@tando I love you too. Do you like home made coffee?
I had made coffee at home but it was not as good as coffee sold at stores. I still liked it though.
Ok, so found a local roaster nearby… haven’t tried out the beans yet, will do that tomorrow. Sort of curious though, how much do you guys typically pay for 225g of beans?
Looking for un-biased response so I’ll post the price I paid later… but I feel like I overpaid. My reference point is the price for store bought beans…
I usually buy the medium dark roast and Italian roast beans from Oklao on Bo’ai Road (they have a few other branches around Taipei and Taiwan), for grinding at home and using in a moka pot.
Tried a few other places when I first arrived in Taiwan, but ended up sticking with this place for the last couple of years. I pay 300 TWD per 454g bag and the friendly guy who works there has always given me buy two get one free (I’m not sure whether that’s an ongoing promotion or the guy is just being nice, as they don’t always have the sign outside), so effectively 200 TWD per bag
They have more expensive beans too, but these two have always done the job for me.
The price of coffee beans varies by quality & the cost of living in the country of origin. Generally speaking, beans from Kenya are pricey, but other African beans tend to be cheaper than South & Central American beans. Brazil should be cheap.
When my roaster was being repaired last fall, I think I was paying around NT$400 for 225g. But I like good coffee.
If you’re having difficulty getting beans you like, you could always try buying two types & blending them. For example, if you find one too light (sour) & another too dark (burnt), mix them together. Start with 50:50, then adjust from there.
That’s a good idea about blending , I often get annoyed about roasts that are too heavy.
Cool, thanks!
I paid NT$500 for my 225g bag… sort of recall the cheapest Carrefour option at ~NT$200 or so and Starbucks NT$750 for 2x 250g bags. Price seemed a bit steep but figured mass production vs small volume roasting could easily justify the price difference… and anyway, my objective is to experiment a bit.
Brewed my first cup today, not bad. But I suppose that if you’re looking for distinctive natural flavors in a drink, tea can provide a much broader selection? Or maybe it just takes some time to decondition my preference for dark roast in coffee. I suppose most people refer to it as “burnt” but in my mind it’s “smoky”
Cheap, strong and doesn’t taste bad. You can’t let it sit around too long though.
This could double as a decent Tinder profile. : D
Guy
I got that foodsaver vacuum machine from Costco so I seperate it in 7-8 smaller batches and stays always fresh
The main problem with supermarket coffee is that it’s not fresh. Some coffees can last a month, and even taste better at that time. However, most do best being drunk at some point between the first and second week after roasting.
Two flavors I can’t abide in coffee are the grassy, hay-like taste of an under-developed roast, and the smokey, acrid taste of a burnt roast. But I’m okay with most coffees between those two points. (I believe Indonesian coffees do better roasted darker, though.)
One tip I can offer with dark roasts is not to pay too much for them. After a certain point, all coffees taste the same when roasted darker. I’ve had a dark roasted gesha that was indistinguishable from a 7-11 coffee.
In an extreme oversimplification: good tea tends to be more floral; good coffee tends to be more nutty or berry-like. A comparison I often use is tea is like whisk(e)y, coffee is like rum. However, I’m talking good whisk(e)y compared with good rum (not Bacardi etc).
It’s like tar, it will taste always the same.
I suppose this already answers my question, but here goes: does it matter which French press / coffee press we buy? We just broke our old single-serving one (from Starbucks), so I’ve got to buy a new one. I’ll probably just go to Starbucks and get another one, unless someone persuades me that a reasonably-easy-to-find brand is worth seeking out.
There are other coffee places nearby that presumably also sell these, but I’d be in the position of “brand I’ve never heard of” vs Starbucks, and in that case I’d go with Starbucks, unless there’s a recommendation. I assume that a bit of grit leftover in the cup is inevitable with French presses.
So … should I just head to Starbucks, or put a bit more effort into buying a new French press? Thanks in advance!
Ikea has cheap ones that work perfectly well.
And you’ll have enough left over for a filter! I use a Tiamo one.
I have a Bodum press which is stainless steel. If you use it a lot I don’t know a more durable product.
The Starbucks french press is actually made by Bodum, with “Starbucks” imprinted on the metal frame.
You can find Bodum in most of the department stores up on the home appliance floor. It’s possible it will be cheaper there, especially if they have some kind of promotion.
Guy
I agree! The silver / black combo also retains its colour nicely compared to some of Bodum’s other more exotic colour options.
Guy
Hmm. Actually I was intending to head to the Tianmu Sogo this week and make use of their anniversary sale. But deciphering the complex webs of deals described in their brochures would necessitate a whole other thread …
EDIT: Huh. Memory’s weird. I totally forgot that I used to call these things Bodums, rather than French presses, for at least a decade.
EDIT 2: sort of a pity my wife broke the single-serving one. We’ve got a bigger one too, and for that size, I wouldn’t mind getting a more-expensive insulated one. But there doesn’t seem much point with insulation for the single-serving type.
EDIT 3: for what it’s worth, here’s what’s on offer according to Starbucks’ local website, and Bodum’s: