You know, life is stressful and you need to unwind. Trips to a tropical island or a secluded cabin in the woods are great, but few of us can afford to go with any regularity. You know what is cheap and relaxing? No, not meth. Coffee! It is the one thing I do everyday to relax. I take a few minutes to brew an excellent cup and let the world melt away. Coffee, when consumed black, is low calorie and packed with antioxidants, which your body craves. So why not make those few minutes as enjoyable as possible? It’s time to take your coffee game to the next level, friend.
So if you are still reading, I assume you drink coffee and if you drink coffee, odds are you are using a conventional coffee maker with drip method. Good news reader, I’m not going to tell you to throw your machine in the trash and go buy a $1000 wonder brewer. You can get more out of your existing brew method with some inexpensive changes. Coffee is mostly water, so it stands to reason you should use the best water available. Invest in a cheap water filter or use your fridge water dispenser if it has a built in filter, instead of using tap water.
Next, upgrade your coffee filter to a reusable mesh filter instead. Not only will you reduce the amount of waste you produce, you will save money in the long run. Coffee beans are oily, and that oil carries a lot of character and flavor. Unfortunately, paper filters trap a significant amount of oil muting the flavor in the cup. Using a metal filter not only allows more flavor from the bean to the cup, you can compost or use the used coffee grounds for fertilizer without having to remove the paper filter. So with those two easy tweaks you can getter a better cup, without a lot of expense. What’s that? You want to know more…
Want more flavor, but don’t want to toss your Mr. Radar, I mean Mr. Coffee? Okay, you’re ready for whole bean. I’m not shaming you for using ground coffee, it’s just as soon as the bean is ground at the factory it starts to lose flavor. Not only does the essence de cafe seep out, foreign flavors soak into ground coffee. Protect your coffee with a coffee vault. A coffee vault will keep your coffee fresh longer than the bag. So do yourself a favor, you’ve earned it, buy whole bean and grind it just before you brew.
Obviously, you will need a method of grinding. If you are an 18th century cowboy, you can buy a hand grinder. For everyone else, I would recommend a conical burr grinder. I know some budgets are tight, but please do not buy a blade grinder. It will not give you a consistent grind and your coffee will suffer. Conical burr grinders provide precise and accurate grinds and are well worth the price difference. I will list some of the equipment I’ve tried at the end of the article with pros and cons. Now you can enjoy that fresh ground coffee smell and experiment with different grind/bean combos to find your tailored cup of Joe. You say you have a few bucks you held back from your pimp? Risky, but I salute your bravery.
French Press is the best method getting the full flavor of the bean, because you can precisely control water temperature, grind, steep time and there are no flavor robbing paper filters. The process is deceptively simple. You place coarsely ground coffee in the carafe, and pour water just off boil (205F) and let it steep for 4 minutes, then press the plunger with wire mesh down slowly, then pour gently into your favorite mug.
Any kettle will do for heating water, but I’ve recently switched to an electric kettle. It cuts boiling time down, and is safer because it shuts off automatically. But don’t feel like you need to run out and buy one if you already own a traditional kettle. French press is how I drink 95 percent of my coffee. If you buy a quality FP it will last you a lifetime and no filter expense.
Another method that is equally simple, but allows less control is the Moka Pot, which gives you a cup of coffee similar to espresso. They are inexpensive and again require no filters. If you like strong, dark coffee this is the method for you. Plus you get to use those adorable little espresso cups. The grind is on the opposite end from FP. You want a very fine grind, as opposed to very coarse for FP.
I can hear people screaming “What about AeroPress or Chemex pour over or cold brew?” To be honest I haven’t tried those methods, so cannot provide an informed opinion. If this article proves popular, I promise to buy and review those methods. If you are rolling in Koch dollars, there are some very expensive machines that make steamed milk and froth and I assume for the price, provide sexual gratifications. Unfortunately, for you the reader, but fortunate for my wife, I have no interest in anything other than black coffee, so haven’t dumped my 401K in a machine I could never hope to comprehend.
But here are some items on which I’ve spent my hard earned dollars. I am not affiliated or paid by any of these companies and these opinions are solely my own. Prices from Amazon.
So there you have it Glibs. Something for every budget and experience level to make your morning coffee a little more enjoyable.
Bunn coffee maker with reservoir
I don’t own this coffee maker anymore because I changed brew methods to French press. It was a fine coffee maker for high volume drinkers or for parties.
Pro: Coffee brews quickly, multiple cups, precise temperature
Con: Unless you use it frequently, the reservoir can become moldy and is difficult to clean. Also the weakness inherent to paper filter drip coffee.
Price: $79.99
Bodum Stainless Steel French Press
My daily drinker. Nothing but love for this product.
Pro: Bullet proof design, no glass to break. Keeps coffee warm. Comes in multiple sizes. Pretty enough to leave on counter
Con: Longer prep time. “Muddy” coffee at the bottom of the cup.
Price: $40.00
Capresso Burr Grinder
I’ve had this grinder longer than I can remember.
Pro: Consistent grind, well made
Con: Really for only small volumes, but that’s how I grind. Plastic hopper could break if dropped.
Price: $99.00
Moka Pot
Made in Italy, you draw whatever conclusions you want.
Pro: Inexpensive way to bring a little Italian variety into your kitchen
Con: Needs to be cleaned and dried immediately. Can be tough to gauge when brew process is finished.
Price: $34.95
Hamilton Beach Electric Kettle
I bought this when my stove top broke and I couldn’t use my traditional kettle.
Pro: Cheap, makes hot water quickly, automatic shut off.
Con: You don’t get the traditional kettle whistle to let you know it’s ready
Price: $19.96
Coffee Gator Stainless Steel Container
My fresh roasted coffee goes straight into this guy.
Pro: Keeps coffee fresh and provides attractive storage
Con: It cost money, bags are free
Price: $28.97
Reusable Coffee Filter
This will obviously be priced according to what brewer you use.
Pro: Cheaper over long run, more complex coffee
Con: Up front cost, more muddy cup of coffee
Price: Around $15.00
Keurig
I own one of these and use it for parties. You don’t waste coffee and can provide a variety of choice, including tea.
Pro: Flexible
Con: Expensive machine and pods. More waste, less control over final product.
Price: $65.00 and up
For those who are really into coffee, you can roast your own. I didn’t put that into that in the article because I assume that would be the extreme minority of readers. Sweet Maria’s is the company I source my green coffee beans from and is an excellent resource for roasting.
Whirly Pop
I used this method with a propane cook stove for a few months, then the agitator broke. I would not recommend.
Pro: Can really see/smell the roast process. Decent control of roast. Can do medium volume.
Con: You need an external heat source and an outside area to roast.
Price: $49.99
Air Popper
My first “roaster”. It does an okay job for me because I like lighter roast, but I drink too much coffee for this to keep up with my demands. If you like light roast coffee and aren’t a high volume drinker, it could be for you.
Pro: Cheap, easy way to see if you like roasting.
Com: Less control over the roast, hard to get dark roast, very small volume, must be used outside.
Price: $20.00
Behmor 1600 Plus
My current roaster. I’m happy with this roaster. It fills that spot between complete noob and pro roaster. The next step up in drum roasters are like $1,100; more than I want to spend.
Pro: Smoke suppression, can do up to a pound, more hands free, can roast dark
Con: More expensive, takes up room, will set off smoke alarm in house
Price: $369.00
Comments
369 responses to “Up Your Coffee Game!”
