Coffee Habits

[crazyforkate]

So, as we all know, coffee is a staple of our modern world. We brew it in our kitchens, pay out the nose for it at Starbucks, use it as a social occasion. How do you take your coffee? When? If at all.

After years of drinking tea and practically barfing at the thought of coffee, I wanted to look cool in front of my co-workers and jumped right in. Black, dark roast, as much as possible at any given time. All hours of the day, too - when I want to sleep, some lousy caffeine won't stop me. My friend works at Starbucks and passes on a lot of the free coffee she gets, and with our French press we are all set. Three cups a day, minimum, and when it's exam season all bets are off. I live off it. To me, any other coffee drinks (lattes, etc) are like a Slurpee - fun once in a while, but not something to do more than a couple of times a year.

[Violet]

So I'm kind of the ultimate "coffee philistine" - I only drink decaff (caffeine makes me need to wee all the time :oops:) with milk and sugar. I hate tea unless it's iced tea. My favourite coffee is a decaff vanilla latte. I only have a smallish cup (yes it gets worse!) every morning and sometimes I might have another coffee in the morning, afternoon or evening too...

[happy atheist]

I don't like coffee or tea. Everyone thinks I'm a freak.

[OkToBeTakei]

I don't like coffee or tea. Everyone thinks I'm a freak.

FREAK!!! :lol:

Hehe. I actually did not drink tea or coffee or any kind of fizzy drink until my mid-twenties. Nightshift nursing introduced me to coffee. I prefer herbal tea but do like a weak wee cup of Tetley's or Yorkshire good old teabag tea once in a while.

My partner is to coffee as Imelda Marcos was to shoes. There is no top line machine accessory we do not own. I adore an Espresso in the morning. Americano also.

I probably drink one Espresso maybe tops two other cups per day sometimes less. I can't be bothered with all the machinery sometimes and buy single filter cup coffee. A mini filter, add boiled water fits over a mug. But seriously at work if someone is willing to make it for me I will drink any old instant shit on offer :lol:

[Minerva]

I hate coffee and will only drink mild-tasting tea. On occasions when I absolutely need coffee, I take it with soymilk. Like half coffee half soymilk. Maybe a bit of sugar. Otherwise it tastes too gross.

[constantgardener]

I don't like coffee or tea. Everyone thinks I'm a freak.

My headship does not drink tea or coffee (or even hot chocolate). Strangely, nor do my three closest friends. I always have to make my own hot drinks because no-one ever thinks to ask if I want one. :(

I like my coffee (and my tea) very strong with a spoonful of sugar and only a tiny bit of milk. Before I had kids I would always make it in a cafetiere but having a permanently crying baby in one arm made me switch to instant. My grandmother is Italian and she makes espresso in one of those stove-top pots - it's so strong you can virtually stand your spoon up in it.

[OkToBeTakei]

My headship does not drink tea or coffee (or even hot chocolate). Strangely, nor do my three closest friends. I always have to make my own hot drinks because no-one ever thinks to ask if I want one. :(

I like my coffee (and my tea) very strong with a spoonful of sugar and only a tiny bit of milk. Before I had kids I would always make it in a cafetiere but having a permanently crying baby in one arm made me switch to instant. My grandmother is Italian and she makes espresso in one of those stove-top pots - it's so strong you can virtually stand your spoon up in it.

I want to go to your Granny's house!

[Mela99]

I have a Keurig. I buy variety boxes from Amazon so I have a little it of everything. I love Green Mountain's Vanilla Caramel Cream and Donut Shop blend and Newman's Own.

I normally just take mine with a little splenda or coconut milk.

But I do love, love, love plain old cappuccinos with a little extra foam and maybe sugar free syrup. Flavored lattes too. My local coffee shop has a mile long menu of fun flavors.

[shedemei]

Sugar-free vanilla lattes and mochas with almond milk. Unfortunately, most coffee shops including Starbucks do not have almond milk available and I have to fall back to soy.

[RachelB]

I am a tea person-- preferably Keemun, no milk or sugar, first thing in the morning, green or oolong till noon, then herbal after noon. But I'll have occasional sips off The Partner's coffee, especially if he's drinking a Kenyan or Ethiopian that is fairly lightly roasted (and thus, tangy)-- it's the most tea-like coffee I've tried.

[duplessis3]

I drink coffee in the morning with a wee bit of ideally half and half in it. The rest of time I drink tea - black and bitter, like my heart.

