Picks the Best Cup o' Brew

Folgers, Maxwell House and Starbucks is American popular coffee places. But all three were on the ice eight hours of Colombian coffee in our taste test. With regard to Starbucks, he did not even place among the top of the regular coffee and trailed among decafs.

Our tests of 19 coffee also show that some of the best value measure. At about $ 6 per pound, eight hours is less than half the price of Gloria Jean's, Peet's, and other more expensive brands.

How do you, Joe, all without caffeine? Dunkin 'Donuts and the mill were the front runners among decafs. But the choice of Folgers Gourmet Lively Colombian came in close behind and is less than $ 3 per pound. But even the best decaffeinated coffee can not match the best regular brews in our taste test.

What we have tasted
Our coffee experts focused on 100 percent Colombian - Popular beans - for the regular coffee. Most of our decaffeinated coffee is a mixture of different beans.

What makes a great cup of Colombian? Lots of flavor and aroma, some floral notes and fruitiness, touch of bitterness, and enough body to provide a sense of fullness in the mouth. Woody, papery or burned out of music tastes.

Week sip twisted and confirmed that even a 100 percent Colombian coffee and the Juan Valdez logo does not guarantee quality. Our testers found the other surprises:

But after all these years
Emphasis full o'Nuts and Maxwell House coffee place, that "heaven" and "good to the last drop", since 1932 and 1907, respectively. But beyond the notes, a bit complicated, and full stops O 'Nuts, the variable quality of an eight hours.

When the boutique is not better
West of Cariboo, and Kickapoo beat the array of major players among regular coffee. But the Bucks County Coffee, of Langhorne, Penn., Tried just OK, and Peet's, a Berkeley, California, was burned and bitter, despite a cost of $ 14 per pound. Peet's, Archer Management, as well as the Kickapoo varied from batch to batch.

Caffeine differences
None of our decaf coffee for more than 5 milligrams of caffeine in 6-ounce serving. But among regular coffee, Caribou, and Bucks County was about four times more caffeine (195 mg) of some of the lowest levels of brews. Medical experts say up to 600 milligrams a day is probably safe for most, and can help you keep alert. But the heart patients and women, pregnant or nursing should remain below 200 mg, which could mean a detour of the brands of caffeinated coffee we tested.

How to choose
Some of our best coffee can save you $ 25 to $ 70 per year for the pricier brands, even if you drank only one 6-ounce cups a day. That's what people think on another occasion:

Consider how you
Coffee judged very good taste of a fine black. Milk and sugar can improve mediocre coffee, but not even the cream can help low scoring decafs.

Choose a good coffee maker
Coffeemakers best of our report of January reached 195 º to 205 º F are required to get the best of the beans and to avoid weak or bitter. Rating Michael Graves model costs only $ 40.

Consider for chopping fresh fragrance
Even the best pre-ground coffee can not beat the best fresh ground when it comes to taste. One top mincers January of this report, Mr. Kofi IDS77, costs just $ 20.