Hey Jeff
 

You ever have Gevalia coffee. Any good?

Is this a good deal?
http://www.joingevalia.com/Promo/Gev...ased12cp_scp.h
tm?keycode=107054


--
Scott Vernon
Plowville Pa _/)__/)_/)_

The coffee makers aren't bad (for the price) though they are slow to make a full
pot, which causes over-extraction. I've heard people say they do better making
half a pot.

As for the coffee, a small step up from Folgers.

First, remember that they are not cheap. Their offerings are $5.55 to $7.25 for
a HALF pound, plus an "added shipping and handling" charge. By comparison, for
only a few dollars more you can get extradinary coffee, possibly the best you'll
ever drink, from places like:

http://www.smithfarms.com/coffee.asp (a tiny farm in Hawaii)

or cheaper, from my primary green bean supplier:

http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.roasted.html

There are dozens of options like this around the country. Unfortunately, they
are usually lost in the sea of mediocre coffee from Gevalia, Starbucks, Peets,
Dunkin Donuts, supermarket bins, etc.

The necessary ingredients for good coffee:

Ground immediately before brewing - if you're not doing this, ignore the rest.
High quality beans (this rules out 95% of the coffee out there)
Roasted within the last week or so
Roasted with care, not too dark (rules out Starbucks)
Brewed very hot (195+ degrees) and quickly (under 5 minutes), which rules out
most cheap brewers
And NEVER use the P-thing (rhymes with "jerkolator")

The cheapest way to get high quality coffee is to roast your own. For most of
my coffee, I pay $5 to $7 a pound, for very good beans. Add a dollar for
shipping, another for my roasting equipment, and its still cheaper than the
supermarket "gourmet" stuff. And I roast it exactly how I like it, and its
always consumed within a few days of roasting. Even when I splurge on something
like Kona, its still half the price I'd have to pay to get it roasted.

enjoy,
jeff


"Scott Vernon" wrote in message
...
You ever have Gevalia coffee. Any good?

Is this a good deal?
http://www.joingevalia.com/Promo/Gev...ased12cp_scp.h
tm?keycode=107054


--
Scott Vernon
Plowville Pa _/)__/)_/)_

I've been using Gevalia for some time...

How long do you roast green beans?

I liked the convience of Gevalia. Tell me how to get better...

Thanks,
LP

"Jeff Morris" wrote in message
...
The coffee makers aren't bad (for the price) though they are slow to make
a full
pot, which causes over-extraction. I've heard people say they do better
making
half a pot.

As for the coffee, a small step up from Folgers.

First, remember that they are not cheap. Their offerings are $5.55 to
$7.25 for
a HALF pound, plus an "added shipping and handling" charge. By
comparison, for
only a few dollars more you can get extradinary coffee, possibly the best
you'll
ever drink, from places like:

http://www.smithfarms.com/coffee.asp (a tiny farm in Hawaii)

or cheaper, from my primary green bean supplier:

http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.roasted.html

There are dozens of options like this around the country. Unfortunately,
they
are usually lost in the sea of mediocre coffee from Gevalia, Starbucks,
Peets,
Dunkin Donuts, supermarket bins, etc.

The necessary ingredients for good coffee:

Ground immediately before brewing - if you're not doing this, ignore the
rest.
High quality beans (this rules out 95% of the coffee out there)
Roasted within the last week or so
Roasted with care, not too dark (rules out Starbucks)
Brewed very hot (195+ degrees) and quickly (under 5 minutes), which rules
out
most cheap brewers
And NEVER use the P-thing (rhymes with "jerkolator")

The cheapest way to get high quality coffee is to roast your own. For
most of
my coffee, I pay $5 to $7 a pound, for very good beans. Add a dollar for
shipping, another for my roasting equipment, and its still cheaper than
the
supermarket "gourmet" stuff. And I roast it exactly how I like it, and
its
always consumed within a few days of roasting. Even when I splurge on
something
like Kona, its still half the price I'd have to pay to get it roasted.

enjoy,
jeff


"Scott Vernon" wrote in message
...
You ever have Gevalia coffee. Any good?

