I would be interested in hearing from those of you out there that have coffee machines, where you buy your beans; what is the price per kilo, and a little about the beans. Like the aroma, taste, etc.

I have been using a Mocca blend, that just smells and tastes great. but a little on the pricey side.

Be interesting to hear from you.

Gonzo

I get my coffee from Hillkoff just north of the northern gate of the mote. Here is their website not sure it will be much help as it is all in Thai http://www.hillkoff.com/coffee_bean.php but you can use this site to translate it if you are really serious about looking for some coffee http://www.thai2english.com/

I typically pay 280Bt per/kg for the Hillkoff brand. There are other brands they sell in the Hillkoff store that are more but I think the Hillkoff brand is the best that they sell. The cost does change some. I know it has gone up a few times over the past five years that I have bought from them and others will go in and say it is more. You just need to make sure you have them fill out a member card for you and I think it discounts it some or at least it locks the price in for you.

They also sell all kinds of coffee makers form drip for 1,000Bt all the way up to the 100,000Bt+ espresso machines for coffee shops.

Oh and they do have a couple of staff that are okay in English, that you can a least get the right coffee in bean or ground to what you want it.

You will also find the Hillkoff brand at a few stores in town but if you go to the Hillkoff ship it is cheeper.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for that UFG

When you say just North of the Northern gate, I interpret that to mean Chang Puek Gate and then onto Chotana.

Would you be meaning, just off Chotana to the right and across from the Chang Puek Hosp? Not sure of the name of that place .

I do have a Saeco Coffee making machine that is sort of fickle about the type of beans put in , as it does the grinding in the making process. Just recently bought a darker, richer looking bean. The price was 260 B for a kilo. After 6 cups the machine jammed and no water would go thru.

A 300 B repair bill later the man found that the beans were over roasted and too powdery and blocked the internal screening system. Did nothing but clean out the system, put in the old beans and it works just fine now. The over roasted beans just turned into a all too fine powder and the water was not able to drain through the coffee.

The old beans were/are very good. At least I think so. A Thai Product, I think, "Royal Coffee Mocca, Very Aromatic"
Tastes great, smells fantastic when preparing, but a little pricy at about 385 per Kilo

Thanks again for your input.

Gonzo

I like Duang Dee Hill Tribe coffee, purchased at Rimping. It's relatively inexpensive (about 300/kg if I remember correctly) and has a nice, smooth balanced flavor.

I buy my coffee beans at Kasem. I hadn't realized they were branded until a minute ago, when I went to check the package I am now using. Turns out they are Hillkof, so I add here my voice in support of how good Hillkof beans are. I get either the espresso, Italian or French roasts. I have no idea what Kasem charges for them. It seems that Hillkof beans are sold both whole and ground, in the same packages, so be sure to check which you are buying. It may be written on the outside somewhere, but I just squeeze slightly to test.

This is where you'll find Hillkoff:

 Hillkoff_map.jpg ( 63.26K ) Number of downloads: 52


Sort of diagonally across from the entrance to Chang Pueak Hospital.

/ Priceless

I buy my coffee from the Highland Research and Development Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiangmai University.

http://web.agri.cmu.ac.th/highland/englishtext/eng_dex.html

I guess they are a bit pricey at 350 baht/kg but I have never shopped around for any other coffee. Excellent 100% arabica only.

CM das wrote:


There is better coffee out there, but you pay for it - I'm a big Duang Dee drinker also. The best value for the price in CM.

I would be interested in how you are using the coffee. Do you have it ground at the shop and then use it in a Mr. Coffee type machine, or do you use it as beans in a machine that grinds them at time of making the coffee.

If using as beans ground at time of use, do you have any trouble with the beans and/or the messing up of your machine?
Thanks
Gonzo

I grind the beans just before I use them, either at medium level of coarseness for filter coffee or at a fine level for espresso. I have had no trouble either with the beans or with any of my machines.

I LOVE Duang Dee...even the vacuum packed ground variety is consistently good at least at the rate I go through it. I can't ever bring enough back to family addicts in the States either!

Just came back from Rimping & the price of Duang Dee (like almost everything else these days) has gone up a bit - now it's 85 Baht for 250g of ground coffee.

I find Duang Dee a good choice too. The variety in the yellow box is my favourite although I am surprised to see that it's not a blend but 100% Arabica. If you only drink two or three cups a day and keep in in an airtight container (in the fridge) then the pre-ground vacuum pack is fine and saves all that noisy grinding at the crack of noon. Actually, I think it's been 85 baht for a few months now.

This post has been edited by Greenside: 2008-05-08 15:56:07

Douwe Egberts grounds. Rimping. Quality man, quality. The only coffee that I can drink black, if that has any merit?

I like the "metal drum" coffee also bought at rimping, having tried many different types. They put the date of roasting on the bag dont buy if over 1 month old

I like both Hillkoff and Lanna. Hillkoff is cheaper. Libernard very good also, can't remember the price offhand. Duang Dee is my least favorite northern Thai coffee, but YMMV (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

YMMV

I love Kasems dearly but I assume that was Hilli beans in the plastic bags. Once you roast you have say a 2-3 week shelf life and then it goes stale unless you vacuum pack. I am sure hilli has good beans and I just happend to get the kilo of stale ... sitting in the shop for too long and not tossed. I always get pissy about that. They lost me as a customer 3 years ago because of little trivial crap like that. Now I know where I can get some fresh roasted I might give it a try again.

I tried Lanna, nice packets buy the way. Bought a couple but costs almost double per gram than DD, and I thought it didn't taste as good.

Any other north thai brands to I should give a chance too?

I don't buy the 'generic' Hillkoff that Kasem sells. Not only can the beans be stale, they often open sealed packets to sell smaller amounts. But Kasem also sells the branded Hillkoff, I believe. At any rate it's available at Rim Ping and Top's as well. The Hillkoff packets are similar to Lanna's. I agree, for the money Hillkoff's the best deal going.

But try Libernard, they roast a new batch every three days, and supply beans to a range of cafes and restos around town, so their stock is usually ok. Libernard beans are as good or better than Hillkoff, but the latter has a greater variety of roasting styles.

Agreed. That's top quality. I take the Special.

I would prefer Doi Chang's Peaberry and Nacha's Silver Label.
The first one is because of its strong aroma and flavor and the second it is just smooth and has very nice aftertaste.

libernard by tai pae gate...they do their own roasting

Cool. I will try the special, as up till now, not sure what one is for me. Just thrilled to find it in Thailand, it really is GREAT coffee. I take it were ever I go.

Also available at Kasem and Makro (Hang Dong Rd).

I really like those as well without having that much to compare with. Looking forward to trying out the others recommended here too.

Hi Gonzo, Every coffee sounds good in all the quotes below.I like a "Doi Inthanon"coffee roasted just out side of Sanpatong(spelling?)South.Here is the phone number#053829459.He started as a hobby had his roaster made and now has moved into a larger roaster.Nice operation.Arabic is the coffee.He sells coffee machines as well.Has med and expresso roasts.Last I got from him the price was still 320 killo for med.I think expreso is 350 for the same?Not sure on this but the thing thats great you may get the coffee the same day it is roasted.Which is really nice.Every body I know thats tried it loves it.
Good luck.This area has plenty of coffee to taste and have fun with.Nice to change around also.Why not!!!