Help with a Christmas gift -- coffee?

We exchange wish lists for the holidays, and today we got an e-mail from my father-in-law saying he'd like coffee for Christmas.

I think coffee is vile, bitter, nasty stuff, and I know nothing about it.

SO. I am appealing to the collective wisdom of the Cellar for help.

KitsuDad writes:

I've tried the following and wasn't thrilled.
Peets house blend - ok but not great
Gevalia traditional roast - tastes burnt
Dunkin donuts original blend - not a good taste

I'd really like to try something else. I'm not comfortable with Starbucks. It's just tooooo expensive. So my wish is to have a number of coffees that I can try that are just normal original type blends, that are whole bean, so I can grind them at home (as that seems the best way to make coffee that tastes good?), and, that are not expensive (because if I like it, I don't want to "drain the bank" when I order more). I'm looking for something that isn't bitter, but smooth and flavorful.

I'm baffled by the qualification that Starbucks coffee is too expensive -- it's like, $10/lb? So he has single handedly wiped out any cool artisan coffees I probably would've found.

Halp?

One word:

Kopi luwak

Make like a pusher, give him the first pound, then, after he's hooked, let him find out how much it costs.

Momdigr drinks Eight O'Clock Coffee almost exclusively, so it must be cheap.

When I was a lad, Mom would grind her own Eight O'clock coffee at the A&P store. Grab a bag of beans, dump them in the grinder, put the bag under the chute and push the button.
I wonder when they did away with that, probably about the same time they did away with the see though your feet machines.

Sorry Choco, I'm no help... I don't drink the shit either. It's just a crutch for people that don't do crank. ;)

What he really wants is a keurig machine

The last time I paid attention, the local Jewel still carried whole bean coffee and had a grinder in the coffee aisle. I don't remember the brand. But not 8 o'clock. Though I remember 8 o'clock from way back when we had A&P in St. Louis.

lumberjim;877437 wrote:

What he really wants is a keurig machine

Dey gots soup in K-cups now.

xoxoxoBruce;877434 wrote:

...about the same time they did away with the see though your feet machines.

What'sthatnow?

lumberjim;877437 wrote:

What he really wants is a keurig machine

That's what I suggested initially, but he feels the machine is very costly. Cup for cup, regular coffee is way cheaper than K-cups, so I understand his reluctance.

I'm just super stumped. I understand getting someone gourmet coffee as a gift, just as you might get someone gourmet chocolates. But this is like... you just want me to get you a pound of coffee from the grocery store? :confused:

Choco: If your father-in-law thinks Starbucks is expensive, then you're pretty much limited to the brands that a grocery store would carry. Any really good coffee would cost more than that. Okay, so I drink Ruta Maya medium roast. I'm cheap for someone who likes good coffee. :right: I get mine at Costco for $15 for a 2.2 lbs. bag. I found it at HEB for $18. If you want to give it a try, don't get dark roast, get MEDIUM ROAST. Sorry, haven't tried any of brands grocery store carries. Someone just gave me a bag of Starbucks, which I haven't tried so I don't even know if it tastes good. I read an article that says 8 o'clock is good. Maybe it might acceptable.

xoxoxoBruce;877434 wrote:

about the same time they did away with the see though your feet machines.

Gravdigr;877469 wrote:

What'sthatnow?

Uh...yeah. What are you talking about?

Pete Zicato;877445 wrote:

The last time I paid attention, the local Jewel still carried whole bean coffee and had a grinder in the coffee aisle. I don't remember the brand. But not 8 o'clock. Though I remember 8 o'clock from way back when we had A&P in St. Louis.

I still see coffee grinders on the coffee aisle at the grocery stores here too.

Lola Bunny;877489 wrote:

Uh...yeah. What are you talking about?

Back in the day shoe stores would have x-ray machines that customers could use to view their feet. This was before people realized that too much radiation is a bad thing.

You know how we old people can reminisce about all of the cool stuff we could do in the old days without harm like ride bikes without helmets, eat stuff cooked in lard,....etc. Well it turns out some of that stuff actually can kill ya.;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe-fitting_fluoroscope

X-ray fluoroscope machines installed in shoe stores from the 1920s until about the 1970s

1970's:eek::eek::eek:. Who the **** would let this go on into the 1970's. Let me guess - Texas.


Back on track: I agree that a K-cupper would be a better choice than some bags of gourmet coffee.

.



[COLOR="White"]...........................................................................[/COLOR][SIZE="5"]USA Coffee Company[/SIZE]






[COLOR="White"]
................................................................................[/COLOR]

[SIZE="4"]
The only coffee grown in the USA.


Delicious. And you feel GREAT knowing you are supporting union jobs in America.


Say hello to Ted.[/SIZE]



[COLOR="White"]
..................................................[/COLOR]







.

