Don't toss those grounds in the trash ... put 'em in the compost.

Many people don't have compost piles.

I don't drink coffee. But in reference to grounds,I use all the used coffee grounds at work in the rose garden I planted up there. I just sprinkle them around each plant and work it in the soil. The roses love it.

Folgers, Bunn ... Good to go!

Even if you don't have a compost pile you might have plants/garden plots and they might have slug issues...back in the day all my spent grounds were sprinkles in my gardens...I have even heard of people who frequent the coffee places and bring their grounds home for the garden.

Thanks for the tips about the grounds, good in summer for the roses - we have ”real winters” here. Colleen, I will look into the Aeropress, sounds intriguing.

Just out of curiosity I decided this morning to time how long it took to make a pot of French press coffee. From start - putting the kettle on to boil - to finish - pouring the first cup - took just a hair under 6 minutes. 5 minutes and 53 seconds to be exact!! Would have been faster had I an electric kettle.......most of that time was waiting for the water to boil.

I use my Keurig machine. But I refuse to buy pre-filled pods. I grind my Starbucks medium roast bean until they're fine grind. If I have a lot of company however, I have a 14 cups Kitchenaid machine and I'll make a big pot of coffee. I prefer the Keurig. I'm the Canadian who thinks Tim Hortons coffee tastes like dirty socks filled with dead fish left out in the sun to dry. It's horrid! *If* I grab a coffee somewhere for the road, it'll be McDonalds or Macs (Canadian version of 7-11).

haha Debbie, you aren't the only one who dislikes Timmies coffee. We had to stop for coffee the other day and the only choice was Tim Hortons. I took 2 sips of the coffee and poured it out. Nope, not good at all. Usually McDonald's coffee for me, Starbucks. If I go out with friends who want to meet at Tim Horton's I have a steeped tea which is actually does taste good. Even 7-11 has better coffee. At home I use a Tassimo but when I can't get pods on sale I use my Melita pour over which I have used since I was a teenager or I use my French Press. I grind beans as I need them.

Maxwell House Original grind, 4-5 cup drip Mr. Coffee coffee maker, black. I drink 1 pot every morning. Nothing after I finish the pot. No coffee at night or after dinner. My MIL & FIL drank coffee from breakfast to bedtime.

Friends at work used to get up a coffee run to Starbucks. They used a legal pad with three lines for each person, with abbreviations for the items wanted. Regular and decaf coffee was free with sugar and creamer provided.

tastes like dirty socks filled with dead fish left out in the sun to dry.

I loled, you certainly have a gift for words!

Just as in a restaurant you don't tell the server you want "meat" when you're asked for your order, there are many alternatives in any coffee store and many like certain concoctions more than others. If your preference is Mr Coffee drip using canned Maxwell House coffee, that's what works for you.

I use a Mr Coffee drip machine and love Starbucks Breakfast Blend the best. I also use lots of different flavored coffee creamers. Right now Pumpkin Spice is a fav but I love lots of others too!

Why, thank you, Elmer for letting me drink my coffee the way I like it. That is so gracious and conceding of you.

You should consider doing the same for your co-workers whose actions you mention with such obvious disapproval and scorn, since, in your words, "Regular and decaf coffee was free with sugar and creamer provided". Why, surely they're fools wasting their money!

I believe my response to Lucille in another thread led her to starting this thread. As for my own preferences, they're already here, posted yesterday.

Thanks for the compliment.

Personal preferences in coffee itself is a whole nuther world of information. I prefer my coffee with some zip and DH like most people wants what is called smoother which means no acidity. Having bought green beans from all over the world for DH to try out there are amazing differences in the beans. I once got some illegal Brazilian(not legal to take out of the country) from a brother who sent it out in diplomatic pouch(shipping container these days) dark roast that was amazing. Just right. Very South American Arabic. Central American tends to be earthy and zipless. Island types are also smoother. Real African coffee is a whole gamut of possibilities. I never tried the kinds that have been eaten and passed through the gut of animals. Something for everyone.

