# I'm a true coffee addict **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 20, 2004, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791 "2004-11-20T03:16:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/41 "2004-11-21T19:24:17Z")
> [@Shrinking Violet](#): > > There seems to be a distinct cultural difference here … walk into the average British home and be offered a coffee - you’ll be given instant and not be offended. Most people save ground coffee for dinner parties / special treats. To use it every day is just too much bloomin’ hassle! Would you ever use instant tea? ---
**Author:** ![The\_27th\_Evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ebca7d/32.png) [@The\_27th\_Evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_27th_Evil)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/42 "2004-11-21T21:06:12Z")
I’m not sure as of now. It used to, but that was before I took the Prilosec. I’m still iffy on orange juice, tomato juice, and regular coffee, though. Now I’ll have to drag out the espresso machine when I get home, along with the Tums just in case. Caffeine is nice. I can live without it, but just a little stimulant makes it so much easier to work against the ADHD. ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/43 "2004-11-21T23:56:46Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > Would you ever use instant tea? Is there such an animal? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/44 "2004-11-22T01:52:10Z")
> [@Shrinking Violet](#): > > Is there such an animal? 😃 Sadly, yes. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/45 "2004-11-22T02:08:58Z")
> [@Shrinking Violet](#): > > Is there such an animal? 😃 [Take the Nestea Plunge.](http://www.nestea.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/46 "2004-11-22T02:42:16Z")
> [@The 27th Evil](#): > > Caffeine is nice. I can live without it, but just a little stimulant makes it so much easier to work against the ADHD. You might be able to tolerate caffeine if you eliminate the chemical middlemen, so to speak. Try to find [Penguin mints](http://www.peppermints.com/penguinmints.asp), little tins of candies with a caffeine kick to them. If you can stand Altoids and Certs and the like, you could do well with these. If you can’t take caffeine at all (and it does provoke gastric distress in me if I consume too much), well, you should find a different way to get a buzz. [Maybe guarana.](http://www.guarana.com/) Or you could try drinking really cold icewater and see if that does anything for you. (It gives me a nice little lift with none of the bad side effects of caffeine.) –Derleth, who knows a bit about OTC stimulants. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_27th\_Evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ebca7d/32.png) [@The\_27th\_Evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_27th_Evil)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/47 "2004-11-22T11:32:52Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > You might be able to tolerate caffeine if you eliminate the chemical middlemen, so to speak. Try to find [Penguin mints](http://www.peppermints.com/penguinmints.asp), little tins of candies with a caffeine kick to them. > > … > –Derleth, who knows a bit about OTC stimulants. 😉 Ooooh, I’d forgotten about Penguin mints! I love those things. And it’s not the caffeine, it’s the copious amounts of acid in all its most common sources that is causing the problems. ::Goes off to find stores selling Penguin mints:: Added: **Qadgop** , instant tea is indeed a travesty. Tea must be brewed fresh with loose leaf tea in a proper pot or in a press. Anything else is dishonoring such a noble beverage. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/48 "2004-11-22T11:58:27Z")
> [@Shrinking Violet](#): > > I still say a good quality freeze-dried instant is an acceptable everyday substitute … > > Any other Brits gonna chime in and tell me I’m not hopelessly depraved? 🙂 _waves_ Brit here. I find there’s a big difference between instant and ground. Even fancypants instant. I don’t smoke, and I think this may be a factor for you and your tastebuds. You drink whatever kind of coffee you want to, and I won’t look down on you for choosing Kenco or whatever (live and let live, man). I won’t agree with your assertion that instant is as good as ground, mind you. I agree that it’s got better since the 70s, but it hasn’t got better _enough_. Not by a long way. I’ll grind me own beans (when my grinder isn’t knackered), which is Teh Bestest. Next is getting the coffee shop to grind them - I’ll do this when I can be arsed to traipse all the way to Kendal town. Next best to that is getting ground coffee from the supermarket. Some of this is suprisingly nice - depends which supermarket. I like to dip a corner of my middleclass guilt in a cup of own-brand fairtrade. I know full well that getting the beans fresh roasted from the coffee shop and grinding them at home is best, but the supermarket coffee gives me a quality of coffee, that despite my awareness of its inferiority, I am happy to put up with. It’s above my taste threshold. I do use instant coffee for one thing, though - “nescafe frappé”, like the Greeks drink. That’s not so much coffee as a coffee flavoured long cold drink. Teaspoon of supermarket own-brand decaf instant, ice water, whisk up with frother, couple of ice cubes, dash of milk. Drink with a straw. ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/49 "2004-11-22T15:02:14Z")
> [@Tansu](#): > > I don’t smoke, and I think this may be a factor for you and your tastebuds. OK, I think you’re probably right. ☹ But will you confirm that “instant” is an everyday occurrence in the average British household - or am I coccooned in my own little world? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/50 "2004-11-22T15:18:26Z")
Oh aye, instant is very popular in the UK - especially in the workplace\* alongside tea. Consider it confirmed. _At work, of course, the order of the day is drinks that can be made very quickly with no equipment more sophisticated than a kettle_\*, and that result in no mess more messy than a used teabag. \*\* note to Shrinking Violet - you wanna know something odd about our American cousins? A lot of them don’t have kettles\*\*\* at home. No kettle! Imagine! \*\*\* tongue in cheek note to our American cousins - a kettle is a jug with an electric heating element that plugs into the mains and makes boiling water. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/51 "2004-11-22T15:26:02Z")
> [@Tansu](#): > > \*\*\* tongue in cheek note to our American cousins - a kettle is a jug with an electric heating element that plugs into the mains and makes boiling water. Do stovetop kettles count as kettles? 'Cause I’ve got a kettle that whistles to let me know the water is ready for my French Press coffee or tea. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/52 "2004-11-22T18:32:49Z")
Whistling kettle? OLDSKOOL! ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/53 "2004-11-22T18:51:45Z")
We have a kettle. We use it fairly often for tea. Although, I don’t like coffee. Never have, never will. I love the smell of it, but the second I taste it, I feel like I’m drinking liquid tree bark. I’m probably going to hell for that or something, aren’t I? E. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/54 "2004-11-23T06:40:36Z")
> [@Tansu](#): > > \*\* note to Shrinking Violet - you wanna know something odd about our American cousins? A lot of them don’t have kettles\*\*\* at home. No kettle! Imagine! > > \*\*\* tongue in cheek note to our American cousins - a kettle is a jug with an electric heating element that plugs into the mains and makes boiling water. I have a teakettle, non plugin type, it has to be heated on the stovetop, does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/55 "2004-11-23T11:09:08Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > I have a teakettle, non plugin type, it has to be heated on the stovetop, does that count? Only if you live in one of [these](http://www.debrady.com/gallery/battlefield%20glass/images/Caravan%201.jpg). 😃 No instant coffee? No _kettles_\*?? You’ll be telling me next Americans spray their cheese out of a can … 😛 - In the average British home, upon moving house the kettle is usually the first item unpacked at the new place. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791/56 "2004-11-23T14:26:37Z")
> [@Shrinking Violet](#): > > Only if you live in one of [these](http://www.debrady.com/gallery/battlefield%20glass/images/Caravan%201.jpg). 😃 \*I was born in the wagon of a travelin’ show My mama used to dance for the money they’d throw Papa would do whatever he could Preach a little gospel Sell a couple bottles of doctor good \* How stereotypically gay am I that I immediately thought of a Cher song. And yes, **Elza B** , you are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-true-coffee-addict/275791.md?page=2)