This may sound like a stupid question with an obvious answer, but I’m gonna ask anyways - do these “milks” taste like the nuts they’re made from? I’ve never found a place where I could sample these, and I really don’t want to but a whole quart of something I might hate.
Thanks.
This is a link to a local indie coffee shop, but these guys are passionate about their coffee and the latest post is about different coffees and taking them without milk & sugar.
Might be of interest; they talk about a load of different names.
One of my favorites is Trader Joe’s Bay Blend. It comes in a blue can. Good flavor, not too acidic.
Maybe they are just very large cups. Did you ever consider that he/she might be a giant?
I had three roommates who, between them went through a five pound bag of sugar every week. They would also go through a large (half-quart?) carton of heavy whipping cream and be fussing about not having enough by Saturday. All that just for their coffee! Craziness.
ETA: I just did a quick calculation, that was nearly 4 ounces of sugar each, every day!!!
All the Coffee Snobs on the Internet say that brewing methods, brands, roasts and types of coffee are the second thing you should worry about. First step – no matter what you’re doing - is to get a coffee grinder. As in using fresh-ground cheapest-beans-you-can-find in a $5 Mister Coffee is going to be better than preground limited-edition hand-roasted beans brewed in a thermostat-controlled custom hand pour by an award-winning champion barista.
My own, very limited, unscientific testing is that my still-drinks-dunkin-donuts-palate I can tell an improvement going from pre-ground to fresh-ground coffee beans.
So, yeah, buy a grinder and a Mr Coffee (or, if an extra step makes you appreciate it more, a french press) and try some light-roast and dark-roast beans to see what you like. Maybe go to a Starbucks or fancy coffee place for comparison.
Also, you could try espresso. Not saying you will like it, and if you do like it, it could be the path to Coffee Snobbery and madness, but espresso is smoother and often less bitter than plain black coffee. It’s also much stronger, so not everyone’s, um, cup of tea, but worth a shot.
Since I drink my coffee black (and have for a decade), my first thought to the OP was “coffee has carbs?”
You could just try weaning your self off the sugar entirely, slowly. One thing I have to say is…make the coffee strong. Weak coffee tastes horrible black. Making it stronger actually improves the flavor and reduces any aftertaste.
I’ve never had coffee from the cold water extraction method before. As I’m a french press drinker—from what I’ve read, basically the polar opposite in terms of extract and intensity—I doubt I’d like it. De gustibus, and all of that.
As far as what coffees you might like, Quercus’s advice to start with whole beans and grind them yourself, is a good idea. I’ve had and liked pre-ground coffee, but even I’ll admit its intensity doesn’t last as long as whole bean. You could always buy your own green beans, and roast them yourself…but that always struck me as way too much effort and money.
Once you’ve decided to start with whole beans, I think it’d be useful to try some of the ends of the coffee bell curve. Some of what I’m about to write comes from Corby Kummer’s, “The Joy of Coffee,” a useful, fairly small, book about all things coffee. He mentions that the coffees from Tanzania, as a whole, are fairly similar to those from Kenya, which are really known for their acidity, “[G]ood ones have a winy acidity.” So, if you like Tanzania, you’ll probably like Kenya. If you want to try a coffee that’s much heavier, and nowhere near as “bright” as a Tanzania, I recommend one from Sumatra or Sulawesi (Celebes). These coffees can be extremely thick, dark, oily and rich. I love 'em. About the wine-iest coffees going are the ones from Yemen or Ethiopia. They are “unwashed” coffees, with very complicated aromas. I slightly prefer Sana’ani to Harrar or Yirgacheffe, but all are very interesting. For examples of “complete” coffees—sort of does everything well, and is remarkable for its outstanding balance—I like good Kona (there’s a lot of bad ones and unscrupulous blends) and Tarrazu from Costa Rica.
“Peaberry”, according to Kummer, is “simply a common botanical peculiarity… Some people think that peaberries have better flavor, and others don’t.” Go to a good coffee shop, one that will make it cup by cup for you, try some of the above (or browse around the linked Sweet Maria’s site—what a selection!) side by side and see what you like.
I did try espresso last night. First, a quadruple espresso which I liked. Then a few hours later I got a quadruple espresso with whipped cream which wasn’t exactly low on carbs and fat but did taste quite good.
I think I’ll experiment with espressos (café-bought at least for now) and grinding my own beans then letting the freshly ground coffee cold soak for varying lengths of time.
Great idea!