[LillyCat]

mmmmmm, coffee. i LOVE coffee!!!!!!!!!!!!! i drink at least a pot a day, usually with a splash of unsweetened almond milk. once in a while i'll use vanilla almond milk. i like my coffee with a mild to medium roast and brewed not too strong. i'm a full time grad student and bring a full-size Stanley thermos full of coffee everyday. i have to try hard to make it last until lunch time.

once in a while during the warmer months i'll make a batch of cold-brewed coffee to keep in the fridge to make iced latte-type things with. still just almond milk + plain boring coffee, but it feels fun and fancy. coffee with a slash of raw whole cow's milk is divine, but a very rare treat. i have a single cup french press to use for decaf when i have a late night "must have coffee now" craving. i also love a small bowl of coffee icecream a few times a year.

and now i really want some fresh brewed coffee :)

[wtylcf]

What a good time to write out my thoughts on my coffee habits: I'm waiting for my espresso machine to heat up.

I'm a bit nuts about coffee. I don't drink an excessive volume of coffee but it's a daily ritual I can't do without. As soon as I became a coffee drinker in my early 20s, my chronic neuralgia symptoms (stabbing, localized pain on the left side of my head above my ear, for no determined medical reason) almost totally disappeared. It's like I was made to drink it!

So right now at age 30, I don't have a pro setup yet (as in fancy grinder and real espresso machine), but I'm happily low-tech with many methods to brew coffee. First off, I have a manual wooden burr grinder made by zassenhaus (think old-fashioned spice mill that looks like a wooden box with a crank handle and you'll get the idea). It's a great, cheap way to get a burr grinder, which produces even particles of coffee without chopping it like a blade grinder does. And it's a good morning workout.

I have 3 sizes of stovetop espresso makers, one by Bialetti (the authentic Italian kind) and the other 2 knock-offs. They are fun to play with, but since they perk the water through the coffee through boiling, the coffee is sometimes a little sour. This is why Italians usually take it with a bit of sugar.

I bought a Chemex last year and absolutely love it. Boil water with a kettle, load your Chemex with ground coffee in a proprietary Chemex filter, and wash the coffee through the filter with the hot water, and you have really nice-tasting drip coffee. It's worth the extra effort (and worth shelling out 8 bucks for 100 filters)! Also, the design for the Chemex is one of the notable object designs of the 20th century and is in the MOMA in NYC.

I also have a french press, a nice, classic way to brew coffee though a bit "dirtier" than the chemex. No filters to throw out, so it's more sustainable than drip, though I waste so much water cleaning mine that I think it cancels out. And heck, it's not like coffee is a sustainable drink for me anyway, being grown halfway around the world from wherever I've lived, so I may as well not worry too much about half-measures ;).

I also have this machine right now, which is not the best espresso machine (not even a "real" machine), but it came with the place we're renting, and is tons of fun to play with even if it takes a lot of coddling and maintenance.

Obviously I am someone who enjoys a lot of fussing over coffee and who doesn't mind putting in the time. I know it's not for everyone, but it makes my day that much more enjoyable knowing I get to conduct delicious science-experiments in my kitchen over breakfast.

I've been trying to find a cheap yet delicious source of beans in my new city for the past while and while I've found cheap (like $20 a kilo cheap) and delicious (like crazy delicious) coffee, I have yet to find both at once...that crazy delicious coffee is like $60 a kilo, I am not even kidding. Of course I am buying 300g at once, not a kilo.

[RachelB]

wtylcf, have you tried the Clever (which is like a cross between a pour-over drip cone and a French press)? It's cheapish and allows more extraction than a regular drip setup (and less heat loss than the Chemex), but a cleaner cup than the French press. It gets a lot of use in our apartment. (I ask because you and The Partner have similar levels of coffee fervor and it sounds, also, like similar taste preferences.)

Edited to add sentence that made the relevance of the post clearer.

[wtylcf]

wtylcf, have you tried the Clever (which is like a cross between a pour-over drip cone and a French press)? It's cheapish and allows more extraction than a regular drip setup (and less heat loss than the Chemex), but a cleaner cup than the French press. It gets a lot of use in our apartment. (I ask because you and The Partner have similar levels of coffee fervor and it sounds, also, like similar taste preferences.)

Edited to add sentence that made the relevance of the post clearer.

