Any Coffee Snobs Aboard?

[seaofchange]

Anyone heard anything about the two coffee shops that are SUPPOSED to be opening in downtown? One is going to be in the ground floor of the garage that is just west of Devon and the other one is in the Maywood apartments?

Leaf + Bean is opening in the bottom floor of Mosaic at 3rd & Oklahoma. Pretty excited about that since I work at 4th & Oklahoma. I really enjoy their coffee - I think they use beans from Topeca Coffee Roasters in Tulsa...or atleast they used to. Maywood 1 doesn't have any ground floor retail, and Maywood 2 will only have restaurants, so I think you are probably thinking of Mosaic!

[borchard]

Leaf + Bean is opening in the bottom floor of Mosaic at 3rd & Oklahoma. Pretty excited about that since I work at 4th & Oklahoma. I really enjoy their coffee - I think they use beans from Topeca Coffee Roasters in Tulsa...or atleast they used to. Maywood 1 doesn't have any ground floor retail, and Maywood 2 will only have restaurants, so I think you are probably thinking of Mosaic!

You're probably right. I thought it was Maywood. Oh well, I'm just glad there will be more coffee shops to pick from. I really like Elemental and Slingers, but more choice is always good.

[borchard]

Yesterday I saw one of the coolest things Ive seen in awhile. Junction Coffee has a double-decker British bus. The coffee kitchen is in the bottom, and you can go up to the top where they've turned it into a small cafe.
I KNOW! RIGHT?! Really, really cool idea. Very well carried out, so far.
I will keep stopping by whenever I see the big, red bus parked anywhere.

[borchard]

I've now gone to Aravalli, in the Devon Tower, a few times. Great Lavazza coffee.

[corwin1968]

I've been working on my French Press technique but I'm not sure I'm making progress. I'm using the coarsest grind on my cheap Cuisinart burr grinder and four minutes is extremely sour so I've experimented with different times up to and including eight minutes. I'm thinking about going with a finer grind to get the extraction time down.

So far, I've bought a Topeca dark roast from a local coffee shop only to discover it had been brewed a month earlier. I then ordered a proprietary roast from a bike/coffee shop back East (their slogan is "Slow bikes and Slow Coffee".....LOL) but it was a bit lighter than I prefer. My most recent was an Ethiopian I ordered from Topeca and it was roasted one week prior to my getting it (I was hoping for a few days old). This is the first coffee I've had where the beans actually smell like fruit, the coffee has a fruity taste and the sludge left in the French Press smells like a cherry chocolate after sitting for a few hours. I liked the coffee but it's not my thing and I'll be ordering a different variety by the weekend. I will eventually visit one of our local roasters to sample their products.

[borchard]

You might try roasting your own beans. I get green beans at West End Roastery/ Coffee Dan's on Main Street. I roast them in an air popcorn popper. You might try it and see if you get better results.

[borchard]

Just wanted to post in this thread as well that I just went to Clarity Coffee for the first time and was really impressed with the place. Simple, elegant, comfortable. Great cup of Burundi Mpanga, as well.

[corwin1968]

I achieved probably the best cup of coffee yet yesterday. I went to the website of Stumptown Roasters and used their French Press technique (they have videos for many methods) which is basically 56 grams of coffee, fill the press half-way, stir at one minute, add the rest of the water and plunge at 4 minutes. I cut the coffee amount in half and filled to the 1/4 line and then 1/2. The result was a cup of coffee that had no sourness, no bitterness, felt thick in my mouth and left a sweet tasting film on the roof of my mouth. It was also the best looking cup with a sort of bright, reddish-brown pearl appearance. It was outstanding! I drank about 2/3 of the cup and let it sit for 5-10 minutes and the bottom third was pretty sour or bitter. Probably due to coffee residue being present.

I tried again this morning, with a slightly finer grind to see if it fixes the ending sour/bitter taste and the whole cup was "off". Not sour or bitter but not as flavorful, thick or sweet as the first one. I guess I'll go back to the most course seeting. That was the last of my Ethiopian beans so I may have to make a trip downtown today for more fresh beans.

I've contemplated roasting my own beans and I'll probably eventually try it but right now I'm still trying to get a consistent brewing technique down.

My "perfect" cup resembled this espresso, but just a bit darker and without the crema:

[corwin1968]

The quest continues.....

I made the drive down to Elemental yesterday to pick up some beans and was happy to see they had plenty of beans that were roasted two days ago. I simply read the highlights of each, picked one that sounded interesting and purchased it. When I got home, I realized it was the same variety bean (Ethiopian Ardi) that I had purchased from Topeca! A chance to compare two roasters back-to-back!!

I'm slowly dialing in my technique for brewing coffee. This morning I used a meat thermometer (of questionable accuracy) and according to it, when I kill the flame on my kettle, the water is in the low 190's after about 20 seconds. I had been waiting for 30 seconds before pouring! I brought it back to a boil, killed the flame and poured at 12-15 seconds and the result was a respectable cup of coffee. My major issue has been sourness and now I know I've probably been using water that is too cool.

