Stormi: You need to try some coffee. I didn’t really become a veteran coffee drinker until my late 20’s. Now I am soooo hooked it’s pathetic. Here it is, 3 pm, and I’m still swilling.
If you want to get started, try it one cup at a time. Don’t go out & invest in a bunch of stuff to make your own before you decide you like it. Try someplace like Dunkin’ Donuts, Tim Horton’s (which I’ve never had, but I hear it’s quite good), Border’s, the Coffee Beanery, or Starbuck’s (as pretentious as those last three can be, they do make some darn good coffee).
I’d suggest trying it black first. If you don’t like it that way, then try it with sugar, then with cream, then with cream and sugar. You’ll find the right combination. Be aware, though, that some places don’t use the half-and-half that you find in the grocery store. Dunkin’, for example, uses cream that is 18% butterfat. To me, it tastes like lard. But some folks just love the stuff.
Oh yeah–cappuccino is awesome, but don’t try the flavored coffees before trying regular. You’ll develop a thing for sweet before you experience real coffee, and that would ruin the whole coffee experience.
While I’m not sure what arabic coffee is, I have to point out that a) Turkish coffee is very different from espresso(I’ll get into this later) and b) Turkish coffee is made with cardamom, so thats not the source of the difference between the two(if there is one).
Now, the difference between the two types (espresso and turkish coffee): while they taste similar(though not identical) and are served in similar doses(demi-tasses)(or 16 ounce mugs if you have similar tastes to me) they are made in two very different ways. Espresso is brewed by forcing steam at high pressures through fine ground darkly roasted beans. Turkish coffee also uses finely ground darkly roasted beans but is boiled (three times) and includes cardamom(usually around 2 pods(whole) or a pinch(powdered). Espresso can be served black/with sugar (or in the case of odd heathen coffee people as cappuccino or whatever else you like), turkish coffee is only served black at funerals, and with sugar any other time. (The sweetness is relative to the happiness of the occasion)
And now the second thing(which having not enough coffee in me, I failed to address in the first post)
This is, of course, false. The proper way to make a good cup of instant coffee is simple.
step 1) fill cup approx. 3/4 with instant coffee.
step 2) fill cup rest of way with sugar.
step 3) mix thoroughly with teaspoon.
The resulting cup of coffee may be poured directly into the mouth or eaten with a spoon. Note: at no point should water or milk be mixed in.
Ok. You won’t get an argument from me on that one, only I’d like to point out that before I have my 1st coffee, I am a lower life form.
sandyr: Thanks for the idea re: the blender to grind beans. I’ll try it, what the hell. I’ve no idea if I like Hawaiian coffee, I’ve never tried it. But seeing as how I’m fine with el cheapo no-name brand instant, I don’t think I’ll have a problem.
I’d also just like to say that I’m learning a lot from this thread. Thanks.
Yummy? It’s the nectar of the Gods is what it is. People who don’t like turkish coffee/espresso should not be trusted. They are clearly some form of subhuman reptile.
ummm…some of us ‘LOWER LIFE FORMS’ can’t AFFORD real coffee…[insert ‘snarky’ tone of voice]. Some of us ‘LOWER LIFE FORMS’ have had to make do with 3-year old red rose freakin’ tea when a jar of $2.99 coffee was not affordable… :eek:
and before I met Dewt, I NEVER drank coffee…he is evil…EVIL…actually, there were alot of things I never did before…but I digress…
honey, the blender blew up in a shower of sparks last year (don’t you remember my panicked screamimg??), so maybe the hammer is the way to go…
Jamaican blue mountain…yuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmm…think my grandparents will spring for another cruise??..we need more coffee…and jerk sauce…sigh…Jamaica…
I haven’t tried this. Site seems quite popular for obvious reasons. I have read that CyberRebate banks on the fact that a lot of people simply forget to mail in the rebate, and that prices quoted on the site are often (much) higher than what you would pay for equivalent merchandise in regular stores. So, if you’re the absent-minded type, this may not be for you.
P.S.: Haven’t found any rebates on coffee bean grinders. Let me know how it turns out if you try it. Don’t forget to read the fine print before ordering.
If you find a sale, you can find a fairly decent coffee grinder for about ten bucks. Or - find some pretensious yuppies who bought one back when it was the in thing to do, and steal theirs. They’ll never notice.
