What happened to Coffee?

A few months ago I asked ATS to help recommend coffee makers for me. I could not believe the responses.
I ended up with a bunn velocity, which by the way totally rocks! It's no frills, just makes really hot coffee that's it. No timers, no gadget etc.
Thank you to those that recommend it.

I have been making coffee since I was about 10 years old.
I realized that coffee doesn't take like coffee and doesn't smell like coffee used to back in the 70's, 80's or 90's.

I remember walking into my grandmas house and smelling that thick strong bitter smell. I just loved it. Even though I did not drink it at the time, it was my favorite scent! Remember when that coffee smell would fill an entire room. It doesn't do that anymore. That smell can take me instantly back in time.
Regular coffee doesn't smell or taste quite the same anymore. It does not seem as aromatic anymore. I have an above average sense of smell, so it not that. It has to be the beans they are using now.

This is an old article, but I think they might be tweaking coffee even more now!
There seems to be dozens and dozens of articles with people that are saying the same thing. Coffee is just different now

www.aol.com...
"Reuters is reporting that many of America's major brands have been quietly tweaking their coffee blends. While most coffee companies consider their blends trade secrets, and are loath to disclose exactly what goes into them, both circumstantial and direct evidence suggests they're now substituting lower-grade Robusta beans for some of their pricier Arabica, and degrading the quality of our coffee."

www.coffeeforums.com...

a reply to: JAGStorm


Don't buy pre-ground, packaged coffee, either grind it yourself or have them grind the beans where you purchase them. Coffee in a can is disgusting.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Coffee in a can is disgusting.

I had coffee in a can one time in the last decade, at my parents house.
The only way I can describe the taste, ............ cigarette butt water!

As far as grinding my own bean, i've done that and yes it is fresher/stronger, but I still think something is different.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Have to agree. I buy it in the store and there is a grinder right there in the aisle. I even have made my own blends. Ummmmmmm, coffee...

The whole world has been taken over by

bean counters

and

food chemists.

'Nuff said?

BTW, my wife insists that my coffee is awesome. It is coffee + chicory + cocoa + cinnamon + cardamon. That list may only underscore your point. I have personally found Gevalia to be polite to the point of tastelessness.

We use Hills brothers original blend. If we get the Hills Brothers high yield, it has less flavor so we add a little expensive guatamalan coffee we get from my granddaughters father in law to the grounds, it really increases the flavor. We sometimes add it to the original blend too. His coffee runs about twenty bucks for a two pound bag, he buys raw beans direct from an organic farm there and roasts them in impressive equipment he bought and it is really really really good coffee. But we do not want to get spoiled with that fresh ground fresh roasted coffee, we use it pure only occasionally for a treat.

The Hills original blend still has a great coffee smell when we buy it. We don't buy any of the other cheaper brands anymore, the Hills seems to be the best cheap coffee that we like. It has raised in price now, on sale, it goes for $4.95 for the 26 ounce original blend a couple times a year, we stock between six and twelve cans all the time. We buy it only when it goes on sale and buy three to four cans usually when it is cheap.

I know, too much details. We do not like really strong coffee, it kind of makes our stomachs feel weird if it is too strong, we prefer to drink more cups and less strong, one scoop for a pot instead of the two recommended. Mud does not need to be thick to be good for you.

I grind my own coffee and the aroma typically fills the house. Also the beans are now flavored and roasted differently then they were in the past.

Also and I am sorry to say this as we age our taste buds and olfactory system (smell) adjust to common scents and flavors and unfortunately weaken...

My daughter, granddaughter, and I have an intollerance to chicory for some strange reason. Supposedly it is related to the ragweed allergy. I rarely get problems with breathing issues but am intolerant to ragweed if too much is in the air. My granddaughter has to avoid it, it locks up her lungs. They stick it in lots of health bars, the ER and pharma companies got many thousands of dollars because she was trying to eat healthy.

nutrawiki.org...

originally posted by: abeverage
I grind my own coffee and the aroma typically fills the house. Also the beans are now flavored and roasted differently then they were in the past.

Also and I am sorry to say this as we age our taste buds and olfactory system (smell) adjust to common scents and flavors and unfortunately weaken...

I was wondering if the roasting process is different now, especially recently, last 5 years or so.
My sense of smell is more sharp than it has ever been. It is more of a curse. I hated working in an office setting, I could smell everything, peoples hair, their deodorant, their perfume. I could smell this sitting in my cube! I think I got this gift from my mom. She could seriously tell how salty food was by smell!

chock full of nuts right out the can

cheap ass pot

paper filters

what up

not likely but... just throwing it out there cause i am in relax mode

if youre 20 years old this dont apply. but if youre older

do you think the coffee is basically the same but the pots are different?


meaning back in the day with was all cheap ass pots that probably heated that # up way too much and that made the aroma stronger or made it hang around?
how many pots back in the day had automatic shut offs?

man them #ers would stay on all day and night. leave 2 fingers of a cups worth and next morning you got mud.

that # dont happen now


maybe right?

man them #ers would stay on all day and night. leave 2 fingers of a cups worth and next morning you got mud.

that # dont happen now

maybe right?

