The Forestry Forum

Since we've retired both the wife and I have reduced how much coffee we drink.  We no longer drink any coffee after late morning.  We'll make a pot using our Bunn type coffee maker first thing in the morning.  We usually each drink 2 to 3 cups per day and we were finding that we were dumping ½ a pot or so down the drain every day.    smiley_thumbsdown


Against even my wife's request, until recently I've resisted the Keurig type coffee makers ever since they've appeared.    My biggest issue was the "cost per cup" when using them.   This cost goes up quite a bit when you buy decent or name brand coffee blends like Folgers, Maxwell House and others.    Buying the budget store, no-name coffee the cost per cup comes in at 20-25 cents per cup.  And most of it tastes like crap.  steve_smiley   When you get into the name brand stuff cost can jump to 40-70 cents a cup!    I don't even like Starbucks or most of the "designer" coffee blends that can go upwards of $1 per cup.  :o  If you go through the math, even the run-of-the-mill name brand stuff adds up pretty quick.   As already mentioned, the wife and I usually drink 2 to 3 cups per day.    So, if I average 2.5 cups each, that's 5 cups a day.  Multiply that by 30 days per month at about 50¢ per cup and it comes in at $75 a month to drink coffee.    Who calculates that into their budget   ???

About a month ago I caved in and we got our first Keurig coffee maker and a few boxes of the K-cup coffees.   We tried the name brand and a couple different of the budget stuff.     There will be no more budget coffee bought!
Our new Keurig coffee maker came with a refillable K-cup pod so you can use regular container coffee to make a cup.   This is a great concept because it brings the cost of coffee down to around 12¢ a cup, and you get to drink your favorite coffee at very little price increase.    :)  The downside of this is the mess of cleaning the refillable pod for each cup.     :-\   Let me say that you can also buy additional refillable pods and run them through the dishwasher . . . . . . after dumping (the messy part) the coffee grounds out.   The point here is the required clean up after making coffee.   This is counter to the reason for even considering Keurig over a regular coffee maker.    ::)

After about three weeks of the new Keurig, I got thinking that there has to be a better way.   smiley_headscratch   So, I went to my friend Google, and asked if there was any place that I could get empty "use once" K-cup pods.     Well to my surprise, my friend told me about a lot of available options.   smiley_sidelightbulb   Through Amazon I can get the "use once" highly rated coffee pods.   They are quick and easy to fill.  I can fill a dozen or so in about 2 minutes.  Buying in quantity and using these "use once" disposable pods the cost per cup comes down to 26-30 cents per cup. This includes the cost of decent coffee.   This is still not as cheap as brewing or using a regular pot type coffee maker but for the convenience I find it acceptable.   :)

So from here on out I think we are K-cup pod users.

I have found that with most of the K-cup's you can run it through a second time without a problem. ,cuts the cost in half. Don't try that with the hot chocolate tho. 

I buy Maxwell House or Nabob when it's on sale and make it in the drip maker. I tried no name brands to save a couple of bucks but ended up throwing it out. Melitta is my favourite but my oh my they are proud of it! Two large cups to start the day (on the first now) and that's it unless I am out visiting or at a restaurant. At one time coffee was a basic food group, always had a cup in hand while on the road, but had to cut back. Too hard on the stomach and too many pit stops.

This

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_coffee-perk.jpg)


Plus water and this. :D

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Three or four cups, good for the day. ;D

My quest and for the record it's nothing but my Maxwell House.  No more experimenting:  LINK (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=87196.msg1776700#msg1776700)

The only refillable "use once" pods that I found were ~30¢ each.  ??

Quote from: Magicman on February 21, 2021, 03:46:11 PM
My quest and for the record it's nothing but my Maxwell House.

