kilo).

 

What do you think?

 

I sometimes buy a pack of the first one. It tastes very good, but also cost 300 Baht for 250 gr.

I don't know the second one, but I'm not so much into dark roasted.

[coops]

On 24 July 2016 at 10:45 AM, ChristianBlessing said:

While recently in Bangkok I saw a packaged northern Thai blend at Starbucks. My favorite coffee purveyor and roaster in the US tells me Thai beans are just now reaching a point of sufficient quality, quantity and consistency to catch the attention of buyers.

 

 

There's been good coffee for quite some time - just like there is in Vietnam, even if they do predominantly supply cheap robusta for instant coffee producers... 

 

Go to 

coffereview.com

 

and search "bluekoff"

 

You can't read the reviews any more without subscribing ( I read them years ago and why I heard about Bluekoff) - you can see the A4+A5 review getting 90+ points ( 92 in Jan 2015 ) for that blend. I prefer the A5 alone... but note the actual price is around 140 bht per 250gm if you buy one... buy a dozen packs delivered free to your door and it goes down further around 125baht / 250gm.

[HooHaa]

On 6/12/2016 at 10:22 AM, 01322521959 said:

Try the Moccona espresso green boxed coffee. Use two heaped spoonfalls and two mugs of water, dash of milk. Great!!

 

 

No, don't try this.

 

It is pedestrian nonsense, lowest common demoniator crap.

 

The man likes coffee, why ruin it.

[GuestHouse]

On 20 July 2016 at 1:46 PM, mania said:

You all need to get out & about more

Thailand has become very coffee sophisticated

You can get everything here AA Kenyan, Colombian, Ethiopian, Brazilian, Guatemalan
you name it its here fresh roasted here & often light roasted to boot

Then the Thai beans themselves have come so far so fast

The farmers are learning & applying things like how they process which now included honey process,natural,dry & washed

I predict it will not be but a few years until we see Thai coffee being exported world wide

It is in fact starting already with many US & Euro roasters buying micro lots

 

Following your suggestion that we all need to get out & about more, I had coffee at St Eustachio 'Il Caffe' today, which has reminded me exactly how poor a misrepresentation of Coffee anything available in Thailand is.

 

 

[retoohs]

if coffee is your thing find a café that sells Black Ivory coffee. Best I've ever had. About 1200b a cup

[mania]

1 hour ago, GuestHouse said:

 

Following your suggestion that we all need to get out & about more, I had coffee at St Eustachio 'Il Caffe' today, which has reminded me exactly how poor a misrepresentation of Coffee anything available in Thailand is.

 

 

 

Obviously you have a nice trip in Italy & want to say your having a nice cup there & that is great

 

What are you drinking? Espresso or some milk based drink like cappuccino or lattes?

 

I see  St Eustachio  uses an Arabica Blend so not actually a single bean but a blend of a few although they do not say which

 

If you should get a chance to find any cafes serving Gardelli roasted beans you may find yourself surprised yet again at how deliciaous

coffee can have depending on beans & who brews it & the skill of who brews it

 

As for your "how poor a misrepresentation of Coffee anything available in Thailand is" comment.........

 

Again that is really not the fault of Thailand but the cafes you visited

As any bean is available now in Thailand & as always your mileage may vary dependent on your baristas skill at extracting

flavors as intended from those beans

 

But I do hope you & yours enjoy your Italian vacation ..eating & cycling in Italy is one of the great experiences I'm sure

 

 

Edited August 31, 2016 by mania

[GuestHouse]

8 hours ago, mania said:

 

Obviously you have a nice trip in Italy & want to say your having a nice cup there & that is great

 

What are you drinking? Espresso or some milk based drink like cappuccino or lattes?

 

I see  St Eustachio  uses an Arabica Blend so not actually a single bean but a blend of a few although they do not say which

 

If you should get a chance to find any cafes serving Gardelli roasted beans you may find yourself surprised yet again at how deliciaous

coffee can have depending on beans & who brews it & the skill of who brews it

 

As for your "how poor a misrepresentation of Coffee anything available in Thailand is" comment.........

 

Again that is really not the fault of Thailand but the cafes you visited

As any bean is available now in Thailand & as always your mileage may vary dependent on your baristas skill at extracting

flavors as intended from those beans

 

But I do hope you & yours enjoy your Italian vacation ..eating & cycling in Italy is one of the great experiences I'm sure

 

 

 

I'll look out for Gardelli, though I think one of the most important ingrediants is not being discussed - Water.

 

The water supplied to St Eustachio (and the pantheon area of Rome) is of especially high quality - better in my opinion than many bottled mineral waters.

 

Finding good quality water in Thailand is not easy, and I've carted water from all parts of Thailand to make coffee with. In the end I resort to Montclair, not perfect but I doubt many Baristars in Thailand give much thought to the water they use.

 

I remain too to be convinced that Thai coffee beans are themselves of any notable quality. The variation between national sources is well known and to be fair Thailand is competing against nations with centuries of experience and coffee culture.

