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[Bowie]

I haven't seen any hints to what type is ground in Coffee of Doom, I'm sure it's good. My favorite type/brand is Garuda Blend by Peet's Coffee, which is a slightly smaller chain than Starbucks. Anyone else out there buy Garuda? If not, just post the ones you like.

[Tako]

The best cups of coffee I've had were in Puerto Rico (at a restaurant called Siglo XX) and Venezuela (at some spanish restaurant). In those countries, coffee feels more like a tradition rather than an addiction, and it tastes better too.

Here, though, I just drink Starbucks (or at the Golden Roast when I'm back at home), but that's because I work there so it's either free or really cheap.  Also there aren't any awesome coffee shops nearby.

I also have a manual espresso machine that pulls delicious shots of espresso.

Okay, I'm done...I think

[bicostp]

Dunkin' Donuts and Honey Dew Donuts have equally good coffee. Starbucks smothers theirs under too much extra flavoring and faux-Italian, and I'm pretty sure their roasting method involves gasoline and a lighter.

As for home brewed coffee, either drip brew a 50/50 mix of Chase & Sanborn and Don Francisco's 'Vanillia Nut', or percolate ground Arabica.

[JorickHorn]

Most of the year it's White Chocolate Mocha.

During the holidays, however, I also drink Gingerbread Latte and Eggnog latte. That's when they're available.

[jill the ripper]

I am a teenager valley girl Starbucks whore.
The barristas (barista?) at my local starbucks know me. I go there every morning.

I have a regular.
Tall Skinny Caramel Latte.


All I know about coffee besides starbucks I learned from Alton Brown. ;d

[britMonster]

Dunkin' Donuts and Honey Dew Donuts have equally good coffee. Starbucks smothers theirs under too much extra flavoring and faux-Italian, and I'm pretty sure their roasting method involves gasoline and a lighter.

As for home brewed coffee, either drip brew a 50/50 mix of Chase & Sanborn and Don Francisco's 'Vanillia Nut', or percolate ground Arabica.

Starbucks actually has this really long handpicked bean process. I had to learn about it to get my coffee passport. My favourite place here in Charlotte is this coffee shop called Smelly Cats downtown. If anyone ever stops through Charlotte they should look up Smelly Cats. They have an amazing cup of coffee.

[Border Reiver]

at home I drink "Sumatra Mandheling" from Second Cup
At work, it's maxwell House, cause that's what the coffee fund buys;
At military exercises - whatever is used (but never instant - that stuff'll kill you faster than HE);
On the road - Tim Horton's, cause its a decent and inexpensive cup

But the best I've ever had is Jamaican Blue Mountain beans, but at $30/pound its a little out of my price range.

[Surgoshan]

If anyone ever stops through Charlotte they should look up Smelly Cats. They have an amazing cup of coffee.

Whereabouts?  If it's near CPCC I'll check it out next time I visit my brother.

[Bowie]

White Chocolate Mocha is one I've heard a lot about, but I prefer my coffee either as a cappuccino or black with sugar. I bring in my Garuda to Journalism class, and everyone loves it, but since I started this I asked around. A bunch of people know the local indie coffee shops where they vacation or near relatives, and they're the best. I haven't been to one, though.

[Near Lurker]

Starbucks - no, just no.

Dunkin' Donuts used to be better, but they've been going downhill for years.  They give the franchises a lot of control, though, so there are still some good ones.  Honeydew is okay.

I'm convinced that all coffee sold west of the Connecticut River is required by some law to be made by making a bonfire of the beans and roasting the ashes.  Yes, that includes Coffee of Doom, unless they smuggle it in from Amherst.

[Bowie]

Sadly, I have to say I prefer a Starbuck's cappuccino to a Peet's Coffee cappucino. This is probably because the espresso in the Starbuck's ones hits you in the face at 8 in the morning like a train. But for an afternoon cappucino intended to fuel an all-nighter, I'd choose Peet's. But I agree, Starbucks is where everyone goes, I'd rather be different.

[Lunchbox]

Doesn't anyone buy coffee that's, you know, not from a chain? Do Independent coffee shops and roasters not exist in America outside of Northampton?
I like to think that Coffee of Doom would purchase their beans from a tall, thin man in black called Rico who smokes tall, thin cigarettes and continually sips from a tiny china cup of doppio espresso.

[britMonster]

If anyone ever stops through Charlotte they should look up Smelly Cats. They have an amazing cup of coffee.

Whereabouts?  If it's near CPCC I'll check it out next time I visit my brother.

Its kinda near CPCC, depending on the campus you go to. Its in the NoDa district, which I'm sure you're brother is familiar with if he lives here.

Edit :: (To Lunchbox) Smelly Cats is an individually owned place, not a chain.

