Coffee connoisseurs - what would cause my coffee to suddenly be bland?

[Red Squirrel]

Weird question. When you go to coffee chains in NA what kind of coffee do they use?
Like over here all the coffee is made with an espresso base in the big chains. I know you guys prefer big mugs of filter coffee over there so I presume that Starbucks must have loads of filter machines as well as espresso presses for shorts and fancy drinks?

I'm not 100% sure how it's brewed, I think it's basically with a commercial grade drip machine, but I think they also have a built in grinder as I've heard the sound of it at Tim Horton's before. They use arabica beans, not sure of the exact type though. We got a Starbucks here recently, was not a fan of their coffee though, it tastes very bitter. Not sure how theirs is done, I imagine it's a bit more fancy. I just had a black, and think their coffee is more geared towards adding more fancy stuff to it, so probably why it was bitter just black.

Oddly enough the taste of the coffee even from the chains can vary day to day. The one at the Tim Hortons near the sewage treatment plant does not taste as well as the others. A tad concerning.... lol.

 

[WelshBloke]

I'm not 100% sure how it's brewed, I think it's basically with a commercial grade drip machine, but I think they also have a built in grinder as I've heard the sound of it at Tim Horton's before. They use arabica beans, not sure of the exact type though. We got a Starbucks here recently, was not a fan of their coffee though, it tastes very bitter. Not sure how theirs is done, I imagine it's a bit more fancy. I just had a black, and think their coffee is more geared towards adding more fancy stuff to it, so probably why it was bitter just black.

You'll know if it's espresso based as they have to do that to order.

Oddly enough the taste of the coffee even from the chains can vary day to day. The one at the Tim Hortons near the sewage treatment plant does not taste as well as the others. A tad concerning.... lol.

There must be a German word for something which is funny but horrifying as well!

 

[Red Squirrel]

Do you have a local Timothy's

Home | Timothy's Cafes

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timothyscafes.com

Order something reasonable from them. Problem Solved Unless Keurig bought them

Unless I got a bad batch 2 bags in a row (I will need to test this by trying a totally different brand) I don't think it's the coffee as I've been using the same coffee for a while.

Kicking Horse Coffee | Kick Ass - Whole Bean

Kick Ass, whole bean coffee. Organic, Fairtrade, Rocky Mountain-Roasted. If there’s something worth doing, we think it’s worth doing great. This remarkable blend of beans is the spirit of Kicking Horse® Coffee, and a bold i…

www.kickinghorsecoffee.com

 

[kage69]

There must be a German word for something which is funny but horrifying as well!

Gotta hand it to ze Germans, they do indeed have that knack. Some of the people posting here these days give me a case of Fremdschämen

I think my favorite topical German word now is Kummerspeck. Excess weight gained through emotional eating. Literally "grief bacon." Haha

 

[kage69]

Unless I got a bad batch 2 bags in a row (I will need to test this by trying a totally different brand) I don't think it's the coffee as I've been using the same coffee for a while.

Kicking Horse Coffee | Kick Ass - Whole Bean

Kick Ass, whole bean coffee. Organic, Fairtrade, Rocky Mountain-Roasted. If there’s something worth doing, we think it’s worth doing great. This remarkable blend of beans is the spirit of Kicking Horse® Coffee, and a bold i…

www.kickinghorsecoffee.com

I guess that's a popular brand, that's what my wife drinks more than half the time.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I guess that's a popular brand, that's what my wife drinks more than half the time.

Yeah it's available at local grocery stores mostly, so easy to come by.

Come to think of it, maybe the way I've been storing it is an issue? I usually buy a bit in advance so unopened bags stay in the cupboard, but opened bags I put the rest in a mason jar then put it in the fridge. Is that maybe a bad idea? Should I still keep it in the cupboard?

My issue is not so much that it's bitter, more that it's tasteless. It feels like not enough taste is being extracted. So maybe the french press will help with that. But it's just odd that it only started being this way recently.

 

[kage69]

Maybe you have a batch that got frozen a few times, or might/also be a bit on the old side?

Probably hard to go wrong with a French press though. I hear from others it's the way to go. If there was more than one coffee drinker in the house it would make sense over here. Do you guys use a filter or no? That LDL cholesterol thing is legit for people who drink a lot, did I hear right?

All I know is I took what I thought were pretty damn clean brewing parts and mugs, gave them a short soak in a basin of hot water and that stuff, then scrubed them. What that water looked like when I was done horrified me. That can't be good for flavor. Were I a betting man, I'd say safe money the odds are in favor of you having build up in the rig, as opposed to a gucci coffee company failing QC. One container of that stuff is less money than a new brewing setup too I'm pretty sure. Just saying.

 

[lxskllr]

I actually prefer dirty coffee apparatus. My thermos and cup from work are never washed. My home cup gets washed every month or two, and my pourover gets cleaned every couple weeks. Coffee always tastes worse til the stuff gets aged again.

 

[Captante]

I just went to get Timmy's on my break and that coffee tastes better, so at least I can rule out covid. Though even Timmy's feels a bit watered down. Maybe I'm just turning into a coffee snob and need to get the more expensive stuff.

