"Bold" or Burnt?
I am sitting in my local coffee shop and cannot help but wonder where the line between bold and burnt lies. In an effort to produce coffees with greater complexity, aroma and flavor, we may have lost the art of the perfectly balanced, enjoyable cup of coffee. I am usually all for inovation and envelope pushing. However, lately I am finding it difficult to find a shop where I can get a cup of coffee that I can truly enjoy without feeling as though I'm being duped into drinking burnt coffee. Does anyone feel this way?
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16 Comments:
Yes I feel this way entirely.
In fact, because of this I've quit drinking black--I have to add milk now to mask the 'burnt' bean flavour...*sigh*
Another bites the dust.
hungrychristel at 5:59PM on 01/02/09
Exactly the way I feel. I like coffee, even strong coffee, but not burnt coffee.I posted a "way" or "no way" regarding Starbucks, because I just don"t care for the taste of their coffee.
dmcavanagh at 6:11PM on 01/02/09
There is a big difference between bold and burnt. If you've ever had "burnt" beans there is a distinct scorched smell/flavor to the resutling brew. I love espressos and other darker, more robust roasts. My parents are always chiding me for brewing such strong coffee and I can tell you there is a huge difference between burnt and dark roasts/strong coffee. There is a perfect cup for everyone; my perfect cup happens to have less water and more beans than my parents' perfect cup.
wookie at 6:57PM on 01/02/09
I love a really bold brew but don't like when coffee is so over-roasted that it makes me want to peel my tongue out of my mouth.
The Sbux brews I favor are Italian, French, Espresso Roast (even for drip), Yukon and Sumatra.
BF's dad loves my coffee but his mother usually winds up nuking a cup of (ewwwww) instant.
therealchiffonade at 8:12PM on 01/02/09
*wookie
there certainly is a difference, but I was just expressing my concern that in the pursuit of more flavor coffee is verging on burnt. I love the intense flavor of espresso as well, which also proves my point. Espresso doesn't taste burnt and it uses a very darkly roasted bean. Also, much of the issue has to do with the preparation of the coffee. Its amazing how inept (read careless) baristas can be.
arrestedzeppelin at 8:29PM on 01/02/09
This is why I drink americanos. Especially if I end up at a Starbucks for coffee (something I try to avoid but cannot completely escape), since their drip is terrible, as dmcavanagh mentioned. Their espresso is delightfully consistent though.
joyyy at 10:31PM on 01/02/09
I must have been very lucky in my Sbux experiences. I've never had a bad cup of coffee there. The one time things didn't go perfectly was when my cappuccino was not quite as hot as I like. The kid who made it gladly re-made it, promising, "this one's gonna be golden!"
Now the Brothers coffee in bookstores Borders Book stores... Never had a good cup there. (And it takes 15 minutes to make any drink.)
therealchiffonade at 6:38AM on 01/03/09
@therealchiffonade: Starbucks espresso is pretty consistent, as is their training of employees, so most espresso-based drinks are fine. I think what most of us arre talking about is just a cup of drip coffee, standard fare. That stuff is terrible, the espresso is not.
joyyy at 6:18PM on 01/03/09
Usually folks add waaaaaay too much coffee to the basket, thinking the more grounds, the merrier, but that just produces an unbalanced brew. It makes me sad that a simple cup of coffee is a dying art form, since I really don't like fancy coffee drinks. I just want a basic cuppa joe - is that too much to ask for?
TheCheapChick at 7:01PM on 01/03/09
This probably explains why I don't go to coffeeshops. Too expensive for what you get, even if it's good. And if it's not to your particular taste, then it's really a waste of money. So you drink coffee you don't like because you just paid five bucks for it.
Nah, I'll brew it at home, and if I don't like it, I know who to blame.
dbcurrie at 9:49PM on 01/03/09
Burnt coffee is why I stopped drinking Starbucks ages ago. I grind and brew the good stuff at home, but when I'm out and about I go to Dunkin Donuts.
caramel at 10:04PM on 01/03/09
Maybe I'm just not understanding what you guys mean by "burnt." Sbux has timers on all their urns and the java gets dumped when the timer goes off. (And no, I've never worked for them...LOL.)
I've generally gotten regular drip during "rush" hours for coffee and not "off" hours when I'm more likely to order a cappuccino. Anytime there's a lot of traffic through Sbux (like in the early morning), the brew I've gotten was fine. ((Shrugs))
therealchiffonade at 9:05AM on 01/04/09
Here in Canada, we have Tim Horton's, it seems like on every street corner. They do an ordinary cup of coffee, fresh every 20 minutes - the price is right - the line ups are long. Starbuck's has made an inroad into our city, but I would rather go without. Timmie's seems to have got it right, nice and strong without the burnt flavour.
bareneed at 9:18AM on 01/04/09
Some folks are not understanding what is getting burnt. It's not the coffee, it's the beans. I drive three miles out of my way (to work) to 3 Cups in Chapel Hill North Carolina to get an unburnt full-flavor organic fair-trade french press cup of joe. I sit in my car, take a sip, and just sigh with satisfaction. A perfect cup of black coffee.
caseydecuervito at 10:45AM on 01/04/09
I won't buy coffee from a chain coffee shop (I'd never go into sbux if it weren't for my tragic chai latte addiction) but I will go out of my way to get coffee from an independent coffee shop that roasts their own beans. There aren't a whole lot around here (I can think of three in all of the Baltimore area, luckily two of them are exceptional). If I am anywhere near Zeke's or Baltimore Coffee & Tea Co. I make it a point to stop by.
KTempesta at 12:28PM on 01/04/09
I hate Charbucks.
Nellie Gatewood at 9:48AM on 01/23/09