Folgers in the Bunn first thing in the morning. I'll drink at least half the first pot, and then sometimes I'll make another half-pot in the afternoon. After 6, I cross over to decaf so I use the Keurig then, usually with Dunkin Donuts pods.

I have tried many various flavored coffees and just don't like them. I can't bring myself to even try Pumpkin Spice. I'm almost positive I won't like it.

DH hand grinds Sympatico beans and makes coffee using an Aeropress. Brings it to me in bed. When he’s out of town I use the keurig as I limit myself to one cup a day.

Brings it to me in bed.

You got a keeper for sure, how awesome!!

Curious Annette as to why you use the Keurig when you make coffee instead of the Aeropress. I would have thought the Aeropress was quicker and easier.

Just watched a YouTube video on the Aeropress. By the time my kettle boils and I measure and press, I'll be drinking my Keurig coffee

Got the percolator yesterday, made coffee this morning, liked it except tomorrow I'm going to percolate an extra two minutes, I like strong coffee.

Just so the coffee snobs don't get their panties in a wad, again, just because I like coffee my way does not mean that your way is any less valid, it makes you happy and that is what counts. I do like hearing what other people like, that is why I started the thread, I just don't like hearing others cast aspersions on culinary preferences.

Lucille, is it appropriate to call people snobs who don't drink coffee Your way? Sounds judgmental to me.

Lucille until you find out what strength of coffee you like while perking extra may work you may need to add more coffee. Someone I know used to used make what my husband called running one bean through the water coffee and no matter how long it was perked it never tasted like strong coffee. The color was there but not the taste.

There are coffee snobs and some have posted on here that their way is the only way. If you have to have coffee made only one way, drank only one way, flavored, only one way and look down on those that do not you are a snob. Read some of the comments.

Yup, a number of coffee snobs on this thread. That's their problem.

Lucille, hope you find the right strength and enjoy your coffee. Thanks for starting the thread, shows there are many ways to make and enjoy coffee.

Person A likes better quality wine (or beer) and saves up to have one or two good bottles a month (or just a few six-packs). Person B sees wine (or beer) as just a way to consume alcohol and buys the cheapest kind they can find, and in greater quantities because Person B is indifferent about the taste. Person B might call Person A a wine snob.

Let's be specific. One item in the thread was canned coffee. I think canned coffee is hideous, and comparing canned coffee to fresh is just like comparing canned vegetables to fresh, and for the same reasons. Is not wanting to use canned coffee being snobbish?

I'm pretty certain that coffee samples that are assessed or worked with by professional coffee tasters and coffee buyers aren't made by percolation. Are they snobs? I think they'd say it's because that process produces off-flavors. You like them? Fine, just don't find a reason to name call people who don't. If for no other reason, you're greatly outnumbered.

Since I watch the coffee competitions the way things are prepared for tasting is simply coffee grounds in a cup of hot water stirred for a certain number of stirrings. Number of stirrings and amount of weighed grounds and water depend on the taster or type of coffee. It is called cupping if anyone wants to go to YouTube to find a video to see it.

To me being snobbish is not wanting to have your coffee a particular way but insisting that other methods are not the "Correct" method to make or enjoy your coffee.

Let me tell you how many various coffee makers I have. I have more than Eleven!! Most of the electric ones stored in their boxes in my attic. Why you ask haha because my dearly departed sisters and my friend's Mom kept buying them for me. This is long, so get yourself a cup of coffee brewed in your favourite machine.

