Coffee

[KurtV]

For me, I cannot fathom allowing someone to open or close my pool. When I open, while I have lots of dirt on the bottom, the water is always clear, with no green.

Even more so, though, I cannot see why our denizens here should ever allow a "professional" to add any chems to their pool.

But to each his own, and I think if you choose to have a service open and close your pool, you should still handle all the testing and chemicals yourself. We TRY to make understanding pool chemistry easy for our fellow home-owners.

While I too prefer to do my own work on the pool, for many people it's just not worth it. There are many people who make salaries that equate to hourly wages of well over 100 dollars; saving a couple hundred bucks for a few hours work just doesn't make sense for them. Even if they're getting a fairly raw deal. Likewise, spending even 5 or 10 minutes per day on maintenance. I'm not in that boat (yet), but I understand the mentality.

I certainly don't get the coffee thing in this country; the last time I was in Italy (2005) a stand-up cappucino was about 0.80 euros and, at every single bar I went to, the coffee was sublime.

Dunkin' Donuts dark roast isn't too bad, but that fake cream they use is truly an abomination.

Starbucks coffee is 1.80 plus tax here. I can't imagine paying $6.00. Must be those same people who are hiring pool services.

[Jeffski]

Okay I admit I was referring to the Latte and not just a coffee. I've never bought coffee from Starbucks because I can't tell the difference, but about once a month I need a Toffee Nut Latte and will happily pay the $4.

[CarlD]

Dunkin' Donuts dark roast isn't too bad, but that fake cream they use is truly an abomination.

Starbucks coffee is 1.80 plus tax here. I can't imagine paying $6.00. Must be those same people who are hiring pool services.

Fake cream? Here, they use milk and I usually drink it black.

Starbucks $!.80? Here they let you come in and smell the coffee for that. That gets you a shot-glass size cup, but it isn't espresso, turkish or cuban coffee--it's just coffee (and bad coffee too!)

[NWMNMom]

I think there are a lot of people out there who just haven't been able to find us here on our forums so don't know just how simple and inexpensive it is. I have lots of friends and relatives that still roll their eyes and think I am lying or exagerating when I say that my pool really is not much work at all, and VERY little more work than those smaller soft side pools.

I would admit that when we started, we were clueless and some of the pool places (not all I'm sure, but all around here!) really do make it seem like rocket science so people are scared away from DIY pool maintc.

BTW, I never buy a cup of coffee, I get up early and grind beans for a fresh pot each day. DIY pool, DIY coffee - spread it around.

[CarlD]

BTW, I never buy a cup of coffee, I get up early and grind beans for a fresh pot each day. DIY pool, DIY coffee - spread it around.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.....

I have coffee shipped to NJ from the best roaster in the world: M.E. Swing's of Alexandria, VA. We've had it shipped for 14 years.

I grind it every night just before bed and set it for my wife, the early riser. Weekdays, 12 cups, weekends, 14 cups. Grind to near powder, shake the filter so the coffee is level, stir or let sit to blend the flavor evenly...

We alternate between Guatemalan, Ethiopian (Yergacheffe), Columbian, Kenyan, French Breakfast and a house blend they call Mesco ("M.E.Swing& CO"--get it?).

That doesn't keep me from buying the occasional cup of Dunkin'--and ENJOYING it!

And good diner coffee is still good diner coffee (when it's good).

[ChuckD]

One word: Cuisinart Grind 'n Brew

Ok, a couple words... but still.
Every morning, dump in the beans, pour in the water, push the button.
Even my wife can do it!

[CarlD]

One word: Cuisinart Grind 'n Brew

Ok, a couple words... but still.
Every morning, dump in the beans, pour in the water, push the button.
Even my wife can do it!

But it only comes in 10 or 12 cups--weekends we use the BIG 14 cup Cuisinart. (twice a day, too!)

[matt4x4]

So you guys get all wired up on the black juice for what??? Pool maintenance???
hehe!
We had a 26 hour power failure last fri/saturday - I was going to crank up the genny at 6 am saturday to brew a pot, then decided it might be more neighbour friendly (it hooks up 40 feet from their bedroom) if i just drove the 15 minutes to our closest Tim Horton's and got a couple of extra extra larges - total bill came to 3 bucks and 20 in gas!!!! Was worth it though, nothing like rippin up the unpaved backroads drifting through winding turns, windows down, sunroof open, favorite tunes cranked!

[KurtV]

If you like American style coffee, try a vacuum brewer and you'll never use a drip brewer again. You can also make great coffee with a press pot. Since obtaining a La Pavoni espresso maker though, I rarely use anything else.

Likewise, roasting the beans yourself makes a huge difference in the quality of the finished product and is pretty darned economical as well.