Do you gottahaveitfirstthingordie? Can you take it or leave it? How much do you consume daily?
Your favorite brands, methods, additives, special ways-and-wherefores?
Would you rather have tea?
Random comments, anecdotes, reminiscences welcome.
I have a Keurig machine, and I like how easy it is, plus there are a zillion flavors available online and at Bed, Bath, and Beyond (oddly). I also have a stovetop moka pot (top and bottom screw together), and an Aeropress. Got a clear glass stovetop pot like Mama had at a garage sale, but in spite of good advice from Dopers on how to use it, I have yet to take it for a spin. I like the way it looks sitting on the stove, however. Makes me feel grownup (which I ought to feel by now, one would think…)
I have a kimono hanging on my bedroom wall from when I was three years old in Japan, and next to it is a framed photo of me at that age wearing that kimono, sitting at the dining table reading a comic book and drinking coffee. No kidding. I gave it up soon thereafter and didn’t resume drinking it until I was in my 30’s.
I’m an old traditionalist. I prefer a nice cappucino (a small, italian sized one, not those stupid buckets you get in Starbucks). Two thirds espresso, one third foamy milk. Warm enough to slurp properly, not hot enough to remove skin.
My weapon of choice is a classic gaggia and proper espresso ground Illy black-band coffee.
2 large cups, with half & half, every morning. I’m not alive until I have my coffee.
Coffee is from a local roaster who is incredibly good. Fresh-ground, made in my Capresso drip maker. Although I am experimental with most foods, I find that in the morning, I want my favorite coffee prepared my favorite way, and am not much into experimenting. It’s only with great regret that I occasionally give Mr. Athena the go-ahead to buy a different blend than my favorite, and I only grudgingly drink it until coming back to my wonderful happy blend.
I love the way it looks, particularly the nice tan color after cream is added.
I love the warmth of the cup as I hold it.
I love the effects of the caffeine.
I love the way it smells.
However, despite that wonderful smell, coffee is one of the most vile tasting subjects ever discovered. Why do think so much is added to it just to drink it down?
I drink two cups of black coffee every morning that is made in my home. I have the Cuisinart maker that grinds the beans (or not, you can choose). It’s a good cup of Coffee.
When I am allowing myself a treat, I enjoy a nonfat mocha from Starbucks. When I am throwing all thought of calories out the window, I especially love the Pumpkin Spice Coffees that are available this time of year. Chai tea is pretty good too.
If they would not make me fat, I would drink those yummy treats all day. Now I really want one of course and it’s weigh in day at work, so I can’t have one. Darn!
I’m not particularly picky. On the advice of someone in a previous coffee thread here, I started adding salt to the grounds and it’s been a fabulous addition. It really makes it mild and delicious. Other than that, I like buying hazelnut beans periodically, and I have to have half-and-half (say that three times fast!) in every cup. Well, I work I keep Italian cream coffee-mate in the fridge, since it’s made of chemicals and unknown substances, and will keep longer.
One cup of coffee every morning, made in my Aeropress the upside down method (thanks to the Dope!). Coffee is usually bought from Whole Foods, or when I know I will be somewhere longer than 3 months, Counter Culture coffee. Pretty much have to have the one cup before noon or I risk the dreaded withdrawal headache. Plus it makes me hungry!
I buy coffee at Starbucks and make it at home. Haven’t had an actual Starbucks coffee in years(one they make there I mean), but the quality of the beans you can get there is pretty good. Tastes totally different from the burned crap they serve there.
I make it on a conical filter, one-cup-at-a-time coffee maker. Seems like the easiest way to control the quality.
When I buy pre-made coffee, which is quite rare, I go to either Dunkin Donuts or Tim Horntons. Possibly McDonalds
The best, to me, is actually Dunkin Donuts. Tim Horntons gets a lot of praise from people, but I think it might be a fad thing because it isn’t nationwide(USA) yet. Honestly, it’s pretty good, but a bit overrated.
Hmmm…does McDonald’s in Canada also remove the apostrophe from the name so they don’t have to have a separate French sign? Never thought about it before.
I have two cups of coffee almost every morning. At work I have a small Mr. Coffee for my own personal use. On the weekends I use a moka pot. I adulterate my joe with yuppie creamer (Coffee-mate Crème Brûlée) and fake sugar (Sweet ‘n’ Low liquid).
Amen! So do I, although when I tell people that, they take one look at my wife and then ask for clarification
I drink Folgers classic roast- wait, what…? (waits for booing and hissing to subside)
I also have a French press and a bialetti moka pot, but I actually make my morning cup (I use a beer mug) with one of those baskets that sit on top of the mug. Put a spoonful of grounds in a filter in the basket, pour in the hot water. Done
Now, I used to be a coffee snob. I have a friend who lives in Hilo, and she sent me some $30/lb kona coffee. That was good. Anything from Stumptown roasters in Portland is good. I had an expensive electric drip machine plus a very expensive countertop espresso maker. I loved my coffee
Then one day, at work, I was drinking some of the industrial sludge they kept in a big urn (this was in a nursing home, so the communal dining room had a big, 50 or so cup drip machine). I doctored it with powdered creamer and splenda, and… it was actually ok. So I switched to Folgers, and use splenda and milk. I can’t justify spending big bucks every month on what is IMHO a trivial difference. In fact, all the specialty roasts available by the pound at most supermarkets (Millstone is the brand most common around here) is complete crap. Before I switched to cheap coffee I always got the ‘hawaiian’ blend, because it was somewhat less bitter then French roast, which is gross, but still had a strong flavor. The idea of spending $3 or $4 on a Starbucks every morning is ludicrous to me.