You might be onto something. My first office job I had to make coffee and clean out that NASTY pot!! Yes it was like sticky mud!!!!!!!! You're right, it doesn't do that..... it really doesn't.... Is it the water?

a reply to: JAGStorm

Eye witness accounts are the least reliable for a reason.

Nothing personal, but I think memories tied to the smell of coffee probably make you think it was stronger. Because "everything was better back in the day".

originally posted by: JAGStorm

man them #ers would stay on all day and night. leave 2 fingers of a cups worth and next morning you got mud.

that # dont happen now

maybe right?

You might be onto something. My first office job I had to make coffee and clean out that NASTY pot!! Yes it was like sticky mud!!!!!!!! You're right, it doesn't do that..... it really doesn't.... Is it the water?

the water? that does not seem as likely to me.
most people do not make coffee with bottled water and tap water has always been #. i would like to think it is better now than 20 years ago but still # for sure.

i bet its the pots.

at work in the lunch room we still have those industrial bunn coffee makers. percs a pot super fast. does not shut off on its own. so pot is always on. sometimes just those 2 fingers of coffee.

i can smell that before i even open the door to the room. they use folgers. nothing special.

but at home the pots used to stay on all the time too. i really dont know when auto shut off became a thing but it has to be a factor.

think about both parents grab a couple cups and forgets to turn it off. maybe just 1 cup left but the pot is on for 10 hours. # yeah the house smells like coffee when everyone gets home

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: JAGStorm

Eye witness accounts are the least reliable for a reason.

Nothing personal, but I think memories tied to the smell of coffee probably make you think it was stronger. Because "everything was better back in the day".

and that was my other thought

mind playing tricks kind of thing

originally posted by: TinySickTears
not likely but... just throwing it out there cause i am in relax mode

if youre 20 years old this dont apply. but if youre older

do you think the coffee is basically the same but the pots are different?


meaning back in the day with was all cheap ass pots that probably heated that # up way too much and that made the aroma stronger or made it hang around?
how many pots back in the day had automatic shut offs?

man them #ers would stay on all day and night. leave 2 fingers of a cups worth and next morning you got mud.

that # dont happen now


maybe right?

Yeah, quality of the cookware and method makes a HUGE difference. I have a moka pot, and if I were to brew in that on the stove and brew a pot of coffee in a cheap Black and Decker, the B & D pot would taste like complete ass. I'll get a strong, smooth couple of cups out of the moka pot (you're not getting espresso from it, people, just stronger, smoother coffee akin to a strong restaurant cup) But a cheap, very hot coffee pot is just going to scorch the elixir of the gods in short order.

I haven't found the "perfect" coffee maker yet. The moka pot is good, but doesn't make enough in one shot for everybody and gets damn old quickly in terms of doing the same thing over & over again all day long. It's reserved for slow days when we can make the time to do it that way and enjoy the results. I've found that Cuisinart and Kitchen Aid make really good automatics that don't overheat the brew on the burner. They do tend to wear out quicker if you're a heavy coffee drinker, though, our last 2 lasted about 2-3 years each. When the current Cuisinart wears out, were going to try a Bunn instead and see how that goes.

I'm not a fan of Mr Coffee, Hamilton Beach, etc. They all keep the coffee too hot and scorch it. Cheaper machines, yes, but IMO, not worth the investment to have crappy coffee in the end.

French Presses are considered among the best ways to brew coffee, but like a moka pot, they only do a little at a time, which isn't optimal for more than one person.


I've got an old, vintage Sunbeam Double Bubble pot, aka a vacuum pot. It's still in perfect working order and I've used it a few times to compare old with modern. My late grandmother said once that it tasted just like coffee used to back in the day, except it wasn't a compliment, it was terrible (scorched after a short while) and she strongly preferred her Cuisinart's pot of coffee over it. I think t goes to show that quality & method count equally in terms of good coffee overall, but older versions of either also doesn't necessarily equal better.

a reply to: Nyiah

I went from the Cuisinart to the Bunn, and like the Bunn significantly better.

a reply to: JAGStorm


I heard that coffee from the can stuff is barely coffee! If I remember, the coffee is mass roasted, mass ground, and allowed to basically "go stale" (forget if chemicals are actively removed or not), then, the dead grounds are processed (dried??) and the last step is adding "coffee flavor" back in before packaging!

First wiff after opening the can, smells like coffee but it soon disappears. Hence your cigarette butt water. I don't think that production has changed much. Chemicals added back in, probably. Typed of beans, cheaper is cost effective when mass production is your bottom line, so probably.

The only true way, besides roasting your own, is to keep it whole bean, air tight seal, and grind only what you are going to use. Find a local roaster. No need to be all "coffee snob" and worry about water ph and salt (or even temperature, just be consistent).

Enjoy what you like!

a reply to: Nyiah

not sure if these are any good or if they even still do it but back in the day my wife signed up for something through them and she got a free pot.
its a pretty expensive pot too

www.gevalia.com...

a lot of other variables too

light roast?
dark roast?

they take the beans out after different 'cracks'