Beans and Leaves: Coffee and Tea

[Knilas]

My brother in law, who is a big coffee drinker/enthusiast, gave me his old (practically new, honestly) Krup coffee maker about a year ago and since then I've been trying out different blends of coffee. The ones I've enjoyed the most, so far, are: Kona Pumpkin Spice, Millstone Choc Velvet, Cafe Verona Dark, Starbucks Dark Roast, and of course Dunkins French Vanilla.

So...my question to all of you coffee connoisseurs and cup o' joe drinkers and cigar smokers out there is:

What's in your cup right now?
What's your favorite?
When pairing coffee or tea with a stick, which ones go best?

So far for me: Dunkins French Vanilla w/ a Partagas Short and Millstone Chocolate Velvet w/ a RG Perlas.

What say you!?

[canucks6024]

Nescafé instant mix with a Guantanamera.

[cdfarrar]

Peaberry Kona Coffee is about all I ever drink(at home) and the brand I like the best is form a company called KOA Coffee Plantation. I lived in Hawaii for 9 years and I'm hooked on this coffee, now it is very pricy but I have many friend there and I have them ship it to me USPS $5 flat rate box. The cost there is less than half the cost on the mainland(if you can find it). Average price is about the same as JBM(Jamaican Blue Mountain) $40 to $50 a lb.

It's in my cup now and will be there in the morning. I pair it with any and all my CC's.

[ap67]

When I started to experiment with drinking coffee regularly I would buy some light-to-medium roast beans from a local roaster and make coffee with a drip cone or french press.

However, I've been a very heavy tea drinker for the past few years and, now that my stomach can't handle coffee anymore, I exclusively drink tea and water. Whenever I smoke cigars I always have a cup of tea at hand. More intimate pairings will depend on the profile of the cigar, but one can almost never go wrong with a quality, whole-leaf black tea. A good starting place would be with wild teas from the Yunnan region of China. If one likes the very strong earthiness and "dirtiness" of Pu'er tea, I'm sure it'd go great with a Partagas or Bolivar, but I'm not a fan of those flavor characteristics in tea.

[rmill3r]

I prefer coffee over tea for the most part, but I really do think that coffee is one of the best pairings for a CC (especially if the weather is right). I recently got a moka pot (which I guess is just a percolator) and I use Bustelo or Pilon Gourmet espresso grounds and usually add some hot evaporated milk and melted sugar in the raw for a cafe con leche or just some sugar and coffee mixture to make a cafe cubano. Either way, it always makes for an excellent pairing.

[Habana Mike]

Been experimenting with cold brew coffee of late and find that it tastes much better than drip, press, espresso etc.

Smoother, fresher, more flavorful, plus less bitterness and acidity that come from heat brewing.

[DoubleDD]

I'll take Intelligentsia El Diablo dark roast any day every day, it's my favorite drip/American coffee. As for espresso, Kimbo extra cream espresso beans in my Gaggia Academia.

[Baldy]

Nescafé instant mix with a Guantanamera.

Way to spoil some perfectly good coffee.

[Cisco]

I'll take Intelligentsia El Diablo dark roast any day every day, it's my favorite drip/American coffee. As for espresso, Kimbo extra cream espresso beans in my Gaggia Academia.

It's interesting, I like a lot of third-wave coffee for pour overs and drip but I seem to gravitate to Italian "espresso bar" beans for my daily espresso shots. Something about the robusta beans makes it taste "authentic" especially with milk drinks. It has to be good quality and somewhat fresh though.

For me, when I have a cigar in the morning it's usually a PLP with a city+ roast Colombian or Bolivian blend coffee served drip, Americano style from my Bazzera or La Pavoni, or pour-over with my Kalita Wave. I think PLP are the perfect match with coffee. RGPE are excellent with coffee as well.

[topdiesel]

I have a client who roasts his own beans. I will not say his company's name since I don't want to get into trouble for advertising on this site.

This guy started with nothing and a decade later has 4 shops and his own roasterie with plans to get a lot bigger. He has the same passion great cigar people have. He goes all over the world to procure his beans and only has one house blend that remains consistent (some people love that others complain that they want consistency). Right now I am drinking Guatemalla Hunapu Bourbon cofffee and some Brazil Sitito Tomazani. They are great, but they are somewhat like LE's in the sense that once they are gone, they are gone.

I generally use a french press since I am the only one in the house that drinks coffee. The only negative with some of this coffee is that it seems to take more than starbucks beans or some other coffee in a can would require to make a pot. I don't mind since I only make it on the weekends.

[potpest]

Love my coffee. I have a local coffee roastery just round the corner from my work which has been roasting since the 70's. Fantastic selection of fresh roasted beans flame roasted on site and the roastery has a fantastic cafe and shop. I buy a kilo of beans there every 3 weeks, usually a different single origin. Have a gaggia espresso machine and a decent burr grinder at home but use an aeropress or cafetiere at work. Favourites so far are ethiopian yirgacheffe, monsoon malabar and their house espresso blend is also fantastic.

Love a good americano in the morning with a hoyo du gourmet, sunday breakfast doesn't get better than that for me.

[Knilas]

Been experimenting with cold brew coffee of late and find that it tastes much better than drip, press, espresso etc.

Smoother, fresher, more flavorful, plus less bitterness and acidity that come from heat brewing.

Cold brewed coffee...I am intrigued. Believe I will do some experimenting myself this weekend.

[DoubleDD]

Cold brewed coffee...I am intrigued. Believe I will do some experimenting myself this weekend.

Cold brewed has a totally different flavor profile than a regular hot brewed coffee, even when you use the same beans.

[Mckucci]

I don't drink cheap or flavored coffee, I have a Jura machine and typically use Torrie Antigo espresso beans, or Ionia Gran Crema...

I'll make espressos or Americanos and for the most part drink them black, sometimes I use a little bit of O'casey's Irish Cream... I do also enjoy Tea, for the most part I'll drink Earl Grey, with 1 tsp of sugar... I actually really like most cigars with a cup of tea, I find it's always a great pair!

[garbandz]

Have been roasting my own for years, and I am completely biased toward my own coffee.Generally I blend two or more roasts for a balanced cup,and I rotate beans based on season and availability.

I use a drip unit with a gold filter or a french press unit,and pull out the espresso machine on occasion.

I recommend that people try to use the ideal amount of coffee ,rather than too much,which is easy to do.

You can ruin the flavor of a good roast by using too much coffee.

Currently drinking a blend of Sumatra/Ethiopia Sidamo roasted together.Citrusy and earthy,tobacco and caramel,smoking a RASCC,which is a fair complement......

Here in THE SOUTH,tea is usually iced and sweet,but I enjoy English or Scottish breakfast teas,Chinese green and black teas,and other types on occasion.

Generally coffee is the pairing for me.

[vivalanation734]

I'm a big fan of natural processes Ethiopian coffee. Been liking the offerings from Wells Coffee (@wellscoffees) and Kuma Coffee (@kumacoffee). I love drinking fruity Ethiopian coffee with fruit laden cigars like RyJ exhibicion 4, RASS, Warped Flor Del Valle, and Mag46s.

[Knilas]

French vanilla 8 o'clock w/ a touch of sweet creme and a RG Panatela Extra. TGIF!!

[LGC]

Tried some cold brew with Ethiopian Yergacheffe. Nice way to start the morning!