# Coffee gourmets, what is this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 5, 2006, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084 "2006-02-05T06:35:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/1 "2006-02-05T06:35:17Z")
While looking at Millstone coffee beans at my local gourmet coffee shop (i.e., Wal-Mart) I saw what looks like some sort of sweet sugar-on-a-stick thing accompanying a cup of French roast coffee. A pic can be seen here: [http://www.millstone.com/images/pages/ourcoffees/FrenchRoast.jpg](http://www.millstone.com/images/pages/ourcoffees/FrenchRoast.jpg) Does anyone know what this item is and/or where it might be found? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/2 "2006-02-05T06:40:37Z")
It’s basically a stick with “rock candy” on it, meant to be stirred and dissolved into a cup of coffee or an espresso drink as sweetener. I was served a capuccino this way in a slightly uppity restaurant recently. I’m not sure if there’s an official term for it. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/3 "2006-02-05T06:48:20Z")
Thanks, **VCO3**. (And I thought it was to be licked or sucked on between sips.) :smack: Anyone know where to find 'em? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/4 "2006-02-05T06:48:45Z")
Goddamn Jimmie, this is some serious gourmet shit. Me an’ Vincent woulda been satisfied with freeze-dried Tasters Choice. You spring this gourmet fuckin’ shit on us. What flavor is this? [sugar sticks](http://www.nextag.com/sugar-sticks/search-html) ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/5 "2006-02-05T06:56:25Z")
> [@VCO3](#): > > It’s basically a stick with “rock candy” on it, meant to be stirred and dissolved into a cup of coffee or an espresso drink as sweetener. I was served a capuccino this way in a slightly uppity restaurant recently. > > I’m not sure if there’s an official term for it. I used to eat those things on their own when I was a kid. It’s a wonder I still have all my teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/6 "2006-02-05T07:02:20Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Goddamn Jimmie, this is some serious gourmet shit. > Me an’ Vincent woulda been satisfied with freeze-dried Tasters Choice. > You spring this gourmet fuckin’ shit on us. What flavor is this? > > [sugar sticks](http://www.nextag.com/sugar-sticks/search-html) _Superbamundo_! Damn, I love this place! Ya posts yer question; ya gets yer answer…and like right now, too! Hang in there, **CMC**. You’re still just a liddle wet behind the ears there, pal. Once youse been in 'dis business as long as me , ya begins to get a liddle dough and culture…know whut I mean? Thanks. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/7 "2006-02-05T07:35:54Z")
Man, you blew your line, I don’t need you to tell me how good my coffee is. I’m the one who buys it, I know how fuckin’ good it is. When Bonnie goes shoppin, she buys shit. I buy the gourmet expensive stuff 'cause when I drink it, I wanna taste it. But what’s on my mind at this moment isn’t the coffee in my kitchen, it’s the sugar stick in my cup. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/8 "2006-02-05T07:49:35Z")
:: hangs head in shame :: I’m _such_ a tyro! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/9 "2006-02-05T14:58:34Z")
I’ll bet you could make them yourself if you were so inclined. I used to love rock candy as a kid. It was usually on a string. I remember seeing recipes to make it yourself, but I never tried it. You could take a food-safe wooden stick like a barbecue skewer, make the rock candy on the blunt end, trim off the pointy end, and decorate the top with something. You can get pretty beads at a craft store for cheap. That would look cool. Would hot glue be sufficiently food safe to attach the decoration? At least in a non-commercial item. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/10 "2006-02-05T15:05:40Z")
I think you would actually “grow” the crystals on the stick. I don’t like hot glue between my teeth! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/11 "2006-02-05T15:07:08Z")
Sorry! I misread where you said “decoration”. I’m still on my first cup. :o ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/12 "2006-02-05T15:46:37Z")
What’s the professed advantage of this over spoonfuls of sugar? I mean, you can’t exactly measure how much you dissolve, can you? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/13 "2006-02-05T17:55:45Z")
> [@Speaker for the Dead](#): > > What’s the professed advantage of this over spoonfuls of sugar? I mean, you can’t exactly measure how much you dissolve, can you? According to the descriptions in **crowmanyclouds’** link, they’re “Elegant and fun”. As to measuring the amount, I suppose you just keep on swizzlin’ till it tastes sweet enough. ---
**Author:** ![alaricthegoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alaricthegoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alaricthegoth)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/14 "2006-02-05T19:12:21Z")
My Russian grandfather used to put a sugar cube between his front teeth and sip his coffee through it–apparently an “early adopter”… ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/15 "2006-02-05T21:21:25Z")
> [@alaricthegoth](#): > > My Russian grandfather used to put a sugar cube between his front teeth and sip his coffee through it–apparently an “early adopter”… I understand this was actually customary at some point in time in a lot of Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-gourmets-what-is-this/343084/16 "2006-02-05T21:53:30Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > According to the descriptions in **crowmanyclouds’** link, they’re “Elegant and fun”. Yes, elegant and fun is the thing. And thanks for the suggestions re making them myself. Sounds like fun, and at around a buck a pop for the store-bought ones, it would save some money too!