Growing up in my home we were Red Rose tea drinkers, there was always a pot on the go. We drank tea with all our meals. My parents only drank coffee when out at a restaurant because everyone knew you couldn't get a good cup of tea at a restaurant. The only time coffee was made was when my older sister would visit from Toronto and bring a percolator with her which I thought was pretty cool. My Scottish Grandmother used to make Camp Coffee - I don't even really know what that is but it was black stuff in a bottle. My friends and I always drank tea until we were about 17 then we discovered Country Style Donuts which was pre Tim Horton's and we used to go there for coffee which seemed pretty cool at the time but mostly we were still tea drinkers.

Some people I knew drank Instant Coffee. I tried it a few times and it tasted like rice krispie cereal to me. My Mom kept a jar in the freezer for when she baked something that called for coffee. I have only had it a few times since, sometimes it tasted good, mostly not so good. I also keep a jar in the freezer.

The frist time I encountered what I thought was "real" at home coffee was when I was about 17 and I would babysit for a German couple. This woman knew nothing about taking care of a baby so she would have me spend the days with her to show her what to do. One day she asked me if I would like a coffee and reluctantly I said yes. She went over to the counter and boiled water which seemed normal to me for making instant coffee. Then she took out the cups, put a see through hard plastic cone on top of the mugs, a filter and then scooped out some coffee from a green package then poured water over the top. I was intrigued, I had never seen that done before and boy that coffee sure didn't taste like instant coffee. I was hooked. After a month of helping her with her baby she gifted me some Bodum mugs along with the Melita cone, filters and coffee. I thought it was the coolest thing so for Christmas I bought my coffee drinking sister the lsmall brown cone, No 2 filters and Melita coffee so she could make herself a cup of coffee and since then and until she died that is how my sister made her coffee. She would travel everywhere with her little brown cone and filters haha and Melita coffee.

So getting back to the 10 coffee makers. For the life of me I couldn't make a good cup of coffee from a coffee maker. Not enough water, too much water, weak coffee, strong coffee. I would always go back to the mug and cone. So then my sister Lizzie bought me my first coffee maker. By this time I was making coffee at work using a Bunn coffee maker and coffee from a local roaster and it was wonderful. Still couldn't make it at home to what I was used to drinking at work. I even tried using the packages of coffee from work but nope. I was thinking the water didn't get hot enough. So back to the cone I went. Then she bought me another coffee maker at Christmas. Still couldn't make good coffee. So that is 2 coffee makers so far, plus a cone.

I went to visit my Aunt in St. Louis, MO Her coffee tasted really good but she didn't use a coffee maker, nor instant coffee but this black liquid she took from the refrigerator and poured hot water over. That night she showed me how to make this black liquid. She took a jug that was wide on the bottom and put a funnel into the neck of the bottle, and a couple of filters in the funnel, then dumped a few packages of ground coffee into the filter and poured cold water over the top and let it drip overnight. In the morning there was the black liquid which she put in the fridge. Is this what is called a cold brew? This was in the early 1980's. So when I left there she gave me this Chemex f wide bottomed coffee jug so I could make this coffee - I never dared to try it - coffee maker 3

In the 1980's when I taught ESL we had an International Students Day at the College. By this time I really loved coffee, especially strong coffee. Some of the students were serving Arabic coffee, Turkish coffee and Espresso. I tried them all. I think I drank 10 tiny cups of coffee that afternoon. Oh boy, I was bouncing off the wall and didn't sleep for days haha. I told my sister about it and for Christmas she gave me an electric Espresso maker - coffee maker 4

Then I went to visit a cousin in St. Louis. They had a machine that you put a pod in and out came came a single serve coffee with froth on top. Oh I loved that froth. It was a big machine, I think it was called a Senseo. Anyway I have 2 of them - that my sister brought back from St. Louis with her. Only one store here you could buy the pods at across town or order them online and back then I didn't have a computer- coffee makers 6

Then my other sister started buying me coffee makers, a Black and Decker single serve with tea bag like pods where you could make tea or coffee. Coffee never tasted good. Then she gave me another coffee maker and then another. I think she was buying them for herself and never used them so passed them to me. I always took one of the coffee makers to the Returning Office when I worked elections - coffee maker 9

