Low Quality Coffee
Are you able to distinguish between low quality and good quality coffee?
Since the majority of Indonesians are having their fasting month, coffee shops in some places don’t open before 4PM even sometimes won’t open until 6 PM. This forced me to rely on low quality coffee, especially those in chain coffee shops. Since I needed a caffeine fix, I had no choice but to buy it from them. I also ran out of beans in my pantry and there’s no coffee nor any caffeine pills. I ended up coming to them a couple of times because their place is convenient to work from and I’d get a caffeine fix. During the first day, I started seeing how it affects my sleep, the next day, I feel sluggish and my body aches. Then, the next day, I felt brain dead. This never happens when I drink coffee from cafes or even brewing my own coffee.
A clean cup of caffeine should make one feel more energized. That wasn’t the case with the coffee I was drinking. Instead of feeling energized and alert, I felt sluggish and weak. All I wanted was to just lay down and do nothing. The brain fog was the worst and I have never felt that stupid. Until yesterday, I decided to start brewing my own coffee.
There is no crash nor feeling like you just been hit by a truck. Even when I brew my own coffee, I can sleep just fine and I can drink as much as I’d like without feeling all the negative side of the crash. But with that coffee, it was really bad. I got sick the third day consuming them and that’s when I knew something was wrong.
You might think that after testing out so much coffee out there, I’d learn. It turns out, I didn’t and because I was forced due to the situation, I tortured myself just to have that caffeine fix. But if there’s one thing that I have to emphasize, especially when you look for more productivity in life, stick with a quality coffee, if by chance you don’t have the access to, it’s better to quit until you can find the good ones.
Yesterday, when I went shopping with my mom I got an easy drip coffee from Kapal Api. They are store bought coffee that tries to sell a premium product. I got one Flores Manggarai blend. It’s served in a v60 drip bag that once I wrote that it’s going to be the future of commercial coffee. The Future of Commercial Coffee : V60 Like Dripper Kapal Api Drip Luwak Blend. Since that review, the following months I keep seeing coffee served in a drip bag.
The coffee itself has citrus and mint aftertaste. The body is quite light and the aroma has a light jasmine fragrance. It was the first good coffee I had in a while in comparison to the previous coffee. I enjoyed drinking that and had to survive from that before my beans arrived at my door.
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 | Mac is a jack of all trades. A typical introvert in love with literature, books, technology and philosophy. She is also so into nootropics, productivity, minimalist lifestyle, cybersecurity, and languages. Other than that, she is passionate about cooking and traveling. In her free time, she enjoys learning various things. If you like her content, don't hesitate to upvote, leave a comment or a feedback. A re-blog is also appreciated. |
I wonder if the chain coffee was loaded with sugar. I haven't used sugar in like 2 years and I feel so much better. Anyways glad you got some premium brew. I have been hooked on a premium french roast for a while.
It's not always the case; the place I frequent, they have sugar options(no sugar, lower, or 100% sugar even extra ones) that's why I go there. There's no starbucks where I am currently at and that leaves me with a little option. It's the longest holiday in the country and many cafes are closing temporarily. But thankfully, I have that drip bag coffee which could help until my beans arrived.
I feel like I've reached that level of coffee snob where I refuse to go anywhere and just make my own. Much less disappointment that way. 😂
🤣 that works haha
I'm with you; low quality coffee is usually not worth the hassle. BUT - I'll take any coffee to avoid the caffeine withdrawal headaches!
Withdrawal headaches are the worst, not that I have them anymore as I always do some kind of detox once in a while. BUT there's just something missing if I don't drink coffee in a day so I settled for the worst coffee. It's bad but I guess cause I am quite experimental with coffee, these things are inevitable.
There is a feel every of my coffee cup gives. The feel comes with joy. I cannot do without my cup of coffee in the morning. My day starts after a cup.
I have never brewed coffee myself. I would need the seed to do that which is readily not available here.
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers
For brewing, you don't need the beans, you can simply use powdered coffee and use any method of your preference. What kind of coffee do you usually make?
My family has a coffee plantation and we provided ourselves. That’s why I never go to coffee shop or I drink something else at the coffee when I have to go there.
Oh wow, that's awesome! do you sell the coffee beans too? or just providing the cherries and then ship it to roastery?
Coffee is so cool but getting a good quality is the best
Hello.
Here in my country they sell a burnt coffee, black color and a strong smell of badly roasted corn. Many say that this bad coffee is the product of a mixture they make with little coffee plus ground beans or any other bean that is not coffee. It is terrible!
Preferably trust freshly ground coffee that smells good, is light brown in color and looks reliable.
Most of the time in these places where they sell good coffee, there are plenty of people lining up to buy it. When the coffee comes already packaged we should try it and learn to choose them.
Nowadays there are many brands of coffee. I will try to try each one ☕.