Is this a good deal?
http://www.joingevalia.com/Promo/Gev...ased12cp_scp.h
tm?keycode=107054


--
Scott Vernon
Plowville Pa _/)__/)_/)_

"Lady Pilot" wrote in message
news:3oI9d.1415$EZ.1041@okepread07...
I've been using Gevalia for some time...
How long do you roast green beans?

I've been doing it for about 15 years now. Oh, did you mean each batch? That
depends on the method. Four minutes is considered to fast to work properly, 30
minutes is too slow. I use 2 roasters, a drum which does 1/2 pound in 20
minutes, and hot air roaster (like a popcorn popper) which does a smaller batch
in 11 minutes. On the boat I sometimes use a WhirleyPop popcorn popper - you
have to get the beans up to about 400 degrees for about 5 minutes, and then cool
it down rapidly.

For those wanting to save money, a hot air popcorn popper from a thrift shop can
be used. Large batches can be done is a large drum on a BBQ. The latest craze
seems to be roasting in metal dog food bowls with a propane torch. There are a
number of small table top roasters, but the batch size is pretty small.

One common problem is that a lot of smoke is produced - this is not a hobby for
sealed up condos. I setup a hood in the basement with a 2-stage fan for
roasting. Many people use the back porch or garage, my newest roaster came with
an adapter to vent out the window.

The there is a small monetary saving to home roasting - at get the highest
quality beans for about half price. My net is $8-10, which is the same as
"gourmet market" bins, but my quality is higher. Also, I control the freshness
and the exact darkness of the roast. While I don't claim to produce the highest
quality roast, that usually costs $16 to $20 a pound mail order. Another
advantage of homeroasting is that I can buy in bulk, and have a supply of green
beans on hand. Every 3 or 4 days, I decide what type I want for the next few
days. The biggest downside is that The coffee needs about 12 hours to "rest"
after roasting, so you can't procrastinate until morning.

If this sound interesting, check out:
http://www.sweetmarias.com


I liked the convience of Gevalia. Tell me how to get better...



If all you want is better coffee than Gevalia, there are a number of coffee
clubs that have higher quality. Two of my green suppliers roast small batches
and will ship on a schedule:

http://www.smithfarms.com/coffee.asp
http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.roasted.html

You could probably get a better list by scanning the archives of alt.coffee.

And if any of the regulars what of sample of my roast, just ask.

jeff



Thanks,
LP

"Jeff Morris" wrote in message
...
The coffee makers aren't bad (for the price) though they are slow to make
a full
pot, which causes over-extraction. I've heard people say they do better
making
half a pot.

As for the coffee, a small step up from Folgers.

First, remember that they are not cheap. Their offerings are $5.55 to
$7.25 for
a HALF pound, plus an "added shipping and handling" charge. By
comparison, for
only a few dollars more you can get extradinary coffee, possibly the best
you'll
ever drink, from places like:

http://www.smithfarms.com/coffee.asp (a tiny farm in Hawaii)

or cheaper, from my primary green bean supplier:

http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.roasted.html

There are dozens of options like this around the country. Unfortunately,
they
are usually lost in the sea of mediocre coffee from Gevalia, Starbucks,
Peets,
Dunkin Donuts, supermarket bins, etc.

The necessary ingredients for good coffee:

Ground immediately before brewing - if you're not doing this, ignore the
rest.
High quality beans (this rules out 95% of the coffee out there)
Roasted within the last week or so
Roasted with care, not too dark (rules out Starbucks)
Brewed very hot (195+ degrees) and quickly (under 5 minutes), which rules
out
most cheap brewers
And NEVER use the P-thing (rhymes with "jerkolator")

The cheapest way to get high quality coffee is to roast your own. For
most of
my coffee, I pay $5 to $7 a pound, for very good beans. Add a dollar for
shipping, another for my roasting equipment, and its still cheaper than
the
supermarket "gourmet" stuff. And I roast it exactly how I like it, and
its
always consumed within a few days of roasting. Even when I splurge on
something
like Kona, its still half the price I'd have to pay to get it roasted.

enjoy,
jeff


"Scott Vernon" wrote in message
...
You ever have Gevalia coffee. Any good?

Is this a good deal?
http://www.joingevalia.com/Promo/Gev...ased12cp_scp.h
tm?keycode=107054


--
Scott Vernon
Plowville Pa _/)__/)_/)_