Apart from Starbucks or instant the most rank coffee you have had ?

[Coffee Snob]

When it comes to proper coffee I find Italian robusta absolutely abhorrent and remember the smell of italian classic dark roast    in fact ill never forget it as it was rank. I also find ground coffee with a rating of less than five absolutely tasteless and I steer clear of those. What are the coffee types that you found to be pretty abysmal and why so ?

[hellymedic]

Anything has to be more palatable than Elite Kosher for Passover 'coffee'...

[Vince]

The local coffee in Singapore was absolutely vile. Apparently the beans are roasted in margarine.

[Basil]

Back in the day, when I was being an hippie,  I made "coffee" from dandelion roots.
Dug them up, washed them, roasted them, ground them, infused them.
Before trying it myself, I offered a cup of "coffee" to the previous Mrs. B's dad.
Good bloke, he actually drank most of it.

[hellymedic]

Barleycup isn't coffee and doesn't taste like it either...

[Mr Larrington]

Considering the USAnians pride themselves on their coffee, most of what is available for public consumption is rank enow that cheapskate BRITISH horriblemarket own-brand is veritable nectar by comparison.  You know that coffee made from beans that have passed through the digestive tracts of weasels?  The boak advertised as "coffee" in for e.g. USAnian diners, motels, prisons etc. is made from the part of the weasel poo that isn't undigested coffee bean.

[Hot Flatus]

The cheap ground coffee you used to find in French supermarkets.

I've had some reasonable coffees in Starbucks, certainly more consistent than the other chains. Most independent cafes are lousy though (apart from those that focus on coffee, but you then have to put up with smug pimply wannabe American hipsters serving you)

[Dibdib]

apart from those that focus on coffee, but you then have to put up with smug pimply wannabe American hipsters serving you

Actually the worst "real" coffee I've had in a while was as espresso from one of Swindon's newer supposedly coffee-focussed cafes - complete with smug wannabe American hipster (mandatory beard included) taking about five minutes to make it. In a latte it'd have been fine, but in a cup on its own it was gritty and scorched-tasting.

I haven't been back, I'm not walking up a big hill for that.

[Hot Flatus]

The fashion at the moment is to stick bright lightly roasted coffees through an espresso machine and pretend it tastes great because there is lots of flavour.

[pcolbeck]

When it comes to proper coffee I find Italian robusta absolutely abhorrent and remember the smell of italian classic dark roast    in fact ill never forget it as it was rank.

The problem is that is what a proper Italian espresso tastes like. Watch in Italy as on a morning the delivery van arrives with Illy or Lavaza.
Since the Italians invented espresso I think they kind of have the right to say that's what its supposed to taste like. No problem if you or anyone else doesn’t like that but claiming that modern 3rd wave hipster coffees are better espressos is just silly, they are a different tasting drink altogether. Me I like both but severed as an Americana with just a touch of milk.

[Hot Flatus]

Espresso in Italy is pretty uniform, but I don't think it is true to say that it is all Illy or Lavazza. Its just pretty much of a muchness (heavy on the Brazils, with a dose of robusta for the gloop factor)

I like it. But I also like, and prefer, more complex flavoured single origin coffees. What I don't like are bright coffees put through an espresso machine.  In milk its a different matter, the Italian stuff gets lost, whereas the brighter stuff is tamed and the flavours develop with dilution....bit like putting water in whisky.

[Biggsy]

Sainsbury's Basics ground coffee.  I had to throw it away.

Actually, I've yet to find any pre-packed ground coffee that I really like a lot.  I don't have (but may have to get) a bean-to-cup machine.

[robgul]

... have to say that almost any coffee (in whatever format - I usually order a strong Americano with a dash of hot milk, no foam) when served in a paper cup tastes bad ...... but then I'm perhaps slightly spoiled as we have a plumbed in industrial type machine in our kitchen at home (think Costa machine but just 1 group head on it) 

Agree on the French ready ground stuff ... tastes like soot mixed with water    .... what I have found remarkably acceptable is the ready-ground espresso from Ikea! (about a third of the price of the usual stuff we buy)

Rob

[pcolbeck]

Sainsbury's Basics ground coffee.  I had to throw it away.

