Wine.Woot : One Week, One Wine (SM)

kirknicole wrote:I went to HS with Rohan. Now he's pushing coffee on woot. Wow! Would have never guessed it.

Live in Chicago now, and personally, see no reason to buy anything other than Intelligentsia or Metropolis.

Chicago here too. Used to buy only Intelligentsia and then we switched to Whole Foods brand of coffee (gotta save $$ somewhere) called Pacific Rim- its almost two pounds for 11.99. Great coffee, great deal. This is not my cup of tea (or coffee for that matter).

Yeah, I'm curious to know some sort of packaging date to see how long this coffee has been sitting. I think you guys need to legally disclose that if we ask.....


=D


and even if you don't, knowing how old the coffee is would be a make or break point for me going in on this...

SmilingBoognish wrote:I don't think you prefer lighter roasts because you want the caffeine, lighter roasts simply taste better. Dark roasting is for marginal/substandard beans, imho. Roasting a coffee dark is akin to serving a white wine ice cold. It makes it palatable and masks imperfections.

FWIW, I worked in a coffee shop that roasted it's own green beans in house. My experience with Blue Mountain coffee was that it was almost too smooth for making drip coffee, but made a sublime espresso. And yes, it was roasted "full city", the lightest roast for the best beans.

This is very true.

Essentially, when you are roasting coffee, your main goal SHOULD be to highlight as much natural flavor from the coffee as possible, while imparting as little roasting flavor as possible.

This is exactly what you do with a steak as well. If you have a high quality cut of meat, you never order it well done, because you are really just killing the natural flavor, and imparting your own smoky/roasted flavor. This smokey flavor may be likable, but don't do that on a good steak, use a cheap steak where it doesn't matter.

Also, little tidbit of roasting info:

Oil on the whole beans is a sign of too dark of a roast.

When you heat coffee beans (which really are not beans but seeds), it aggravates the natural oils...These oils move from inside the bean, towards the shell. These oils contain most of the flavors. Coffee oils biggest enemies are air and water (prematurely). So if the roast is too dark, to the point of oil being visible on the outside of the bean, it means the flavors are quickly (within hours) turning rancid and bitter.

Now of course, this rancid bitter flavor became popular in France and Southern Italy (northern and southern Italian coffee's are very different, northern Italy being wealthier and thus higher quality), migrating eventually to America.

...
...
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I have gotten carried away haven't I?

MonkeyWithACold wrote:
I have gotten carried away haven't I?

With good, solid information.

cheron98 wrote:You realize it only takes 2 Tbsp of beans to make that 99 cent cup of coffee from the gas station, right? Well let's be generous and assume you're having at least a 16oz cup, so we'll go for 5 Tbsp of beans per cup assuming they use the recommended amount (and they usually go less to lower their own costs). And probably lower quality beans at that.

These are what, 12oz bags? So figure on that coming out to oh, let's say about 6 cups of beans per bag, which translates to 96 tablespoons. So that's ~19 16oz servings per bag (does that sound about right? 50 6oz cups per bag? 5 full 10-cup pots of coffee?). So for equality, we're looking at 19 "gas station" servings. There's 5 bags in this offer, bringing us up to 96 servings.

So you can pay $50 (w/shipping) for 96 16oz servings of quality coffee that you take a little time to make yourself.

Or you can pay $96 for the 96 cups of cheap mass-market coffee you get from your gas station.

You also have to compare to purchase all at once to overtime. 99c a day on a small wage, paid every two weeks might be easier to handle than $50 all at once.

inkwench wrote:Darn.

Just this month I laid out the cash ($300!) for a Capresso burr-mill auto grind 'n' brew (love it, for those who are in the market) and bought a lot of local roasted coffee for it.

But I'll stick to the local roasted. Yeah, if the Black whatchamacallit that used to be sold on Woot came back, I'd probably jump on it anyway, but I'm with those that think this is more advertising on the name than it is truly fresh roasted coffee.

But then I'm a coffee snob.

For those that care, the link to the Capresso burr mill grind and brew==http://www.capresso.com/prod_makers_team.html

Friday Wine Woots suck.

I would be a little hesitant to purchase this coffee. Its hard to tell but there doesn't appear to be a valve on their bag. Basically what this means is they roast their coffee, let it sit around about 1 1/2 - 2 days to let it cool and degas, than bag.