:D :D :D

Coffee is a serious subject with me. The poll didn't cover our options, but I voted for one part of it. We use a Farberware 12 cup perk pot that is set up every night before bed and goes on at 4:30 am unless I get up earlier and manually trip it on. My wife drinks 2 mugs but has this routine where she doesn't have her second mug until after her shower, so I have to wait until then to finish the pot. Sometimes I don't finish it and just unplug it and will come back later in the day, like lunch time, fill a cup and re-heat it in the microwave. Rarely do we dump more than 1/3 before cleaning. Now that gets me through the morning and most days, but some days it doesn't touch the need as much as I'd like (like today), so I have a classic camp stove perk pot I fill with water and bring out to the shop and set on the woodstove and perk another pot out there. That pot empties pretty quick, it's only 10 cup and I can't find my 12 cup just yet (I also have a 24, just in case company comes). That little pot gets me through the rest of the day and I have my last cup around 3-5pm, which coincides closely to just before I have my first beer of the day, so there is balance in the universe. ;D
Now I know my proclivities are not for everyone, and we all have to do what we can to get through the night (or day as it were). I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings because I realize we all have different needs and if it works for you I say, GOOD ON YA!
But for me, I ain't got no time for no K-cups no how. Sorry, not for me. They forced that stuff on us 4 years before I retired and a lot of the guys and gals in the office used it once a day to make their favorite 'thing' and it was great, except for me and one other (old) guy who were miserable. I finally found an old Bunn 2 burner commercial coffee maker and rebuilt it and  put it in service, right next to the thig-a-ma-jig thing. We took turns buying 3 pound cans of coffee and went back to being productive and (relatively) happy. :) Rarely would we throw out more than 1/2 cup (usually done by noon) and sometimes we made a second pot on rough days. (We also noticed an uptick in coffee thieves from our stash and had to take 'measures'.)
Here's my issue with the K-cups, because really, I did try, honestly, to make a go. But I didn't like the coffees, they aren't bad, but they were not what I was used to (everything had a 'flavor' or a 'special blend'). My wife got me one of those re-fillable things and I used that for what seemed like forever, but the thing that really got me was that I used 4 spoons (scoops) of coffee to make a 12 cup pot and it take nearly one scoop to fill those k-cup things, so for the 'cost' of 4-5 k-cups, I could have had 12 cups of coffee. Also, the time wasted every time I made a cup of coffee was just about as long as it took me to clean that bunn coffee pot, fill and make an entire pot. Maybe I am turning into my father, as they say, but I ain't got no time for those k-cups. If they work for you, I say, good for you and do enjoy it. But I like my coffee the way I like it and when they messed with my coffee they had no idea the beast that would come out of me. ;D
Sorry, I know I didn't get you useful information here, but I think those things put more junk in the landfills and take more money out of folks pockets than they need to. BUT I will defend your right to use whatever you want, it just isn't for me. :D ;D

I use a pour-over device. Used to be Melita. I grind whole beans each morning for the one cup I drink.

My Dad always said,  "There is no bad coffee, just some better than others".  He carried a small jar of Maxwell house in his overhalls when he went visiting to be sure there was coffee.

Dad's cousin just down the road a spell said, "You gotta boil the L out of it" :D

It's funny, dad was never a coffee drinker, except maybe a Sunday morning when he didn't have to work his but off all day. When he retired, he had a cup when coming home from the golf course and 'something' smothered in peanut butter to go along with it. :D And that right there is funny to. ;D Golfing? You kidding me? Dad!!!? :D :D Retirement must be a disease of the mind, you do stuff you'd never do otherwise. :D

we resisted going to K cups for years.  my brother who always tells me how much money they do not have, got one 20 years ago or so.  We held out, but my wife like Maxwell house and only has one cup a day.  I have developed a taste for a dark or French roast as I get loder and have 2 or 3 over the morning.  My son may have coffee, hot chocolate, or apple cider for breakfast.  so the convenience and everyone getting what they want, cut down on waste as we do drink all that we make.  we used to maybe toss out half a pot, and no one really got what they wanted.  It is fresh at noon, like it was in the early morning, as it is made fresh.  I get Starbucks French roast, and we get a big box from Sam's.  Maxwell house for my wife.

You forgot a good old percolator! Right now I am using Utica Coffee  Grounds.

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The office girls like this coffee pod from Amazon for .24 ea. I run them though twice on strong.

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I clicked on stove top, which I do have several of, but I mainly use an electric percolator. I don't drink coffee every day but I do drink a whole pot when I do.

Quote from: LeeB on February 22, 2021, 09:52:10 AM
I clicked on stove top, which I do have several of, but I mainly use an electric percolator. I don't drink coffee every day but I do drink a whole pot when I do.

I fixed the choice for ya.    ;D

I only buy coffee in the whole bean bags, and grind it myself.  If you read the labels on food in the grocer store, and start realizing the crap they consistently put into the food that doesn't need to be there, like sugar, well, for myself, I'm that much more anal retentive in regards to what I buy to consume... Your body is your real temple after all; we're all stuck in them.