Coffee.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/56/1b/d0/561bd06533d502c46e8bda3ebda7ef11–coffee-break-morning-coffee.jpg
The best part of waking up.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9d/ae/8e/9dae8e621ae4f5655b863e0e680e75e1.jpg
The morning after.
https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/sexy-girl-in-underwear-and-socks-holding-cup-of-coffee-picture-id471872227
Start the day right.
http://i.pinimg.com/736x/5e/31/4a/5e314af9a3f299201d1235d0514a4036.jpg
Socks?
I’m officially awake..
Thanks for being OT.
Wait. I just realized on topic and off topic are the same initials. I mean thanks for being ON topic.
I thought you switched the letters… TO (turned on).
Java.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/21/db/17/21db17ec008db4b14d6641b8cbd2a84f–coffee-break-morning-coffee.jpg
Coffee does the opposite of help me relax.
Let me guess,….. UCS drinks tepid lemon water to relax, minus the lemon.
Lol
Sanka.
“I must drive”
I am with you UCS. I am allergic to caffeine, so coffee is one of the big no-nos for me. As someone life gifted with very high energy levels already, caffeine causes me to get the shakes and start doing a Beavis impersonation. On the rare occasions I have had it, I have had it the same way I like my women’s spirits… Dark and bitter.
My rig:
Gene Cafe Roaster. Nearly got the Behmor; can’t recall why I chose the Gene Cafe. Costs about as much as the Behmor, I think. If you are curious but don’t want to drop the coin, there are some decent air roasters out there that cost quite a bit less, but they will wear out and can struggle to get really dark roasts, if that’s your thing.
Technivorm 10 cup Thermal Brewer. Your typical cone filter brewer. Advantages are that it, unlike most, it delivers the water at the right temperature, and it is brutally simple (no timers or electronic nonsense to break) and appears to be carved out of a single block of stainless steel. I’ve had mine for around 10 years, and it shows no signs of wearing out. Disadvantage: price.
The best source for all things coffee that I have found is Sweet Maria’s. Their thing is home roasting, but they have a nice selection of quality grinders, brewers, etc.
One more note: I’ve tried French press more than once, but prefer drip. FP coffee just has a muddy quality, to me, that I’m not crazy about.
See, now that I’ve had glorious FP coffee at home, I’ll probably never buy another drip machine again.
They sure are convenient, though. I always thought how nice it would be to get it set up at night so it just does its thing in the morning–which is a really nice feature!–but I could not get my shit together well enough to get that done consistently at night.
I have not sunk all that much into coffee-specific hardware. I have a brita pitcher because the tap water at my house is rich in minerals and heavy metals (but government certified safe, if you trust them). And a generic drip pot. Combined I think I spent $35 on the pair.
I suspect I couldn’t tell the difference between a generic drip pot and my rig, as long as the coffee was freshly brewed.
Coffee that has been sitting on the hot plate for more than a few minutes is an abomination. We use an insulated pot rather than a glass pitcher on a hot plate. Makes a big difference, IMO.
it depends. I drink my coffee black and minimally filtered because I want to taste those subtle differences between every roast I do. Even guest who put cream and sugar in their coffee seem to tell the difference.
I failed to notice any difference in flavor between newly brewed and a few hours on a hot plate. But that’s just me.
I listed some prices for items I’ve personally used, just so people can get an idea of cost. I’m sure if you look for deals you can beat those prices.
I like simple. Some gurus say the single most important variable is water temperature.
Well, aside from quality and freshness of the beans, yeah.
If you like simple, and have the money, the Technivorm is the way to go for brewers. One button operation, nails the temperature.
My recent purchase of a french press was brought about in a fit of rage about being unable to repair the drip coffee maker I had that suddenly…just stopped working. By that, I mean that the people who designed the coffee maker (those Mr. Coffee bastards) specifically made it difficult to even tear the machine down to assess.
“You know what, fuck these guys. I’ll buy a french press for less than a third of the cost of a traditional drip machine. I can see all the parts and it takes zero proprietary tools to break down or repair. #neveragain ”
I’m such a cranky bitch without coffee.
I hate the French Press. Primarily because I always seem to be the only one willing to clean the damn thing and never seem to drink any of the coffee.
Sounds like a self-imposed problem to me! 😉 I wait until I’m home for lunch to clean mine–takes, like, 3 minutes.
Mr. Riven isn’t a huge coffee fan. He’ll drink it in the mornings at home because there’s protein and caffeine involved, but I doubt he would be a regular consumer if I wasn’t making it every day. And since I’m making it for me, I figure I might as well make it for him, too. The capacity of our French Press is 24 ounces and there’s always some leftover. You’re welcome to come over anytime and I’ll pour you a cup!
Which is odd, given how easy to clean they are.
I’m not sure you are familiar with my standards of clean, vs. others in my home.
Mexicans are clean?
My rule of thumb for hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurants: If somebody’s mother is in the kitchen, I don’t worry about how clean it is.
This girl gets it. A good FP will last a lifetime and you can use it anywhere you have a heat source. Mmm. Coffee by the campfire.
We use our French Press for brewing loose-leaf tea. Pretty much the perfect tool for that job.
I can’t even take credit
Lol
I use a billy when camping…
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me
He sang as he watched and waited ’til his billy boiled,
you’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me
Nice article. Very informative. Every couple of years, I mount an effort to brew my coffee at home. I fail every time. Mrs. Gould doesn’t drink coffee, so it’s too much effort for 15 oz of liquid awake. It’s just worth it to me to walk to my local coffee shop and buy a cup.
Thank you. I use a small FP because I’m the only one in the house drinking coffee. If you are drinking for a caffeine fix primarily the coffee shop is fine. If you want a really good cup of coffee and a higher caffeine dose, use a light roast and brew at home. The darker the roast, the more caffeine is destroyed.
The reason I started roasting my own was because it was nearly impossible to find a good lighter roast in the store. Fucking Starbucks has fooled too many people into thinking coffee beans should be charred before brewing.
I bite my tongue when someone says “look how dark this is. It must be really strong coffee!”
No! Strength of coffee comes from water to grind ratio, water temperature and steep time!
What’s your preferred ratio?
I use one tablespoon whole bean per cup as a rule.
6oz coffee cup or 8oz liquid volume cup?
Per 6 oz.
I have an old roaster that is chipped and dying. I still have about 10 lbs of beans. Need to get back on that horse. Great article.
False. My body is craving bacon and alcohol.
So do both – a cup of Irish Coffee with your bacon…
This guy gets it.
This is why we look up to Swiss. He always comes up with a solution.
Can we give Swiss some kind of award for this post?
“Order of The Narrowed Gaze”
+1 Breakfast of Champions
I thought I was reading a sales pitch for Brawndo Coffee.
I couldn’t get the rights or I would.
My body craves electrolytes which are best found in Brawndo and the sweet salty tears of my enemies
No topless barista pics? You putting on airs with that French press now?
No coffee. No hops.
I never grew up.
I’m with you.
I get my caffeine from diet pop and fuck hoppy beer.
You’re OK for a guy that values tits over ass.
+1 on the hop shit beer.
Lager Über Allës.
Stout or GTFO
Flanders Red
Swiss: [looks around] The Belgian Quad.
Liquor Store Clerk: You know your beers, buddy. Any one of these is ideal for home consumption. So uh, which will it be?