OMG, this is a genius idea! I mitigate the heat-loss of the Chemex by using an anchor measuring cup as a dipper for a constantly boiling pot of water on the stove, but this sounds even better. (the dipper and stove thing isn't because I'm crazy picky about heat loss, but because I haven't bought a new kettle since I moved, and I decided to become paranoid about kettles with metal and plastic interiors, and then haven't bought one because the stovetop method works ok and I don't yet want to shell out for a goosenecked kettle). The Chemex also doesn't extract as evenly/fully as the french press, and this helps that problem as well.

I can't wait to tell my partner about the latest coffee gadget I must must must acquire ;)! And here I thought it was going to be an aeropress or something... Thanks so much for the recommendation!

[PennySycamore]

I'm glad to see another Chemex lover here. The Chemex makes the best coffee I've ever had and I've been drinking coffee ever since I can remember (at least 55 years). I keep my teakettle over low heat until I'm finished pouring the water over the ground coffee. I also keep my Chemex over low heat. That makes for great hot coffee. I am not a fan of coffee that is not piping hot. I also have a French press, but only the first cup of coffee is hot enough and it's not as clear. I'd really like to get a vacuum coffee pot for special occasions. Vacuum pots used to be quite common. You see them in a number of old movies and TV shows. June Cleaver had one and there's one in the kitchen in the original Father of the Bride and in Woman of the Year.

I do grind my own beans although with a mill that chops up the beans. My grandma used to have a hand-cranked mill. She also used to have a percolator which I loved to watch. I haven't begun home-roasting yet, but I understand that a popcorn popper makes a great coffee roaster. Sweet Maria's has the beans and may be where I learned this.

I drink my coffee black. Once you go black, you'll never go back.

Yeah, I drink tea too and like experimenting with different varieties.

[wtylcf]

I'm glad to see another Chemex lover here. The Chemex makes the best coffee I've ever had and I've been drinking coffee ever since I can remember (at least 55 years). I keep my teakettle over low heat until I'm finished pouring the water over the ground coffee. I also keep my Chemex over low heat. That makes for great hot coffee. I am not a fan of coffee that is not piping hot. I also have a French press, but only the first cup of coffee is hot enough and it's not as clear. I'd really like to get a vacuum coffee pot for special occasions. Vacuum pots used to be quite common. You see them in a number of old movies and TV shows. June Cleaver had one and there's one in the kitchen in the original Father of the Bride and in Woman of the Year.

I do grind my own beans although with a mill that chops up the beans. My grandma used to have a hand-cranked mill. She also used to have a percolator which I loved to watch. I haven't begun home-roasting yet, but I understand that a popcorn popper makes a great coffee roaster. Sweet Maria's has the beans and may be where I learned this.

I drink my coffee black. Once you go black, you'll never go back.

Yeah, I drink tea too and like experimenting with different varieties.

Yeah, Chemex fan club!

Penny, I tried putting my Chemex on low heat, but it doesn't have a flat bottom, it has little feet, so I was worried about overheating the feet and causing stress on the glass. It also didn't keep the chemex very hot. I usually pre-heat my mug with boiling water before pouring in the coffee and that helps.

I'd love to have a vacuum pot some day. I've had it at a cafe and it's delicious and fun to watch, and so beautiful - it really looks like a science experiment.

I've tried a percolator as well, mostly over a camping stove when camping. It's also fun to watch, though I found grounds kept getting lifted up into the pot (probably ground too fine).

I always try to have a few sips of coffee black, but always end up adding milk. It's just so tasty.

[RachelB]

OMG, this is a genius idea! I mitigate the heat-loss of the Chemex by using an anchor measuring cup as a dipper for a constantly boiling pot of water on the stove, but this sounds even better. (the dipper and stove thing isn't because I'm crazy picky about heat loss, but because I haven't bought a new kettle since I moved, and I decided to become paranoid about kettles with metal and plastic interiors, and then haven't bought one because the stovetop method works ok and I don't yet want to shell out for a goosenecked kettle). The Chemex also doesn't extract as evenly/fully as the french press, and this helps that problem as well.

I can't wait to tell my partner about the latest coffee gadget I must must must acquire ;)! And here I thought it was going to be an aeropress or something... Thanks so much for the recommendation!

Glad to help!

[pirouette]

Well, lately I'm drinking no coffee as a roommate shattered our coffee pot last week. (He was doing the dishes at the time, so I can't hate him too much for it, I suppose.)