The reason I only use whole beans, most, and all name brand ground coffee puts tons of additives in, like more caffeine, of course to make up for things like colored cellulose being added as filler. 

Mr. Coffee, 19.99  last about 6 months, 6 months and 2 weeks with vinegar cleanings, so, 6 months. :)

Folgers, classic medium roast.  3 scoops per pot.

I tried Folgers, didn't care for it.

I fill the basket up to about 3/4 of a inch from the top.
Mostly that's the reason the office girls drink pods mine is too strong.

Quote from: sprucebunny on February 21, 2021, 07:20:40 PM
I use a pour-over device. Used to be Melita. I grind whole beans each morning for the one cup I drink.

Pour over is a great way to get a good coffee.  Now look up counter culture coffee down in Durham NC.  Maybe the best roaster on the east coast.  Find a east african sun dried coffee (Tanzania, Ethiopia or Kenya).  Get a bag as a treat but don't try to save it, best consumed as fresh as possible.  Yumm

 My favorite is a good sized french press that makes 3 large cups of coffee.  My favorite beans are East African.  Not a big fan of columbian, Jamacian and Hawaian are ok.  Drinking a Guji sundried by lone oak coffee out of winchester, our go to folks- very reasonable for whole beans in wholesale amount.

Farberware 6 cup percolator with whole bean Down East breakfast blend from here in RI every morning. Cream no sugar  Two cups to get started and one for the road.  In the winter evenings after coming in a cup of 'Lavazza' Kilimanjaro in the Moka Pot on the woodstove for a hot espresso warm me up, black. When camping with the horse trailer a Colletti Bozeman stainless steel percolator with coffee from a can of Chock Full of Nuts, black.  My dad used a Farberware with CFN as long as I can remember,  I did not know there was anything else for the longest time.  

In scouts, put the coffee in cold water in a coffee pot, over a camp fire.  boil then let it cool some and pour slow to not get too many grounds.  Roy Wilson was a WW2 vet, and scout leader.  one fall we were having coffee at a camporee and tons of leaves on the ground in a wooded area.  rustling the leaves with your feet smelled great.  he told scouts that the coffee we were drinking came from the leaves on the ground.  How could we predict that the good and loyal scouts would fill their back pacts full of leaves to take home for their moms to try.  I am sure the moms were thrilled!  good cooffee (as they say in Albany, NY).

Quote from: sawguy21 on February 22, 2021, 12:13:36 PM
I tried Folgers, didn't care for it.

:) :) I'm not picky. I just drink it black, Tammy mixed hers with flavoured creamers. :D Don't get me wrong, just because I'm cheap doesn't mean I don't appreciate a good cup of coffee when I accidentally get one somewhere. :D

Ahhh doc, now that is the way to make coffee on a cool morning in the bush!

at camp alexander in Colorado in June, if you had mess duty for breakfast, had to get up early to get flag up in camp and go to mess to serve other troops.  someone would go get coffee started.  It is in the mountains west of Colorado Springs, so no flat ground.  I remember setting my hot coffee on a table in the early mourning, as the cup began skating down hill with frost on the table, and I had to grab it.  good times.  made the coffee taste even better.

I like the coffee from a coffee press, but it takes too long during the weekdays when I'm working so we use the Amazon K-Cups that Raider Bill posted.

Pour over, did the K-cup when grinding in the corporate world, was ok, but like the coffee stronger then most of those would produce.

Black Rifle Coffee Company for us - fantastic coffee - great names for them and we have ours on a recurring delivery every couple week.  Veteran owned as well 

Murdered Out is my favorite blend but I like a really dark roast.

When working we started with the corporate large drip connected to tap water, coffee in pre-measured packets. First one arriving made it last to leave dumped the last grounds.  It was ok as it was coffee after all.  Before I retired we had a Kcup style machine with all types of choices.   I usually did a dark roast black with less water, you could select a water quantity from 4 oz to 10oz.  I'd leave home with a large thermos for the drive but ensured I left the wife with a couple of cups in the carafe.  At home we grind beans and use a drip maker and make 12 cups.  Starbucks dark roast from Costco bought on sale.  Usually keep bags ahead in a small fridge, I get nervous if we get down to two bags.  Again mine is usually black and wifey does a bit of cream.