Swiss: [pointing the bottle towards the door] All.
Liquor Store Clerk: I may close early today. There’s a 15-day wait on the KBS but the Belgians you can take right now.
French Press https://youtu.be/bvjsAIpNy6I
Kids On Coffee https://youtu.be/p6KcnlwgL00
Black Coffee https://youtu.be/i4odD2Bg1_0
I have a stainless steel
FrenchFreedom Press, a simple 8$ coffee grinder and a stainless steel electric kettle in the kitchen.When I was trucking in remote areas, I would pre-grind enough coffee to take with me, and then boil water on a small gas stove. Nothing beats making your own coffee on the side of the road.
In areas with plenty of truck stops and whatnot, aka ‘civilization’, I still brought my own coffee rig and just used store hot water. I always offered to pay for the hot water, because I’m not a commie shithead …. and no one ever made me pay.
I also had a bottle of Carollan’s Irish cream hiding in the bunk, because FYTW.
Now, you can have all of this great gear, and the process down pat, but if the beans themselves are shitty …. well, it’s like trying to barbecue a poor quality cut of meat.
This is my favorite put out by one of our local roasters. I prefer an espresso roast to most others; I’m not that much of a snob.
http://www.copperhorsecoffee.com/coffee/clocktower-espresso
This has been my go-to for quite a while: https://coffeetraders.com/
Pricey. The average cost for green coffee is 6-7 bucks.
Welcome to Ithaca. When much of your clientele is overpaid Cornell and IC staff, business tends to inflate their prices.
It is goooooood coffee, though.
I did all that Coffee stuff when I was young, Now I drink Double Strength Nescafe Clasico Dark Roast
Instant Coffee!
Yep, I use a Large ceramic Beer stein, use 2 Heaping table spoons of coffee, add Filtered Boilng water, and I’m off to the Races.
Really Smooth and Bold, like my Beer choices
Cheers
200 mg caffeine USP b.i.d.
Are you waiting for the Jetson’s meal tablets too?
I don’t need precise doses of food
*Pinches love handle*
You sure…
Caffiene Blues https://youtu.be/dY1ztxC9QdQ
Nice job FM! I’ve recently switched to grinding my own beans. Makes a huge difference. I’ll have to try filtered water.
My teenage kids are into coffee too. For Christmas last year we got one of them a one-cup coffee maker that comes with a reusable basket for grounds, or it can also use a K-cup. I highly recommend one of those, it’s really versatile, and we don’t usually drink a whole pot so there’s less waste.
I also recently introduced my kids to the economics of ground coffee vs K-cups. You can get something like 5x the cups for the same price.
Thank you. I only use the K-cups for parties, otherwise I’d be making coffee all night.
When using a press, and your coffee comes out muddy, the beans are being ground too fine for the steel mesh filter, and you’re using too much coffee.
My coffee isn’t too muddy, I just put that in because if you are use(d) to paper filter coffee it will have a little sediment which you aren’t accustomed to.
Sediment builds character.
No, Sediment builds Deltas.
You should clean your bathtub more.
The only thing I use a coffee filter for is yogurt.
Tom Wolfe, Adios!
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/obituaries/tom-wolfe-pyrotechnic-nonfiction-writer-and-novelist-dies-at-88.html
Love “Bonfire of the Vanities.” Have “Electric Kool Aid Acid Test” on my shelf.
I mentioned on the previous thread that Wolfe went to the same high school I did. My dad won a signed first edition Bonfire of the Vanities in a fundraising raffle for school back in 1988. I still have it today.
Awesome!
Saw him give a guest lecture back in the day.
Some interesting concepts and ideas on defining freedom and the future of individual liberty.
Wow, the Daily Stormer has really gone down hill.
I used to have a heavy coffee habit. Riding ambulances in the ‘hood pretty much required it. Now I have my two cups on the morning and that’s about it. Caffeine after 2pm and I won’t be sleeping that night.
About 12 years, I bought a Gaggia Digital automatic. I love the texture and crema of pump brewed coffee. One large and one medium makes a perfect cup of coffee. The counter shows it’s brewed almost 18,000 cups of coffee and it’s still trucking along.
Have you tried the nitrous infused coffees? They give a really creamy texture without adding any calories.
Didn’t even know such a thing existed. I drink my coffee black, so that’s not the source of calories I’m concerned about. It’s the amount of potatoes fried in all their forms that I consume on a weekly basis.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitro_cold_brew_coffee
I’m happy to see you living up to your handle.
There’s little better than a properly fried potato. Here in the land of spuds, there’s no excuse not to produce top shelf fries.
Idaho’s Best instant mash.
Discuss.
Mashed potatoes in any form are a poor substitute for a loaded baked potato, which are themselves poor substitutes for chili cheese fries.
Game, set, match.
Greek fries. Duck fat.
You lose. Good day, sir.
Sorry Q, I’m with Playa on this one.
Mmmmmmm, Duck fat.
It’s not as economical as Jesse’s 55 gallon drum of lube, but here you go.
Nope. Pan fried potatos, in a cast iron pan well greased with bacon drippings, and topped with New Mexico red chili sauce.
There is no substitute.
Man do I love CC fries. Wait, you can eat those on Keto?!?
Unfortunately no. I can dream though…
You’re dead to me.
Mashed must be made from fresh potatoes and loaded with butter and 1/2 & 1/2. Cream is too dense. Yukon Gold potatoes make the best.
And the potatoes should be steamed rather than boiled.
The Ninja Coffee Bar is a legitimately great thing to get if you’re constantly making single cups or small pots of coffee. Comes with a resuable cone filter to start with, and makes a pretty decent cup of coffee for sub-$150.
Looks like it uses a reusable filter. I approve.
My body craves electrolytes.
No, that’s the plants.
I self-identify as a plant.
What ARE electrolytes? Do you even know??
It’s what plants crave!
Primary ingredient of Brawndo!
It’s the THIRST MUTILATOR!!
Invest in a cheap water filter or use your fridge water dispenser if it has a built in filter, instead of using tap water.
I always assumed the coffee grounds served as a filter of their own. Is that not adequate?
I’m pretty sure they do nothing of the sort.
Ground coffee adds stuff to the water. Kind of the opposite of a filter. Although I guess if you have twigs and bugs in your water, it might filter those out.
And lose my protein source? NEVER.
Here is my rule of thumb, if you drink your tap water it’s fine for making coffee.
I do not.
I don’t either. I use a filter.
RO, and then charcoal. Tastes like a melted glacier.
*looks at jar of Folgers instant coffee. Shrugs*
#metoo
I alternate between instant and K cups. I’m lazy.
There is a drip machine right next to the Kuerig that never gets used.
Wife makes fancy coffee on the weekends. It is marvelous, but I’m so lazy.
“Wife makes fancy coffee on the weekends”
I bet she does you dog….
HEEEEEYOOOOOO!
I mean…well…yeah. You know what I mean.
Are you saying that you are hung like a small horse?
Avatar checks out.
When I’m in a rush instant coffee comes in handy.
I found this fancy “ketogenic instant coffee” that comes with butter and MCT (coconut) oil. Hell of a lot more convenient than making bulletproof from scratch. Tastes good too.
I had no idea there were so many possibilities to homemade coffee. Nice write-up.
However, I am very uncultured when it comes to coffee (and almost everything else); One large Kuerig glass of Folgers Morning Blend in -appropriately- the morning. Black.