You want your coffee packed quickly after roasting for best possible taste. This requires a valve on the bag otherwise the bag would basically burst at the seems with how much gas is released.

Hopefully the Marley Coffee Company rep in here will answer these questions:

Is there a one way valve on your bag?
How quickly after roasting coffee do you bag it?
Are your beans 100% arabica?
Do you nitrogen flush your bags to eliminate oxygen inside the bag (oxygen is coffees biggest enemy)?

kahawken wrote:Agree on grinders - I've got Ranchilio Rocky which use to be for my espresso, now I've got a Mazzer Mini and another espresso machine. Nevertheless, for drip, french a good grinder is pretty important if you are desiring the best you can get from good beans. A coffee shop owner recently mentioned this one - KitchenAid Pro Line Burr Coffee Grinder - Nickel Pearl ($159 at Amazon). I I didn't have Rocky I would entertain the thought of trying. Bottom line, should use a burr grinder over a blade grinder.

Just a note on your Rocky---if you've ever had trouble with grind consistency, the next time you dissemble the burr plates for cleaning, just wrap 2 layers of Teflon pipe tape around the male threads----perfect fix. I got this little tweak from the forums at coffeegeek.com . Mine was driving me crazy with poor quality espresso crema. I noticed you have the Rocky AND the Mazzer, thought you might have an issue. How does the Mazzer compare by the way? I was on the fence between the two.

akk76 wrote:Don't forget Blue Bottle, the stuff of cult status in SF.

Meh! Those who rave about it know less about coffee than about following cult trends, IMHO. SF, once one of the few places in America you could truly do your own thing without fear of (much) sanction, has become a place overwhelmed by trendy one-upmanship among the self-appointed cogniscenti who have moved to SF from everywhere else. But, I digress....

Courtesy of my daughter in SF, I've tried several varieties of Blue Bottle and was unimpressed. Fresh roasted - they do tell you the roast date - but mediocre quality beans. Subsequently, same daughter met a friend of a friend whose family is in the coffee-growing business somewhere South of the Border and who knows something about coffee. He confirmed my suspicion that BB does not use top quality beans (not to mention that they roast them overly dark).

MonkeyWithACold wrote:This is very true.

Essentially, when you are roasting coffee, your main goal SHOULD be to highlight as much natural flavor from the coffee as possible, while imparting as little roasting flavor as possible.

This is exactly what you do with a steak as well. If you have a high quality cut of meat, you never order it well done, because you are really just killing the natural flavor, and imparting your own smoky/roasted flavor. This smokey flavor may be likable, but don't do that on a good steak, use a cheap steak where it doesn't matter.

Also, little tidbit of roasting info:

Oil on the whole beans is a sign of too dark of a roast.

When you heat coffee beans (which really are not beans but seeds), it aggravates the natural oils...These oils move from inside the bean, towards the shell. These oils contain most of the flavors. Coffee oils biggest enemies are air and water (prematurely). So if the roast is too dark, to the point of oil being visible on the outside of the bean, it means the flavors are quickly (within hours) turning rancid and bitter.

Now of course, this rancid bitter flavor became popular in France and Southern Italy (northern and southern Italian coffee's are very different, northern Italy being wealthier and thus higher quality), migrating eventually to America.

...
...
...
I have gotten carried away haven't I?

VERY nice and succint explanation. For coffee, on woot, you da man!

Your point about the difference between Northern and Southern Italy is very well-taken. When I first came to New York from California in the 1970s, I didn't understand why the espresso in New York was so different from that (then) served in most of the authentically Italian coffeehouses in San Francisco and what we'd had at home. Duh! The Italians in New York are almost all from South of Naples and Sicily; the Italians in Northern California are mostly from Liguria (mostly Genoa), Piedmont, Lombardy (Milan) and Venezia (Venice). Giannini was Genovese, as were many of the fishermen. The truck farmers on the Peninsula were mostly Lombards and Piedmontese, and the dairy farmers North of San Francisco were mostly from the alpine areas that straddle Italy and Switzerland; most of the wine people were Northerners as well.

On a lighter note ......


Daylight Savings Time ends at 2 am Sunday. This weekend.

So don't forget to reset your clocks before going to bed tonight!




Oh, and

Don't forget a little toffee with your coffee.

Toffeeking wrote:Don't forget a little toffee with your coffee.

YOU again. Stop taunting us!

