Fancy Coffee for my beau.
My boyfriend's birthday is coming up in short order, and he is quite fond of nice coffees. I decided to make him up a nice gift basket of coffees and coffee related things.
He has a coffeemaker, and will be investing in a better quality grinder if I get him this gift.
But what I'm really looking for from all of you is coffee suggestions.
My family and I live on Peet's and don't mind swinging by Starbucks for a caffe americano, but I'm looking for some neater beans and local roasters to buy from for my boyfriend's gift.
Any suggestions?
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18 Comments:
My favorite is Counter Culture Coffee; you can order from them online. They do stellar single origin coffees. They also have subscriptions (like a coffee-of-the-month club) that might be nice for your gift.
sobriquet at 9:04AM on 06/16/09
Coffee, where to start? Peet's Major Dickason's blend is pretty good. Somewhat dark, but flavorful. Starbucks, I avoid at home. Even Trader Joe's has a few higher end coffees, usually the organic/fair trade ones. Was at the LA WineFest the other weekend and they had a nice organic called Weaver's. It's a great high-end coffee if that is what you are looking for.
OnlyBetterEaters at 9:10AM on 06/16/09
Our favorite is Karma Coffee, an independent on-site roaster outside Boston. You can also order from them online (although we've only gone into the store to pick up whole beans): www.stiryoursoul.com . We are completely hooked on their espresso, which has a depth of flavor and wonderful crema we haven't found elsewhere. As a bonus, we feel good about supporting a local business (or...sort of local, since we actually live in NY...). They have regular coffees, too, on top of the espresso.
littlestcapy at 9:30AM on 06/16/09
Best coffee I've ever had:
http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/
Seriously - a coffee basket is not complete without it.
ricestein at 11:21AM on 06/16/09
intelligentsiacoffee.com
so, so good.
maybe you could get him a few different bags of their single origin beans so he could compare and contrast?
andshewas at 11:27AM on 06/16/09
where you located? there is a spot in sag harbor that has a coffee blend called dream. it is amazing. my bf loves this stuff. i prefer it hot but it is really good cold. it has a hint of chocolate. yum.
you can order it online at www.returntomainstreet.com
jaf at 11:47AM on 06/16/09
My favorite is Guatemalan coffee, I prefer to use a socially responsible site such as justcoffee.net, asgreenasitgetscoffee.org (amazing site) and sometimes green mountain. Always go for whole beans.
Luby26 at 11:49AM on 06/16/09
Intelligentsia is very good as are Counter Culture, Ecco Caffe, Stumptown and many smaller lesser known roasters that I'm comfortable recommending. Where are you located - what metro area?
As for a "better" grinder.... it depends on whether he he eventually plans to have a good espresso machine or if his use will be just brewed coffee. A Baratza Virtuoso or Kitchen-Aid Proline are both very good for brewed coffee at the under $200 price point. For a good espresso grinder plan on roughly $275 and up to more than you can imagine spending.
phaelon56 at 11:52AM on 06/16/09
I drink illy most of the time
http://www.illyusa.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/index.html
but here are some really good flavored coffees
http://www.joffreys.com/
caramel at 11:54AM on 06/16/09
The Unseen Bean is good coffee and an interesting story. The guy who roasts the beans is blind (thus, "unseen") and he pretty much does all the work himself. He's got a friend who helps (and who does the driving when they need to go somewhere) but he's got voice readouts on his equipment so he can work on his own as far as roasting, packaging, and labeling. The labels also have braille lettering, so he can find them on the shelves when he needs to. And the logo is cute -- a dog with dark glasses. You can find his beans online. Another interesting tidbit is that before he was roasting coffee beans, he was a car mechanic, and from what I heard, he was pretty good about it, even if he couldn't do test drives.
dbcurrie at 11:58AM on 06/16/09
Pure Kona if you can find it. Expect to pay for it, though.
Grumpy Old Man at 2:05PM on 06/16/09
Stumptown is fantastic, as is Gimme Coffee.
producestories at 7:29PM on 06/16/09
Specs Liquor Warehouse in Houston on Smith Street, roasts their own. Exceptionally good. Don't know if they sell on the web.
Ribster at 9:15PM on 06/16/09
I'm going to plug my friend's shop, Anthony's, on Maui, Hawaii. He hand roasts a large variety of coffees from Hawaii, East Asia, Central & South America. He does a big mail order business to the mainland.
I love his Kona Extra Fancy, but it is quite expensive. The Maui Mokka and Maui Grown (Typica) varieties are much more reasonably priced, and really delicious. All coffee, except for the decaf, is roasted on the premises in small batches every few days. The beans are then packed in vacuum-sealed bags, and shipped to you via FedEx.
http://www.anthonyscoffee.com/
salpico at 9:44AM on 06/17/09
@OnlyBetterEaters
I was at LA winefest too, the coffee I tasted there was definitely really good! I also heard that the roaster for Weaver's coffee worked for Peet's for over 20 years. You should defintely check it out for your bf !
I looked it up on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Weavers-Coffee-Tea/94652887232
socaljane at 7:17PM on 06/17/09
I'm on the east coast, and I'll be sure to look into all of your suggestions! Thank you very much, and if you think of anything else be sure to let me know!
Narwhal at 2:42PM on 06/18/09
@Narwhal
soo have you found something for your bf? The coffee i was talking about can actually be just ordered online.. its actually freshly roasted before reaches your home. I just got some .. its a great cup.weaver's
socaljane at 6:53PM on 06/29/09
i've been ordering my coffee from Anthony's since my last trip to Maui...
but now i feel nuts doing it. where the amazing local coffee at? porto rico,
gorilla, stumptown? is there an Anthony hidden somewhere nearby?
honeybea at 2:59PM on 08/24/09