I’m not really a snob, this is just a hobby I enjoy. I tried to give a few tweaks for every interest level. Obviously, if you’re happy with your coffee routine, I’m happy for you.
Yeah, I didn’t mean to insinuate that you were a snob. I can totally understand people who get into it like this. If I were more of a coffee drinker I have no doubt that I would be tempted to follow in your footsteps. Luckily for my wallet, the few times I drink coffee the cheap stuff does the trick.
Oh, I didn’t think you thought I was a snob. It kind of bothers me when people are snobby about anything really. We all have our own priorities.
“Black”
RACIST!!!!
Black coffee matters, too.
*orders t-shirt*
I like my coffee with the appropriate amount of fat white girl.
PAWG coffee.
I use a Keurig at work because it’s convenient and I don’t have to try to find somewhere to clean out a press. For all the blather I’ve heard about how awful the coffee supposedly is, I use Lavazza pods most of the time and it’s perfectly good. At this point, I think I’d continue to use it even if it weren’t good just because it seems to anger coffee snobs so much.
Eh, not a Keurig fan, although we’ve gotten marginally acceptable coffee out of them by loading a refillable pod with our own coffee.
I just can’t comprehend the snob mindset that actually gets upset at people who have different preferences. You like Keurig? Great! You want pineapple on your pizza? More power to you!
You were doing fine, and then you went too far.
You had me until “pineapple.”
Hey, I didn’t say anything about pineapple on my pizza.
Ah…crafty lawyer-talk!
Nespresso too. I had one guy try and tell me it’s the best espresso.
Yeah-k buddy. Then you don’t know espresso.
It’s alright for what it is but come on.
OT: Seattle goes full retard.
https://twitchy.com/jacobb-38/2018/05/14/oh-thisll-work-congrats-to-seattle-for-just-approving-a-horrendous-idea-to-fight-homelessness/
Goes? You might want to check your tenses.
Go to the AP tweet and read Brad the Transit Guy’s comments.
13k loves to the tweet.
“Don’t ever expect a conservative to be a human being”
Hearkens back to Tarran’s comment about progs whipping themselves into such a frenzy that they will justify horrific violence as “self-defense”.
I second the french press.
tho i’m not terribly picky about it. I think there’s lots of ways to get ‘decent’ cup of coffee, and all of those ways (including french press) can produce bad ones sometimes.
if any coffee drinkers have never had certified Blue Mountain coffee, i strongly recommend it. It goes for like $60 a lb, but i’m telling you… put it on the ‘for my birthday’ list or something. find an excuse. and get it from an importer rather than buy @ retail. it is one of the most-faked/misleading labels out there. 99% of what you find in stores are ‘blends’ which bear no resemblance to real-deal. likelihood is you’ve never had the real deal.
Mrs. Dean insists on Panama coffee whenever we can get it, which is sporadically. One of the nice things about roasting your own is that you can stock up on green beans, which keep for quite awhile.
Never had the Blue Mountain (probably because Sweet Maria’s doesn’t carry it), but one of these days I will spring for a pound of Gesha just to see what the big deal is. $40/pound is pretty steep, though.
I’ve got two gesha coming with my next order. I’ll let you know. I have a Jamaican friend who brings me blue mountain when she goes home. It is very good. I never ordered it because of the fraud issues.
Geisha?
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2g9_hjOHfLw/T9RH3aKRVkI/AAAAAAAAASY/kL6-giwJV9I/s1600/Saori+Hara+(1).jpg
*does math*
OK, I’d pay $40/pound for that.
Easily
Fraud issues?
Blue Mountain coffee is very expensive so people will sell coffee label as blue mountain but in reality it’s 90 percent cheap coffee with some blue sprinkled in.
Oh I gotcha. Thanks for the clarification.
80% of the blue mountain coffee crop goes to japan;
there is really only a tiny portion left over. of that, any quality bits are snatched up by the boutique importers, who charge an arm and a leg for it, most of which goes to very high-end restaurants and hotels.
getting the real shit in a store is basically near-impossible. 99% of the stuff you see with “Blue Mountain” labels on it isn’t even “sprinkled blend”; it just flat out trademark infringement which is never enforced (Jamaica has little pull with US trade authorities; they don’t get the Champagne-type protections)
I’m not a coffee guy, but my parents swear by some Costa Rican stuff dad brings home occasionally (he’s a stewardess for SWA).
Agreed – every cup of Costa Rican stuff I have had has been just fine.
Tarrazzu and Tres Rios are the most popular. They all tend to be pretty light and lack bitterness.
What size dress does your dad wear?
The one thing I can productively weigh in on is the comment about blade “grinders”. I agree, they suck.
I never really liked the French Press, because of the muddiness. I’m sure the listed drawbacks of paper filters are real, but I use them anyway.
We have a Cuisinart grind-and-brew for going on 8 years. It has a burr grinder and – most important – an insulated pot. Leave coffee on a burner for more than a half-hour and you might as well pour it down the drain.
Thanks for the tip on a metal filter basket; I’ll have to find one and see if there’s a flavor difference.
If you’re close to a Costco, try the Honduran coffee beans.
I have the same type Cuisinart, only newer. Mine came with a metal (gold mesh) filter basket. Makes good coffee.
At this point, I think I’d continue to use it even if it weren’t good just because it seems to anger coffee snobs so much.
+++
Would read again.
*looks at jar of Folgers instant coffee. Shrugs*
Kirkland ground Colombian, in the three pound can. Sue me.
For the Keurig fans, try using a refillable pod and getting your own coffee for them. It will save you some money and get you better coffee.
+1
Even if you like plain old Folgers, or Donut Shop, or Green Mountain, or whatever, this is the way to go.
I do that at home, but at work I run into the same problem as with the press – I have nowhere to clean out the pod other than the bathroom, and I’d rather not stand around in the bathroom smelling other people’s shit while I try to rinse out a coffee pod.
https://bacontoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/oregontrail.jpg
For spring break this year we went to Disneyland. I kept buying and throwing away coffee, because it tasted off, which is odd because the coffee I get here at Disney is fine. I finally figured out the problem. They use softened water. I must have gone through 6 cups before it hit me.
Disneyland or Disney World?
I went to Disneyland for spring break. WDW coffee is fine.
You live in Orlando, but you went to DisneyLAND for spring break?????
Yes, also to visit the wife’s family in Hollywood.
I’ve had nice coffee before, but I get too sweaty and jittery to bother with it on a regular basis. The stuff here at work is utter dreck, so Ive switched over to tea. Much carries over between tea and coffee, but there is no grinding step, making high quality tea more office friendly.
*drains a perfectly steeped cup of an earl grey energy blend*
Earl Grey rocks, truly wonderful
/Bergamot Orange!
I don’t understand. Tea is cold & sweet.
/southerners
You know, life is stressful and you need to unwind. Trips to a tropical island or a secluded cabin in the woods are great, but few of us can afford to go with any regularity. You know what is cheap and relaxing? No, not meth.
So, murdering hobos is the wrong answer?
Not if you’re J.P. Marsh.
Kidding aside, great article.
I’m an aeropress addict. With an electric kettle it’s so easy and so fast. I’m a fan of FP too, but the wife and I both agree that the aeropress makes a tastier cup. They’re so cheap its really worth giving it a shot. But definitely buy the metal filter for it so you can avoid the paper filters for the reasons mentioned above.
Huh. I think I have one of these, too. Time to go through the coffee stuff.