Now, the actual beans themselves are fairly expensive, but there is no need to go gourmet everyday. Just get decent beans, and grind them up German style (very fine) and you can get away with using about half the amount.
This message has been brought to you by the very poor but loving very fine things tatertot.
**Jamaican blue mountain…yuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmm…think my grandparents will spring for another cruise??..we need more coffee…and jerk sauce…sigh…Jamaica…
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You want jerk sauce? I can help you there. (don’t be gross you sickos) There’s half a jar in the back of the spice cabinet.
What’s this about storing coffee in the freezer? Doesn’t that do something to the flavour? I never store beans in the freezer. But then, beans don’t last long around here.
Coffee for beginners: I started drinking “coffee” when I was about six or seven years old. If you’ve seen a couple of my other threads, you’ll know my dad was a Naval officer. The Navy runs on coffee! I started early. (Note: My uncle, who was a Master Chief in the Navy, said you’d never see a chief without a cuppa joe. He said that he drank so much coffee in the Navy that it wore out his finger! Actually, he lost it in a car door as a child; but it’s a good yarn.) Anyway, when I was a kid I’d have a cup about half-full of milk, then two spoons of sugar and topped off with coffee. Really tasty! As a teenager I drank coffee with sugar. Now I usually drink it black. While starting with black and then trying sugar, cream and sugar and cream lets you find the combination you like, having coffee with lots of milk and sugar will make it more palatable to the first-time drinker.
I used to get Otis Spunkmeyer coffee at Target. But as long as I’m near a Trader Joes, I’ll take advantage.
Once upon a time I worked a messed up schedule for the navy. It consisted of working 48 hours within five days and included two day watches, two mid watches, and two eve watches, in that order. During this period of time I consumed a pot of coffee before going in, at least one coffee cup of espresso (usually 2 or 3), and probably half a pot of coffee made the navy way while at work.
Then I got a ‘real’ job, one where I had to get up early in the morning at the same time every day. This is when I realized that coffee is not good for my system - I couldn’t sleep at night.
So now I’m down to coffee on weekends, mostly, and I no longer go through a bag of beans a week.
There’s another type of drip for coffaholics like you. The kind used in hospitals. Fill up the little plastic pouch, jab the needle in your vein, let drip, refill, let drip… and voila! Permanent buzz all day long. Have you tried this?
P.S.: The freezer is the recommended method for those of us who don’t go through a whole bag in a day!
Personally, I prefer to be able to unclench my teeth after two or more cups. I enjoy the lighter bodied coffees and brew them according to the same protocol as fine tea. So far my favorites are Kona and Sumatran. I still need to try Peaberry and Jamaican Blue Mountain.
Always use freshly boiled water. More oxygen than water that has been boiled for a while. O2 promotes the desired chemical reaction.
All surfaces that see the coffee should be preheated to steaming temperatures. The urn and the final drinking cup. The bitter acids in coffee form more readily on cold surfaces. Rinse all containers with boiling water before use.
Freshly ground beans are the way to go. I only recently started using a grinder, but it is worth it. Grinding them the night before is an invitation to stale coffee (thanks Persephone).
Personally, I use a Pyrex Chemex type brewing system with a paper filter. The paper absorbs nitrosamines that are carcinogenic.
While I brew the coffee I rinse out the cup with boiling water and add the cream and sugar (yup, full Boston style) to allow them to come up to temperature.
Swill while the swilling is good.
I had one friend who roasted and ground his own beans. Great coffee, if you had an hour and a half to make a cup. I’m sure he’s out there somewhere chasing down the latest rage in coffee. GET THIS, it’s coffee beans taken from THE DUNG of some Vietnamese fox that only eats the perfectly ripe beans. I am not kidding, this is supposedly the Next Big Thing. Having had so many restaurant cups that already tasted like what I would imagine fox shit to taste like, I can’t see the importance of this. But hey, what do I know?
Well. Not to seem like some intolerant, unadventurous loser, but there ain’t no way in hell I’m drinking anything made from bits taken from some animals poop, particularily if they are ‘ripe’.
there is coffee dripping down down the front of my computer monitor right now…having expelled itself rather forcefully from my nose during the snort of laughter…