I'll have to wait and see once the french press comes in. They did not have any at my local store so had to get from one down south so it will be delivered.

I was going to ask if you've ruled out your coffee of choice being the thing that actually changed?

Frankly no matter what anyone tells you a cheap dirty auto-drip can make a better tasting cup with good beans than the most expensive (and sanitized!) coffee maker on earth with crappy stuff.

 

[Captante]

Weird question. When you go to coffee chains in NA what kind of coffee do they use?
Like over here all the coffee is made with an espresso base in the big chains. I know you guys prefer big mugs of filter coffee over there so I presume that Starbucks must have loads of filter machines as well as espresso presses for shorts and fancy drinks?

Believe it or not Dunkin's new blends are pretty good and include several that are not dark-roasted too. They use their own branded beans.

 

[WelshBloke]

Believe it or not Dunkin's new blends are pretty good and include several that are not dark-roasted too. They use their own branded beans.

I kinda wanted to know how they make their coffee rather than the blend.
My city has lots of little independent coffee places that I tend to go to. Not because of any snob reason but they will make me an espresso martini any time of day!

 

[Captante]

I kinda wanted to know how they make their coffee rather than the blend.
My city has lots of little independent coffee places that I tend to go to. Not because of any snob reason but they will make me an espresso martini any time of day!

Ahh sorry .... not sure what type/material the filters are but the stores in my area use large high-speed brewers with a basket-filter.

 

[blackangst1]

OP: To answer your question I suspect the coffee maker isnt heating up the water properly. In other words, its not hot enough.

 

[BurnItDwn]

As a couple others have more or less said. It seems like your new coffee maker is defective if its not heating the water hot enough to get a good extraction. (should be at around 93c/200f)
Anything less than around 91c/195f, and it will be will be watery nothingness.

We have a french press here, and I enjoy it sometimes, but we usually drip brew and get good results since our coffee maker isn't broken/defective.

 

[DigDog]

just curious; how much is a half kilo packet of Lavazza "Qualita' Rossa" coffee, around your parts ?

(oh, and COVID)

 

[Red Squirrel]

OP: To answer your question I suspect the coffee maker isnt heating up the water properly. In other words, its not hot enough.

Hmmm could be. That just made me think, it has a setting for hot plate, I set it to lowest setting as everything I read said the hot plate does more harm than good as it burns the coffee, but now that you mention it... I will try to turn it up and see if that helps. I think the real issue is when it sits on it after it's done brewing, maybe it's still good to have it maxed out for when it's actually still brewing.

 

[lxskllr]

Hot plate won't help. It's the brewing temperature that matters.

 

[KMFJD]

just curious; how much is a half kilo packet of Lavazza "Qualita' Rossa" coffee, around your parts ?

(oh, and COVID)

Around $4-5 for the 250g vacuum sealed packs

 

[DigDog]

if that's the price, you don't really need much more than that, and a moka Bialetti to make good coffee.

 

[blackangst1]

Hmmm could be. That just made me think, it has a setting for hot plate, I set it to lowest setting as everything I read said the hot plate does more harm than good as it burns the coffee, but now that you mention it... I will try to turn it up and see if that helps. I think the real issue is when it sits on it after it's done brewing, maybe it's still good to have it maxed out for when it's actually still brewing.

That won't fix it if the issue is the maker isn't BREWING hot enough though...

 

[Red Squirrel]

It's odd a somewhat expensive (a bit over $100) coffee maker would not be hot enough out of the box though. I might have to open it up to modify it and see if I can get it to heat more. But doesn't the water only go up the tube once it's boiling anyway? Or is that not how it works? There's also a setting to heat it more for when you only do under 4 cups which I tried. But yeah I can probably check what the temperature of the water is once it comes out and compare it with my old machine to at least see if that's the issue.

 

[blackangst1]

It's odd a somewhat expensive (a bit over $100) coffee maker would not be hot enough out of the box though. I might have to open it up to modify it and see if I can get it to heat more. But doesn't the water only go up the tube once it's boiling anyway? Or is that not how it works? There's also a setting to heat it more for when you only do under 4 cups which I tried. But yeah I can probably check what the temperature of the water is once it comes out and compare it with my old machine to at least see if that's the issue.

Proper brewing temp is 95-105 F. You'd be surprised how many makers are outside of that. Thats why I did research on brewing temps before I bought mine.

 

[GrumpyMan]

I like Colombian coffee myself. Dark rich coffees are my favorite, that Folgers Colombian is consistent as far as taste and potency for me. Of course I take out the coke packages that come in it first and throw that away.

 

[iCyborg]

Proper brewing temp is 95-105 F. You'd be surprised how many makers are outside of that. Thats why I did research on brewing temps before I bought mine.

That doesn't sound right. Are you maybe off by like 100F (195-205 F)?
Or maytbe C instead of F, but 95-105 C seems off too, who would recommend over 100...

 

[Red Squirrel]

I was wondering that too, there are places way down south where the air temperature can get that hot. It's crazy hot being in that temp, but not scalding your skin hot.