Food, Drink & Dining Out How do you take your coffee?

Oct 9, 2003
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I don't like drinking milk or have a big sweet tooth so can't even fathom drinking multiple of those things a day.
I don't touch them either. Ridiculous levels of sugar.
Same with "sports drinks". Defeats the purpose; do a workout, consume a sports drink and put all the calories back on again.
Even (natural) fruit juice has too much sugar IMO, rarely drink that either..
 
May 5, 2006
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I don't touch them either. Ridiculous levels of sugar.
Same with "sports drinks". Defeats the purpose; do a workout, consume a sports drink and put all the calories back on again.
Even (natural) fruit juice has too much sugar IMO, rarely drink that either..

Sports drinks are a marketing winner. 'Electrolytes! Isotonic!'. It's mostly sugar and water.
 

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Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 12, 2005
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Out of the house: double-shot cappuccino with full-cream milk and half a sugar. I'm not too fussed about the quality of the coffee (even the cheap 7-Eleven stuff they get through Star Bucks), because almost all ground beans taste much better than the "best" instant coffee.
Get a moka pot, I love waking up and making coffee with it.
Spot on. Everyone get a moka pot. :D

I use them at home with what ever supermarket ground stuff I can afford at the time. I usually buy Vittoria Evo, Oro or Mountain Grown, because they're often heavily discounted to 15 to 20 bucks a kg, which is good for any half-decent coffee. Some coffee snobs will say that all supermarket coffee is crap, but f'ark, fancy stuff can cost 2 or 4 times as much, or even more.

I've had moka pots or ages, but before getting one, I didn't even know what they were. I didn't know what I was missing.
In fact, I'm not sure I even knew how ground coffee was used; I might've thought it was only for electric machines. One day, I went to the house on an Italian friend, and I couldn't work out how he made such a nice coffee with some strange-looking, little pot he put on the stove

Plungers are *ing voodoo to me. I can't use them :D
 

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I use them at home with what ever supermarket ground stuff I can afford at the time. I usually buy Vittoria Evo, Oro or Mountain Grown, because they're often heavily discounted to 15 to 20 bucks a kg, which is good for any half-decent coffee. Some coffee snobs will say that all supermarket coffee is crap, but f'ark, fancy stuff can cost 2 or 4 times as much, or even more.
I use aldi coffee in a Sunbeam machine and its bloody good and cheap
 

Caesar

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Mar 3, 2005
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I use aldi coffee in a Sunbeam machine and its bloody good and cheap
Yeah - whilst I prefer my local roaster’s coffee, it’s not four times as good as what I can get at Aldi for a quarter of the price.

That said, the price of coffee is way too low. Anything ethically sourced is going to be a lot more expensive than what you can get at the supermarket.
 

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Yeah - whilst I prefer my local roaster’s coffee, it’s not four times as good as what I can get at Aldi for a quarter of the price.

That said, the price of coffee is way too low. Anything ethically sourced is going to be a lot more expensive than what you can get at the supermarket.
ALDI, Black Bag Roasters has invested time creating sustainable coffee products to ensure every coffee bean has been sourced responsibly and ethically. This means that all of the Lazzio and Just Organic coffee that is supplied to ALDI is either Fairtrade or UTZ Certified.
 

Caesar

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ALDI, Black Bag Roasters has invested time creating sustainable coffee products to ensure every coffee bean has been sourced responsibly and ethically. This means that all of the Lazzio and Just Organic coffee that is supplied to ALDI is either Fairtrade or UTZ Certified.
Honestly, I don’t really rate certifications like that. They’re better than nothing, but coffee is a really labour intensive crop and the commodity price a bean fetches is nowhere near enough.

At the end of the day you have to look at the price on the bag, and I can’t imagine the farmers who produce Aldi’s beans are getting anywhere near a fair price.

I think the only way to be comfortable that your coffee is really, genuinely ethically sourced is to buy it from a roaster who gets it direct from the farmer.
 
May 5, 2006
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Really? Which brands?


$32 from a place with an online store.

A mate of mine gets his from a local roster South of Perth for under $25 a kg.
 
Oct 9, 2003
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At the end of the day you have to look at the price on the bag, and I can’t imagine the farmers who produce Aldi’s beans are getting anywhere near a fair price.
Not just farmers who produce coffee beans.

If you haven't already, check out Super Size Me 2, to see how chicken farmers get shafted by "Big Chicken" who supply the fast food industry.
 

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Honestly, I don’t really rate certifications like that. They’re better than nothing, but coffee is a really labour intensive crop and the commodity price a bean fetches is nowhere near enough.

