Speciality coffee: which are your favorite roasters?

[weinoo]

12 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

Hearty recommendation for Coffee Mob in Brooklyn. They happen to be a short walk from me. I was happy with Stumptown, Toby's Estate, Joe, 9th St., etc., and then walked in to this place. I saw with some skepticism that they roast their own, and didn't like the high prices, but felt compelled to try. Damn if it wasn't the best coffee I'd ever had. So now I suck it up and pay whatever they ask. 

 

The owner, Buck has become a friend. I went with him once to the roasting collective in Red Hook where he works his magic (turns out to be the same place many other boutique NYC coffee shops do their roasting). 

 

The selection is always small. He's been doing mostly central American coffees a lot lately ... I love the honey process Guatemal Finca Medina. But my favorites are his Ethiopian and Burundian coffees, especially when he gets in a natural process. 

 

He roasts on the light side, and I generally find that the beans are at their peak 1 to 2 weeks after the roast date. Easily 2 weeks if you're making espresso. They lose flavor very, very slowly. 

 

I'm gonna take a ride and pick some up.  I happen to really like the Burundi and Ethiopian coffees also!  What beans does he generally do as an espresso roast?

Edited January 5 by weinoo (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Being West Coastal and having Peet's within a couple of blocks from us, I'm devoted to their single origin Ethiopian, Kenya auction lot beans.    Either is exceptional, and I sometimes blend the two.   

[paulraphael]

4 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

I'm gonna take a ride and pick some up.  I happen to really like the Burundi and Ethiopian coffees also!  What beans does he generally do as an espresso roast?

 

It changes all time. This last year he's been doing a lot of blends for espresso, I think as a concession to most customers ordering milk drinks. I almost always prefer the single origins. But his blends aren't traditional espresso blends. They'll typically be two, or occasionally three different varieties, and they're all beans that he sells as single origins. So it's not about balancing out shortcomings. 

 

The site isn't always completely up to date with what he has at the store. He had a washed Ethiopian a couple of weeks ago that wasn't up on the site. It's mostly been central America lately though.

[weinoo]

8 hours ago, paulraphael said:

 

It changes all time. This last year he's been doing a lot of blends for espresso, I think as a concession to most customers ordering milk drinks. I almost always prefer the single origins. But his blends aren't traditional espresso blends. They'll typically be two, or occasionally three different varieties, and they're all beans that he sells as single origins. So it's not about balancing out shortcomings. 

 

The site isn't always completely up to date with what he has at the store. He had a washed Ethiopian a couple of weeks ago that wasn't up on the site. It's mostly been central America lately though.

 

This is kinda what the place I order my beans from does...George Howell. They roast one or two single origins for espresso, as well as offering a more classic espresso blend.  And they'll take certain beans up to French and Viennese roast level too. I've had such great luck using them; beans arrive literally within a day or two of my ordering and their roasting. And they get some wild, crazy expensive coffees as well - I haven't tried any of those, which can run into the hundreds of dollars a pound.

[paulraphael]

2 hours ago, weinoo said:

And they get some wild, crazy expensive coffees as well - I haven't tried any of those, which can run into the hundreds of dollars a pound.

 

I am so not interested in coffees that cost as much as precious metals. What would happen if I tried one and liked it??

 

Sadly, with climate change, coffee is all creeping in that direction.

[blue_dolphin]

Over the last 3 years, I've been getting coffee via a subscription to YES PLZ, a small roaster in the LA area and enjoying it. They roast a different blend each week and have added a batch of decaf once or twice a month.  You can choose 8.8 oz or 12 oz packets and can get shipments weekly, every other week, every 3 weeks or every 4 weeks. Their online tool makes it easy to skip a shipment or make other changes. They used to ship a little newsletter with info on the beans, other articles and a playlist. Now, you get a link to the newsletter instead of a hard copy.  

 

There's no option to enter any preferences, nor can you get more of a blend you loved so this is not for someone who wants to dial in their own ideal coffee and enjoy that same perfection in each and every cup.  I've enjoyed the variety of trying something different every couple of weeks and I appreciate the ~ half pound size for my one AeroPress/day.   Roasts tend to be on the medium - light side.  The very first blend I received tasted shockingly bright, fruity and acidic to me but that's the only one I haven't liked. And even that one was rather nice after I added some darker roast beans to the mix. 

 

I was roasting with an air popper but the need to keep my eyeballs (and by default, my ears) so close to the noisy thing got too annoying, even with my noise-cancelling headphones. 

In the long run, it would be more economical to cancel the subscription and save up for a better grinder.  Maybe someday. 

My YES PLZ subscription is currently on pause because I received some gift beans over the holidays but I plan to start it back up soon. 

 

 

 

[RWood]

When I was living in the Monterey/Santa Cruz area, a new coffee place opened up called Verve. Been hooked ever since. 
Now that we are in Georgia, I still have it shipped. 

 The 1950 blend is our usual, Streetlevel is the one I started on, and their holiday blend the past two years has been great. 

 

[Alex Bernardo]

Best I’ve ever had is Nylon Coffee in Singapore. Where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area it’s Andytown Coffee and Ritual.

[kayb]

I’ll put in a word for Rozark Hills, a small roaster in Central Arkansas where I get my coffee. They’ll usually have a dozen varietals and about that many blends. Right now, I’m drinking Sumatran Mandheling.

[weinoo]

7 hours ago, Alex Bernardo said:

Where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area it’s Andytown Coffee and Ritual

 

I like Ritual a lot, as well as Four Barrel. Always visit when we're out there. But for me, with home delivery the day (or sometimes two) after it's roasted, George Howell can't be beat.  And some of his special roasts are insane (not that I'd buy one, at over $200/lb.!)

[rotuts]

I roast my own coffee.

 

however , if push comes to shove

 

Ive tried Peet's and Starbucks

 

and found coffee's  ( whole bean of course ) 

 

lacking from each vendor.

 

consider Trader Joes .

 

its not going to be quite like the $ 200 / lbs mentioned above

 

( Blue Mountain ?  Bait&Switch ? ) 

 

but its  decent coffee at a fair price.