[Muppet King]

Doesn't anyone buy coffee that's, you know, not from a chain? Do Independent coffee shops and roasters not exist in America outside of Northampton?
I like to think that Coffee of Doom would purchase their beans from a tall, thin man in black called Rico who smokes tall, thin cigarettes and continually sips from a tiny china cup of doppio espresso.

Independent coffee shops do exist in the midwest, but they usually attract the wrong sort of people....and Caribou is usually better anyways.

[britMonster]

Mmm, Caribou. ^_^

[Lunchbox]

Basically I am just being a snob and saying that if you guys are discussing Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts when talkin' coffee, you shouldn't really be trying to talk coffee.

[Bowie]

I agree. And where I live, there is one little indie coffee shop...but it's at the car wash, and I ride a bus, so I don't stop there every morning. Besides, I've stolen sips from my friends, and they coffee there tastes terrible.

[LucyStag]

My favorite coffee ever is probably Kick Ass Strong Turkish Coffee When Jet-Lagged in Croatia Which Made Me Discover How Awesome Coffee Is When I was 15.

I wish I knew where to get that coffee now.

[RobbieOC]

All I know about coffee besides starbucks I learned from Alton Brown. ;d

This is a lady after my own heart.

[MrSteevo]

I must say, the best coffee I ever had was in a Airport in Italy.
They have a passion for thier coffee over there, and it shows (He put a small drawing thing in the foam)

[Bowie]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VkkMESfIOk
Like these?
Edit: Wow, there's a lot of those coffee-cream artists under 'related.' I want to try, now. Too bad I don't have a milk foosher thing. Don't know the name of it.

[Ikrik]

I have a used book-store near my house...like 10 minutes walk from my house and it makes freaking amazing coffee.  My friend works there and he was trying to tell me all about where they get their stuff from and how they make their coffee really good....but seriously, I'm not a barrista...I don't care.

[Nodaisho]

I think the best I have had was... either this peppermint coffee I got for christmas or the Green Mountain blend I had when I was staying at the University of Denver for a week. The peppermint stuff was really strong, twice as strong as the normal coffee I make, but I hadn't even used as much as I normally did. I think it was Ghirardelli, or however you spell that company that makes chocolate.

[Bowie]

I love strong coffee. Ghiardelli (I can't spell it either) makes coffee? I want some of that! Is it chocolate flavored, like a mocha, or just normal coffee?

[Nodaisho]

It was peppermint flavored, I think. I could be mixing it up, because I got peppermint chocolate that they made, checking the bag of coffee...

Apparently someone else used it all up, but my mother thinks it was that company that starts with a G and is impossible to spell as well. She thinks it might have been chocolate peppermint flavored.

edit: It might have been a seasonal thing, their website is www.ghirardelli.com but I don't have time to look it up right now.

[sk8brder40]

I'm not into coffee really, so I'm just gonna flat out say this: Dunkin Donuts white hot chocolate.

[MissAmbiguity]

lol, pretentious much?

I do like Starbucks, my drink of choice would be a vanilla latte. There's this really nice coffee store in Kensington called Higher Grounds if anyone ever stops by Calgary. That's right, I live in C-A-N-A-D-A. There are squishy chairs, wi-fi and a fireplace. It's a lot nicer than Starbucks.

[MrSteevo]

A good bit of people here on the forums live in Canada. (such as I)

There's not many good Indie coffee places where I live, but I'll make sure I check out that place in Calgary next time I visit.

[Ikrik]

My view of Starbucks is that if you're gonna just ask for a coffe or a latte or a mocha or whatever you should be shot.  Your order must be at least 4 words long and if the barrista doesn't understand what you're talking about...you've won.  I have 5 friends who do that and it's hilarious to watch them order.  The only one I remember gets a latte with half and half and orange flavouring but he says it in like....5 words....it's great.  Oh and Godiva's chocolate coffee is pretty decent, if not ridiculously expensive.

[Lunchbox]

Guh... I can't imagine living anywhere where there is just one non-chain coffee shop. I'm within a fifteen minute walk of at least thirty different independent coffee shops, and I work at one.

Bowie - it's called crema or latte art, and the milk foosher is called a steam wand, but I think I'm gonna call it the milk foosher from now on. I'm actually training a girl in the use of our wonderful espresso machine at the moment, and I'm as proud as punch that last night she produced some textbook jugs of milk. Now I just need to teach her how to pour properly... I think she's still a bit out of reach of latte art.

[est]

My favourite cafe serves Art Caffe, but that is not my favourite coffee, I just go there a lot because it's close to my place and I know the people there fairly well.  They used to sell a superior (in my opinion) coffee called Danes, but apparently the distributors don't give as good a deal on their bags of beans and machine maintenance and such and the guy who runs the place prefers Art Caffe anyway.

