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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2009 19:51:40 GMT
Here is a primer on the subject: What's inside a cup of coffee? I don't think we have fully discussed coffee (or have we?). I know it has been mentioned at least in passing a few times. Is coffee essential for you, or do you avoid it? I am not a coffee drinker, although I drink coffee almost every day, if that makes sense. I don't drink it at home if nobody is around, but I will drink it if anybody else is around and wants it. I drink coffee at the office as a social activity; it is an excuse for a break with some of my colleagues. Sometimes I will get hot chocolate or tea out of the machine instead, but basically I have little interest in any hot drink unless I am freezing to death. But I know that a lot of people can't function without coffee in the morning, or else they absolutely can't drink it in the afternoon or they won't sleep the following night. I can drink coffee right up until bed time and go to sleep immediately. I believe the fact that caffeine has no effect on me is the main reason I have no interest in coffee. Oh, how it wish that it did when I was doing 'all-nighters' in university and just couldn't stay awake. I could take an entire tube of No-Doz and go right to sleep. What about other people? |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2009 21:22:08 GMT
I am a coffee drinker,but also a coffee snob. I don't like just any coffee but will drink socially if I have to kind of thing,but if it's not good coffee,I don't enjoy the taste at all.
I like dark roasted coffee,and I generally have only one cup in the morning,strong.
I used to drink much more coffee years ago but my sensitivity to caffeine is very acute so I avoid drinking it in the afternoon hours at all costs or I will not sleep that night.
I can go without coffee and not suffer the headaches etc. other people complain of .
When I travel I bring along my own coffee to wherever I'm going. I buy from a local roaster a free trade dark Sumatra Gayoland bean. I also am a big fan of the dark roast coffee from Oaxaca.
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Post by lagatta on Oct 20, 2009 22:41:53 GMT
I'm addicted to it, but have cut way back in recent years. I need a little pot of espresso (or another strong, black coffee) in the morning, but beyond that, only drink it socially as in meeting a friend at a café.
I do get a headache by 11 am if I haven't had coffee.
Since I don't drink much, I can afford to buy good coffee. I love Gayo from Sumatra too! That is practically a moka - my espresso is more Viennese than Napolitano.
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Post by fumobici on Oct 20, 2009 23:17:08 GMT
I'm a bit of a coffee snob I'm afraid. Here's my machine:  '70s vintage Ticino CH built but they still make the same model, 95% of the parts still interchange and it's functionally identical. My current favorite single source varietals are Sumatra Mandheling and Ethiopian Sidamo/Yrgecheffe and good old Kenya AA. I've got a local Columbia-Java blend in an Italian roast by a local artisinal blender/roaster that also is nice although I think the Italians generally do a better job with the blends than Americans. They have sometimes even use robusta beans. Then they generally spoil it all by dumping sugar in. Philistines. Really ;D |
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Post by lola on Oct 21, 2009 1:15:41 GMT
A few cups/day, no later than 8 hrs before bedtime, and I get a nice buzz. Can't tell one kind from another. Sometimes tea instead.
My first summer job out of high school was at a Donut Shop, working the late night shift, and I still feel kind of bad about refusing to make a late night customer a fresh pot for his cup of coffee, because there was still half a pot that had been cooking there for hours. I thought all coffee was nasty at that time, fresh or old.
New thread idea: futile ancient regrets.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2009 1:48:09 GMT
Nice machine there fumobici! I'll bet she even has a name, a beaut like that. And the coffee pot to the left is quite gorgeous too and the lovely plate it sits on.
lola,bless your heart that at such a young age you would take the time to make a fresh pot of coffee even though you didn't drink the stuff. Nothing worse than old coffee.
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Post by hwinpp on Oct 21, 2009 6:26:07 GMT
You know how to use that thing, F? Congrats!
I would have liked one of those things but never trusted myself to be able to use it so I settled for a Jura machine instead when I was still drinking a lot.
I still do whenever I'm out and about but the quality here is varies. Vietnamese coffees are best IMO, Cambodian coffee not so good. My liking for it doesn't go so far that I seek out cafes where you have to pay 5USD for a cup of Illy espresso.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2009 7:07:28 GMT
I agree that Vietnamese coffee is among the most palatable.
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Post by hwinpp on Oct 21, 2009 8:00:14 GMT
And I knew you knew. ;D ;D ;D And so easy to make! You just need this:  And then you do like this:  |
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Post by BigIain on Oct 21, 2009 8:01:05 GMT
Dimethyl disulfide
So coffee can taste like shit then!!!! That explains it.
I drink coffee quite a lot starting with two cups of strong black immediately on getting up. I grind beans freshly for my morning cups and then brew in a cafatiere-thing. I am not massively aware that it does much to awaken me at any time but I adore the taste of black coffee so this is my motivation. I think it has become a major part of my morning routine in fact,
For the rest of the day I may have 3 cups or I may have none and it would be Carte Noir instant because I am too lazy to grind and brew during the day. It depends on my tastes on any given day really.
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Post by existentialcrisis on Oct 21, 2009 9:08:17 GMT
I enjoy a cup of strong dark coffee socially with a friend, but I don't drink it at home. I'm more likely to make some green tea. Everyone is always going on Tim Hortons' runs, but that is nasty... double doubles... eughhh.
Sometimes I drink coffee at work to wake up, but I have to admit the demands of my job call for more caffeine than coffee supplies. Working late nights at a casino, I require very strong energy drinks... and I realize they are probably killing me.
