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What's the worst coffee worldwide?

Hercule

Practically Family
Messages
953
Location
Western Reserve (Cleveland)
Whatever the cheap garbage is that they have at my work. The only flavor is bitter and burnt. Some guys drink 5 or 6 cups a day, and I can only assume it's because they want free caffeine.
Believe it or not there are those who actually like it that way. I used to have a neighbor who did.

Coffee tastes different depending on how it's made and how it is preserved. When i make a drip pot (wire mesh filter basket) at home I turn the maker off soon after the pot is done filling. Then I draw off cups as I want, microwaving as necessary. A pot lasts me a couple or three days that way (I only drink a cup or so before going out the door. Wife seldom drinks coffee anymore). At work i make another "pot" using a Japanese single cup drip thing (paper filter) that I load up and drip into a French press beaker, then pour off a mug and thermos the rest.

Why don't I use the French press you ask? Well I used to, exclusively so at home. It was great coffee but I found it made me a bit sick. That and fussing with the right grind (I still have some beans left from the coffee of the month club from a couple years ago. Probably not very good at this point!) and cleanup. I've gotten lazy in my old age, so Maxwellhouse and Mr Coffee won me over. The difference in taste is negligible (coffee of choice is maxwell smooth bold, occasionally french roast, though some pretty horrific things have been done in the name of french roast!) though do prefer the wire mesh filter.
 
Messages
10,941
Location
My mother's basement
The beauty of those metal mesh drip filters is, of course, that you don’t run out of paper filters.

I discovered on moving to Seattle in 1968 a brand called MJB. “There’s Only Enough for the West,” was the advertising slogan. And it truly was superior to the other canned coffee, which was about the only kind to be had in the “regular” supermarkets back then.
 
Messages
12,983
Location
Germany
But one thing astonishes me all the time!

The caffeine-free Moka brew from my percolator is surprisingly gentle! So, it must have been simply the caffeine back then, which made the brew so harsh.

I mean, yes, you often get ready for Mr. Ceramic, after this, but thats all. No further complains from my internals. :)
 
Chicory, maybe?

I’ve had coffee/chicory blend a time or three. Palatable, as I recall, but I wouldn’t seek it out again.

I actually like chicory coffee. It's popular in the South, especially New Orleans, and the Carribean. It makes a good cafe Cubano.

The worst coffee I've ever had was on the island of Java. Go figure.
 

Hercule

Practically Family
Messages
953
Location
Western Reserve (Cleveland)
I actually like chicory coffee. It's popular in the South, especially New Orleans, and the Carribean. It makes a good cafe Cubano.

The worst coffee I've ever had was on the island of Java. Go figure.

I've never knowingly had chicory coffee. What is it like?

I understand a "coffee" can be made from roasted dandelion roots (which are related to chicory). And likely other roots as well.
 
I've never knowingly had chicory coffee. What is it like?

I understand a "coffee" can be made from roasted dandelion roots (which are related to chicory). And likely other roots as well.

It's that earthy/nutty flavor others have mentioned. It actually smooths out the bitterness of a lot of coffee, as least when it's used in combination with coffee beans. I've never had straight ground chicory root. It's not a really stong flavor, and it's quite similar to actual coffee in a lot of ways, I guess depening on how it's roasted. It was, of course, used as a coffee substitute during the Civil War, when the Union blockaded southern ports, making real coffee scarce, which is why it's especially popular in southern port cities like New Orleans, Mobile, Tampa, etc.
 

Hercule

Practically Family
Messages
953
Location
Western Reserve (Cleveland)
It's that earthy/nutty flavor others have mentioned. It actually smooths out the bitterness of a lot of coffee, as least when it's used in combination with coffee beans. I've never had straight ground chicory root. It's not a really stong flavor, and it's quite similar to actual coffee in a lot of ways, I guess depening on how it's roasted. It was, of course, used as a coffee substitute during the Civil War, when the Union blockaded southern ports, making real coffee scarce, which is why it's especially popular in southern port cities like New Orleans, Mobile, Tampa, etc.

Thanks, I'll have to give it a try.
 
Messages
12,983
Location
Germany
But you should def. try the, how I call it, "Moccaccino" thing!

Like I mentioned before, coffee from the Moka pot, filled up with lowfat milk, 50/50 mix, with muuuch sugar. ;)

My actual journey is to try different (caffeine-free) basic coffee grounds (not Espresso!). :)
I bought two other classic german brands, today. A caffeine-free "Melange" ground and a real "Mokka ground".

Right now, trying the Mokka ground. Not my taste!!
The Dallmayr caffeine-free ground was much better.
 
Messages
12,983
Location
Germany
Ethiopean coffee tastes death warmed over, scorched, bitter. Ditto Sumatran.

Coffee grown in Peru, Costa Rica, and Chiapas, Mexico top my list of the definite best.

Isn't Ethiopia coffee mostly Mocca and the reason, why it's cheaper stuff? I mean, yes, Coffee Arabica, but usually exported and marked as "Mocca beans".
The Mocca coffee, sold here, is usally strong tasting, harsh stuff for coffee Klingons. ;) Yes, kind of roasty hazelnut and bittersweet.
 

Harp

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,508
Location
Chicago, IL US
Irish poet scoundrels such as meself lad have plebeian taste buds eclipsed
by more patrician palates such as yours, so dealer's choice in the caffeine game
typically suffices; added insult is my lack of coffee bean lingo. o_O
What brands I have tried put to experience and if not broke never fix, just pour please.;)
 
Messages
10,941
Location
My mother's basement
I’ve dined in Ethiopian restaurants on many occasions (wash your hands first). It’s among my most favored fare. But I have yet to experience the “coffee and its rituals” offered at some such establishments, such as the one a mile or so from my former home in Southeast Seattle.

My understanding is that it involves incense and roasting coffee beans over a live fire and then grinding those beans with mortar and pestle ahead of brewing. The aromas are central to the experience, I’ve been told. And you obviously can’t be in a hurry.
 

earl

A-List Customer
Messages
316
Location
Kansas, USA
I don’t know if it’s the coffee grown there, but the coffee they serve in Sumatra is awful.

I quite like Arabic coffee, when done right, but I’m in the camp that Costa Rican is the top of the heap.
Never been to Sumatra. I'm talking about the dark roast Sumatran that Starbucks put out. With its low acidity it makes for a good smooth rich blend.
 
Messages
12,983
Location
Germany
Anyone knows, if simple cutting blade coffee grinder is really that worse? I just had the idea to maybe reactivate my Ma's simple drugstore grinder.
 

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