Up Your Coffee Game!
With guns
Ok everyone, pack it up, Rebel won this one.
Do you think they’re hiring?
Idk. But it is probably a fun place to work.
Y’all are missing out on the Cat-poo-cino.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak
It’s not s cat! I covered this in “Coffee & Prohibition”.
Must have missed that one.
Our driver in Bali taught us that play on words. He was also wearing a shirt that said ‘Balifornia’.
I originally was going to write about NGOs, welfare and coffee, but figured I was preaching to the choir.
https://glibertarians.com/2017/08/coffee-prohibition/
In the Church of Glib there is only a choir…..and they are all battling it out with makeshift weapons to see who gets to be the Preacher
All Glibs enter, only STEVE SMITH leave?
Instantly regrets using the term ‘makeshift weapon’
STEVE SMITH IF BY LAND
SEA SMITH IF BY SEA
SMITHS WIN EVERYWHERE.
All of what Florida Man said about the french press. Affordable, easy to clean, economical in terms of coffee usage. I love mine and find it to be equal or less effort to use in comparison to a drip coffee make- no parts to extract and wash individually, no cooked on coffee residue to scrub out of the pot if you forget to turn it off. The coffee is consistent and never burnt tasting. It’s very worth trying out if you find yourself at a department store with $25 extra dollars in your pocket.
You like Shake and Bake! You used to put it in your coffee!
Just stumbled across this:
What happened to Allen Dershowitz?
In certain circles—the legal academy, defense attorneys, Martha’s Vineyard—it is the question. Dershowitz, an iconic civil libertarian and criminal defense lawyer, who circulates between the liberal redoubts of Miami, New York and the Vineyard, has emerged in the past year as the most distinguished legal defender of Trump. He’s met Trump at Mar-a-Lago, and he dined with him at the White House the day after the FBI raid on Michael Cohen’s office. He’s a regular presence on TV, especially Fox News, where he’s a reliable voice on the president’s side against the investigation. In April, following the Cohen raid, Dershowitz appeared on “Hannity” nine times—including three days in a row. His message is clear: Mueller’s investigation is a witch hunt, and although he doesn’t think Trump should fire Mueller, the president would be within his rights to do it.
The answer appears to be “Nothing”.
There does seem to be an epidemic of TDS.
I love how “undermining the rule of law” has become a MSM catchphrase when it comes to Trump, but man, as soon as you have a principled liberal who actually gives a shit about the rule of law…..WHY CUM U DEFEND LITTERALLY HITLER?!?!?!?!
A lot of so called civil libertarians have seriously discredited themselves in the Trump era. That’s undeniable. Dershowitz is not one of those people who has discredited themselves
They are confused by someone who operates based on a consistent set of principles rather than TEAM.
What kind of coffee does 7-11 have? Because that’s what I drink
You’re just trying to get a rise out of me, aren’t you?
The Blueberry medium roast is quite good,
Pumpkin spice latte or GTFO
Man, you weren’t kidding about the stains on your scrubs.
I was not. I lie to my primary about how much I drink.
Coffee is inferior to Mountain Dew in every possible way.
Hello fellow West Virginian!
/spits tobacco, swigs Dew, shoulders shotgun
/Spits in Dew, drinks spit, drops shotgun while vomiting
In every possible way except that coffee doesn’t taste like the diarrheal remains of a bowel movement left on a sock that was worn for two weeks straight by someone with Athlete’s Foot.
You know what really grinds my gears? New flavors of Mountain Dew.
You ca’tn improve upon perfection. You can only make it worse.
They’re not new flavors of Dew, they’re just plain new formulations with a famous name slapped on to try to piggyback on the popularity.
A bit of an observation. My impression is that, over the last 20 years or so, the quality of almost all coffee has gone up. Not even that long ago, most people considered coffee that had been sitting for a couple of hours in one of those diner brewer/dispensers a perfectly good cup of coffee. Today, we’re used to better from doughnut shops, fast food joints, even convenience stores. And the price of a truly good cup of coffee has gone down significantly, in real terms, due to wildly increased levels of competition.
This is a travesty, lets ban the import of all non fair-trade coffee!!!! /Hipster Prog
If you are interested “Uncommon Grounds” covers the growth of the coffee industry. But yeah, not too long ago almost all commercial coffee came from Brazil. Now coffee can be had from central/South America, Africa, Indonesia, Southeast Asia and so others I’m not thinking of.
Late night English wanker admits to problems in Venezuela, repeats lie that it wasn’t socialism that ranked the nation.
Takedown here –
https://hotair.com/archives/2018/05/14/john-oliver-explains-venezuela-things-terrible-socialism-isnt-blame/
*tanked
https://goo.gl/images/yFd6jj
But that wasn’t real communism.
https://i.redd.it/i2cirub44upz.jpg
“comedy”
Doug Stanhope needs to whip his dick out in front of these clowns and laugh at them.
Stanhope, MacDonald and DiPaolo ANY fucken day over those guys.
And the guy on TDS – what in the fuck? How is he remotely funny? Same with Oliver.
And Owen Benjamin was banned shortly after that Tweet for telling Boss Hogg that his boycott tactics were fascistic
In ‘Warning to the West’, you realize people like those comedians in the pic are the very people Solzhenitsyn was describing as being part of the problem.
And we’re called ‘alt-right’ or ‘right-wing’ for pointing it out.
So be it.
Fuck them.
Here’s a weird thing. I developed an affinity for instant coffee by way of communism. Coffee was pretty much unobtainable in Poland when I lived there with my grandparents. The closest available analog it was chicory, and despite the alluring aroma the beverage made from it is quite possibly the most foul tasting thing in known human existence. My mom would mail care packages to my grandparents regularly in which she would include an economy sized jar of Nescafé. This was presumably chosen over real beans due to the unpredictable times packages would spend sitting in customs once they slipped behind the Iron Curtain. I didn’t get started on coffee until I was stateside sometime in my teens, but the smell of instant “brewing” to this very day reliably conjures up memories of my early youth.
I’m drinking Nescafe Dark right now, Tasty
There is a parallel of fresh/instant coffee and lager/IPA in war. Soldiers got use to a compromise and came to prefer it.
I learned to drink coffee in the Marines – the instant shit in the MREs – to stay awake while on duty. I learned to like coffee when I got home and went back to school. The USC coffee shop had a thing where I bought their mug and was able to fill it for $1 during the school year.
OT: Had a couple pigeons fly into the large glass doors at the back of the house. One tried a couple times to fly through them. I didn’t know whether to feel bad for them or just laugh my ass off.
Pigeons are the spawn of Satan. You are right to laugh at them
Winged Rats, However, they Roll and Tumble in the sky quite well, if given a home
My wife and I were having a discussion about this recently. Apparently some birds are incredibly territorial and think their reflection in the glass is actually another bird whose shit they want to fuck up. We have one that repeatedly dive bombs our second floor window in the morning and moves on to the first floor window later in the day when the reflection shifts.
tl/dr: Birds are stupid.
We had a robin that would fight with his reflection in our sliding glass door. He’d do it every day for hours until the sun moved enough that his foe was driven off.
If you’re in North America, and the pigeons were Rock Doves rather than Mourning Doves, you don’t need to feel anything since they are considered an invasive species.
Ah, crap. I think they were mourning doves. They had spots.
