Coffee Quality?

[mr. ed]

I normally drink only 1 cup of coffee a day, in the morning. I've always ground the beans fresh, just before brewing. However, being in a hurry while shopping, I neglected to grab a bag of whole bean, and instead purchased a bag of already ground instead (Walmart brand, because it was cheaper). At home, I opened the bag and noticed it had virtually no coffee odor. I tried brewing 1 cup and afterwards threw the remaining bag of coffee in the garbage.


I was shopping again, and this time purchased whole bean coffee. I opened the bag, and also noticed a lack of coffee odor. Even after grinding, that lucious coffee smell was mostly absent. I made a cup this morning, and it was sort of acceptable, but not up to my expectations. Anyhow, I'm not about to throw the remaining beans away, at almost $10 a bag. If my perception of coffee quality continues, I'll just need to quit coffee drinking entirely until it improves, if ever. I won't drink the instant product since that tastes like poison to me. I do like tea, so maybe I'll eventually go that route, and save $$ to boot.

[Archer2]

Any chance you might have or have had Covid?

[Smitty77]

Cup of Joe in the AM!

You could buy another bag of say French Roast, and mix it with the bag that you're not enthralled with...

We make a 10 cup daily. We buy the Starbucks French Roast and Decaffeinated whole beans at Costco (Two or three bags when they're on sale!). We mix them about 65% 'Leaded' French Roast with about 35% Unleaded. We usually grind the night before, and have the pot ready to turn on in the AM (DW sleeps in, so less noise in the AM!).

We find this to be both a satisfactory tasting Cup of Joe, and also relatively economical in the scheme of things!

Hope you just had a bad run, and 'your norm' of what you like, will return to normal for you!

Travel safe,
Smitty

[pasdad1]

^^^^ what he said above …..

I have not noticed any lack of odor with my coffee.

[Camp CA]

mr. ed..........no need to stop drinking coffee...........instead buy a dark and rich french roast. That is what we use...........whole bean at home (like San Francisco Bay from our local supermarket or Costco) and ground on the rv and boat. Both in a french press.

[mr. ed]

Originally Posted by Archer2

Any chance you might have or have had Covid?

Nope. I'm pretty healthy for 78 yrs old, with the exception of some crippling effects from a stroke 8 yrs ago. I virtually never get sick, no colds, flu, nothing

[mr. ed]

Originally Posted by Smitty77

Cup of Joe in the AM!

You could buy another bag of say French Roast, and mix it with the bag that you're not enthralled with...

We make a 10 cup daily. We buy the Starbucks French Roast and Decaffeinated whole beans at Costco (Two or three bags when they're on sale!). We mix them about 65% 'Leaded' French Roast with about 35% Unleaded. We usually grind the night before, and have the pot ready to turn on in the AM (DW sleeps in, so less noise in the AM!).

We find this to be both a satisfactory tasting Cup of Joe, and also relatively economical in the scheme of things!

Hope you just had a bad run, and 'your norm' of what you like, will return to normal for you!

Travel safe,
Smitty

Thanks for those suggestions, Smitty. I never tried buying Starbucks brand beans. I do like a tall latte when the barista brews it, but they're somewhat pricey, and being on a fixed income, I haven't visited a Starbucks store in a long time.

I may also try going back to a brewing method I used when full time RVing. I didn't have a coffee machine in my RV in order to save counter space, so I used the "cowboy" method: put freshly ground coffee in boiling water, turn down heat, steep a while, then decant into my cup. I never minded a few grounds getting into the cup. That worked well during all the years I full timed.

I'm now using a Mr. Coffee machine, which has been making acceptable coffee until now, but I sure miss the quality of the brew I was used to.

[johninsd]

You might want to look at an Aeropress - makes excellent coffee, takes up very little space.

[BonS]

I buy green coffee beans and roast them myself. So, I can say two things for sure. Aside from the wonderful smell of roasting, a freshly roasted bean doesn't have as much smell as one that has aged for a few days or longer. Also, there are two stages of roasting - first crack and second crack. A light roast that only proceeds to first crack isn't as aromatic as a roast that goes right up to or through second crack. All darker roast beans have gone through second crack. Beans that are roasted through second crack are quite dark and are more aromatic than those that haven't. By the way, when roasting, "crack" is something that you can hear. First crack sounds like popcorn and second crack sounds like rice crispies and leaves pock marks on the outside of the bean where bits of the bean shell pop off.

So, give you beans a week and see if they're more aromatic or mix them with some darker roast beans and you might wake up that cup of java.

[95f5334j]

Originally Posted by mr. ed

I neglected to grab a bag of whole bean, and instead purchased a bag of already ground instead (Walmart brand, because it was cheaper). At home, I opened the bag and noticed it had virtually no coffee odor. I tried brewing 1 cup and afterwards threw the remaining bag of coffee in the garbage.

Store brand coffee is cheaper for a reason..... most are made from lower grade beans. Walmart is the worst for grinding suppliers for lower prices resulting in lower quality products.

[JohnBike]

If you want the best cuppa, you need the freshest beans. Grocery store beans and major coffee chain beans are months old by the time you see them on the shelf. Fresh-roasted coffee beans are quite stale after about two weeks, regardless of the packaging.
Until about the first of this year, I would occasionally buy fresh roast at one of the local shops that did its own roasting. I and the DW both noticed the difference when the truly fresh beans were in use. This past January I started a coffee subscription service, bottomless.com. A WiFi-connected scale lets bottomless know when I have only a few days of beans left. They send an order to one of their 200+ roasters and I get a fresh bag in 3-5 days. All have been excellent so far.
There is another solution to lousy coffee on the road and that is to make cold brew coffee. Since I don’t take the grinder in the road, I buy ground coffee. Despite the relative staleness of the grind, the cold brew process brings out the remaining good in old grinds. The simplest method is the quart mason jar. Put 3 oz. (by weight) of coffee grounds in the jar, add three cups of water, stir, and put in the fridge for 24 hours. Filter through a coffee filter into another jar. It’s strong, so dilute about 2:1 with cream, milk, or water before drinking. If you like it, then upgrade your cold brew rig with a fine mesh filter (Amazon search: cold brew filter).
No apologies - I admit to being a coffee snob.

[doc]

Originally Posted by Archer2

Any chance you might have or have had Covid?

My thoughts also

[TandW]

Odor vs aroma. Who wins?

[baraff]

I've never understood the whole bean vs ground argument. To me it's like the vinyl vs CD argument where audiophiles swear on their mother's grave that vinyl is better. Like that argument, but with coffee.

We buy Seattle's Best Post Alley. We get it from Amazon with their subscription plan. I drink about a cup and half in the morning and my wife has one cup.
Somehow that first cup always tastes better than the second half cup. Go figure...