# What could be more "Cafe Society" than Coffee, right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** coffee\ **Created:** [May 9, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156 "2025-05-09T14:46:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/81 "2025-05-11T17:16:22Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > The BEST cup of coffee I ever had was Turkish coffee made by an old Arab guy who had set up a hot plate on a card table on a side street in Jerusalem. The best “Armenian” coffee I had was made by my Iranian friend with Armenian ancestry. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2025, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/82 "2025-05-11T21:26:38Z")
For more than 50 years, hot, French roast, Arabica whole bean, ground fresh and fine-ish each morning, in a Melitta pour-over rig, with about half a cup of heated low fat milk. Since the mid-80s, ordered from the same coffee roaster: [SLO Roasted Coffee](https://www.sloroasted.com/) I now pay about three times as much for a pound of their coffee than I did when they first started. The cost sucks, but it’s one of my most treasured pleasures in life so I bear it. They used to have regular sales, but not for the last couple of years. 😢 Started with paper filters when those were all that were available but switched to a reusable stainless steel filter many years ago. I can taste the chemicals used to make the paper filters, and it ruins the coffee for me. And I use a burr grinder now. One good, large cup per day with the milk, and if there is any left over and I want a bit more, the rest of the small pot added to the same cup and heated in the microwave with no additional milk. When I can’t brew my own: If it’s a choice between bad or mediocre coffee and no coffee, I will drink bad or mediocre without audible complaint. I have a good palate for wines and coffee, can discern lots of different notes. I do appreciate different roasts and beans. I _like_ different coffees but I don’t love them. For just myself, I want what I want. Periodically I have tried to find a different roaster closer to home, but no joy. None of them taste right to me. There’s a local roaster who was highly praised, so I went to his shop to pick up a pound. As soon as I walked in, the odor of burnt beans hit me in the schnozz. I bought a pound to be polite, but as I suspected, his beans were burnt. Ugh! I imagine my body will be found with the dog feasting on my toes and a cup of SLO Roasted clutched in my hand. That would be ok, so long as the dog is fine! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/83 "2025-05-12T00:48:53Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > The BEST cup of coffee I ever had was Turkish coffee made by an old Arab guy who had set up a hot plate on a card table on a side street in Jerusalem. Thanks for the nostalgia blast. There was a little place somewhere I used to live that made incredible Turkish coffee. I can see sitting there w my late wife savoring the yummy coffee and filtering the inevitable sludge between my teeth. Damned if I can place which city it was though. Memory be weird. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/84 "2025-05-12T12:37:54Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Periodically I have tried to find a different roaster closer to home, but no joy. None of them taste right to me. I get a bag of beans roasted locally occasionally as a gift. I appreciate the sentiment, but I agree - none of them have been any good, and I do give them a couple-three cups try, just to be sure. They’re either over-roasted (burned flavor) or under-roasted (which is sour-tasting to me). I just toss them and go back to my cheap, bulk, industrially roasted beans that give me that very consistent great cuppa. I’d like to support local roasters, but their product sucks. A friend of mine orders beans from a roaster in another city and has them delivered LOL. Can anyone else here accurately judge beans just by appearance? Some of these local ones, I look at them and just go “ugh”. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/85 "2025-05-12T17:33:24Z")
have you been to Whole Foods lately? They carry 360 ice cream with coffee chunks in it ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/86 "2025-05-12T17:45:53Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I appreciate the sentiment, but I agree - none of them have been any good, and I do give them a couple-three cups try, just to be sure. I’ve stopped looking for the local roaster who can compare with the one I use, so I will also be this person: > [@snowthx](#): > > A friend of mine orders beans from a roaster in another city and has them delivered LOL. When I first started buying beans from my roaster, he had just started his little roasting business as a way to not be bored in retirement. It was around the corner from where I lived at the time. My habit then was to get up at 4:30 a.m. and give my dog a 3-mile walk before getting ready for work. The whole little village was filled with the irresistible scent of quality roasting coffee beans! It never, ever smelled burnt. My then-husband and I just had to know more. We stopped in for a squiz around the place one day, met the owner and got schooled for more than 2 hours on the proper way to roast, store, grind and prepare excellent coffee. The guy was obviously knowledgeable and a true fanatic. The little roasting business quickly outgrew its tiny digs, they moved into a larger facility and then ultimately built the facility where they are now. When the owner was ready to fully retire, he gave the place, now worth multi-millions, to his children to run. They’ve carried on his quality controls so far as I can tell. So yeah, I’m just like your friend. 