I mentioned to my friend's Mom that I was having a hard time getting a good cup of coffee from my coffee maker. This woman loved her coffee. She gifted me a Black and Decker coffee maker and finally I was able to make a good cup of coffee in it, perfect temperature. By this time I discovered coffee beans again and bought myself a grinder. I still have this coffee maker on my kitchen counter which I use for when I have company or family dinners. - coffee maker 10

I had read about Keruig machines online, lots of my internet friends had one and raved about the coffee. I first had coffee from one at my niece's casual outdoor family only wedding reception. The coffee was good and you could pick tea or hot chocolate as well. There was no way I could afford one of those machines. Then the Tassimo came out, expensive at first but then the prices started coming down. I was given a store grocery gift card for Christmas, then I had points on my Air Miles from buying groceries and I had a coupon so I was finally able to buy a Tassimo and I think I paid $5 cash for it. I foiund the pods expensive but then I started buying a big box at Costco and only when on sale at other stores. I never ever liked Maxwell House Coffee in any form but the Tassimo Maxwell House Coffee House Blend is decent and strong because it is only an 8 ounce serving and it is the only package of pods I can get under $7 - coffee maker 11

Oh I forgot my French Press which I use now and then - coffee maker 12

Did you know that I collect all things Pyrex. Yep, I have an attic full, everything from Flamewear, all the coloured pieces, cups, mugs, baby bottles, roasters, cookwear, baguette bread baker. And you know what else I have Pyrex - Coffee pots, coffee percolators, old old vacuum coffee makers, and every type of coffee carafe that has the Pyrex name on it. When summer comes around I am having a coffee maker yard sale!

Cherryfizz: Until I got to the very last sentence I was going to offer to ship you my drip coffee maker for your collection. I LOVE your story of your quest for a good cup of coffee.

Maifleur: I added a little extra and perked 2 more minutes, it is getting there.

That's quite a saga, cherry fizz. For the best tasting coffee you can make at home, consider just two simple things:

Few or no countertop drip coffee makers get the water hot enough to properly extract flavor from coffee, it's not speculation. This has been tested over and over - check out the Cooks Illustrated objective testing for more details. Short of paying $200 or more for one of the two that they found would work (Technivorm mentioned above and Bonavida), shift gears to either pour over or French press for which you heat the water in a kettle. Get it to boiling then give it 10+ seconds to stop bubbling, that's the right temperature. Reheat the water before adding more to make sure it stays very hot

Second - use good fresh coffee. Not canned, not bought in bulk (which will turn stale before you get through it) .

And for those who can't taste the difference, or don't care, do whatever you like (without name calling those who disagree with you) !

I use a one cup French press which works for me. Shout out to Sprtphnt7a, I'm from Wawa Ontario and heard of the Wawa stores in the States but have never been to one. Heard they brew great coffee.

The extreme difference in coffee, whether it's prepared pour over, press or drip, is the quality of the coffee beans. I'm talking about local roasts that average $18 lb. compared to Maxwell House at $2 lb.

IMO, Peet's is just a notch above Maxwell House.

quality of the coffee beans

Another variable :)

Can you say more about how they are different in quality? Is it the freshness of the bean, the kind of bean?

Everyone, what kind of coffee do you use? Are you just as happy with one as another or do you have preferences?

Do your preferences change depending on how you make your coffee?

And for those who can't taste the difference

To me, there do seem to be people who can discern differences in taste, but not everyone wants the same taste. Their preference is no better or worse than someone else's. There is no 'best', what one should drink is what one likes.

Can you say more about how they are different in quality? Is it the freshness of the bean, the kind of bean?

Several reasons. A local roaster begins with green coffee beans, hands on, roasted locally, in small batches, every day. Freshness equals quality and best taste.

