Crazy Question about Coffee
 

I will be in Switzerland, Italy and Austria in September and will need to purchase coffee for a drip coffee maker. I'm not familiar with brands/types of European coffee, so I would like to know specific brands that would be good for the drip coffee maker. Here in the US we use Columbian. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Dumb question from a non-native speaker: What is a drip coffee maker? A coffee machine?

I assume a drip coffee maker is one that uses filters?

I've bought ground coffee in grocery stores in northern Europe. The coffee worked well with a filter cone and filters I'd brought along from the US. I did not see ground coffee for sale in the market we used in Italy, and I made do with instant Nescafe. If you do find ground coffee in Italy, you'll have to experiment a little. It's sure to be roasted more than in the US.

>specific brands
good: Meinl, Darboven
junk: Jacobs, Dallmayr
TONS of other brands :-)

The brand is not as important as how finely it is ground.
Usually, it will be indicated on the package.
For filter coffee, you will need a medium grind.
If you go to a specialised coffee shop, you can buy beans and tell them what method you use.

>The brand is not as important as how finely it is ground.
What a horrible horrible statement! Same with cheese, the type doesn't matter as long as it's soft.

That's silly and isn't what I meant at all.
For example, I like Dominican Pico Duarte coffee for non-espresso coffee and actually grind it myself. I have a caffetiere and that needs a medium to coarse grind.
I think that filter needs fine to medium.
If I put finely ground coffee into a caffetiere, I would end up with sludge.
I'm assuming that the OP is buying good quality coffee.
As I said before, there should be something on the package saying which method is suitable.
The package should also say if the roast is mild, medium or strong.
It's very likely that the OP will be able to get Columbian coffee, but if they can't, Whittards of Chelsea classes it as medium.
Of course, you could always buy a nice little hand-grinder and take it home as a souvenir ;-)

Who's this we in the US use Columbian?
Nuh-ah! Hawaii (Kona rests in my cabinet...delicious) Jamaican (mmmm....Blue Mountain); Sumatran, Guatamalau?

Don't worry - you'll find delicious coffee in the Markets.

Most ground coffee sold in supermarkets will be suitable for a filter coffee machine. You will also see beans and espresso coffees available.

Bean coffee may be hard to come by. Try Tesco or Carrefour. Consider buying an electric coffee mill. They are small and weigh little. Filters are available. If weight is not a problem bring your own beans. Nescafe now has dozens of instant types for sale.

It's very easy to find ground coffee in Switzerland. All the larger (and even smaller) stores sell it. Ground coffee is the second main ingredient in making cafe schnapps for many households (like mine.)

Ground coffee sold in supermarkets will be suitable for filter coffee machines.
It will not, however, give optimal results when filtering by hand (i. e. putting that filter thingy on top of the coffee pot and pouring water into it from the kettle), you need finer ground coffee for that, which can be obtained from coffee shops.

That's why I was asking.

A friend once teasingly referred to me as a coffee snob. I buy and grind my own beans and use a Melitta cone and filters. In my opinion, the most important factor for good coffee is the freshness of the beans.

I've found coffee to be very good in Europe, though MUCH stronger than I'm used to. I drink it black at home, but with cream and sugar in Europe.

By the way, I use Sumatra Decaf and Nicaragua Segovia at home, but my favorite coffee in the world is pure Kona.

Columbian isn't a brand of coffee in the US (not that I know of anyway). That's a country where some coffee comes from, which has nothing to do with the US versus any other country that imports coffee from the countries where it grows. Go to a store and buy coffee from wherever you want, they don't grow it in Europe, so it's going to be from Africa, S American, Hawaii, etc just like it is in the US.

They don't grow cacao beans in Switzerland either, be nevertheless they sell Swiss chocolates ;-)

quokka, I have used filtercoffee quite succesfully in a filter holder with hot water, rather than a machine. My son uses this method all the time on his boat as they can't use an electric filter machine. Many Dutch people still make their coffee by hand this way.

Sorry I'm late saying "thanks" to each of you, but I do appreciate all your input. "Drip coffee maker" is a term that went out shortly after the ark landed but is now known as "filter coffee maker" I think. Mine is the non-electric kind and you pour water over coffee held in a filter. It "drips" into the lower container, hence the old term "drip maker." Several years ago I bought some European coffee that was very powdery, not instant, and it wasn't satisfactory, so I think I'll try the medium grind. And yes, Columbian refers to the type (where it's grown) rather than brand. Anyway, thanks again.

To SuzieCll - "Who's this we in the US use Columbian?"
The "we" in my post refers to my husband and myself, not the whole United States. I wouldn't have a clue what you or others prefer.

I normally grind my own coffee, but was passing the coffee section in my local supermarket.
The packs of ground coffee had roast strength from 1 to 6 on them and had symbols e.g. a drip and a little picture of a caffetiere to show what method they were suitable for.
This was in the UK, but I'd be very surprised if were different in mainland Europe.