At the end of the day you have to look at the price on the bag, and I can’t imagine the farmers who produce Aldi’s beans are getting anywhere near a fair price.

I think the only way to be comfortable that your coffee is really, genuinely ethically sourced is to buy it from a roaster who gets it direct from the farmer.
You really think that some little roaster is going to deal directly with farmers ???

Google UTZ and Fair trade and then tell me how the little roaster is going to ensure his product is fairer

The major difference in price between the little guy and the multinational is buying power not a better price to the farmer.

If youve got the money its great to look after the little guy who you perceive as more "ethical'
Its also great to drink coffee from a cats bum if you can afford it but in the end its just a burnt bean that you push hot water through
I like 1 a day Im happy with what I use and the results Im getting

Sure I can barista (cert 3) and know the best is freshly roasted beans freshly ground in a non humid temperate environment,but Im in the middle of nowhere and getting pretty good result regardless
And I know how labour intensive coffee is friends grow some around here
 
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Hell no
As well as having stainless steel reusable pods for my machine, am thinking of buying this for an alternative

 

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As well as having stainless steel reusable pods for my machine, am thinking of buying this for an alternative

Ive got a different version of that but havent used it for years,it made a good coffee though

I picked up a Sunbeam Cafe series for $25 in an op shop nearly 10 years ago and its does a pretty good job when it dies I will buy another
 

Caesar

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You really think that some little roaster is going to deal directly with farmers ???
Direct trade is a thing. You will probably find that it is the way most fourth wave roasters source their beans.

Google UTZ and Fair trade and then tell me how the little roaster is going to ensure his product is fairer

The major difference in price between the little guy and the multinational is buying power not a better price to the farmer.
The major difference is commodity vs non-commodity prices. When the product is fungible, the producer is at the mercy of the market’s lowest price (which in the case of coffee is punishingly low).

I'm the first to admit that specialty coffee can be a bit of a wank, but it rejects the idea that a bean is just a bean. This means that farmers can build the reputation and value of their coffee (similar to how a vigneron in France can build the reputation and value of his grapes).

A fourth wave roaster who buys via direct trade from specialty producers is not only cutting out the middle man, but paying a higher price to ensure provenance and quality. I feel that is a better and more sustainable industry model than commodity coffee.

It does unfortunately mean that the hip pocket nerve takes a bit of a jolt when the bag hits the shelf, and the price increase is not necessarily commensurate with the rise in quality. But I would say that is because supermarket coffee (certified or not) is fundamentally underpriced when you look at the required production efforts.
 
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Direct trade is a thing. You will probably find that it is the way most fourth wave roasters source their beans.


The major difference is commodity vs non-commodity prices. When the product is fungible, the producer is at the mercy of the market’s lowest price (which in the case of coffee is punishingly low).

I'm the first to admit that specialty coffee can be a bit of a wank, but it rejects the idea that a bean is just a bean. This means that farmers can build the reputation and value of their coffee (similar to how a vigneron in France can build the reputation and value of his grapes).

A fourth wave roaster who buys via direct trade from specialty producers is not only cutting out the middle man, but paying a higher price to ensure provenance and quality. I feel that is a better and more sustainable industry model.

It does unfortunately mean that the hip pocket nerve takes a bit of a jolt when the bag hits the shelf. But I would say that is because supermarket coffee is fundamentally underpriced compared to required production efforts - not the other way around.
Agree terroir is important but Australias great coffee reputation like its wine is based on blends of different varieties with different roasts/fermentations from multiple regions to get a complex taste and good balanced depth of flavour.

There is still a premium for terroir though just as for wines from certain regions,and if you can afford that its great and if you cant its still pretty good.

And yes people should be paid a fair price and not get screwed by the middle man in everything
 

Caesar

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How much is Aldi coffee?

You can usually find locally fresh roasted stuff for $25-30/kg.
Aldi had Brazilian single origin for $11 a kilo last time I was there.

By comparison, my local roaster’s Brazilian single origin is $44 a kilo. It’s good, but it’s not four times better.

On the other hand you know exactly which farms they sourced it from, when it was harvested, what the production method was, and so forth.
 
Aldi had Brazilian single origin for $11 a kilo last time I was there.

By comparison, my local roaster’s Brazilian single origin is $44 a kilo. It’s good, but it’s not four times better.

On the other hand you know exactly which farms they sourced it from, when it was harvested, what the production method was, and so forth.
I think ours is about $40 from Merlo.
 
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