Wine.Woot
becomes
Food.Woot

MonkeyWithACold wrote:Eh, I don't want to be all snobby here, but it IS wine.woot.

I work in specialty coffee, and coffee is really only good for about 10 days after it is roasted. Starbucks and places will tell you otherwise, but if you are ever looking for quality coffee, DEMAND roast dates.

Granted, if you are just looking for a cup to wake you up in the morning, it doesn't really matter (light roast has more caffeine though)...But don't buy this coffee if you are looking for a truly good coffee.

For really good coffee, order from Stumptown, Intelligensia, Ritual, Gimme, 49th Parallel...Those are some of the top roasters in the country, they ship the day it is roasted, so it is fresh.

Chrismas007 wrote:Wine.Woot
becomes
Food.Woot

Since when is coffee considered food?

Random side note: I have been underwhelmed by the participation from the coffee company. There have been many questions asked -- important and pertinent questions -- that we are not going to get answered.

kylemittskus wrote:Random side note: I have been underwhelmed by the participation from the coffee company. There have been many questions asked -- important and pertinent questions -- that we are not going to get answered.

if i know anything about sales and marketing (and i don't) it would be that you shouldn't answer questions that, if answered honestly, would result in people not buying the product.

cole103 wrote:Just a note on your Rocky---if you've ever had trouble with grind consistency, the next time you dissemble the burr plates for cleaning, just wrap 2 layers of Teflon pipe tape around the male threads----perfect fix. I got this little tweak from the forums at coffeegeek.com . Mine was driving me crazy with poor quality espresso crema. I noticed you have the Rocky AND the Mazzer, thought you might have an issue. How does the Mazzer compare by the way? I was on the fence between the two.

You mean to wrap the Teflon tape in order to remove the burrs? Assuming you do, yes I usually grab some ribbon (gift wrapping ribbon) to pull the burrs out. Appears we both are readers over in Coffeegeek.com. You know I really like my Rocky as it was the first 'real' heavy duty grinder I purchased to go with Ranchilio Silvia. With purchase this year of Quickmill Anita, next came the Mazzer Mini which is more of a fit. IIRC twice the price, and just a more commercial type machine. I can't imagine having to replace that one any time soon. Wine and coffee....all good stuff.

rpm wrote:VERY nice and succint explanation. For coffee, on woot, you da man!

Your point about the difference between Northern and Southern Italy is very well-taken. When I first came to New York from California in the 1970s, I didn't understand why the espresso in New York was so different from that (then) served in most of the authentically Italian coffeehouses in San Francisco and what we'd had at home. Duh! The Italians in New York are almost all from South of Naples and Sicily; the Italians in Northern California are mostly from Liguria (mostly Genoa), Piedmont, Lombardy (Milan) and Venezia (Venice). Giannini was Genovese, as were many of the fishermen. The truck farmers on the Peninsula were mostly Lombards and Piedmontese, and the dairy farmers North of San Francisco were mostly from the alpine areas that straddle Italy and Switzerland; most of the wine people were Northerners as well.

RPM - You say you left SF in the 70's, just about the time I did as well right out of HS. What part of SF are you from? Do you remember the cheese/coffee store in the Castro Cheesery / Castro Coffee Company ? Love walking in that little store to inhale the intense coffee flavors.

deleted....repeat question/comment

Aren't the Woots supposed to change every day? What's the deal with this coffee woot?

mslancast wrote:Aren't the Woots supposed to change every day? What's the deal with this coffee woot?

All the other woots do. Wine.Woot only changes (normally) on Monday, Wednesday, & Friday at midnight CT. (so Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday for Mountain & Pacific). If you notice on the main page for Wine.Woot, it has Day of Next Deal ... and shows Monday.

Exceptions used to be if there was a quick sellout, then WD would put up another offer. But now with the 3 a week for Wine.Woot, doubt we'll see that again.

kahawken wrote:You mean to wrap the Teflon tape in order to remove the burrs? Assuming you do, yes I usually grab some ribbon (gift wrapping ribbon) to pull the burrs out. Appears we both are readers over in Coffeegeek.com. You know I really like my Rocky as it was the first 'real' heavy duty grinder I purchased to go with Ranchilio Silvia. With purchase this year of Quickmill Anita, next came the Mazzer Mini which is more of a fit. IIRC twice the price, and just a more commercial type machine. I can't imagine having to replace that one any time soon. Wine and coffee....all good stuff.