The kind of bean is also important to me. I prefer single origin coffee over blends. So I'm most likely going to brew Ethiopia Sidamo or Nicaragua SHG. If I want a bolder cup, it'll be Columbia Supremo French.

If I want a blend, it's most likely going to be Stauf's House Blend.

I drink half what I used to drink. Maybe three cups a week and life is fine without it.

To me taste is very personal. You cannot state that one thing is better than another (especially based on cost). It doesn't matter if is coffee, like this post, or anything else.

I like cilantro, many detest it. I like wine and beer (but not dark beer), my husband likes no alcohol at all. There have been many threads about different food and drink. To state what you like is the only GOOD one and everyone else must have a defect is wrong.

By the way, Maxwell House Original Roast is $4.49 for 11.5 ounces, which is $6.24 per pound, not $2.

Sherry, sorry for the exaggeration. It's actually $5.49 for 24.5 ounces at Kroger minus a $1 coupon in today's ad. :)

I didn't say mine is the only good one. There are many roasters out there offering good coffee.

I do prefer grinding my own beans and wish I could get them from the local roaster more often. I can't remember the last time I bought coffee in a can but when I did buy it for my sister it was usually a small can of Melita or Nabob, Surprisingly I like McDonald's coffee and sometimes will buy a pound of it. I use the Tassimo machine most of the time now unless I get the beans but if I run out of he pods or don't find them on sale I revert to my Red Rose Canadian Blend tea. Also, if I get near a Starbucks I will stop in and get beans. I don't drive and usually do a grocery shop once a month in the winter. I was out of coffee for 2 weeks until I was able to pick up some pods and it was torture haha. I do love my coffee/ Does anyone else find that coffee makes them sleepy? I usually have 2 mugs a day, 1 in the afternoon and 1 at night. Sometimes after drinking coffee it feels like I have taken a sleeping pill (never have taken a sleeping pill) and I just want to sleep. Tea acts different, I can't drink tea at night or I would never sleep. I rarely drank coffee at work because of how sleepy coffee would make me feel.

Brushworks, I agree on the Peet's. A friend of mine told me it was great, so I tried the Major Dickason's blend. I found it to be pretty blah.

I'm very fond of Zabar's 'Special Blend', and get some whenever I'm in in NYC. Of course just about everything else in that store is delicious as well!

"Taste" has an ambiguous meaning. For some, it means what they like - that's not my taste. When talking about different flavors and styles, I think it refers to the sense of taste, the acuity or ability to distinguish differences that some people have or don't have - as in, "I don't taste a difference". Some people are more alert to, care more about, or are able to discern taste differences than others.

Taste in this sense isn't personal but preferences are. A "preference" is what you like, it's subjective. "Taste" is more objective, it's an assessment without regard to personal preference. I like the taste, I don't like the taste, that's subjective. If you do it this way and not that, you'll find it tastes better. That's advice for someone who can discern flavor differences and it matters to them.

Whether it matters or not, doesn't matter. But a discussion among people for whom it matters can hardly be considered a conversation among snobs.

Dh and I have a Kuerig. My oldest considers himself a coffee connoisseur. He bought some contraption where he microwaves water to a certain temperature which he measures and then he pours it through a filter. He took that off to college with him so our second son is getting a French press for Christmas.

But a discussion among people for whom it matters can hardly be considered a conversation among snobs.

There you go, starting a straw man argument and hoping someone will fall for it. And I think you are trying to mince words. If something tastes better, that assumes that the 'better' is objective, it is not. Certain qualities can be discussed, and people can either like them or not and can agree among themselves that they like a certain set of qualities. But another person may sample that very cup of coffee and pronounce it terrible, because they like different qualities.

"If something tastes better, that assumes that the 'better' is objective"

My comments were directed to things others said, not to a straw man. There's nothing to fall for.

Did I say tastes better? If I did, I left out "to me and others who care about flavor". I think it's you and others advancing a straw man argument.

