After being a Chock Full O Nuts fan for years, it saddens me to admit that I have lost the taste for it. Recently, I have began drinking Starbucks’ bold blended coffees. The issue being, I prefer to brew my own and toe a thermos with me. Does anyone have a recommendation for a coffee that carries a good dose of caffeine, has that great coffee taste, and is somewhat reasonable? If it is not from a conglomerate that would be a plus, but either way, any suggestions would be appreciated.

I feel I should mention I have up my old brew, because frankly, it does not have that oily, coffee taste of whatever Starbucks blend I’ve been drinking.

Eight O’Clock 100% Columbian. I touted it for years as my favorite, and years later Consumer Reports vindicated me by declaring it the best Columbian blend around. Better than Caribou (at half the price), better than Seattle’s Best, and better than Starbucks by a looooong shot (they came in 13th).

If you like the Starbuck’s bold coffees, I would recommend their Gold Coast, Sumatra, Komodo Dragon, and Yukon Blends.

If it’s available where you are, minux: I like the latin-american espressos. Cafe Bustelo, El Pico, or Goya. I simply prepare it Melita style. Strong, not expensive (cheaper than Medaglia D’Oro). Just picked up six bricks from a Family Dollar store for, like, 3.50 ea.

I’m a huge coffee drinker, and I like a huge caffeine wallop to go with my first snuff of the day…in the UK I think it’s Whittards who make a cafetiere blend called ‘Hot Lava Java’ which is fiendishly strong, rated a 6 on the strength scale which normally tops out at 5. It’s super-tasty too, a real treat! It’s a beauty when drunk black, but it’s for a brave soul only-I sometimes go for it black, but usually add a splash of gold-top and a spoonful of Agave nectar to sweeten it a touch and take the razor sharpness out. Great coffee!

Kopi Luwak! Look it up if you dare.

hey now … isn’t the “Kopi Luwak” the “special blend” that is “enhanced” and high dollar? not looking it up … i think that is the “bean” i am thinking of … too funny.

there has to be something local.

Lavazza available all over the world and a few different blends to try and affordable.

In the UK i recommend the Lavazza in the all black packet.

‘Rocket fuel’ is good. Not had any for ages but I assume its still going strong.

Kopi Luwak was jack Nicleson’s favorite coffe in The Bucket list. Just can’t Bring myself to drink anything that has been thru the digestive system of a Civet Cat, lol. edm

I’m Canadian, the only coffee I drink is Tim Hortons

I picked up a very special turkish coffee , “kurukahveci : Mehmet Effendi” . Smells like heaven in a can

I always wanted to try Jamaica Blue Mountain, just to say I did. @n9inchnails, it’s funny; I live in metro Detroit and the TH coffee here is terrible, but cross over into Windsor and their coffee is great. Crazy…

I like “Monastery Blend Coffee” which is made at an Eastern Orthodox Monastery on Vashen Island in Puget Sound (by Seattle.) See what they have at: http://vashonmonks.com/index.php

Thanks for all the recommendations, all. @howdydave Which of their blends would you recommend for good taste and energy?

I recently bought a low end espresso machine. This delivers strong coffee.

I like Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. I home-roast it–half/half American light roast/city roast. Green beans don’t go stale the way roasted beans do so you can buy them in bulk and roast them as needed.

The fabled Jamaican Blue Mountain is superb. If I was a millionaire that’s what I’d drink. Havana cigar of coffees

@Mouse How are you roasting the coffee beans? In the oven on a cookie tray or somehow else? Appreciated.

Morning, Minux. I bought a small coffee roaster–like a mini hot-air popcorn popper–from a company called Sweet Maria’s and green beans from a company called coffeebeansdirect. I think the roaster cost about US$70 and the beans are about $7/lb in 5 lb. bags for the organic fair trade.

Morning, Mouse. How long does it take to roast the coffee beans? Sounds like a fun thing to get into.

Only about 5 minutes. Then they need a day or so to de-gas before you grind them. The beauty of roasting your own is that you can make your own blends and control how light or dark a roast you want…lighter roasts=more aroma & caffeine, darker roasts= more earthy, deeper & bitter… Sumatran and Peruvian beans are also on my favorites list.

@minux The monastery has a description of their coffees at: http://vashonmonks.com/coffee.htm Byzantium is Greek/Turkish style coffee. I happen to love this type of coffee (which you can make so that it is strong enough to drink with a fork,) then this might be the one for you. The “Christmas Blend” is only available from October through December. (I think it just went on sale today.) The monastery had quite a battle with Starbucks in order to keep the name (which they had been using for years before Starbucks decided to trademark it.)

@Mouse When I get a cup of coffee that is bitter, it means the beans have been roasted to the point of being burnt? That is great information. It is amazing, I have spent hours upon hours of reading tobacco related books, but really know nothing much about coffee, except I enjoy it. @howdydave I am inspired to go ahead and place an order with them. Have you tried the Christmas blend or Abbot’s blend personally? Good flavor and all? @James That flavor sounds divine! Do you usually just order it off of Amazon or do you go somewhere else? It seems that they have it for $40 some/lb. @everyone Thank you all for your information. I have a lot of coffee to try and sample.

I only discovered Monastery within the last year, so Christmas Blend had not been on the market. I have not tried Abbot’s personally because I drink my coffee in bulk (mostly as Iced coffee) and the extra money for QUALITY seemed to be counterproductive to a person like me who goes for French Roast in QUANTITY. But GREEK COFFEE is an entirely different matter!

@howdydave I totally understand where you are coming from. I used to drink something similar, when I could find it, called Greek Style Coffee. It came in an old fashioned can, where you still had to use a can opener to cut the top open. It was very cheap, too. I used to get it at my local deli. I think it was called, Lorenzo’s Greek Style Coffee. I made it in a standard drip and it was tasty, just difficult to locate.

Another option that you might want to try if you have not alrerady done so is a blend of coffee and chickory. If you have any Chinese markets in your vacinity you can probably find some there. It comes in a yellow can. This is what a friend uses for wonderful Vietnamese coffee – made with a bit of condensed milk. EDIT: see: http://www.veryasia.com/cafe-du-monde.html

I’d say Cubita or any Cuban coffee.