Knives and Coffee

Glad I am not alone with Pike Place and bitterness. If I brew the Pike myself it is good. If I buy from a counter it is undrinkable. Not sure what they are doing wrong other than ruining good coffee
I don’t blame their roasting process at all. I live in Western WA and it really is a crapshoot, getting good drip or espresso. Just depends on the location you visit, how busy they are, and who makes it. Some locations have really bad turnover so you essentially have a newb making your drink each time. I’ve heard that they often use the busiest locations to train new employees.

I’m disappointed more often than not so I’ve been brewing at home as well. Starbucks Pike Place Roast and San Francisco Bay Hawaiian blend. My wife claims she can taste the difference but I can’t. I grind it medium/fine each morning, brew it strong, then add heavy cream. She drinks hers black with dark brown sugar.
 
Glad I am not alone with Pike Place and bitterness. If I brew the Pike myself it is good. If I buy from a counter it is undrinkable. Not sure what they are doing wrong other than ruining good coffee

I don’t blame their roasting process at all. I live in Western WA and it really is a crapshoot, getting good drip or espresso. Just depends on the location you visit, how busy they are, and who makes it. Some locations have really bad turnover so you essentially have a newb making your drink each time. I’ve heard that they often use the busiest locations to train new employees.

I’m disappointed more often than not so I’ve been brewing at home as well. Starbucks Pike Place Roast and San Francisco Bay Hawaiian blend. My wife claims she can taste the difference but I can’t. I grind it medium/fine each morning, brew it strong, then add heavy cream. She drinks hers black with dark brown sugar.

Interesting, and I've met other people that feel this way about Pike Place. I don't know if their regular blend was always called "Pike Place" but I remember not liking it twenty years ago. Back then, it just led me to ordering espresso, cappuccino, latte, or an occasional redeye. (I'd also sometimes do a breve latte if I hadn't eaten. This was before they carried stuff like breakfast sandwiches.) They seemed to do an okay job with that kind of stuff.

I eventually became aware of the secondary bean. They'd sometimes have a Costa Rican, Sumatra, etc. Their French Roast is gross to me but most of the other ones are a safe bet. They eventually standardized a Blonde that's not bad. I haven't lived near a Starbucks in years so I only hit one if I'm traveling. I seem to luck out on anything but Pike being ready to pour... Half the time, I end up wishing I had just gone to Dunkin Donuts. 😮
 
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has a different blade shape but the same flare of the other knives you have shown. Is this also a French maker?
This is a knife from Greg Picard, a French knife maker.

Mine but he makes other styles of blades and systems
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Glad I am not alone with Pike Place and bitterness. If I brew the Pike myself it is good. If I buy from a counter it is undrinkable. Not sure what they are doing wrong other than ruining good coffee
Coffee from any Starbucks store is generally undrinkable unless you dump milk and sugar into it, and at $3+ a cup it's a pricey gamble to take every day. (I'm not advocating for any other national brand, I think they're all too commercialized to care about quality.) I stopped buying cups of coffee during the first few months of the pandemic, and have never looked back.
I can make better coffee much more cheaply at home than I could ever buy out. Plus - no line!
 
Coffee from any Starbucks store is generally undrinkable unless you dump milk and sugar into it, and at $3+ a cup it's a pricey gamble to take every day. (I'm not advocating for any other national brand, I think they're all too commercialized to care about quality.) I stopped buying cups of coffee during the first few months of the pandemic, and have never looked back.
I can make better coffee much more cheaply at home than I could ever buy out. Plus - no line!
The only times I bought Starbucks was in Detroit Metro Airport and at Minneapolis airport baggage claim. Otherwise in the airports I either found Caribou or skipped it.
I agree better cheaper and no wait. Just can't get TSA to allow it beyond search trains
 
The only times I bought Starbucks was in Detroit Metro Airport and at Minneapolis airport baggage claim. Otherwise in the airports I either found Caribou or skipped it.
I agree better cheaper and no wait. Just can't get TSA to allow it beyond search trains
The consistently best coffee I get out comes from convenience stores, generally around a buck for 12-16 ounces. All bets are off after about 8:00 though. I can't stand the Starbucks stuff.
 

I have fond memories of using a typewriter when I was young. I still remember the transition from purely mechanical to an electric typewriter, and then later to a computer...

I've gotten used to not only editing but organizing my thoughts within documents. People used to say that using a calculator would make us all less good at math. I wonder how this transition has impacted writing... I still write by hand on occasion and I can't tell if challenges are just a matter of not doing it often.

Anyway, thanks for the memories. They include the way my typewriter used to smell... Now it's time for more coffee. :)
 
I have fond memories of using a typewriter when I was young. I still remember the transition from purely mechanical to an electric typewriter, and then later to a computer...

I've gotten used to not only editing but organizing my thoughts within documents. People used to say that using a calculator would make us all less good at math. I wonder how this transition has impacted writing... I still write by hand on occasion and I can't tell if challenges are just a matter of not doing it often.

Anyway, thanks for the memories. They include the way my typewriter used to smell... Now it's time for more coffee. :)
I have, and have always had bad handwriting. In the 1960s I typed my love letters to by girlfriend that later became my wife on a manual Royal typewriter. I still have the typewriter and the wife.

The two best required classes I took in high school were typing and bookkeeping. Being able to touch-type got me the job as Battalion Yeoman in boot camp, which made my boot camp experience far less demanding than my fellow inmates. While my buddies were drilling on the asphalt in the hot Orlando sun, I was posted in an airconditioned office.
 
I have fond memories of using a typewriter when I was young. I still remember the transition from purely mechanical to an electric typewriter, and then later to a computer...

I've gotten used to not only editing but organizing my thoughts within documents. People used to say that using a calculator would make us all less good at math. I wonder how this transition has impacted writing... I still write by hand on occasion and I can't tell if challenges are just a matter of not doing it often.

Anyway, thanks for the memories. They include the way my typewriter used to smell... Now it's time for more coffee. :)
I'm one of those who lament that the art of conversation has been reduced to a more or less mutual interrogation. I can't write anything personal or important on a word processing program, it just feels plastic-y and fake. Huge plus to be able to move chunks of text around, though.
That's a nice one. Scout?
 
I'm one of those who lament that the art of conversation has been reduced to a more or less mutual interrogation. I can't write anything personal or important on a word processing program, it just feels plastic-y and fake. Huge plus to be able to move chunks of text around, though.

That's a nice one. Scout?
Yes! Scout/Plow.

I actually tried a small Otter Messer Hippekniep first, but couldn’t warm up to it. Ended up mailing it to a buddy. Ordered a pair of Maserin to cheer myself up and couldn’t be happier.
 
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