One’s bottom line on this ultimate question almost certainly turns on one’s perception of the gravity of the current threat to democracy. Perhaps Alan Dershowitz has a greater capacity than the rest of us to separate the transient anxieties of this moment from the bigger risks, and perhaps history will look back upon the Trump presidency as the sort of challenge that demonstrates the resilience of a liberal democracy—a seminal ethical moment like the Skokie marches or the Nuremberg trials, in which society protects procedural rights as it simultaneously expresses profound disagreement with those whose rights are being protected.
Or perhaps the democratic project is under existential threat—and history, if it survives as an independent academic enterprise, will look back pityingly upon civil libertarians who coddled power with their concerns about prosecutorial overreach while a fundamentally corrupt president undermined the great American project.
Totally not hysteria.
“Or perhaps the democratic project is under existential threat—and history, if it survives as an independent academic enterprise, will look back pityingly upon civil libertarians who coddled power with their concerns about prosecutorial overreach while a fundamentally corrupt president undermined the great American project.”
I wish this will get thrown back in their faces four years from now, but we know it won’t. We’ll just go on pretending like the next Republican president is this time, in fact, literally Hitler, while ignoring that the same people squealing about this have labeled every Republican nominee and president as the newest existential threat to a make believe “liberal order” of more government control and less freedom.
one’s perception of the gravity of the current threat to democracy
What I perceive is a threat to democracy coming from the intelligence community, the FBI, and the DOJ engaging in a campaign of illegal and unethical behavior to unseat or undermine the elected President.
Somehow, I don’t think that’s what they perceive, though.
It’s fucking amazing.
They’re actually guilty of everything they accuse Trump of. They’re the ones trying to undermine democracy. They’re the ones using the state security services to spy on their opponetns. They’re the ones using kafkaesque prosecutions to ruin them. They’re the ones colluding with other countries’ security services in pursuit of their desire for power. They’re the ones engaging in influence peddling.
The fact that they have sincerely convinced themselves that they are heroes fighting the villains they actually are has to be the most amazing psychological self-deception I have ever witnessed first hand.
The danger is that they will go full Nazi – engaging in horrific acts of aggressive violence, firmly convinced that it’s all in self-defense and justified by the crimes that exist only in their own heads.
The danger is that they will go full Nazi – engaging in horrific acts of aggressive violence
300 million guns and a trillions of rounds of ammo in private hands say, probably not. At least, not for long.
Part of it is some of the scary conversations I’ve had here with friends from high school.
They are 95% of the way to rationalizing deadly violence, and if they get to 100%, everyone is going to lose.
I did, however, have fun with the scared look I got from a friend when, after listening to him explain why he fervently wanted to expel Texas from the union and build a wall keeping texans out, I told him that if it came to that I’d be moving to Texas before the wall could be built.
Texas may be the only state that could actually make a go of it as an independent country. It has its own power grid and generates its own power, I believe it imports no water, has good ports, and an all-around strong economy.
My American prog acquaintances – well, no more since I wasn’t sufficiently shrill enough about Trump so they cut me – regularly called for violence.
They’re mentally retarded. What else can we say?
In this framework, empowering Trump—even as a matter of dispassionate intellectual principle—brings us one step closer to a regime that erases the very values that Dershowitz says he’s defending. “I fear Dershowitz has allowed his celebrity to stand as an apology for a great danger to the civil liberties he claims to cherish,” said Northeastern Law School professor Michael Meltsner, former first assistant counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. “Alan is fiddling while Washington burns.”
Kuby said grand concerns with democracy are part of the reason he recently left talk radio. “Someday my grandchildren will ask, ‘Grandpa, what did you do in those extraordinary times.’ I didn’t want my answer to be, ‘I entertained many of his supporters on radio while I made a lot of money.’”
Neuborne said, “I think we’re in about as risky a place as we’ve been in my lifetime.” Dershowitz, he says, has convinced himself that “only he can be the arbiter of principle, which is a dangerous psychological place to be. I’ve been there myself.” But Neuborne takes heart in the upsurge of interest in the democratic process. “I think the country is going to heal itself, and that’s why I’m so sad about Alan. He could be part of the healing process instead of making the festering wound even worse.”
These are the people who make me fear for the future of the nation.
They’re straight-up crazy.
I do find it funny that many of these same people tearing their hair out and insisting that “Democracy is threatened!” are the same ones that 2 years ago demanded the Electoral College be disbanded when it affirmed an outcome that they didn’t like.
“Democracy” is things going the way they want, donchaknow
that sounds like a veiled threat to Dersh’s livelihood.
The notion that Alan Dershowitz’s tenure could be threatened by, well, anybody is absurd. I suspect he could keep his book of extra-academic consulting and lawyering gigs full pretty much no what these nattering ninnies say, as well.
this particular example is not credible. but in a few more years with a few more reputable Democrats.. they may give him the full Clarence Thomas treatment for exposing their hypocrisy.
The same people trying to tar Dershowitz are mostly the same one’s who were cheering on Mr. Obama’s “pen and phone”. They’re crying “fascist” at a guy whose major exercises of executive power have been to roll back previous exercises of executive power. Honestly, I just don’t understand how they rationalize this. Dershowitz is standing on the same principles he’s stood on for decades. Yet, the people who most obviously seem to be turning their backs on civil liberties seem the ones most loudly accusing him.
Well, the Nazis thought they were massacring jewish children in self defense. So it’s not without precedent.
Collectively, they’ve lost their shit.
They wrapped up so much in the personal is political gambit, that they cannot back down now. It would mean admitting that not all opposition to Obama was racism, that Clinton didn’t get elected for a reason other than her vagina, that half the population is not irredeemably racist, sexist, phonic, etc..
They’re fully invested on margin and they’re going to get wiped out before they cut their losses.
My principles are in the way of my feels.
Oh well, principles gotta’ go.
I got an invitation from someone on campus to participate in a discussion about how to bring politics into the classroom (or something like that). They informed me that an outside group was being brought into facilitate the discussion. I went to the outside group’s website and the first academic paper I read there was an explanation for how restricting offense opinions was essential to promote democracy.
You’ve got to go.
Videotape, raise hell, etc…
Nah. There are none so closed to new ideas or dialog as academics committed to fresh research and dialog.
Up my coffee game? Up yours!
I only drink the stuff after a fine restaurant meal when I’m looking to drag the experience out another 15 minutes.
I will give you this: coffee snobs are a bit less annoying on average than beer snobs.
Beer snobs eventually mellow out, coffee snobs just get wound up.
Yeah but I switch to whiskey after 9pm.
i’m a Moka pot devotee (although I do use a French press when there are people over since most of my friends don’t like the espresso-like product of a Moka pot).
You definitely don’t have to clean and dry it immediately, though. i regularly leave mine sitting on the counter with the old grounds sitting in it. It usually sits there unwashed until the next time I use it, which could be days. All you have to do is dump the grounds and wipe all pieces with a cloth and warm water. Once every couple months, I boil water through it with no coffee in there to clean out some of the buildup (per the manufacturer’s recommendations).
Mine is aluminum, so maybe that was in reference to Moka pots made of some different material.
I don’t clean it right away.
Maybe cheaper versions like Zanzibar you should because the water could cause calcium build up but I haven’t really encountered a problem with my Bialetti. If it does calcify, there’s a way to clean it. There may be an issue with coffee clogging up the filter cup but I’m more careful about that with my pressurized espresso machine which I clean right away.
