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People talk about 'bad coffee' but many times they don't say what constitutes bad coffee. We all have different preferences. There are some very expensive fancy

People talk about 'bad coffee' but many times they don't say what constitutes bad coffee. We all have different preferences. There are some very expensive fancy coffees that I dislike because I taste them as overly sour or acidic. Meanwhile I can drink very expensive blue mountain or a very cheap nabob full city dark in an aeropress and enjoy both. I used to occasionally get starbucks on the way to work but the line ups at the drive through have made 'fast' food not fast, and the price of starbucks coffee seems to have risen so high it wasn't hard to stop doing it. I've had maxwell house instant, its not great, but its also not sour or acidic, so its just drinkable. Nescafe instant is fine too.

approxim8ion 4y ago
You're very right here. Personally, my bar is quite low. I dislike chicory, which is often mixed with coffee, especially cheaper coffee blends. I find it very harsh and tasteless, and it ruins the experience for me. Almost everything else within the realm of 100% coffee is different levels of acceptable to me. I just can't stand chicory.
racl101 4y ago
Agreed. Everyone has different definitions of bad coffee. Luckily, for me, my definition also coincides with the overpriced coffee. In short: my version of bad coffee is burnt, over roasted stuff. Like Starbucks. I'd rather have Maxwell House. Which thankfully for me is also cheap.
- LegitShady 4y ago
  I got used to starbucks coffee but it is definitely a strong flavour. The coffee I mentioned before Nabob Full City Dark (Which might just be a thing in Canada only?) is a dark roasted coffee but when I drink it I get caramel overtones and not 'burned', but others might think it tastes burned. I wish I could justify drinking nothing but blue mountain but that has to be reserved for when people I know go to jamaica and get some because the prices have reached insanity levels here - $50-100/lb.
smackeyacky 4y ago
Coffee culture took much longer to take hold in the US (or at least it seems that way). On my travels in the US over the last 30 years the coffee went from a horrifying, watery, burnt, disgusting dish water that came out of a drip pot to acceptable espresso like the rest of the world enjoys. Instant coffee is much closer to that peculiar American burnt drip coffee horror which is what Americans seemed to used to expect out of coffee. I think it should be termed "american coffee" just so we know what you're talking about. Strangely, despite Starbucks using espresso machines, they managed to almost perfectly capture that burnt, watery horror which I assume is why people go there for sugar laden, syrup filled concoctions rather than just decent coffee. Although far worse than the drip coffee is that also peculiar american invention called "coffee creamer". It's a shameful product.
- LegitShady 4y ago
  I don't think anything you've said is related to what I've said. You dislike 'burnt' tasting coffee, but there are plenty of instant coffees that don't taste like that. I've never had a coffee at starbucks that tasted watery in any way, nor are the customers getting regular coffee there the same customers getting fancy drinks. I think you seem to have an obsession with imaginary american stuff rather than a discussion of what preferences you have. What about a good coffee do you think makes it good? What makes it taste bad? What do you mean by burned - do you dislike dark roasts? How do you feel about sour notes, or acidic notes, or fruity notes, etc etc. That's the real question, not whether its american or not. I have a tough time drinking african coffees because most are too sour tasting for me. Meanwhile I poured a friend a very expensive cup of jamaican blue mountain and they said it tasted 'too plain' for them. It's all about preferences, not snobbery about american this or american that. I don't like espresso, and never have. I don't care at all what the rest of the world enjoys, nor can I summarize 'this espresso tastes like what the rest of the world enjoys' because there are many many coffees and all of them are different enough that not everyone enjoys them all, and even if the whole world enjoyed something else that doesn't define what I enjoy nor will it ever do that.

approxim8ion 4y ago

You're very right here. Personally, my bar is quite low. I dislike chicory, which is often mixed with coffee, especially cheaper coffee blends. I find it very harsh and tasteless, and it ruins the experience for me. Almost everything else within the realm of 100% coffee is different levels of acceptable to me. I just can't stand chicory.

racl101 4y ago

Agreed. Everyone has different definitions of bad coffee. Luckily, for me, my definition also coincides with the overpriced coffee. In short: my version of bad coffee is burnt, over roasted stuff. Like Starbucks. I'd rather have Maxwell House. Which thankfully for me is also cheap.

LegitShady 4y ago
I got used to starbucks coffee but it is definitely a strong flavour. The coffee I mentioned before Nabob Full City Dark (Which might just be a thing in Canada only?) is a dark roasted coffee but when I drink it I get caramel overtones and not 'burned', but others might think it tastes burned. I wish I could justify drinking nothing but blue mountain but that has to be reserved for when people I know go to jamaica and get some because the prices have reached insanity levels here - $50-100/lb.

smackeyacky 4y ago

Coffee culture took much longer to take hold in the US (or at least it seems that way). On my travels in the US over the last 30 years the coffee went from a horrifying, watery, burnt, disgusting dish water that came out of a drip pot to acceptable espresso like the rest of the world enjoys. Instant coffee is much closer to that peculiar American burnt drip coffee horror which is what Americans seemed to used to expect out of coffee. I think it should be termed "american coffee" just so we know what you're talking about. Strangely, despite Starbucks using espresso machines, they managed to almost perfectly capture that burnt, watery horror which I assume is why people go there for sugar laden, syrup filled concoctions rather than just decent coffee. Although far worse than the drip coffee is that also peculiar american invention called "coffee creamer". It's a shameful product.

LegitShady 4y ago
I don't think anything you've said is related to what I've said. You dislike 'burnt' tasting coffee, but there are plenty of instant coffees that don't taste like that. I've never had a coffee at starbucks that tasted watery in any way, nor are the customers getting regular coffee there the same customers getting fancy drinks. I think you seem to have an obsession with imaginary american stuff rather than a discussion of what preferences you have. What about a good coffee do you think makes it good? What makes it taste bad? What do you mean by burned - do you dislike dark roasts? How do you feel about sour notes, or acidic notes, or fruity notes, etc etc. That's the real question, not whether its american or not. I have a tough time drinking african coffees because most are too sour tasting for me. Meanwhile I poured a friend a very expensive cup of jamaican blue mountain and they said it tasted 'too plain' for them. It's all about preferences, not snobbery about american this or american that. I don't like espresso, and never have. I don't care at all what the rest of the world enjoys, nor can I summarize 'this espresso tastes like what the rest of the world enjoys' because there are many many coffees and all of them are different enough that not everyone enjoys them all, and even if the whole world enjoyed something else that doesn't define what I enjoy nor will it ever do that.