My absolute favourite at the moment is probably one called Aroma.  I think it's organic & grown by a co-op of farmers, etc. but I am not really sure that makes it any tastier to me.  It is just a really flavourful coffee, without being too bitter like something like Piazza d'oro.

[JReynolds]

...Calgary. That's right, I live in C-A-N-A-D-A.

Canada? Cee - eh - Enn - eh - Dee- eh. North of the U.S., eh?

Heh. I'm actually Canadian too. There's a small independent chain (maybe 4-5 outlets) called The Little Red Roaster. The coffee there is great.

[Nodaisho]

Guh... I can't imagine living anywhere where there is just one non-chain coffee shop. I'm within a fifteen minute walk of at least thirty different independent coffee shops, and I work at one.

I think we have maybe five coffee shops within a 15 minute walk, not including Starbucks, but I don't drink coffee much, I don't want to get to the point where I need coffee in the morning to be alert. Of course, that fifteen minute walk would require me knowing where I was going, I know the general area of two of them, and the exact location of two of them, and I can't remember where the other one is, only went there once. I honestly don't know if some of them are chains, one of them is a two-shop chain just in this city, so it doesn't count.

[Border Reiver]

My view of Starbucks is that if you're gonna just ask for a coffe or a latte or a mocha or whatever you should be shot.  Your order must be at least 4 words long and if the barrista doesn't understand what you're talking about...you've won.  I have 5 friends who do that and it's hilarious to watch them order.  The only one I remember gets a latte with half and half and orange flavouring but he says it in like....5 words....it's great.  Oh and Godiva's chocolate coffee is pretty decent, if not ridiculously expensive.

Any order that cannot be said in four words or less is too long.

For example :  "Large double-double, please"
"Extra large black, please"
"Plus-grande noire, si-vous-plait" (Occasionally, I have to order coffee in Quebec)

The please is essential, I'm Canadian.  Those are coffee orders.  I agree with Dora - the use of Italian when ordering coffee (outside of Italy, where not to use it would be rude) needs to be punished.

[C Patrick Carolan]

I go to a local place in Calgary called Caffe Beano whenever I get the chance, which considering I live within walking distance of the shop, is all too rare. Of course, winter here sucks, and is still going on, so walking anywhere more than three blocks away is disgusting.

Higher Grounds is good too, but I'm not in Kensington very often. The LAzy Loaf & Kettle on Memorial Drive makes good coffee and has awesome fresh baked everything, and Kaffa down in Marda Loop makes some good coffee.

And almost any of the places at the UofC make atrocious coffee. Ploughboy's Kicking Horse is pretty good and the Good Earth coffee is decent (even if it is expensive... $4 for hot chocolate?!), but aside from those two, pretty much any other coffee served on campus is bitter and almost undrinkable. Which is probably why so many students wander off campus to get their fix at Weeds.

[MissAmbiguity]

Hmm Caffe Beano, that's on 17th? I'll have to agree that the coffee on UC campus is awful. I have to mix it with hot chocolate at any of the school owned places. I'm not all that fond of Good Earth coffee, either... though I've only had coffee once or twice there. The girl in the bookstore (the starbucks), doesn't make very good coffee either... except the owner. Coffee Company in MacHall is all right.

Oh and my friend retains the longest coffee order ever:
grande java chip frap, no whip, extra chocolate chip with a dome lid

[C Patrick Carolan]

Yeah, Beano is just off of 17th Ave on 9th St. Pretty close to Megatunes, Tubby Dog, and the Wee Book Inn. It used to be tiny, but they bought out the barber shop on the corner and did some major renovations, and now the cafe is pretty big.

I actually end up at Coffee Company in Mac Hall most days; I work in the library and the trek over to Ploughboy is a bit of a hike when you only have a 20 minute break. Coffee Co isn't too bad, really, as long as you stay away from the flavoured coffees they invent... I have no idea what 'highlander grog' is supposed to be, but it tastes like battery acid. I'll usually stick with the 'nicaraguan french organic' if I'm going there.

If you haven't tried Pastel's for coffee yet, don't! And surprisingly, the stuff they make over at Stor isn't too terrible. If you don't have time to wait in a lineup at the other places, it's a pretty decent option.

[stonehawk]

Jiffy Lube Waiting Room. White Styrofoam Dixie cups.

Black, gritty spatterings of soggy grounds floating in my cup.
Eight International Delight creamers, mixed into an amorphous diabetes inducing blend of generic flavors.

The only thing thicker in my coffee than the sugar is nihilistic dadaism.
<3

[Windmills]

If any of you Calgarians find yourselves in Medicine Hat you should try the Mad Hatter's Roastery. We roast all our coffee in house and get beans from all over the world.
Whoo! Plugging my work!

But for the best coffee discussion...
I have been on a Toledo kick lately, its this great stuff we have in from Guatemala. Apparently its hard to get, and very limited amounts of the beans are grown.