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Post by lagatta on Oct 21, 2009 12:42:39 GMT
I always wonder what people who don't drink coffee or tea do to "start their morning". Not just the caffeine, the ritual.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2009 12:55:50 GMT
We had a thread on here about morning rituals,or just rituals,I remember.
I'm amazed at how much money people spend on a daily basis for a cup of coffee. Talk about food economics. A cup of the dark roast brew I drink (at home) costs $2.00USD at the local cafe(for a 8 ounce cup). The same exact beans that I use and pay $9.00USD for a pound.
A pound of beans lasts me about 2 weeks depending on company etc. of course.
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Post by imec on Oct 21, 2009 13:13:30 GMT
I'd like to learn more about coffee. Some of you talk about it the way I talk about wine. Clearly I'm missing something.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2009 13:40:41 GMT
I always wonder what people who don't drink coffee or tea do to "start their morning". Not just the caffeine, the ritual. I usually have a little orange or grapefruit juice and eat a pot of yogurt. When my nephew was in town, interestingly enough, he does not drink hot beverages either. He said he usually just drinks a glass of water -- which he did, but I saw a growing interest in the orange juice over the days. And since I had a guest, I ran down to the boulangerie for a baguette and croissants and pains au chocolat and pains aux raisins and croissants aux amandes and other stuff and somehow it all disappeared. On the night he left, I asked if he wanted to take the remaining half of baguette after dinner on the train with him and he said "YES!" |
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Post by BigIain on Oct 21, 2009 14:04:31 GMT
I'd like to learn more about coffee. Some of you talk about it the way I talk about wine. Clearly I'm missing something. Treat it like I do and experiment with various types of coffee and strengths. I do look on it in the same way as I look at wine... to be savoured and enjoyed. I am pretty sure that champagne in the morning would be a pretty good start to most days if we could get away with having some. |
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Post by fumobici on Oct 21, 2009 14:30:43 GMT
Nice machine there fumobici! I'll bet she even has a name, a beaut like that. And the coffee pot to the left is quite gorgeous too and the lovely plate it sits on. Thank you. Name? Like women give their cars names?  No. Excuse me, god no.  It's proper given name is Olympia Cremina. Sounds like an opera singer doesn't it? |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2009 2:17:02 GMT
Is coffee essential for you, or do you avoid it?I love coffee, but as you know Kerouac, it makes me feel sick. Even just one cup. so, right now, no coffee for me  It's almost like you get a build up of it in your system and it takes days to get rid of it. Is there something in that do you think? Just going by personal experience.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2009 3:18:28 GMT
I'd like to learn more about coffee. Some of you talk about it the way I talk about wine. Clearly I'm missing something. yes you should do as BI says,find a decent cafe in your town and experiment with different brews. Do you like espresso ? Olympia Cremina does sound like an opera singer fumobici! I love it. |
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Post by imec on Oct 22, 2009 3:24:21 GMT
Love espresso.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2009 7:30:28 GMT
Do (some) Americans still drink coffee all through their meals? That always seemed so strange to me, although I suppose it is no different from Asians drinking tea with their meals.
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Post by existentialcrisis on Oct 22, 2009 8:09:27 GMT
BigIain... champagne and orange juice is what my family drinks every Christmas morning! ;D
Not being a coffee-in-the-morning type person, and really having no routine what-so-ever, not to mention that my "morning" occurs somewhere between 3pm-7pm.... here are some of my favorite ways to start my day:
1) Cold beer and cold pizza.
2) A big glass of water and a good go at washing the dishes.
3) Immediate start on making a big elaborate supper... with some beers as I go. I love drinking beer whilst making supper! Good for the appetite.
When I was in university, for a caffeine boost I used to put a spoonful of instant coffee into a shot glass and dissolve it in warm water and shoot it. Is that not the most blasphemous thing that will appear on this board?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2009 8:14:59 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Oct 22, 2009 9:47:57 GMT
imec, why don't you get an espresso machine. They vary greatly in quality, and the more expensive aren't always the best (unless you are talking about professional models, which cost as much as a small car and are not useful for home use). I'm sure fumobici has some good tips.
I'm looking out my home office window at the Italian espresso bar closest to where I live, though it is far from my favourite. The closest one I really like is about 5 minutes' walk away. And they are open now, at 5:30 am our time.
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Post by existentialcrisis on Oct 22, 2009 11:56:52 GMT
*sigh*... to live in Montreal and not Calgary...
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2009 14:16:29 GMT
So many good quaint little restaurants in Montreal. One of the things I love about it. When I lived there one of my favorite places to go was a restaurant that had a small juke box at each table. I wonder how many of those are still around?
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 22, 2009 15:09:25 GMT
As one of the vast army of addicts, I have to ask why we're trying to hook Imec on coffee. It really is an addictive substance and if he is able to enjoy the occasional espresso without neeeeeeeeding coffee, it's all to the good.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2009 4:43:29 GMT
I'd like to learn more about coffee. Some of you talk about it the way I talk about wine. Clearly I'm missing something. I don't think the intent was(is) to get him "hooked". Some people can drink coffee and not get addicted. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2009 16:37:29 GMT
I have access to excellent coffee and I am still not hooked.
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Post by traveler63 on Oct 24, 2009 0:14:52 GMT
Well, here is a picture of our coffee machine. We are definitely addicts.  |
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No. Excuse me, god no. 
It's proper given name is Olympia Cremina. Sounds like an opera singer doesn't it?