I just followed the instructions. I routinely forget to clean my FP until the next cup.
Probably the wisest thing to follow the instructions. Don’t listen to me because I don’t do it out of laziness.
https://twitter.com/chelseahandler/status/996402673363513344
Comparing an embassy move to the Holocaust to own the cons.
Glad to see the mainstreaming of antisemitism in real time
Like Strahan, it’s a mystery how she ever gets gigs.
She’s two tweets away from screaming “the Jews did 9/11 and Trump’s in on it”
From the sidebar of the Black Rifle Coffee commercial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v1EUQ1bjV4
I’m glad this article has a “Politics” tag. Personal is political. And coffee is personal.
Seriously, fantastic article. I have yet to get a coffee setup at my home (I don’t even have a cheap-o drip coffee maker), so this will be my official starting guide!!
Stainless steel Freedom Press.
Cheapest bang for the buck, and you will have it forever.
Is Freedom Press a brand for a type of French Press? Or are we just boycotting the French today (as is tradition)?
The latter. Avoid glass carafes as they can break.
Okay cool, thanks guys!
I used the
strikeon French further upthread …. and then got lazy.No need to pull the grounds out of a paper filter to compost it. That paper will break down as well.
I like using a single cup drip filter holder, before they got renamed pour overs by hipsters.
Great article. I’m a big coffee drinker. However, my enjoyment of coffee is in proportion to my inability to do anything before my first morning cup. So my wife brews the coffee. She’s been talking about French Press for some time though, so maybe this article will give her the push.
It’s a onetime investment. If nothing else you can offer it as an option when friends come over.
News flash – John Brennan is a lying piece of shit. Now he and Trapper are in perjury traps,
this will go one of two ways:
1. Mueller granted him immunity for his testimony, or
2. it doesn’t matter when people like Brennan and Clapper perjure themselves
Damn you for being right
it doesn’t matter when people like Brennan and Clapper perjure themselves
Hasn’t Clapper already established that?
Mueller can’t grant immunity for lying before Congress.
Your second point is correct, though.
‘Member when Mike Flynn’s life was ruined for lying about a routine meeting with a Russian ambassador? And then Comey testified before Congress that he didn’t believe Flynn was lying?
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2018/02/13/comey_told_congress_fbi_agents_didn039t_think_flynn_lied_434274.html
I ‘member
“congressional” testimony? oh ffs, then of course he won’t be held accountable. my bad, i thought it was testimony given to Mueller’s witchhunt.
He’s safer lying to this Congress than he would be his buddy Mueller. Mueller might accidentally misremember testimony the wrong way, it being such a tangled web and all, but Congress won’t do shit.
If Congress did do anything CNN would declare that a brazen attack on the intelligence community or something equally retarded
The correct answer is 2.
If you are granted immunity in exchange for testimony, and perjure yourself in giving that testimony, the immunity is revocable. And your 5th Amendment right to refuse to testify is waived, so you get double-teamed.
A number of Hillary associates were immunized during the farcical FBI investigation/coverup. I bet they all perjured themselves. I am 100% confident nothing will happen, though.
the part about perjury and immunity has been lawsplained here before.. and i keep forgetting.
Chipwooder posted this in the comments for the morning links and it got no love.
It’s an interesting report.
Also, remember when Brennan was nominated to be CIA Director and no one ever said anything about waterboarding and torture? I ‘member
Hey, Brennan voted for the Communist Party leader Gus Hall for President. That counts for something.
So brave
Wow, I had no idea.
And apparently he was a party member as late as 1980.
And he was confirmed as CIA Director? What in the ever loving fuck?
He was also a torturer and Gina Haspel’s boss, but that’s inconvenient now
You are a great man, no matter what the rest of the Gliberariat says!
I always assumed they said I was a great man, too. You know what, I’m just going to pretend like they say that
“Made in Italy, you draw whatever conclusions you want.”
?
When it comes to coffee and food “made in Italy” is always a good sign
When I was at the SIAL in Paris in 2004, that’s pretty much what a French rep who was working there told me.
I would have responded sooner, but my Alfa Romeo broke down on the way to the internet.
Do you really have one?
No, but I was looking at the 4C. Automatic, WTF?
Everything is going auto now. It’s “better”, dontcha know!
Hopefully I can pickup an Elise or exige for not too much when I’m ready to buy. The prices really haven’t dropped much from retail for the ones I’ve found online.
Allotta Fagina.
I lost my Mini Quad Copter last night in the wind, Bummer but not the end of the World.
I took Bella for a walk a bit ago and looked up at the canopy of trees it likely came down in, thinking no way.. then I looked up at the roof of the house on the corner, Bang!
There she was sitting pretty. Now I have to wait til they get home to retrieve it, But a damn stroke of luck, considering it weighs 1 oz and fits in my hand.
/and saved 100$+
“lost in the wind”
lol
but seriously, how will you explain flying it right outside your neighbor’s daughter’s window?
I stupidly hit the throttle with a new Batt, freshly charged, having not flown it in months, Drunk, at night, We both got too high man……..
This is CNN.
CNN Pundit Posts Graphic Depicting Shooting of President Donald Trump…
Chris Cillizza has already deleted that tweet. Here’s his explanation.
Jesus.
So, does Gifgrabber actually work that way, or is he lying?
A cursory Google search suggests “yes, it does work that way”. But it doesn’t matter, since the WH Correspondents’ roast, Trumpistas are the new snowflakes.
Expect a lot of ululating and frothing at the mouth for the next week or two.
But you what it has defaulted to before you post it, right?
I mean, unless you are a complete retard.
I’m not sure I understand.
I thought it was earlier than the WH Correspondents’ roast. Perhaps as early as baseball shooting of Republican congressmen in June 2017 or an attack on Rand Paul later that year. Are Steve Scalise and Rand Paul the old snowflakes?
I’m not sure what you’re getting at here. I’m talking about the recent adoption of a humorless outrage culture and the subsequent spawning of internet lynch mobs that have taken root in the Trumposphere since the roast. I mean, a few weeks ago, the local rag published a letter to the editor in which the author claimed that as she was watching the roast of Saunders, she (the author) started crying. I thought two things: 1. “No you didn’t, you fucking liar” and 2. What would these dumb motherfuckers do if Richard Pyror were still alive? I don’t want to live in an America that is 3,000 miles of ‘Playing in Peoria.
Interestingly enough, Pryor was from Peoria, IL
I keep telling you that Loki the Trickster is real, but y’all don’t believe me.
When you work for the mouthpiece of the Deep State that tried–so far unsuccessfully–to overthrow the democratically elected US government (Pres. Trump), you don’t get the benefit of the doubt.
I’m still waiting for an opportunity to bring up the “troops loyal to the government” expression in the modern American context.
I’m talking about the recent adoption of a humorless outrage culture and the subsequent spawning of internet lynch mobs that have taken root in the Trumposphere since the roast.
To Be Sure, such things suck, but :
(1) I have a hard time ginning up much sympathy for people who gleefully support siccing outrage mobs on wrongthinkers, when they get a mob sicced on them.
(2) As long as they are the exclusive tool of one side of the pissing match, there is no incentive for them to back off. When the #Metoo’ers realized that it was mainly liberal icons getting underbussed, I noticed a change of tone and visibility for that particular lynch mob. Maybe something similar could happen here.