[Kyros]

The best coffee I've ever actually drank was some Puerto Rican stuff I had at my relatives house in Florida and I have no clue exactly what the shit it was, but it was badass coffee.

Usually I just make my own coffee from my Senseo coffee machine, I think it's Swedish or something.  Other than that I settle for my college's chain Coffee shop called Jazzman's(There's one on like...pretty much every SUNY College campus here in New York) as all of the independent small coffee shops in town here suck...a lot.

[JReynolds]

I chimed in earlier with a plug for The Little Red Roaster. But the best coffee I ever had was in Northampton, Massachusetts. A little indie place. I can't remember its name, but the servers were totally cool.

Apparently, some of the coffee beans they serve are grown on a space station somewhere. Neat.

[petmilk]

i used to be a caribou addict. now that i'm an east coaster, i've been barred from my beloved brew. that's ok, in the interim i've realized other things ... namely, that it's robbery to charge $2 for a cup of coffee. am i the only person perfectly content with the shitty swill they serve you at like, denny's? i mean, it's bottomless, it keeps me up, and if i drink it fast, i hardly taste it. the point of coffee is not flavor ... i'm not waving it in front of my nose and noticing its "delicate bouquet." john kass of the chicago trib wrote an article about the masturbatory nature of coffee drinkers, and it was hilarious. if i can find it, i will post a link.

i used to work at panera ... say what you will, but their hazelnut blend is pretty damn good. so long as i had actually changed the coffe filters in the past two hours. (um.) and i loved how the "limited time brew" was ALWAYS THE FUCKING SAME.

intelligentsia is also remarkably popular. and if you're in chicago, try out argo tea. my friend worked there and got me addicted to red tea lattes (and i usually can't stand milk in my anything!). yum.

[Tako]

Guh... I can't imagine living anywhere where there is just one non-chain coffee shop. I'm within a fifteen minute walk of at least thirty different independent coffee shops, and I work at one.

Bowie - it's called crema or latte art, and the milk foosher is called a steam wand, but I think I'm gonna call it the milk foosher from now on. I'm actually training a girl in the use of our wonderful espresso machine at the moment, and I'm as proud as punch that last night she produced some textbook jugs of milk. Now I just need to teach her how to pour properly... I think she's still a bit out of reach of latte art.

I wish there were actually good non chain coffee shops close to me.
I also agree that the term milk foosher is superior to steam wand.
And I remember the first time I tried pouring some freshly steamed milk...it was special. I love making drinks though, and I take a lot of pride in my work. It's at Starbucks though so while the espresso itself isn't the best ever, I'd like to think that I make the drink as good as it can be.

[Dasota]

I work at a Tim Horton's in the states, and the coffee is ok, I don't know why people think it's the best stuff, or it's so addicting. It's just coffee. And our cappacinos come out of machines where I press one button and wha-la cappacino from powdered form. Just add scalding water!

Now, I think that Mocha Latte's are the greatest things in the world. Triple shot Mocha with a shot of vanilla flavoring.

[Bowie]

I love triple-shot mochas...or cappuccinos...anything with a bunch of espresso.
Did I make up a new term for the steam wand? Hurrah!

[Thorbard]

Milk foosher would also cover those little electric whisks you can get. Basically you heat up the milk then whisk it and it gets really frothy. Its kinda different in texture to proper steamed milk though.

[snalin]

We have this small place in my town, I guess you could call it indy. It's called "det lille kaffekompainet", directly translated "the little coffecompany". They have the best mocha ever. They have the best coffe in general ever.

[britMonster]

i used to be a caribou addict. now that i'm an east coaster, i've been barred from my beloved brew. that's ok, in the interim i've realized other things ... namely, that it's robbery to charge $2 for a cup of coffee. am i the only person perfectly content with the shitty swill they serve you at like, denny's? i mean, it's bottomless, it keeps me up, and if i drink it fast, i hardly taste it. the point of coffee is not flavor ... i'm not waving it in front of my nose and noticing its "delicate bouquet." john kass of the chicago trib wrote an article about the masturbatory nature of coffee drinkers, and it was hilarious. if i can find it, i will post a link.

i used to work at panera ... say what you will, but their hazelnut blend is pretty damn good. so long as i had actually changed the coffe filters in the past two hours. (um.) and i loved how the "limited time brew" was ALWAYS THE FUCKING SAME.

intelligentsia is also remarkably popular. and if you're in chicago, try out argo tea. my friend worked there and got me addicted to red tea lattes (and i usually can't stand milk in my anything!). yum.

We totally have caribou on the east coast.

[Red Peril]

Coffee is the nectar of Beelzebub, only tea can satisfy a truly functional intelligence.

[JorickHorn]

Beezlebub's my homeboy.