But usually I have to start my morning with coffee. Sometimes milk, never sugar (I sometimes have sweet breakfast things, like granola and muffins, and sugary drinks with sugary food is way too much.) Sometimes I switch to English breakfast and Earl Grey teas, and I also like herbal/green teas (peppermint green tea: the absolute best) and iced black tea with lemon and a tiny smidge of sugar ("sweet tea" makes me feel like my teeth are going to fall out, but to each their own.) I've got some fancy vaguely-chai-tasting tea that's excellent, too. As far as fancy coffee, I have a Starbucks gingerbread latte tradition while Christmas shopping, and very occasionally I'll get a mocha from the local coffee shop. Surviving my 20's and battling attentional difficulties/constant fatigue with caffeine!

[julie paradox]

I was looking to see whether that place that sells the Clever does what I would call "a normal filter coffee machine" - because it doesn't seem to be on many US posters' radar - and found that they do, offering options from two manufacturers and cautioning against many others because they don't have the water hot enough:

Electric brewers can be a very convenient way to make coffee - especially a lot of coffee. The problem with most brewers tends to be that they do not sufficiently heat the water and the resulting coffee is flat and lifeless. The Technivorm, Brazen and Bonavita deliver water at about 200° to the coffee - which is the correct temperature range.

I spent a good couple of seconds going "TWO HUNDRED? it's not even supposed to be quite boiling - how on earth do you get it to two hundred anyway - oh, wait..."

I drink medium roast (sold as "3" over here) with one 20ml-scoop per half-pint mug. Black, no sugar, unless for some reason it's extra strong or bitter. Three mugfuls is the normal weekday routine (morning, hometime, after dinner) with extras if I feel like it through cold, dreariness, boredom, whatever, and a couple more at weekends.

A few years ago when home roasters first came in my headship got one to play with. Such a pity that it has to reach the point of smelling burnt before it's ready ;-)

We use an electric grinder: we did get a twirly-handle one for a wedding present but it never worked properly.

Sometimes I do a variation on vanilla latte: two teaspoonfuls of instant, a tablespoon of vanilla essence, enough hot water to dissolve the coffee, and milk to make a pint. When I was a teenager one hot summer my sisters and I did something similar with vanilla ice cream.

Our new vicar is attempting to persuade the church to use cafetieres (French presses) for after-service coffee. I don't know how successful she'll be. Currently we use Fair Trade instant, which is not the greatest coffee in the world (I still add milk to it) but considerably better than it was in 1989 when Traidcraft Mud was about all that existed.

The church I was at in those days had a large number of university lecturers and students, who are probably more likely than average to (a)care about Fair Trade and (b)care about decent coffee, so this was a bit of a problem for the coffee rota people. Eventually they came up with a solution to the problem.

They bought the Traidcraft Mud, and cut it 50/50... with Nescafe.

So wrong on so very many levels.

[Lillybee]

I have been using the pour over method for years even before it became trendy. I use a Melita cone that cost about 3.50 and makes one cup at a time.

I buy my coffee at Costo. I use an African blend roasted by Starbucks and it comes out to about 5.20 a pound.

[terranova]

I'm a tea at home, coffee when out gal. Husband drinks plunger coffee in the morning, tea at night. I have a coffee a day when I'm at work (flat white, Ethiopian FT roast), so that's 5 cups a week on average. I hate plunger and drip coffee.

For tea I prefer Lady Grey or Earl Grey. English Breakfast at a pinch. Milk and one sugar, or black if there's no sugar.

[WifeofBill]

I have my Keurig that I use with a reusable green cup instead of the disposable K cups. I like my coffee light and sweet, can't understand how anyone can drink their coffee black :roll: . I make my own creamer, sticking with vanilla right now, but might branch out and try some other flavors.

[DarkAnts]

I am currently using a Cleaver Coffee Dripper. It combines french press immersion brewing with drip filtration. It makes a great cup of coffee and is not expensive ($20 USD).

[Chavymishmacoy]

Just yesterday I bought one of those stove top Bialetti coffee makers. For when I want a cup in the afternoon but don't feel like making a whole pot. I have to say it does make a strong cup of coffee. I used to love it super strong, DH likes his weak and feeble. So I have been compromising a bit over the years....the sacrafices I make.....and making it a bit weaker.