No, I meant when you completely dissemble the Rocky and actually take out the upper burr plate, before you put it back together wrap two thicknesses of Teflon pipe tape (just as if you were assembling brass plumbing parts) around the male threads of the upper burr plate. This will tighten the plate and give a far more consistent grind. Works wonders!!! Some other tweeks.........

http://www.coffeegeek.com/reviews/grinders/rockydoserless/interference

Right now I'm using my Rocky and a Behmor 1600 with a LaPavoni Manual to feed my addiction, I drooled over the Mazzer Mini and the Hottop, but couldn't pull the trigger. The Behmor is really amazing--3/4 lb batches with a smokeless design for 3 Benjamins!!!

Clue clue clue, we need a clue.

MarkDaSpark wrote:All the other woots do. Wine.Woot only changes (normally) on Monday, Wednesday, & Friday at midnight CT. (so Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday for Mountain & Pacific). If you notice on the main page for Wine.Woot, it has Day of Next Deal ... and shows Monday.

Exceptions used to be if there was a quick sellout, then WD would put up another offer. But now with the 3 a week for Wine.Woot, doubt we'll see that again.

One interesting side effect with the new wine.woot offer structure: no more whining to WD for hints about the Thursday offer so that someone could decide about pulling the trigger on the Monday offer. Now, the Monday offer stays up through the Wednesday offer, so someone could make a more informed decision. And, with the Friday offer probably being non-wine, even more information.

Of course, this being whine.woot, we'll find a lot of other stuff to whinge about.

MonkeyWithACold wrote:
Also, little tidbit of roasting info:

Oil on the whole beans is a sign of too dark of a roast.

When you heat coffee beans (which really are not beans but seeds), it aggravates the natural oils...These oils move from inside the bean, towards the shell. These oils contain most of the flavors. Coffee oils biggest enemies are air and water (prematurely). So if the roast is too dark, to the point of oil being visible on the outside of the bean, it means the flavors are quickly (within hours) turning rancid and bitter.

Now of course, this rancid bitter flavor became popular in France and Southern Italy (northern and southern Italian coffee's are very different, northern Italy being wealthier and thus higher quality), migrating eventually to America.

...
...
...
I have gotten carried away haven't I?

Did coffee plants take over the vineyards!?

Seriously, no wine in about 3 days!

Whats up with that? I dont want that coffee!

egzgg wrote:Did coffee plants take over the vineyards!?

Seriously, no wine in about 3 days!

Whats up with that? I dont want that coffee!

More wine tonight.

kylemittskus wrote:More wine tonight.

Ya think?

How about a clue?

Anyone have a calculation as to which varietal(s) we are "due" for in new offerings?

Time to start thinking about Thanksgiving, holiday parties, Christmas, and New Years.

smartheart wrote:Anyone have a calculation as to which varietal(s) we are "due" for in new offerings?

Time to start thinking about Thanksgiving, holiday parties, Christmas, and New Years.

JWhite keeps track of such things because he, well, I don't know why. OCD?

Winedavid39 wrote:i love Blue Bottle.

clue?

Fitting to the "holiday" today.

All Saints Day? Dierberg Winery has a Three Saints label.

Or one of any number of Saint-based winery names could apply. St. Michele, St. Supery, St. Jean, St. Francis, St. Clement, the google list goes on and on . . . .

Perhaps a return visit from St. Supery?


Might make sense. Seems to me I heard they were moving on beyond their present inventory, perhaps with a new winemaker. ???

Todays holiday is "Day of the Dead". That calls for a dessert wine like St. Supery moscato. That's my guess!

Winedavid39 wrote:good "call".

Could it be Saint M Riesling

1)The comment about blue bottles
2)The confirmation of a saint Winery
3)The comment about it being a good "call", a potential reference to Dial "M" for Murder

I may be reading too much into the "call" comment

Kota6284 wrote:Could it be Saint M Riesling

1)The comment about blue bottles
2)The confirmation of a saint Winery
3)The comment about it being a good "call", a potential reference to Dial "M" for Murder

I may be reading too much into the "call" comment

Usually the clue is about the winery and not the wines being offered.

MarkDaSpark wrote:Usually the clue is about the winery and not the wines being offered.

I was hoping for toffee!!

Ps. I enjoy seeing these non wine types of offers.