Tuesday, February 3, 2009
News / Chicagoland Starbucks alternative redux
Posted by Whet Moser on 02.03.09 at 12:39 PM
As long as people keep writing and Twittering about how expensive Starbucks is and how it's terrible that their closest coffee shop is disappearing and generally writing about Starbucks at all, I'll keep telling people to buy a cheap grinder, a cheap French press (I have a portable one and love it, and this looks promising), and some local coffee like Intelligentsia or Metropolis ($10-$12).
One of my favorite blogs, Lifehacker, has a wonderful guide to brewing your own coffee; a couple people in comments suggest the AeroPress, which I haven't tried.
If you fear that you'll miss your double-something-or-other latte whatever, you may just be masking the taste of subpar Starbucks coffee. There's really no substitute for good black coffee. Try the coffee at Flo on Chicago Avenue, it's the best I've ever had.
Comments (2)
Showing 1-2 of 2
For a truly great coffee, roast your own beans. There are tabletop roasters that run $100-$200. You buy green beans online (BIG bags), which will keep a year or more. Roast the beans as you need them. Once you pay for the roaster the coffee is costing you just over half of what it does in stores. And use a burr grinder, not one with a blade. Coffee shops are great for socializing, though; you'll have to invite some friends and people with laptops to get the right ambience.
like
dislike
