Now-defunct Espresso Royale House Blend. Their local roaster still offers the same beans under a different name. Buttery, citrus, smoky, life-giving.
Well, I tried a pieces of cassia bark in this morning’s coffee, and it was quite nice. I’ll probably do that again.
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My parents owned a whole-bean coffee store, which they expanded into a number of locations. Just selling whole-bean coffees, a number of teas, and some various tchotchkes, about the time bigger concerns started taking up this trade (late 1970s/early 1980s). Bankrupted by Big Coffee, and that was the end of that.
So, yes, a good bit of my childhood was spent in the backroom among big burlap sacks of roasted beans.
But, yet, these days I only drink instant coffee with whole milk. It doesn’t have an “aroma” so much as a “stench,” but after using most every device known among humans to brew coffee, including roasting my own at home in a cast-iron pan, I just don’t care anymore.
It’s good enough, anyway, for me!
And, yes, I do drink at least …what’s twelve times six…72 ounces of coffee a day. At least. Still, it’s good enough for me. I’m much pickier about whiskies.
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Bumping this thread to announce that today’s drink is a Trader Joe’s Medium Roast with cardamom seeds tossed in the filter with the coffee again.
Delightful as ever. 
I’d scout around for actual breakfast, but I have a cat on my lap.
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My latest roast was Papua New Guinean Limari (new to me and very nice), then I’ll be reverting to my usual Ethiopian Sidamo next roast.
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I’ve had to switch to instant coffee and pour over recently, with my French press just reserved for company or a weekend treat. My cholesterol numbers were way up, and it appears French press is a not-insignificant contributor to that.
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Ooof. That’s just not fair.
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I use an Aeropress these days. It gives the kind of brew I prefer, but I also see some claims that it may be a better than other methods for those who have cholesterol problems.
Disclaimer: I don’t know if these claims are salesmanship, sloppy journalistic claims or the result of genuine research, but it might be worth looking into, just in case it might be the answer to your prayers.
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Whoa. One of THE MOST annoying people I knew on another board was a Press guy who lectured me sternly about how Chemex was a subpar way to brew coffee because the filter trapped too much of the bean oil. That wasn’t why I un-followed him. But gosh. I hope someone’s warned him about his arteries being in grave danger or whatever. 
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Thanks for the lead, I’ll check it out.
A Chemex beaker is how I’m making my pour-over. I’m not enamoured with the results, and the paper cones feel massively wasteful. That’s a big part of why I’ve just gone with instant on work days.
I make cold brew at home but don’t filter it—the maker has a metal mesh basket and anything that makes it through just settles to the bottom. I had zero clue that was a cholesterol hazard until your post, @SandyFrank. I’ll start filtering and will keep an eye on those numbers. Thank you!
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I make cold brew at home when I’m not buying canned or bottled ready-to-drink coffees.
When I’m out and about, I prefer Caribou Coffee or a local coffee bar.
I drank ludicrous amounts of coffee way back in the day. I’ve given it up since. Health issues (don’t worry - it’s more annoying than catastrophic).
However, I will say this: one of my favorite traditions while watching first-run MST3K episodes on the Sci-Fi Channel was to dunk pretzels in French Vanilla coffee.
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Most coffees out there like Starbucks and the supermarket brands (Folgers, Maxwell House, Hill Brothers, etc) are dark roasts; they have a smoky flavor.
I had Nguyen Coffee Supply’s Vietnamese coffee; they are a light roast made of 100% Peaberry Robusta. All their coffee is imported as green coffee beans and roasted in Brooklyn. According to the package, Robusta has 2x the caffeine of Arabica and Vietnam is the second largest producer of coffee in the world.
I like this as it is not as bitter as the usual dark roast coffee.
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Got my Aeropress, thanks again for the recommendation. It does make much better coffee than the Chemex, and with far less waste. The only downside is that it’s really suited to just making one regular mug of coffee at a time. So it takes two uses to fill my work tumbler. But that’s a minor quibble, considering how well it works and how good the coffee tastes. And since it’s filtered it should help with the cholesterol issue. Cheers!
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I use:
Bear with me here because even though it’s instant, it doesn’t taste like it at all and it’s also fair trade.
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Yes, that’s a good one (a Kroger brand, I’ve bought it as well). I also like Mount Hagen, I get it at Fresh Market.
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Yes, there’s a capacity issue, but the Aeropress makes a strong enough brew that many would dilute the result for a larger medium-strength coffee.
I got around the having enough for work drinks issue by having a second Aeropress at the office, so I can have as many cups as I like.
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