Posted Mon May 22, 2006, 1:00pm Subject: Coffee strength in "coffee shops"
I'm new to the board and have been getting into coffee more and more over the past year and a half, and started home roasting about 6 months ago. I wanted to get opinions on coffee proportion or strength- I realize that it is a personal preference and that the general recommended proportion is 2 TBS per 6 oz of water.
From what I have experienced, most of the local (non-chain) coffee shops that I have tried have coffee that tastes weak to me, and I can't tell the difference between their Columbian vs. their Ethopian or whatever else. I have tried different coffees at different shops, and as much as I hate to say it, Starbucks is the only place that I have found that brews their coffee stronger than the others. One of the shops I have tried even roasts their own beans, so I would expect them to be a step above the other local coffee shops, but even their coffee seems weak flavored to me.
So my question is do many "coffee shops" brew weaker coffee because the typical american does not prefer their coffee as strong? Or is it that the commercial brewing machines use the same proportion of coffee to water but brew a milder cup that a home machine would with the same proportion (possibly a faster brewing time)?
Again, I realize that coffee "strength" is a personal preference. With my home roasted beans I find that in my drip maker (Cuisinart Brew Central) or french press that 2 TBS is a bit too strong for my tastes, but even with less than this my home coffee is much stronger than any of the coffee shops I have tried except Starbucks. So I suppose I'm just confused as to whether this is typical or have I just not found a "real" or reputable local shop.
Being new to home roasting I like to try different coffees in shops to compare to my home roasts but so far there has been no comparison- the home roasts are much better. Sorry to ramble, but any opinions on this topic would be appreciated.
llurgy Senior Member Joined: 6 Jan 2006 Posts: 57 Location: USA Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Kitchen Aid Proline Drip: Presto Roaster: SC/CO Combo
Posted Mon May 22, 2006, 1:27pm Subject: Re: Coffee strength in "coffee shops"
Restaurants and suchlike have really weak coffee....weak to such an extent that we dont drink coffee 'out' anymore, we wait until we get home. Gas stations and suchlike are the same, we have no Starbucks et al around us so I have no comparison.
I do not brew my coffee to the standards you state. For a typical 10 cup presto brewer I put in 7 tblsp (measured before grinding) for the 10 cup pot. I do not know what the presto cup is measured, it may be a 5 oz cup, but could be a 6oz cup I am not sure. This is plenty strong enough for us and usually too strong for visitors.
KafeenMonkey Senior Member Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 100 Location: Toronto, Canada Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon May 22, 2006, 6:40pm Subject: Re: Coffee strength in "coffee shops"
Welcome to Coffeegeek!
There are a number of threads that discuss coffee strength, try searching for the word 'Brix' in the search engine.
As you have found, coffee strength varies quite a bit. It's hard to make a objective comparisons between different people because everyone has their own idea of what is 'strong' or 'weak'.
There is a device called a Brix meter (the fancy name is 'refractometer') that some believe helps to provide an objective measure of coffee strength. There is also a device called a TDS meter (total dissolved solids) that does something similar, but some believe that Brix measurement is generally more accurate.
Hopefully the threads you find will give you what you are looking for.
DAMNIT!! I wanted to be the first person to welcome someone!
Welcome to the CG forums JimmyT!! May your coffee journey continue further than you have ever imagined!
Now on to the topic at hand. I personally thing many coffee brewers not only brew their coffee to weak but they fail when they use drip brewers. Drip brewed coffee lacks in body compared to many other methods and I think thats where it falls short. I would rather see coffeeshops use something like a french press and serve the pots to individual customers. I think that if all coffee shops were to use manual methods we would have a more "coffee concious" world. Just my $0.02
Posted Tue May 23, 2006, 5:44am Subject: Re: Coffee strength in "coffee shops"
Thanks for the welcome and responses-
Its just frustrating to me that I can't find a decent cup of coffee at these supposed "coffee shops". I don't really know anyone who home roasts, and I just need to find somewhere that I can go get a quality cup of coffee to compare to my home roasts so I can attempt to roast and brew better at home. There are still a couple of local shops that I haven't tried, so the search continues (and I won't settle for Starbucks).
The more I learn about coffee on this and other websites, the more I realize how many people have never experienced good coffee and don't even realize it because these shops are passing off weak brew as "gourmet" coffee that all tastes the same.
Posted Tue May 23, 2006, 3:27pm Subject: Re: Coffee strength in "coffee shops"
JimmyT Said:
I wanted to get opinions on coffee proportion or strength- I realize that it is a personal preference and that the general recommended proportion is 2 TBS per 6 oz of water.
From what I have experienced, most of the local (non-chain) coffee shops that I have tried have coffee that tastes weak to me, and I can't tell the difference between their Columbian vs. their Ethopian or whatever else. I have tried different coffees at different shops, and as much as I hate to say it, Starbucks is the only place that I have found that brews their coffee stronger than the others. One of the shops I have tried even roasts their own beans, so I would expect them to be a step above the other local coffee shops, but even their coffee seems weak flavored to me.
So my question is do many "coffee shops" brew weaker coffee because the typical american does not prefer their coffee as strong? Or is it that the commercial brewing machines use the same proportion of coffee to water but brew a milder cup that a home machine would with the same proportion (possibly a faster brewing time)?
The Italian name for watered-down-espresso is Americano. That tells us something right away.
I think you've nailed it; most Americans seem to put up with coffee that has a main purpose of providing caffeine. Taste is way down the priority list. Robusta is king.
There is a favorable trend however. In the small city where I live we are blessed with three wonderful locally owned coffee shops (praise Gimme Coffee with great praise!) who really know what they're doing. Two of them roast onsite, and the third doesn't roast but has always paid attention to all the right variables. They all brew a strong and tasty cup, and do not let their stuff cook into oblivion.
A regional food supermarket chain in our area sells green beans and has a roaster for customers to use. A gas station/convenience store in a small village where I often work has Kenya AA and Jamaica Blue Mountain pots among their array. The recent "bold" blend at McDonalds (please don't laugh too long) is not bad. There are *$$ popping up everywhere, pushing the competition to get better or lose customers.
Coffeesnob63 Senior Member Joined: 9 Jan 2004 Posts: 84 Location: Minneapolis Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Waiting for the GS3 Vac Pot: Aeropress or Chemex
Posted Tue May 23, 2006, 7:43pm Subject: Re: Coffee strength in "coffee shops"
Strong-coffee-a-phobic.
That's why. People are afraid of strong coffee. Coffee should have body that you feel on the sides of yoru tongue, flavor that lingers, contrary to what some church coffee drinkers believe it should not be translucent. It should be reddish, brown. It should taste like if coffee were wine what it would taste like. It should not look like a bad kidney infection, it should be beautiful reddish brown.
I am a fan of the SCAA brewing fundamentals, and I do think that all the variables need to be in place. I think surface area is important, temperature, time and turbulence are all important. Coffee is 98% water....don't be buying RO water, or you can pour it on coffee all day long and you still won't have coffee.
Standard Golden Cup measurement- 3.25 to 4 oz of coffee for every 64 oz of water. It works.
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