Unfortunately, in our current race-to-the-bottom society, abstaining from deplorable tactics in the culture and political wars is looking like a sucker bet, an act of moral vanity. Nobody ever won a battle by unilaterally disarming.
PALIN GOT GIFFORDS SHOT THAT WAY YOU KNOW.
I remember all of my proggie friends losing their shit over that, declaring that “only” Palin had a “Giffords in the Crosshairs” pic. Then it turned out some prog outfit had first used it to target Giffords for not being left enough. Of course, all my friends immediately posted corrections on social media.
Do you people even Starbucks?
*ducks*
I confess: I do like their peppermint mocha thingy. I have maybe two a year.
That’s because peppermint. The single greatest thingy on earf.
Dunkin’ Donuts is easily as good, but cheaper. Plus, hash browns.
Less virtue signalling at Dunkin Donuts too. Good working man’s coffee
^ This. Also — 7-Eleven coffee, another working mans cup of coffee. 99 cents. It’s hard to complain when you’re getting decent caffeine for 99 cents.
Their hash browns are good. That’s for sure.
Warm Cat Piss, for the,…….No, just No
I don’t understand Starbucks… are they putting meth in their coffee? Because I see that their drive-thru line is literally wrapped around the block every time I go get groceries at Harris Teeter. Then I walk inside the Harris Teeter… and there’s a fuckin’ Starbucks coffee stand inside the store! And another line for that one!
I don’t understand. Their coffee is not even halfway decent… not for $5+. You’re basically paying for milk + sugar + burnt “meh” coffee. Maybe I’m biased because I don’t drink my coffee with milk, and I only add a quarter of a packet of sugar.
Not trying to yuck anyone’s yum, I just simply don’t understand why people spend so much on it every day.
How to disguise your sugar habit with coffee.
I’ll get the cappuccino if I’m out and not near a stand alone coffee house. TBH, a lot of those little coffee shops serve crap coffee, it’s not just hating on a corporation.
Same here. They don’t know how to make an espresso but the cappuccino gets a pass but I always have to watch them and tell them when to stop pouring milk. They put waaaayyy too much. They look at me funny because they’re probably told to fill the cup but I tell them not to worry about it. They don’t realize they’re actually preparing a latte.
I used to like to mix Wawa coffee and hot chocolate 50/50.
one of the funnier recurring topics of O’Brien’s Master & Commander series is the presence of coffee. or the hunt for/procurement of coffee in its absence.
and related to the Aubrey/Maturin tales, has anyone had this:
https://www.luckyjackcoffee.com/products
aside from a copyright infringement claim from O’Brien’s estate, this stuff sounds good.
^fucked that up: O’Brian, not O’Brien
Does the R mean anything in the name Lucky Jack?
https://www.trademarkia.com/lucky-jack-87028674.html
am i to assume that the former bookstore owner started a coffee company called “Lucky Jack” with a late-18th century English ship-of-the-motherfucking-line on the bottle and then registered it as his trademark? that thieving sonofabitch.
And Maturins hunt for/procurement of coca leaves and Tobacco in its absence.
Bob’s best cup o’ joe:
2 cup electric percolator, ceramic lined with stainless steel strainer.
Ice cold filtered water
fresh ground coffee from whole bean
The water being ice cold is very important, it keeps the water and the coffee separated as the brew tumbles over.
Done right, you get delicious coffee with an oil slick from the beans floating on top.
But mostly, I just Keurig a cheap but decent cup about 8 times a day.
OT: I have absolutely no idea what point she is trying to make here.
http://reason.com/archives/2018/05/14/incels-are-the-product-of-an-incomplete
TW: Shikha
No, Shikha, we don’t.
So…I have to give handys to randos? Glad I left that shit hole site.
Shikka is far and away the worst writer at TOS.
Worse than Soave?
Soave is not that bad.
That’s like saying pancreatic cancer is not that bad compared to liver failure.
I really feel like Soave has gotten a lot better and I take into consideration how difficult is his beat. Even though he is more milquetoast in his wording than we would prefer, I’m sure that he has suffered professionally for taking the positions that he has. Even among so called libertarian institutions who are more interested in virtue signalling than liberty, I’m sure he’s become somewhat of a pariah.
Worst Reason Writers:
(5) Nick Gillespie- who has stopped being the Nick Gillespie of TOS by simply remaining bad, while his colleagues have sunk to new levels of awful
(4) Chapman- he’s just a contributor, which saves him from the top spot, but he’s a hot pile of garbage nonetheless
(3) ENB- how much longer do we have to pretend like she shares any values in common with people who support liberty? Her solutions for everything outside of sex work is more government
(2) “Newly Woke” Matt Welch- old Welch wouldn’t even recognize this man
(1) Shikha- No. Just, no.
Yes, engaging in libel and slander will impact your journalistic career.
“Yes, engaging in libel and slander will impact your journalistic career.”
Are you sure about that? I think a lot of papers traffic in libel. It all depends on who you are libeling
Touché!
I really feel like Soave has gotten a lot better
Couldn’t say. Don’t read him.
and I take into consideration how difficult is his beat.
Jeebus, have you ever seen more low-hanging fruit for any writer than the wokester millenial/college crowd? I mean, fer fuck’s sake, the only challenge would be that the more extreme examples of wokosity aren’t just beyond parody, they are almost beyond belief.
I’m not talking about writing skills.
Shikka has an extraordinary talent to find the most offensive position any any topic.
“To be sure ®”
If we are grading on a Shika Curve it is actually not that bad of an article.
She is basically pointing out that at some levels incels are the kind of people progressives in theory should be looking to help by developing systems and solutions that help meet their needs. If we take the white and male part out of it with incels we basically have people who because they cannot live up to traditional “patriarchal” views of what a man is (looks, confidence, etc.) are unable to attract mates. In some sense these men are just as much victims of patriarchy as anyone else and therefore progressives should be arguing in defense of them. Not arguing that women owe them sex but rather it is societies unrealistic view of what a man is that makes them unable to attract partners so progressives should have been championing their cause (before it came to violence). After all how many think pieces have been written in the progosphere saying that it is misogyny that prevents men from dating ugly women or it is transphobia if a straight man refuses to date a trans woman? How is that any different from complaining that women won’t date manly men with rugged jawlines and bulging muscles?
The problem with that view of course is that it presumes that progressives are honest or care about principles more than principals. Anyone who took 10 seconds analyzing the behavior of progressives knew that they would be unable to see the parallels between a fat chick who can’t get a date and an incel, they would only see woman = oppressed, man = oppressor. Shika being Shika of course was unable to make this connection and actually call out progressives for their hypocrisy and so had to drag in a completely unrelated but about conservatives wanting a return to 1950’s sexual values that likely isn’t even true for more than a small cross section of conservatives.
She is probably hinting at a need to make prostitution legal so incels can have a way to get laid on at least a semi regular basis but is too busy trying to look like she is occupying some kind of culture war middle ground to actually come out and say it.
Terrific article, FM!
You are guilting me into a burr grinder. I have a blade grinder that’s like 30 years old!
Aeropress is my favorite, especially for the ease of cleaning.
Once you go burr . . . uh, something something.
They really are better.
Seriously, do yourself a favor. Once you go burr you’ll never look back.
I was visiting a friend as she was grinding with a blade and asked me if it looked ground enough. It ranged from dust to almost complete beans. I said “Looks good. Thank you.”
I was visiting a friend as she was grinding with a blade
These euphemisms are getting pretty caffeinated.