Besides, has anyone seen that YouTube video with that Starbucks barista singing about what a shitty job he has? There’s one part where he sings about running out of what they ordered and subbing decaf instead without telling them… I imagine that happens quite often IRL.
Two cups of drip local roast in the morning with half & half and sweetener. We used to only drink cold-brewed coffee, but have gotten lazy in our old age.
I drink about 3-4 cups a day. My regular brand is Thomas, a St. Louis brand that’s pretty good for a canned coffee. Other favorites are Dunkin Donuts dark roast, Eight O’Clock Columbian Roast, and Starbucks Espresso Blend. I love a good, strong cup of black coffee.
I have a Keurig, it was an unexpected Christmas gift last year. I love it. It’s really nice because I like flavored coffees and my boyfriend doesn’t. This way we’re both happy.
I usually have one cup that I nurse throughout the day at work. Makes my co-workers think I’m a big caffeine junkie because they always see a partial cup of coffee on my desk.
My first experience with coffee came from my Granny when I was about 14 or so. I was at her house having lunch, and she just poured me a cup without thinking about it. I tasted it, liked it, and kept drinking. Later on she asked, “Do you even drink coffee?” I said, “I do now!” Thanks, Gran!
Let’s see…how the coffee goes in the 8404-Plankton household. Suburban Plankton gets up first and starts the coffee and then takes a shower and does whatever he does in the mornings. Then he brings me a cup in bed to wake me up about half an hour later. He pours about half the pot into his travel mug and I end up drinking 1-2 more cups before I’m out the door with the Kiddo.
We have Peet’s coffee delievered to the house so we never run out. We have a KitchenAid thermal carafe style coffee maker. We both like it strong, black, no sugar.
I’m not too picky, but I find that Pete’s House Blend is right at my speed. But when I’m at work I’m not above drinking the institutional coffee.
On the Pete’s, I’ve tried getting it in bean form, but my palate is not sufficiently sensitive to notice a difference between pre-ground and fresh-ground. Not worth the trouble.
I use my grinder and my French press at home to make coffee my girlfriend claims as “broken” her for other coffee.
At her house, ironically, we use the Keurig I got her for Christmas last year.
I, too, like my coffee like I like my women: pale and sweet. I put a lot of half & half and so much Splenda in mine that I’m actually something of an urban legend at the coffee house up the road from my work.
I also drink my coffee a little cooler than most people think is ideal. To this I tell most people to drink their own coffee and leave mine alone.
Two cups in the morning, made with my Aeropress, using the upside-down method. In the late afternoon, I’ll often have another cup, and I’ll usually make this with my Hario V60.
No cream, no sugar. I like my coffee black… like my soul.
For beans, I like to roast my own. I have a Fresh Roast plus 8, which is nice, but not great. I’d love to upgrade to a better roaster someday, one that gives you more control and lets you roast more at a time (you can only roast 3oz. at a time with the one I have now). I get the unroasted beans from Sweet Maria’s.
If I’m being lazy and have run out of beans to roast myself, there’s a roaster not too far away from me I’ll go to.
I do also own a French Press, which I’ll break out from time to time, but I find I like the Aeropress better. I also own a Keurig, which was a present a while back, which is okay; it wasn’t as bad as this coffee snob thought it was going to be once I found the right pods to use, but it’s still never going to be my preferred method. I also own a Cuisinart drip coffee maker, which I haven’t used in a while, but I will use if I have to make coffee for several people at once.
A Chemex will likely be my next coffee-making purchase.
I used to drink it a lot more than I do now but had to cut back for health reasons, especially in the evening. But in the morning during the week, I’ll have two or three big mugs of instant Moccona coffee, then sometimes an iced coffee in the afternoons. On the weekends and holidays, when the wife is home too, we’ll have Starbucks drip together. If we’re out and about on the weekends, it’s not unusual for me to grab a big Cappuccino Grande at Starbucks or some similar place and with an extra shot of espresso.
Except for the cappucinos and iced coffee, I always take my coffee black.
I also use the Aeropress upside down method. In fact, I showed this method to the proprietor of a local coffeehouse and she was pretty danged impressed with ME.
Novelty Bobble: You are so right that Illy coffee is fabulous. And the cans are great to use later for other stuff–quite elegant.
I’m sort of thick, but so bitter it might make up for being white. Maybe we can work something out. Lancia: I think Folgers coffee is quite good. In fact, Folgers pods for the Keurig make very good coffee.
I attend a community college, and in the lunchroom is this big, honking Nescafe coffee machine that gives you choices of brewed-on-the-spot coffee, some of them with Abuelitachocolate mixed in. The cafe con leche produced by this push-button machine is insanely, inexplicably, addictively good. The coffee with Abuelita chocolate is also very good. The machine is as big as a refrigerator. I’m wondering if one will fit in my kitchen…
