mr. ed
Amarillo, Texas
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Joined: 02/06/2002
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OP here again. Well, I did the unthinkable this morning. I bought a jar of “Juan Valdez “ freeze dried coffee. I figured if anyone knows good coffee, that would be Senior Valdez! ![[emoticon]](https://forums.motorhome.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/biggrin.gif "biggrin") I normally wouldn’t buy instant coffee, since I’ve tried it and found it terrible. Maybe I was not trying “freeze dried”, which may be better than the other stuff (spray dried?).
Being used to grinding my beans just prior to preparation, this may prove to be a challenge. Haven’t tried it yet, but I’ll find out tomorrow morning. ![[emoticon]](https://forums.motorhome.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/huh.gif "huh")
BTW, i like what’s written on the back of the jar, “contains no alcohol”. Now, that would be some interesting coffee! ![[emoticon]](https://forums.motorhome.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/eek.gif "eek")
Well, I did try a cup, and it's a no go. I'll never buy instant coffee again. I should have known better! ![[emoticon]](https://forums.motorhome.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/doh.gif "doh")
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Mr. Ed (fulltiming since 1987)
Life is fragile. Handle with prayer.
2007 Hitchhiker II LS Model 29.5 LKTG (sold)
2007 Dodge Ram 3500/6.7 CTD/QC/4X4/SB/SRW/6-speed man/Big Horn edition (sold)
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mr. ed
Amarillo, Texas
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Joined: 02/06/2002
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I tried the Juan Valdez instant coffee this morning. Nothing like freshly ground at all. Decidedly somewhat bitter, and not a pleasant experience. I'll try adding a little less coffee next time, to see if that helps. A little sweetener might help, but I never drink sweetened coffee, the only addition being a little half & half.
Directions on the bottle say that all hot milk may be used in place of water. I may try that, using my usual almond milk, to see if the brew becomes drinkable.
Failing that, I'll just stop drinking coffee until I find an improvement. Thankfully, my green tea with a little honey still tastes good, but I'll still still miss a good cup of joe for a while. I hope you folks are still getting enjoyment from your ccffee. ![[emoticon]](https://forums.motorhome.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/wink.gif "wink")
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mr. ed
Amarillo, Texas
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Joined: 02/06/2002
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Well, my coffee search may be over. for now. I took one last chance and purchased a bag of ground coffee (Seattle's Best Post Alley dark roast). I brewed a cup this morning, and it met my criteria; just a bit too strong, but I may be able to counter that by adding extra half & half. Next time, I'll buy the same brand, but medium roast.
I would still prefer whole bean product,if Seattle's Best could provide that. Anyhow, I can once again enjoy my pancake breakfasts with drinkable coffee! ![[emoticon]](https://forums.motorhome.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/cool.gif "cool")
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fj12ryder
Platte City, MO
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Joined: 08/19/2003
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Coffee too strong??!! Nay, that's blasphemy, so such thing. If you can't stand a spoon up in it, it's tea. ![[emoticon]](https://forums.motorhome.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
Howard and Peggy
"Don't Panic"
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mr. ed
Amarillo, Texas
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Joined: 02/06/2002
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fj12ryder wrote:Coffee too strong??!! Nay, that's blasphemy, so such thing. If you can't stand a spoon up in it, it's tea.
LOL! I've had Turkish coffee before, and liked it. It comes in a very small cup, is sweet, no milk or cream, and there are many coffee grounds mixed in. You could almost literally stand a spoon in the cup.
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fj12ryder
Platte City, MO
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Absolutely, had some of that when I visited Egypt. Couple of those, and things got a bit jittery. LOL But they were soooooo good, it was hard not to just keep drinking them.
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naturist
Lynchburg, VA
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Joined: 04/24/2008
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When on the Big Island a few years ago, I took a tour of Greenwell Farms, a family run coffee plantation that was one of the first established on the Kona coast. One of the trivial facts that landed in my brain was that green beans are good for no more than two years, and roasted beans are worthless after a single year. As others have pointed out, your date of purchase has nothing whatever to do with the age/freshness of the coffee. Given the recent supply chain issues, God alone knows how old stuff might be. It is quite possible that a supplier somewhere was scraping the bottom of the barrel and sold stuff that in more normal times they might have thrown out as too ancient/stale.
Being somewhat of a coffee nut, and a fan of Kona coffee, I've taken to buying direct from the farm. Greenwell Farms sells direct to the public, and I've enrolled in their coffee club, which automatically ships me a supply every few weeks. I know it's fresh -- the faint scent of coffee fills my mailbox every time a shipment arrives. But I am also willing to pay their price, which is currently around $40 a pound. It's my guilty pleasure.
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fj12ryder
Platte City, MO
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My stepson works for a company here in KC that stores the green beans and roasts them for several local coffee shops and suppliers. So we get our beans from him. We tell him when we need them, and he puts the order in and picks up the beans after they're roasted. Always fresh, and we get dark roast for $20 for 5 pounds. Gooooood. I've tried Kona, but prefer a dark roast over the medium. I once tried Jamaican Blue Mountain just to see what the hoopla was all about. Very much less than impressed, for what they charge, it should knock your socks off.
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mr. ed
Amarillo, Texas
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Joined: 02/06/2002
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Too bad there's no coffee plantations here in the Texas panhandle. So far, the Seattle's Best dark roast I mentioned earlier is working out OK. I'm adding extra half & half, plus using a little less grounds in my Mr. Coffee machine to counter the bit of bitterness. i'll look for medium roast next time (same brand).
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silversand
Montreal
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Joined: 09/12/2004
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Quote:So, I decided to drink a cup of coffee and it didn't have the same aroma as before. I wonder if the manufacturer has gotten worse or if it's me?
...I noticed the same thing. From the three well known brands we buy regularly. Over the past maybe 6 to 7 months, a bag of roasted bean from any of the three randomly had the post-roast smell and taste of a mediocre bean.
From what I have been able to determine, producing countries gauge the dried bean size, and blend with numerous other finca's beans, then sack it, and ship here to North America. So, we are likely NOT getting a bean grown from a single finca (coffee farm). I imagine that you can find a State-side importer that can guarantee you a pre-roasted green bean from a single coffee farm (say, a bean grown at 6000 feet, in high mountains of Guatemala for proper acid content). You can then buy a home-scale roasting machine, and roast it yourself, then grind and brew.
I've actually participated in the picking of cherries one season at a coffee finca on the slope of a volcano in Guatemala. Then, depulping (concrete vats filled with water and hand-crank depulper, and after, raking out the depulped beans on 100 foot long black plastic tarps on the ground, and occasionally raking the tarped beans to expose to the sun to more thoroughly dry....etc
Silver
2004 Chevy Silverado 2500HD 4x4 6.0L Ext/LB Tow Package 4L80E Michelin AT2s| Outfitter Caribou
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