Me too and I can drink most any coffee (like red wine, in general its all fine just some is better than others - often a lot better).
Red Lavazza is my cheap ground standby especially when its on offer at £5.00 for two packs. I don't make espresso though just filter or Aeropress so maybe that skews my preferences.

[rafletcher]

Considering the USAnians pride themselves on their coffee, most of what is available for public consumption is rank enow that cheapskate BRITISH horriblemarket own-brand is veritable nectar by comparison.  You know that coffee made from beans that have passed through the digestive tracts of weasels?  The boak advertised as "coffee" in for e.g. USAnian diners, motels, prisons etc. is made from the part of the weasel poo that isn't undigested coffee bean.

I made a similar observation to a USAnian some years ago. His response was "well we don't want to pay more than 50 cents a cup, so as the price of coffee goes up, the coffee content goes down"

[rafletcher]

The fashion at the moment is to stick bright lightly roasted coffees through an espresso machine and pretend it tastes great because there is lots of flavour.

This is one of Jay Rayners pet hates. Just because it helps the tasters selecting the beans to have a light roast doesn't mean it makes good coffee for the masses..

[CAMRAMan]

My sister has either a tassimo or a nespresso machine. On 25/12 she offered me a cup of liquid that purported to be coffee, but was in fact the warmed up yellow snow that Rudolph had left behind on his visit. I think it was flavoured with hazelnut essence or summat like that. In any case, it was revolting. I gave my nephew my old coffee machine that produced perfectly decent coffee, only to later discover that he had discarded it in favour of a machine similar to his mother's and with similar results. You can lead a horse to water...

[Coffee Snob]

My sister has either a tassimo or a nespresso machine. On 25/12 she offered me a cup of liquid that purported to be coffee, but was in fact the warmed up yellow snow that Rudolph had left behind on his visit. I think it was flavoured with hazelnut essence or summat like that. In any case, it was revolting. I gave my nephew my old coffee machine that produced perfectly decent coffee, only to later discover that he had discarded it in favour of a machine similar to his mother's and with similar results. You can lead a horse to water...

I almost had my head in my hands reading this. I buy 3/4 Santos roast beans and grind them myself and they are just great

[Hot Flatus]

The fashion at the moment is to stick bright lightly roasted coffees through an espresso machine and pretend it tastes great because there is lots of flavour.

This is one of Jay Rayners pet hates. Just because it helps the tasters selecting the beans to have a light roast doesn't mean it makes good coffee for the masses..

I don't think it is even available to the masses, to be honest. Just in 'Specialty' (sic) coffee shops.  I suspect it stems from the good old USAian belief that they can take culture from other countries and improve it.

[Euan Uzami]

Mellow birds. 

[Cudzoziemiec]

Barleycup isn't coffee and doesn't taste like it either...

My mum's friend's ex-husband was, like Basil, a hippy. Unlike Basil, he still is. He also spent a decade or more as mayor of a small town. He has yet to emulate Basil's adventures in a canal. Anyway, he once offered me a cup of this Barleycup stuff, which I'd never heard of before. His daughters almost screamed at me, "Don't drink it!" but I did. I should have listened to them. There is a similar substance in Poland under the trademark Kawainka, which is nothing to do with Incas, more a sort of diminutive. It's often given to kids (it contains no caffeine). It's almost as disgusting as Barleycup.

Mind you, I don't even drink coffee!

[hellymedic]

I thought Barleycup was imported from Poland...

[Cudzoziemiec]

Is it? Must be the same stuff, then. Probably the Poles getting their own back for "Churchill's betrayal at Yalta". Or perhaps for all the Lipton tea that's over there.

[hellymedic]

<<Barleycup is produced by:
„GRANA” sp. z o.o. ul. Piłsudskiego 1, 32-050 Skawina, Poland
If you wish to know more about us, please visit our website: grana.pl>>

[Cudzoziemiec]

Google confirms that not only is it the same manufacturer, but - far from being a relic of wartime shortages or even 1980s rationing - it was first produced in 1971. And what's more, the lucky Poles get three flavoured varieties to delight their tastebuds, in addition to the classic variety - caramel, milk and chocolate!