My next step is more accurate weighing of my coffee beans. I'm using a kitchen scale and sometimes one bean will take it from 24g to 26g so I know it's accuracy is low. Once I get a better scale, I can focus on exact water amounts as well, instead of just 1/4 full and then 1/2 full. If I'm still really into this in the Spring, I'll invest in a good grinder (probably a Baratza) and a good electric kettle (probably a Bonavita that is accurate to within 2 degrees).

My initial impressions of Topeca vs Elementarl Ardi beans is that Topeca's roast has magnitudes more aroma and complex flavors. It smells and tastes like fruit and chocolate. Elemental's roast has much less aroma and complex flavors and tastes more like the coffee I'm used to. Both are equally smooth and sweet, which I LOVE.

[borchard]

I picked up some Costa Rican beans green coffee beans from West End Roastery yesterday . I roasted them in my Air Popper for probably a little longer than I should have. Costa Rican beans tend to do better with a light to medium roast. But I made a french press this morning out of them, and it was really really good.
I may break out the Whirly Pop and roast a bigger batch on the stove top and see if I get as good/if not better, results

[corwin1968]

I picked up some Costa Rican beans green coffee beans from West End Roastery yesterday . I roasted them in my Air Popper for probably a little longer than I should have. Costa Rican beans tend to do better with a light to medium roast. But I made a french press this morning out of them, and it was really really good.
I may break out the Whirly Pop and roast a bigger batch on the stove top and see if I get as good/if not better, results

I would be interested in your ongoing experiences with roasting. For now, I'll leave it to the experts, but some day.....

[borchard]

I would be interested in your ongoing experiences with roasting. For now, I'll leave it to the experts, but some day.....

If you simply Google how to roast beans at home you'll find plenty of articles/videos on how to do it. It's really the easiest thing I've leaned in a while.

[White Peacock]

I'm a coffee drinker; can't live without it. But fine coffees are something I'm afraid to try, because I don't want it to spoil my palate and subsequently devastate my bank account. Just like I've avoided getting into a seriously hardcore vinyl collection (I have some, but only get vinyl versions of really special albums), I've kept my coffee expectations low and pocket the remainder. I know if I have the holy grail cup of coffee devoid of bitterness and so rich in natural flavor I could have cup after cup of unsweetened black without cringing every fifth swig, it'll be all over for my routine.

[borchard]

I'm a coffee drinker; can't live without it. But fine coffees are something I'm afraid to try, because I don't want it to spoil my palate and subsequently devastate my bank account. Just like I've avoided getting into a seriously hardcore vinyl collection (I have some, but only get vinyl versions of really special albums), I've kept my coffee expectations low and pocket the remainder. I know if I have the holy grail cup of coffee devoid of bitterness and so rich in natural flavor I could have cup after cup of unsweetened black without cringing every fifth swig, it'll be all over for my routine.

I totally get it. But I guess it's like beer for me. "Drink, better, drink less." I love quality, craft beer. But I've been on a diet recently. Consequently when confronted with options of Bud Light, Miller Lite, Coors Light I choose water.
For me it's the same with coffee. I would rather have one, GREAT cup of coffee than 5 cups of McDonalds or 7 Eleven coffee..
And there really are ways to NOT pay a premium for premium coffee. I buy green beans for $2 less per pound than roasted. I roast it myself at home in a $5 popcorn popper, and make my own espresso. I just finished one before I typed this. And it was great!
I like places like Elemental, too. But if I went there every morning I'd probably go broke. :-)

[corwin1968]

I know if I have the holy grail cup of coffee devoid of bitterness and so rich in natural flavor I could have cup after cup of unsweetened black without cringing every fifth swig, it'll be all over for my routine.

I haven't done a true calculation but I would say that I'm getting this holy grail cup of coffee about half the time and the other half of the time it's still pretty dang good. I did calculate that I'm spending well over $1 each time I drink coffee at home but it's worth it. I also found out I've been brewing my coffee very much on the weaker side of things. Today, I did a "golden standard" ratio (17:1) and it was a little stronger but not a huge difference and still little or no bitterness.

I'm expecting a smaller press pot for Christmas so I'm holding off on buying fresh roasted beans but I've found that Crest's Dunkin Donut beans make a very good pot of coffee.

[White Peacock]

...I've found that Crest's Dunkin Donut beans make a very good pot of coffee.

Dunkin's beans are much better than one would think, yeah. I generally buy my coffee at Aldi. Their "donut store blend" which I'm pretty sure is their approximation of Dunkin's coffee, is pretty good. I dig their seasonal flavored coffees as well.

[kukblue1]

Isn't All about Cha opening soon in Bricktown. More of a tea place then coffee but I went to their Tulsa location and it was great.

[Brett]

I wanted to bump this thread because there is a new coffee roaster on S Air Depot Blvd between Reno and SE 15th St in MWC called Open Flame. I'm not sure if it has opened yet. I'm curious if anyone knows anything about this new build. Thanks!