Coffee! What is your preference?

[Julie545]

What is your favourite kind of coffee?  Brand, style, etc?  I am a host who is more of a tea drinker, and I know relatively little about coffee.  I provide tea & coffee for my guests, so it would be interesting to find out what is really popular in terms of the coffee you like to drink at home.  

[Kimberly54]

Hi @Julie545, I'm not a coffee drinker and I don't know the popular brands on your side of The Pond, but here it's Starbucks.  (Quite the cult!)

Best,

[Jim-and-Marcia0]

Yep! There certainly are some guests who are Starbucks aficionados, but also those who prefer something different. Luckily we have an coffee cart a few blocks from our place, a Starbucks coffee shop ten blocks away, and a great neighborhood coffee house less than a mile away. So we don't replicate what they provide.

Instead, we provide six kinds of coffee from a local roaster. The roaster gave me a list of their coffees with descriptions, so I have that handy for our guests. It's been interesting seeing which coffees are most popular at any given time. This includes light, medium and dark roast; organic and non-organic; sourced from various regions of the world.  The only one that doesn't get much attention is the decaf. Occasionally a guest will buy their own coffee and leave it for others to enjoy.

We provide ground coffee and whole bean coffee. We have both a 6-cup coffee maker, a 1-cup coffee pour-over filter holder, and a a french press. There is also a coffee grinder available.

I've tried providing pints of whole cream or half-n-half (requires refrigeration), but they don't get readily used as often as the individual size Land-0-Lakes and Vanilla Delight creamers (no refrigeration needed).

We also provide a variety of teas (herbal and non-herbal), chai, and cocoa. I like the higher end teas in pyramid fabric bags. They make a good impression.

All in all, our guests seem quite pleased and happy!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Julie545

Henry and I are both (slightly snobby & picky) coffee drinkers. I grind my own beans to hand-drip a cup of coffee at work on slow days 🙂

At home, one of the first investments we made after breaking even as hosts was our coffee machine. We have a Melitta Caffeo Varianza CSP and buy freshly roasted beans from a local roaster. All our guests who love coffee have commented on how good our coffee is! (BEST INVESTMENT EVER~) We also have a variety of instant coffee (black as wekk as 3-in-1 type) and teas (black, green, herbal) at home for guests.

When I don't have time to prepare a proper cup, I've found that Starbucks VIA and a local brand Maxim Kanu (instant Americano coffee) are pretty decent.

Henry and I try hard to be less picky about coffee when we travel abroad (keep an open mind~) and especially like to try popular local brands and go to local coffee shops (rather than Starbucks).

[Julie545]

@Jessica0  I can tell you are true coffee lovers  🙂  Thank you for sharing your perspective.  It is helpful.  I think providing a variety, just like I do with tea, will be the best idea.  

[Sarah977]

@Julie545   Gee, you're going to get so many different preferences- some people like a light roast, some like dark, some like super strong, some like flavored coffees and others think they're an abomination, some only drink decaf, some swear by drip coffee, some french press, we coffee drinkers are particular and fussy. Then there's a whole thing around what you add to it- some only drink it black, some with cream, some with milk, some with a non-dairy milk, some like evaporated milk, some use chemical "creamers". Sugar? White or brown, honey, artificial sweeter. See what a can of worms you opened?

Personally I go for dark, strong coffee. With cream, at least 15% BF. No sweetener. French press. Same brands are not necessarily available in all countries, but cheap coffee tastes cheap, I can tell you that. The higher quality the coffee is, the less acidic. And I consider flavored coffee to be an abomination 🙂 It's the wine cooler of coffee- something for teenagers.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Sarah977

Totally agree with "cheap coffee tastes cheap" and "flavored coffee is an abomination" !!!!!!!

[Julie545]

@Sarah977  So true, there are so many tastes & preferences when it comes to coffee. 

At the moment I provide a French press & plenty of Fair Trade Arabica coffee for my guests.  I also put semi-skimmed milk in the fridge.  I don't drink coffee much, but I tasted the one which I provide and it tastes good to me - smooth, rich and not cheap  😉  I also provide nice brown sugar cubes, and Scottish shortbread.  

[J-Renato0]

Hello Julie

I am from Brazil, and so I am a coffee drinker!

Except for posh people, I think that, the average guests that like coffee do not care for coffee brands and they can prepare their coffee in the way they like it.

In some countries (like in Italy), people loves a type of coffee preparation named capuccino.

I think that if you provide normal Nescafe/Instant coffee or coffee powder and a coffee maker is enough to please the average guest. If you want to offer more, I suggest providing also Nescafe capucchino style.

[Sarah977]

@J-Renato0    I'd have to disagree re the instant coffee. If a host says they provide coffee, I'd be pretty bummed out as a guest if they considered instant to be acceptable. I rather go without, than that. Same if someone offers me coffee and they think skim milk is an acceptable substitute for real cream. And I can assure you I'm not even close to a posh person.

[J-Renato0]

Hello @Sarah977

You have a point, some people hate instant coffee... 🙂

Anyway, what I mean is that, to please the average guest I suggest providing any good brand of coffee powder + coffe maker. If Instant coffe is provided as well, it is another option and will do no harm. If Nescafe/Instant coffee in capuccino style is also provide, it will do no harm as well.

I provide coffe powder + coffe maker + sugar and sweetener in the kitchen  for free, as a gift. It is not stated in the listing that I provide any kind of drink or ingredients. Anyway I have noticed that, it please guests from different countries, including South America, Europe and North America. Some guests use the coffe maker, others not. 

If the host says in the listing that provides coffee, I completely agree with you Sarah, and in this case, it is necessary to go into details 🙂

[Sarah977]

@J-Renato0   When I first started coming to Mexico back in the 70's, you really couldn't find anything but instant- there was always the ubiquitous jar of Nescafe on restaurant tables. Fast forward 45 years, there's about 150 places in the little tourist town I live in with espresso machines and Starbucks popping up all over the cities.

I don't list coffee as an amenity either, but as I make it for myself every morning, I always offer my guests a cup as well.

[Michael956]

I serve a good quality coffee (in pods for use in a Krueger), but I also keep a jar of Nescafe insant coffee  out for guests.   Some of my Latin American guests (especially Mexicans) prefer Nescafe, as it's a brand they're familiar with and it's so often found on breakfast tables there.  I even prefer Nescafe, as I like a weaker coffee than the french roast I also serve to guests.  

[Julie545]

Ah yes of course - coffee is huge in Brazil!!

I know what you mean about instant coffee.  It would not be my choice, but you do find it in hotels.  For me I would rather offer something a bit nicer than the average hotel, so I offer medium roast coffee grounds.

I love a good cappuccino sometimes, and I'm not even a big coffee fan  🙂 

Of course sometimes people do not drink either coffee or tea, but hot chocolate.  Eventually I will offer hot chocolate to guests too.  

[Damien96]

Nespresso machine with a bunch of tastes as well as decaf seemed to make everyone happy. I also have a large collection of teas. Wierldy, the Brits who have stayed with me tend to bring their own tea with them.