So my Dad's 60th Birthday is coming up, and usually I've found it a bit difficult to get presents, but what he does enjoy is his (expensive) coffee machine. So what I thought I'd do is buy him some of the best coffee out there.
What I'd like to know is some recommendations of types of coffee beans that he'd enjoy (he tends to have a fairly standard cappuccino), and if there are any good online places to go in order to actually get them. Note, I'm in Australia, so and I'm fairly certain "importing" Coffee is off the cards, but if there was a website to check up on their mailling policies (plus I'm no longer in the Australian state as him) it would be gereat :)
IF you want to do something really unique for him, try roasting him a special blend yourself. Look for some "green coffee" on the Internet (Coffee Bean Corral is what I've used, but I don't know what your options will be in Australia), then read up on blending and find what kind of styles he likes. Then, you can easily roast them in a hot air popcorn popper or even on a cookie sheet in the oven. Getting someone their own personal blend that nobody else in the world will ever have would be a pretty special gift for a coffee lover, imho.
@Rlan: Your idea is definitely great, seriously, but if your dad is anything like me (picky): don't bother. Coffee, for someone that doesn't enjoy it as much as, say... me? it's way to difficult, I mean, even understanding someone's taste is already hard enough as it is, but with coffee it's even hard. Plus depending of the machine (shape and size of the filter, temperature dairying the shot, pressure...) a coffee that is good in one machine could be just vulgar in an other. So if I could put in my two cents here, buy him Viagra and pay him a hooker. That's easier to pick a girl that coffee.
But if you're hell bent on buying him coffee, why don't you tell us what he uses? Do you know what part of the world his coffee(s) come from? Does he like more or less roasted beans (for instance, usually I like not too roasted, but some way more roasted ones are actually really interesting)? You could try to talk about what notes he likes (not talking key of F here, obviously, it will force you to spill the beans, but at least you'll be closer), and then go to a roaster near you and try to find something with the roaster. You could make him a sampler, with things that he does't know or wouldn't have normally tried, he might discover some new interesting stuff. That something I would enjoy and that isn't out of reach.
But keep in my buying coffee for someone is very hard, the only time it went right for me is when my current girlfriend bought be 10 packs of Pike's place roast (@lane: best coffee I've ever had by the way, and that includes french and italian coffee shops!). And I had coffee offered to me quite a few times, and I best I didn't disliked it, at worst it tasted literally like crap (or at least it left the same after taste as some nasty rotten eggs fart), it was an indians coffee (actually bought in India), it was under roasted, didn't really taste much... I mean, except for the... well, it wasn't good.
Anyway, I get the thought behind it. Kudos for that.
@lane said:
Getting someone their own personal blend that nobody else in the world will ever have would be a pretty special gift for a coffee lover, imho.
Wow, that is so sweet! Seriously. I might be laughing hard, but I really mean it. Thoughtful and creative. But, again, I don't want to be shitty, but that's a bad idea: when you never did that, you've got very high chances of screwing up, and very little chances to end up with something enjoyable. And doing it for someone else is even harder.
But seriously, on that one: WOW! (certainly better than my first idea)
So my Dad's 60th Birthday is coming up, and usually I've found it a bit difficult to get presents, but what he does enjoy is his (expensive) coffee machine. So what I thought I'd do is buy him some of the best coffee out there.
What I'd like to know is some recommendations of types of coffee beans that he'd enjoy (he tends to have a fairly standard cappuccino), and if there are any good online places to go in order to actually get them. Note, I'm in Australia, so and I'm fairly certain "importing" Coffee is off the cards, but if there was a website to check up on their mailling policies (plus I'm no longer in the Australian state as him) it would be gereat :)
IF you want to do something really unique for him, try roasting him a special blend yourself. Look for some "green coffee" on the Internet (Coffee Bean Corral is what I've used, but I don't know what your options will be in Australia), then read up on blending and find what kind of styles he likes. Then, you can easily roast them in a hot air popcorn popper or even on a cookie sheet in the oven. Getting someone their own personal blend that nobody else in the world will ever have would be a pretty special gift for a coffee lover, imho.
@lane: That's a great idea!
@Rlan: Your idea is definitely great, seriously, but if your dad is anything like me (picky): don't bother. Coffee, for someone that doesn't enjoy it as much as, say... me? it's way to difficult, I mean, even understanding someone's taste is already hard enough as it is, but with coffee it's even hard. Plus depending of the machine (shape and size of the filter, temperature dairying the shot, pressure...) a coffee that is good in one machine could be just vulgar in an other. So if I could put in my two cents here, buy him Viagra and pay him a hooker. That's easier to pick a girl that coffee.
But if you're hell bent on buying him coffee, why don't you tell us what he uses? Do you know what part of the world his coffee(s) come from? Does he like more or less roasted beans (for instance, usually I like not too roasted, but some way more roasted ones are actually really interesting)? You could try to talk about what notes he likes (not talking key of F here, obviously, it will force you to spill the beans, but at least you'll be closer), and then go to a roaster near you and try to find something with the roaster. You could make him a sampler, with things that he does't know or wouldn't have normally tried, he might discover some new interesting stuff. That something I would enjoy and that isn't out of reach.
But keep in my buying coffee for someone is very hard, the only time it went right for me is when my current girlfriend bought be 10 packs of Pike's place roast (@lane: best coffee I've ever had by the way, and that includes french and italian coffee shops!). And I had coffee offered to me quite a few times, and I best I didn't disliked it, at worst it tasted literally like crap (or at least it left the same after taste as some nasty rotten eggs fart), it was an indians coffee (actually bought in India), it was under roasted, didn't really taste much... I mean, except for the... well, it wasn't good.
Anyway, I get the thought behind it. Kudos for that.
@lane said:
Wow, that is so sweet! Seriously. I might be laughing hard, but I really mean it. Thoughtful and creative. But, again, I don't want to be shitty, but that's a bad idea: when you never did that, you've got very high chances of screwing up, and very little chances to end up with something enjoyable. And doing it for someone else is even harder.
But seriously, on that one: WOW! (certainly better than my first idea)
@Greg818:
Yeah, OP might fuck it up, but it's the thought that counts.
@lane: Oh no, you're the opposite of what I thought! "Don't try to hard, he'll think it's nice either way".
Kind of like those crapy present we made in kindergarten for mothers/fathers-day... Why do they even make us do that?