Adding roasted corn kernels is usually a way for coffee producer to add more volume into their product; it's a bad practice but done in many countries too. Where I live, this type of coffee is sold in street vendors or street pop-ups coffee. Not all coffee beans looks light brown, it is all depending on the roast level, a dark roast would look quite dark instead of light brown, a light brown beans just mean it's either medium or light roasted beans. There are many brands of coffee out there even the instant ones, if you're lucky, you can get a really good instant coffee :)
Hey Mac, nothing compares to opening a pack of great coffee and smelling that strong aroma coming from it.
We LOVE drip-on coffees. They are the most convenient things and the quality is on par with the quality produced by a regular coffee maker.
Oh, I really like those circular placemats. Very native and would be sold for big money in places like the UK:)
Yes yes and big YES! at least I can survive for now cause I am done drinking a low quality coffee :D as for the placemats, you got me thinking about a business potential ha ha. I got them for 3$ and maybe it could sell around 30 maybe 40? I wish. Next time I am back to Bali, i'll have to ask around how to ship things from Indonesia to UK or even US market :D
You would be surprised at the business potential for native goods from Bali in places like Jamaica.
The furnishing looks great for resort places. The last time I was in Jamaica, my girlfriend had a furniture shop that imported all items from Bali:)
I actually learned from that sellers that those aren't made in Bali 😂 many of those are manufactured in Java then they bring the highest quality to Bali for resort places and then it is sold overseas. Now I remember that at some point, I was helping someone doing a research on companies in java selling goods like that but it was more like furniture. I hooked them up with numbers and also tried finding companies that do exports to europe.
Excellent! You'd be amazed at the possibilities:)
Coffee sellers are really trying to go with drip setups like that here, too. A while back I got a gift card to Starbucks and I thought I would buy a bigger French press with it, as I have one and it's good but it only does one cup at a time. Well, I couldn't find one at Starbucks cafes nor on their website. Finally at one cafe I saw one on the shelf and asked them how much it was, and they told me it was not for sale and they could only sell me the pour-over thing, which is essentially a triangle shape over a mug. I think they want people to buy them so then they have to keep buying filters (though I suppose you could make or buy a cloth filter too).
These days there's cloth and even metal version of the filter for v60(pour over). I tried the cloth but it wasn't for me so I opt for the paper which can produce cleaner cup that won't lose the flavor and the aroma. There's also vietnam dripper if you don't like buying the paper filters, it produces good coffee too! and/or if you can find drip-on bag, you should try getting that one, it's essentially the same like pour over just much more simple :D and saves time!
I can feel you because when we sip a low-quality coffee it just doesn't have the effect that we really wanted to.
I have that kind of drip coffee, and it is one of the local brands, should make a post about it. And I got it for free, as it should be a turn-down gift for my guest but the guest turn it down. lol
You should make a post about it and maybe next time I go there, I can find that coffee? I did the coffee tour at starbucks but Balinese coffee is too acidic and fruity for my taste. So, I rarely get them and when I was there, I just got something called Dewata latte which I think they don't even use balinese coffee beans.
Of course, low quality coffee will make the coffee taste bad.
bad coffee taste is a result of many factors including the one I mentioned, low quality beans but even with good beans, a wrong brewing process could make it taste bad too.
You're a real coffee connoisseur, splendid :)
hahahaha, I've always been that :D
I drink a lot of coffee too, but somehow I don't celebrate it like that. Maybe I should.
I'm not a fan of coffee, but thanks for this still.. I didn't know these things
It's okay not to know things.
I can tell them apart because the roast is very black, the taste is adulterated and the smell is weird, so I stay away from those coffee shops or cafes.
But I will try those coffee blends with jasmine or mint to see the quality.
If the roast is very black it can mean that they are simply just dark roast but if you smell something off, that could be a sign they are of low quality. I prefer mine medium roast and Afaik it depends on the country too, most I know here and even starbucks they use medium roast than dark or blond roast. What about in your country? does cafe prefer medium or dark roast?
I really like the packageof that easy drip coffee. I guess it's a komodo dragon on there but it looks like a dino
And yes, I can definitely taste the difference between good, mediocre and bad coffee ;^)
hahaha it's komodo dragon because west manggarai is the province where komodo is from. Since the coffee is a blend from flores beans and that manggarai beans, they use that komodo dragon icon. I guess once you're an actual addict, you can tell the difference :D
I read your experience suffering to have a good coffee in this time. Actually there are many coffees that are sold as premium but their taste, aroma and body are not good. I'm glad you finally got a good alternative to brew at home when you can't go to your favorite coffee shop. Eid Mubarak! 🌻
Yeah, that's true! sometimes there are premium coffee but they don't taste that good. Have a great day!
I cant get by in the morning with a coffee. Thankfully in Indonesia where I am now coffee is good and everywhere....:)
Where I am at now, they opened pretty late especially the cafes that I like to visit. There are some that opened but their coffee aren't up to par. I guess next week, it's all gonna be normal.
Lifes too short for whack coffee! I am a convert to those drip coffees. I was most impressed with the ones we had in Taiwan and Japan
😃 Yeah! they are so useful and handy. I am thinking about buying their packs and bring my own coffee whenever I travel. Seems more convenient than having to bring a jar + frenchpress
I was looking at doing the same for the boat. Very handy when i just fancy one cup or have a guest visiting.