Used stove top percolator when camping.  When back packing with scouts it was water heated on back pack stove and instant or bags. 

My wife's family were tea drinkers hot or iced.  Once we started dating she converted.  Our children don't like coffee....at least she says they are mine.

Growing up it was electric percolator with Maxwell House.  Been drinking coffee as far back as I can remember. 

My daughter's boy friend is Cuban.  When we visit his family his grandmother makes Cuban coffee.  Very strong and very sweet.  It is a nice treat!

Wow, got carried away there.  I like coffee!

When in the military, Cooks would use a large pot and put coffee in a bag(They said a used sock) and let it boil. After Desert Storm I wouldn't buy 

starbucks because they refused to send coffee to the troops, They didn't want to support the war.

Moka pot
Peets coffee
Starbucks cinnamon dolche creamer.  

1 on weekdays
2 on weekends.

One cup at work while I read the paper.  I think they use caribou coffee.  

Greetings all

It is perhaps odd that my first post on the Forestry Forum is about coffee. I am a coffee nerd though so I'll take this opportunity to chime in.

I buy green coffee and roast it at home in my hillbilly modified hot-air popcorn popper. My favorite beans are Ethiopian, my lovely bride prefers Guatemalan. Regardless the origin, I brew the same strength: 18 parts water to 1 part coffee...through an overpriced but flexible drip maker from The Netherlands.

We generally brew up 6 cups during the week and 8 on the weekend. She adds sweetener and a generous dose of half & half...I take mine black in a heavy diner mug. One of the best things about coffee nerd-ness for me is savoring the way the flavor profile of a bean changes as the cup gradually cools. Those thick diner mugs are great for that.

I've blathered on long enough. Thanks OP for kicking this off and getting me started.

Best regards,
Tony

Welcome Tony!  Coffee thread is a good place to start.  I may have missed an earlier post from others but, I believe you are the first roasting their own beans.  Where do you get you greens beans?

My go-to sources are Happy Mug in PA, and Sweet Maria's in Oakland.  HM generally has lower prices and fast shipping.  SM has a wealth of information and works directly with the farmers they source from.  I piddle some with espresso too and for that use Brazilian base beans from Theta Ridge out of IN. Their website is slim on information though.

Regards,
Tony

Eight 0 Clock Colombian whole bean, price is right and tastes decent.  
Grind a heaping 1/4 cup beans not too fine, 
add filter to 5 cup drip Mr Coffee and good for another day. 

K-cups are hard to beat when you have a difference of flavors in the household.  I like mine dark and strong or cinnamon flavored, but my wife likes butter toffee or French vanilla types.  I ordered a huge variety pack of dark roasts way back when we first got it and scored all the dark roast coffees.  My go to is green mountain dark magic for the first couple in the morning and Cinnabon K-Cup for afternoon fix.

Its a tad more expensive using k-cups than brewing, but consider the price of a divorce these days.   :)  :D

I'm the only coffee drinker in my house. Have used this Black and Decker Brew-n-Go for at least 25 years. The fine mesh screen was accidently tossed years ago, so I use a regular coffee filter instead. The stainless container is the best way to keep ground coffee fresh. It is air-tight. The sealed cover is pushed on top of the coffee grounds. I buy beans and grind enough for a week or so, keeping them in the sealed container. Beans I keep in the freezer.

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That little Brew-N-Go is handy. When I used to run the road chasing white oak, it was the first thing I packed rather than deal with motel coffee makers. Fresh mug in matter of couple minutes.  8)

I love it. Use a K-cup at work. That's fine too, but I can't see replacing my brew-n-go.

I like strong coffee a habit learned from my parents.
used a percolator up until about 15 yrs ago when wifey got our first keurig.
Perc was done with a heaping measure per cup and one for the pot, cant remember the brand.
Keurig is their Double diamond the strongest they offer.
I do use one dot of sugar and half and half, 2 10 oz mugs per morning, once in a while one in the afternoon.
Wife watches the keurig sales and gets it for about $.50 per cup.
Also have to figure in amortization of the maker, we are on our 3rd one, I figure about .015 per cup.
More than I would like but worth it for the consistency of product and convenience.

I am with deer meadow farm on the press.  I never turn down a cup of coffee regardless of how it's made. But at home we have a press that makes 2.5 mugs of coffee at a time.  We use whole bean, a small electric grinder and an electric kettle that heats the water in probably 2-3 minutes max.  

