Posted Wed Mar 6, 2002, 3:28pm Subject: Does Cafe du Monde's cafe au lait vary in consistency?
Really enjoyed your article, Donald, particularly as I just recently visit NO for the first time (was there for a four day weekend just after Mardi Gras). We enjoyed some great food, music and relaxation. We also visited Cafe du Monde and I was unexpectedly disappointed by the cafe au lait. It was much weaker and less intense in flavor than I had expected. My reference point is cafe con leche done in the Cuban style. Is it possible that Cafe du Monde is inconsistent from one day to the next or were my expectations unreasonable. By the way... I had one of the worst cappucino's I've ever had at a coffee house down near the brewery building that's just up the block from the French Market. Although it was terribly bitter and acrid, it was served in a tall clear glass and the layers of espresso, milk and foam were separated - looked really cool (but didn't taste great). Fortunatley, the next morning I happened onto a CC (City Coffee?) location just up the block from the Hilton hotel. Had an outstanding cappucino there - one of the best I've ever had outside of the ones I'm now making at home (after months of learning how to use my equipment).
dsharp88 Senior Member Joined: 22 Dec 2001 Posts: 73 Location: Metairie, LA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: LaCimbali Junior D/1 Grinder: Mini Mazzer, Solis Maestro Vac Pot: Yama Drip: Chemex, 1-cup Melitta Roaster: Alpenrost, FreshRoast+,...
Posted Thu Mar 7, 2002, 9:33am Subject: usually consistent
I haven't had a bad cafe au lait experience there, but there's no telling if a new person was brewing the batch or they had some other error along the way. CC's is a local coffee house chain owned by Community Coffee, one of the most popular local brands of coffee (and coffee and chicory, of course). One thing I didn't put in the article is that the original Cafe du Monde I wrote about wasn't using the thick mugs I love so much when I visited last week (being washed?). The photo of the beignets and coffee in the thick mug accompanying the story were taken at another Cafe du Monde closer to my home in the suburbs. So I suppose there can be some inconsistency although I have never noticed it in the quality of the cafe au lait. There is other similar cafe au lait to be had all over New Orleans, of course, but I just mentioned Cafe du Monde in the article because that is the original and, by far, the best known.
regularjo Senior Member Joined: 31 Aug 2007 Posts: 1 Location: cleveland, ohio Expertise: Just starting
Posted Fri Aug 31, 2007, 4:35am Subject: Re: Cafe du Monde, New Orleans by Guest Author
I got some Cafe du Monde coffee to take home. I made it at home like I would usually make coffee - 2 scoops in Krups drip machine. It tasted like cigarettes and did not taste like it did in New Orleans at all. What am I doing wrong?
Posted Fri Aug 31, 2007, 8:36am Subject: Re: Cafe du Monde, New Orleans by Guest Author
regularjo Said:
I got some Cafe du Monde coffee to take home. I made it at home like I would usually make coffee - 2 scoops in Krups drip machine. It tasted like cigarettes and did not taste like it did in New Orleans at all. What am I doing wrong?
metaphoric Senior Member Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 15 Location: USA Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Mon Sep 24, 2007, 12:12pm Subject: Re: Cafe du Monde, New Orleans by Guest Author
New Orleanians used to brag about CDM, but I don't hear that much anymore except from recent expats who are waxing nostalgic. It's really become a Dunkin' Donuts for tourists. CDM's overly sugared beignets were never really French or Creole, and as to the coffee, well, there's only one reason for chicory root in coffee, and that's a lack of sufficient coffee beans. You drown it in milk 'cause it tastes so bad.
JasonBrandtLewis Senior Member Joined: 9 Dec 2005 Posts: 6,098 Location: Berkeley, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Elektra T1 - La Valentina -... Grinder: Mahlkönig K30 Vario -... Vac Pot: Yama 5-cup Drip: CCD, Chemex Roaster: No, no, not another...
Posted Mon Oct 8, 2007, 7:13am Subject: Re: Cafe du Monde, New Orleans by Guest Author
As with most things, I suppose it depends upon what you're used to . . .
I find the café au lait at CdM to be VERY consistent, and a welcome experience during my annual visits to New Orleans. Then again, so, too, are the cappuccinos I get at CC's. As for the beignets -- the ones at Café Beignet are also quite good, but the best ones are supposed to be at a place just off the I-10 whose name I can'trecall justnow. Never been there, but I've heard nothing but good things. (As soon as I remember the name, I'll add it to this post.)
As for the coffee that is sold by CdM, they offer a variety of different ones. I've been able to make some pretty good café au lait with their coffee, but I do it in a prespot, not an automatic drip . . . .
That said, I'm off to New Orleans again on October 19th, so . . .
mywytefeet Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2008 Posts: 30 Location: Bay Point,CA Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Jan 26, 2009, 4:13pm Subject: Re: Cafe du Monde, New Orleans by Guest Author
I love this coffee, but maybe that's because I have grown up on Vietnamese style coffee (Chicory coffee + condensed milk.) I love it over ice for lunch or hot for breakfast. Not sure if this is the actual brand of coffee most Pho restaurants use, but the flavor is correct. Don't get me wrong, I love using my burr grinder and grinding fresh blue bottle coffee and using my french press to enjoy a morning cup, but lately the pre-ground Cafe Du Monde (they apparently don't sell whole coffee beans?) in the orange can has hit the spot when I feel like re-creating a nice Vietnamese coffee at home. I prefer the richness of condensed milk over regular milk and sugar and even when I make blue bottle coffee, I find myself pouring a dab of condensed milk in my mug prior to pouring my favorite BB coffee. I will say that any other pre-ground coffee I have tasted I absolutely hate. I also only use a stainless Moka Pot to create my Viet coffee and usually french press to create my blue bottle coffee--ANY coffee out of an auto-drip taste like watery cr*p.
Anyone else on Coffee Geek like Vietnamese style coffee?
Posted Sat Jul 4, 2009, 7:50pm Subject: Re: Cafe du Monde, New Orleans by Guest Author
"Anyone else on Coffee Geek like Vietnamese style coffee?"
You've got to be kidding.
The only reason Vietnamese began drinking coffee that way is because French colonials, (who populated the local cafes and imported the coffee) did so. They in turn drank the swill because refrigeration was non-existent in that hot and humid country at the time. Upon returning home to France, this 'innovation' was promptly forgotten. As was the need for chicory root.
Various peoples and cultures (French colonial planters in Vietnam, Acadians and chicory root in South Lousiana, Germans and 'ersatz' coffee in World War I and II, U.S. soldiers and powdered instant coffee) have been forced to use expedients in lieu of the real thing. As soon as they got the real thing, they promptly dumped the expedient. But only American tourists seem desirous of making it a 'tradition'.
Some traditions just need to die. Especially chicory coffee and sweetened milk!
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