I was looking at that site a little while ago, but the prices for subsequent orders seem higher than KitsuDad is wanting to pay (given the Starbucks comment).

Seattle's Best number 4 Organic Fair Trade

Thanks for the explanation Mr. Levy.:)

So funny.... I have a temp job and it's resetting the coffee sections after they take out the grinders. they are being replaced by a bigger K-cup section.

I had no idea you people drank such weird stuff. Especially the Starbucks flavors. Coconut and Blueberry Muffin, ffs?



So your FIL wants one bag of the house/original/traditional blend of each brand he hasn't already tried. he doesn't want anything fancy It's just that it seems to frivolous to buy them for himself and has no other ideas of what he wants for christmas, so he's killing two birds with one stone. Go to the supermarket and buy just that. One bag of each type he hasn't tried. maybe throw in a few basic Colombian too. include the own brand of whatever store is local to him if you can. The main brands are Gevalia, 8 o'clock, Peets and Starbucks, so there's not going to be much left for you to buy.


If you really want to make the gift interesting, Baggie up and code a couple of servings of each one so he can do a blind taste test. he can rate each one and then you can reveal which were which.

Give him a bottle of Irish whiskey and a can of whipped cream. He'll be happy with any brand of coffee you give him to make Irish coffees.

Get the house brand as Monster suggested and then Christmas it up with a nice coffee mug or canister.

Gravdigr;877347 wrote:

One word:

Kopi luwak

cat poop coffee.....Grav, you funny man. Do you think it's good coffee or you were trying to be funny?

xoxoxoBruce;877434 wrote:

When I was a lad, Mom would grind her own Eight O'clock coffee at the A&P store. Grab a bag of beans, dump them in the grinder, put the bag under the chute and push the button.
I wonder when they did away with that, probably about the same time they did away with the see though your feet machines.

Sorry Choco, I'm no help... I don't drink the shit either. It's just a crutch for people that don't do crank. ;)

You'll like Wegmans, they still have the grinder and a shit load of coffees including excellent in-house brands to ease you off the crank.

Seattles' Best (owned by Starbucks) might be an option for him. I'd just go to a good grocery store and get him a variety of coffees under the Starbucks price-point.

Lola Bunny;877605 wrote:

cat poop coffee.....Grav, you funny man. Do you think it's good coffee or you were trying to be funny?

I. Hate. Coffee. I've tried (more than once) to become "a coffee drinker". I don't think it'll ever happen. Then again, I've never drank civet-butt coffee.:rolleyes:

Maybe if I squeezed a civet over my coffee...maybe it is the poop that makes it good.

The kopi luwak is supposed to be the bee's knees when it comes to non-bitter coffee. Plus it's expensive as hell. And it comes out of the far end of a civet.

If you larfed, I was being funny.:D

Civet coffee is a booming business these days. It became popular amongst middle class Americans and Europeans. Consequently the Civet coffee trade has become much crueller.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24034029

Animal cruelty during the production of one of the world's priciest coffees has been exposed by a BBC investigation.

Kopi luwak is made from coffee beans excreted by Indonesian palm civets - small, mongoose-like creatures.

But undercover reporters in Indonesia witnessed civets held in battery-cage conditions to produce the coffee.

And experts say they are "totally convinced" kopi luwak from caged animals ends up on the London market

-snip-

Posing as buyers, the BBC visited farmers in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Reporters witnessed battery-style conditions, animals in cramped cages and a severely injured civet cat, contradicting the "wild" claims marketed to consumers.

Whew, at least it ain't my fault.

This time.

Yeah....maybe. I still think you look kinda guilty..

It's the 40 year old mustache. ;)

Okay, I got this. I love coffee and I think a classic blend would make a beautiful christmas present. See if you can get your hands on Folger Classic Roast Coffe. Wait, let me link you to a website I usually buy it from: http://www.dailycuppacoffee.com/folgers-coffee-classic-roast-regular-ground-33-9ozs-can

:spam1:

JoyMKendrick;879477 wrote:

Okay, I got this. I love coffee and I think a classic blend would make a beautiful christmas present. See if you can get your hands on Folger Classic Roast Coffe. Wait, let me link you to a website I usually buy it from: http://www.dailycuppacoffee.com/folgers-coffee-classic-roast-regular-ground-33-9ozs-can

.





[SIZE="3"]

Wait - what? What the ? I, I thought I was banned?

Wha- was that just some horrible fuckin dream?


Have I been re-throned as the King David of this forum?[/SIZE]


[COLOR="White"]
.............................................[/COLOR]




[SIZE="3"]
I was just sitting here, enjoying a cup of Union Roast coffee from USA Coffee Company, like I do EVERYDAY, the only union made coffee from tree-to-cup, and I am presented this DELIGHTFUL surprise!




Ah, ah - am I REALLY back?


I gotta pinch myself - [/SIZE][COLOR="White"].............[/COLOR]






.