So far everyone that we have shared a cup with have been shocked at the difference.  I also would have to give credit to my wife for the whole setup.  I would have never known what I was missing.  

I prefer my cheap coffee with lots of cream, two splenda and a good book. 


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literally "the good book"!

I remember a chef in the French cowboy comic Lucky Luke. He said: "To make good coffee you should wet a pound of coffee powder with some water and boil it for an hour. Then you ad a horse shoe. If the horse shoe floats the coffee is ready, if not: ad more coffee." I agree ;D I prefer very strong coffee in small amounts rather than the other way around. No milk no sugar. Espresso is perfekt for me so I have an espresso machine. 
Also over here in Sweden people say I'm not normal as I actually get sleepy from drinking an espresso. I don't drink espresso or coffee every day, but when I do I prefer it late at night. 
I never claimed to be normal  8)

My son has severe ADHD.. Caffeine and other stimulants calm him tremendously.  When they wear off he is bonkers.


If you have 10 million thoughts, cant sit still, must be fidgiting or tinkering on one thing to focus on something else inderectly like a lecture or something you dont really enjoy but must endure... Have incredible long term memory but cant remember how you walked in the room.. Chances are its ADHD.  

Basically the chemicals that make the neurons fire in the brain arent quite at the right premix ratio so the brain has weak spark and runs poorly.  Stimulants help it smooth out and run well.

Anyone who says its BS can take my son for 2 days.  One with his meds and one without.  Youll be a believer.

About a month ago I discovered a new way of making coffee at home with Moka Pot. Cool italian thing to make Espresso with. But i always add a bit of cream or milk in there. It is awesome

Quote from: Andyrson1 on March 09, 2021, 12:15:38 PM
About a month ago I discovered a new way of making coffee at home with Moka Pot. Cool italian thing to make Espresso with. But i always add a bit of cream or milk in there. It is awesome

If you are into espresso, I'd strongly recommend this (https://www.coffee-statistics.com/best-travel-coffee-maker/#product_2) one. Especially if you are into travelling like I am :) 

I use a Mr. Coffee machine. I had the Bunn once and really liked how fast it made the coffee. It just never set well with me to know that I was buying electricity for that thing to keep the water hot 24 hours a day. I was also buying electricity to cool the house down while the coffee machine is heating it up all day to keep the water hot. Can't bring myself to get another one. It would be interesting if someone smarter than me could do the math on what it cost for a Bunn to keep the water hot all the time, and how much heat does it give off while doing it. Thus how much energy is being used to cool the house back down just from the heat the coffee pot is putting out 24 hours a day. I'm just referring to the heat it gives off keeping the water hot, not when you have turned it on and have the plate hot under the pot.  I bet it would change your price per cup.

It took us years, but finally got a Keurig.  Each of us kind brew what we like.  when we made 12 cups, we through out 8.  no one was happy, since we tried to make everyone happy.  I like the flavor.  I put in half and half out of habit, after living in Albany for 4 years.  I used to make get café con lecha.  espresso with hot milk and sugar. (Cuban coffee).  When we camp, we make cowboy coffee over the fire or propane burner.

How to Make Cowboy Coffee - Bing video (https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=cowboy+coffee+rollins&qpvt=cowboy+coffee+rollins&view=detail&mid=724314EC6C80E134AC44724314EC6C80E134AC44&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dcowboy%2Bcoffee%2Brollins%26qpvt%3Dcowboy%2Bcoffee%2Brollins%26FORM%3DVDRE)

My newest wrinkle is to fill the percolator basket 2/3 full of french roast coffee grounds and the perc full of water. If I put more coffee in as it expands it gets into the bottom.
Then when I'm pouring a cup I put in a heaping soup spoon of instant espresso.  
Doesn't put hair on your chest but it sure turns them gray.

My chest hair is already grey enough thank you.

I have two french presses, one for my milk and one for my coffee.  I use black rifle coffee or Jack Daniels coffee.

Step one, boil water and make coffee in french press.  Step two, fill the second press up with milk and agitate it until the milk turns into a heavy thick foam.  Step three, pour the heavy milk(has to be real milk or whole/unprocessed) foam into a cup (1/4th way then touch it with the coffee).

Best coffee ever.

Also, you need to get use to the right mix depending on the size of the cup.  All taste good but really brings the coffee flavor out when you hit the sweet spot.