Let's take it in steps. For taste, I'd say things like more or less rich, more or less full bodied or deeper, more or less nuanced, more coffee flavor, more or less acidic, more sharp or more mellow, etc. Funny enough, many of the same words people use to describe wine without fruit elements. These are objective among people who like or want to pay attention.

Better? That's subjective, that's about preferences. You like mild, I may like a sharper flavor. Or I like a milder flavor, and you don't care. Etc.

Music is the same in a lot of ways. There are people who listen superficially and don't pay attention to or care about nuances in performance, arrangements, etc., There are those who listen more deeply. Classical music fans might have 5 copies of their favorite piece, each performed by a different orchestra with a different conductor. Someone else would say - they all sound the same. Is one person right and the other wrong? They are insofar as the objective assessment is concerned because they're not the same, they are each different. But as between the people, which is preferred has to do with taste and personal preference, and to many it may not matter at all.

You won't find percolated Maxwell House coffee in a coffee store. There's a reason why. If you want to think it's because coffee snobs wouldn't drink it because it's not special, then go right ahead.

When we were all much younger, family dinners hosted by my in laws in restaurants always finished up with us going back to my in laws’ house for coffee, which I dreaded. My MIL, having been brought up in Scotland as a tea drinker, would haul down her electric coffee maker for its semi annual outing, and make probably the worst coffee I’ve ever had. DH and I would describe it to others as “sex in a canoe coffee”, because it was —- close to water. The biggest problem, apart from the coffee maker not heating the water enough, was that MIL didn’t use enough coffee- I never watched her but thinking about it I wouldn’t be surprised if she just used a teaspoon per cup like making instant, since she really didn’t have a background of coffee drinking.

After DH and I had been married a few years, FIL quietly said to me once, Your coffee is so much better than MIL’s. What do you do differently? I said I thought that using a tablespoon of coffee per person might go a long way to improving things. It did seem to get better after that :-)

I will say I’m a “coffee snob” insofar as I can’t drink instant any more. It just tastes thin and weird to me. But I don’t make a song and dance about it if I am offered it in someone else’s home. Tea is very commonly drunk here so I just say I prefer tea.

cherryfizz for years I had to have a cup of coffee at about 8 in the evening or I would toss and turn for hours. I have met other people that also needed a cup of regular coffee in the evening to have a good nights sleep.

When I used to grind my own I preferred a blend because of the balance of flavors vs. a single origin coffee. I found that single origin coffees like many things one year the beans would have one flavor the next year the flavor would be different. Had little to do with the way it was roasted but nature. Think of all the times when weather played a factor in how a food is grown and you should get the idea. Too much sun or too little. Not enough water or too little and the flavor of most things changes.

I also selected differing blends depending on the season or time of day I was drinking it. It helps that this area has so many coffee shops that roast or have certain blends roasted for them. Even before I knew one of my husband's cousins was the head roaster at Roasterie I was aware of a couple of restaurants that had perfected their own blend. I like good coffee but am not one of the people who make their own blend using 3 beans of one type and 4 beans of another. Currently I must use the supermarket type but when I splurge I have a couple of coffee shops where I will go and have a good cup.

Colleenoz I loved your story. Lolled at the canoe description, had never heard that.

When I used to grind my own

Do you no longer grind?

I agree there's room in this world for many tastes or preferences. My own preference: freshly roasted beans medium-dark, freshly ground, to a medium strength.

I don't own a roaster, so I look for a producer that marks the date roasted on the package. Independent coffee shops are a good source. I'm not enough of a connoisseur to have a favorite bean/origin.

I do have a burr grinder, so now we grind just enough for one pot at a time. I love how the smell explodes as the beans are ground. It's like when you first open a package of pre-ground coffee and the smell is so good? but then after a few days you open the package and the smell is harder to discern. No longer a problem if you grind your own.

I've never liked very strong coffee, even if its of the best quality. But that's just me.