 

Then of course there is the roasting.

 

I recently bought a range of coffees from Artisan Roast in Edinburgh, their "Primavera Colombia" was outstanding, but unfortunately only available as a one off production - underscoring the very distinctive differences between coffees.

[mania]

1 hour ago, GuestHouse said:

 

I'll look out for Gardelli, though I think one of the most important ingrediants is not being discussed - Water.

 

The water supplied to St Eustachio (and the pantheon area of Rome) is of especially high quality - better in my opinion than many bottled mineral waters.

 

Finding good quality water in Thailand is not easy, and I've carted water from all parts of Thailand to make coffee with. In the end I resort to Montclair, not perfect but I doubt many Baristars in Thailand give much thought to the water they use.

 

I remain too to be convinced that Thai coffee beans are themselves of any notable quality. The variation between national sources is well known and to be fair Thailand is competing against nations with centuries of experience and coffee culture.

 

Then of course there is the roasting.

 

I recently bought a range of coffees from Artisan Roast in Edinburgh, their "Primavera Colombia" was outstanding, but unfortunately only available as a one off production - underscoring the very distinctive differences between coffees.

 

You are correct in what you say about waters importance to great coffee extraction.

 

The better shops in Thailand use the LaMarzoco RO system that then adds proper minerals back to the water in its three stage process.

 

Also true some growers still have much to learn in Thailand but I believe there are some very good ones now too that have learned a lot in a few short years & have

improved both growing techniques & processing...Then there are also now some very good roasters  too both in Bangkok as well as Chiang Mai

( I will be honest & say I have found some bad roasters too)

 

But they are also importing green beans  at great expense due to the import taxes from many countries

Colombian,Ethiopian,Kenyan,Honduras...pretty much anything you can imagine.

 

About the Artisan Roast I have only heard great things in some coffee groups I am a part of online.

I once tried a cup in ChiangMai that the Barista brought back from the recent World  Barista Championships in Dublin this year (pic below)

Would like to try more of their beans & now that I am back in the US may try ordering as their shipping quote of $11 for 2/250g  bags sounds very reasonable

 

Hope you enjoy your vacation

 

 

Edited September 1, 2016 by mania

[Lite Beer]

This might be of interest to some. Especially Americans.

 

Taste Our Rare Variety of Arabica Coffee  Our special variety of Arabica is now ready to order.  When we first started Red Cliff Coffee several years ago, we imported a few hundred seeds of specialty coffee from Hawaii and planted them here in the Chiang Rai mountains. Those trees have matured, and now our first harvest is ready to brew.    The seeds came from Hawaii, where we used to manage a Kona coffee farm. This variety (or cultivar) or Arabica is known as 'Bourbon', and it's famous for being one of the most nuanced, best-tasting varieties of Arabica available. I've tasted it myself, and I have to say -- I'm impressed.   This particular strain of Arabica is very rare in Thailand. Personally, I don't know of anyone else who is currently making it available. This coffee is rich and earthy, with a lightly sweet aftertaste. It's definitely going to be my coffee of choice over the next few weeks.

 

http://us8.campaign-archive1.com/?u=5001a4835acfa81d37ffccf34&id=53a8f83bba&e=1eee14c02e

Edited September 5, 2016 by Lite Beer

[balo]

Great , I think I will order it. I am tired of Boncafe now   

 

[01322521959]

On 9/1/2016 at 1:29 AM, HooHaa said:

 

 

No, don't try this.

 

It is pedestrian nonsense, lowest common demoniator crap.

 

The man likes coffee, why ruin it.

Each to his own. I like it. Had friends over who like it. Maybe I'm just easily satisfied.

[ClutchClark]

On September 1, 2016 at 2:45 AM, mania said:

The better shops in Thailand use the LaMarzoco RO system that then adds proper minerals back to the water in its three stage process.

 

I had no idea !

 

Interesting.

[dorayme]

I buy Doi Chang from Lazada. They bring it right to my door. I buy 2,505 for 20 250G bags.

 

http://www.lazada.co.th/catalog/?q=doi+chang

 

Everyone who drinks coffee with me seems to like the coffee.

 

I don't drink instant and prefer the Doi Chang over Boncafe.

[Saastrajaa]

Verasu, on Witthayu Road about .5 k (if that) south of the Plern Chit BTS station on the left, has a selection of very reasonably priced, decent coffees from various regions in Thailand (mostly the north, naturally)...either whole beans, or they'll grind them to your specifications.

[doggie1955]

Well I found a 3 in 1 coffee that kicks ass....it's called G7

I found it in Makro, or you can just google it for Thailand.

The great thing about this coffee is that it is not from Thailand.

[balo]

3 hours ago, doggie1955 said:

Well I found a 3 in 1 coffee that kicks ass

 

You'd want to avoid 40-50% sugar added.  Try 2 in 1 instead and add sugar if you absolutely must .

 

There is one 2 in 1 brand without added sugar that is very espresso like,  it's the new microground coffee , try it next time.