I struggle with the pod systems because of the freshness issue. I've found that the biggest factors affecting the coffee I make at home are the freshness of the beans, and the accuracy of the grind. Ground coffee starts going stale very quickly, so pre-packaged pods are for the most part all stale before you even get them out of the store. I think once you get used to fresh coffee it's really hard to go back.
I use pods for convenience, my wife likes flavored coffees and I don't. It's just much easier to get a quick cup of coffee. I have to agree it's not as good as fresh ground coffee though, even if you use a refillable pod.
Amen and after you get used to fresh roast that you grind yourself the next logical step is home roasting
I enjoy the home-roasting process, and I also enjoy a cup made from these beans, freshly-ground. Coffee don't get no better. However, I'm willing to trade off the whole 'roast-to-grind-to cup' on occasion and enjoy the convenience of what a Peet's has to offer and even coffee from a 'pod'—so long as the end result is palatable.
If you're now looking this route. For the coffee nerd, I highly suggest a Jura. http://www.us.jura.com/home_us_x.htm. We have one of these at work that gets used and abused by ~25 people daily. It makes a great custom coffee or espresso. The prices aren't exactly cheap, but from what I've heard from our bean buyer - we use about 20% - 30% less beans than what we used with the commercial drip. I think I see a case Peet's coffee arrive every few weeks and noticed we have nearly a full freezer and half a fresh case.
On the norm I use our mr coffee maker loaded with espresso and extra scoops at that. Sometimes I'll use a French press, other times I'll use a percolator. I like to grind whole beans when I have the time. Then weather I use sugar and cream also varies. I just like coffee and like it many different ways. Cuban style is a favorite. Cowboy can be nice too.
I get my beans from The Java Coffee Co in Houston. They import directly and have had the same store location for 30 yrs. but sell mostly online. I use a Krups grinder and a Bodum coffee press. I have been grinding Costa Rica beans lately. It tastes like coffee smells to me.
I make my hot coffee on the stove using a moka express. I like to cold brew my iced coffee. I'm a big fan of peet's too. I've never had home roasted, but I used to live near a coffee shop that roasted their own and It was the best I've had.
I received a Tassimo machine as a gift. Still finding it a little hard to believe in this age of environmental friendliness the amount of packaging and garbage produced with the disks. But I'm more of a coffee lover than a tree hugger, so I went ahead and used it. Tried several different types of disks. Many were disappointing. Some were ok. And only a couple were actually good. Ultimately I'm thinking its about time to dust off my trusty bean grinder & press. Sure there's more time and effort involved it making it. But much like wet shaving, the finished product well worth it.
I'm considering the Bunn Velocity. A hundred bucks but it's supposed to brew a pot of coffee in 3 minutes. It's a simple coffee maker, just an on-off switch, but should last a long time.
I gave up on all coffee machines. Now I just fill a cup with hot shave water and add a couple scoops of Nescafe.
I received as a gift a Chemex brewer with a number of Chemex filters. The filters are denser than regular paper filters so trap much of the mud present in a good pour-over method. 'Better coffee thru better Chemistry'… I have not yet tried it, but it comes highly recommended to me by several coffee snobs aficionados.
Just ordered my first 90+ point coffee. Will be interesting to see how it tastes. I went for the Mocha Java blend from Klatch that I've only heard amazingly good things about.
Let us know how this coffee is, and is it worth, stopping to buy some when we are going north on I-15 in Ontario, Ca.
Instant- I'm not too picky about coffee. Just as long as it's made with milk. No water! Instant because I don't have time for those fancy machines with beans ground by hand everyday. Mostly drink some of this though- with some cream and honey mixed in.
When it comes to tea I'm also a Bigelow drinker. Seems to be a good combination of quality and price.