😉 It works for me! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/87 "2025-05-12T17:58:23Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > have you been to Whole Foods lately? They carry 360 ice cream with coffee chunks in it Sadly, it has too much caffeine for me to drink it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/88 "2025-05-12T18:03:26Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > When I lived in Miami, I got hooked on cafe cubano/cafecito served in demitasse cups—aka rocket fuel. One of these will have your heart doing salsa beats in no time. The Portuguese version of that is called a “bica”, which I’m assuming is short for Arabica. When my son came for a visit, he went out to work with a local crew to make a few bucks. When he came back he was acting a bit strange and was talking nonstop. I asked him how things went and he said “Okay. Well, I didn’t have any money for food but the guys were buying me these little cups of coffee so I wasn’t very hungry.” When I asked how many bicas he had, he said he thought it was “eight or twelve”. 😬 ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/89 "2025-05-12T18:16:57Z")
‘If I wanted a cup of cream and sugar, I wouldn’t have asked for coffee.’ I grind the beans at the store, keep them in my freezer, and make drip coffee on demand. I like a touch of hazelnut, but not very much so I may mix some with regular beans when I buy them. I dislike ‘Americanos’ and will choose expresso over them. Having said all that, my need for caffeine outweighs any elitism I have and I will consume starbucks or work coffee before I’ll go without. Work coffee is so bad I put milk in it. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/90 "2025-05-12T18:22:51Z")
puzzlegal, I did say ice cream ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/91 "2025-05-12T18:23:19Z")
No Whole Foods where I live! But I don’t feel deprived, there are always options, including making my own. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/92 "2025-05-12T18:23:43Z")
I meant, it has to much caffeine for me to eat it. I can eat some brands of coffee ice cream, but not others. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/93 "2025-05-12T18:33:22Z")
Caffeine like a bastard and cream and sugar. I like the hi-test. It’s my only vice. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/94 "2025-05-12T19:06:45Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > ‘If I wanted a cup of cream and sugar, I wouldn’t have asked for coffee.’ One hell of a lot of e.g. Starbucks customers would seem to disagree with you. I’m on your team here, but we’re definitely increasingly in the minority. Increasingly the standard order for the younger set seems to be > Can I have a tall cup of ice, [insert trendy plant substitute] ‘milk’, a tablespoon of sugar, and 3 tablespoons of caramel sundae sauce? … Oh yeah, and 3 drops of coffee. Please. The only thing less effective than yelling at clouds is yelling at the people lin line ahead of you ordering their afternoon froufrou. And they won’t even get off your (really my) lawn neither. Damn kids and their meddlesome dog! ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/95 "2025-05-12T20:38:30Z")
Back when I was doing my residency at a hospital in Miami, the cafeteria was the unofficial pre-op meeting spot. Most of the surgeons—many of them Cuban—and the residents would gather there before sunrise to throw back one or two café Cubanos to power up for the long cases ahead. One of the orthopedic surgeons—a wild Russian guy—often showed up with a suspicious dusting of powder on his nose. I guess he needed a bit more of a pick-me-up. But hey, it was the '80s. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/96 "2025-05-12T22:26:40Z")
“This is some serious gourmet shit! Usually, me and Vince would be happy with some freeze-dried Taster’s Choice right, but he springs this serious GOURMET shit on us! What flavour is this?” I like lots of cream and sweetener. Not blackety black black at all… ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/97 "2025-05-12T22:28:08Z")
Thank you.☕ ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/98 "2025-05-13T11:27:05Z")
I was brought up on percolator coffee, mid-morning only. There was then, unusually, a coffee roaster shop in the High Street of our ordinary London suburb, with the roaster machine in the window, and it was a bit of an event to go and just watch (snd smell) it Now I just have plain black filter coffee from a Fairtrade supplier: > **[Machu Picchu - Cafédirect](https://www.cafedirect.co.uk/products/machu-picchu/beans/)** > > Rich. Full-bodied. Dark chocolate leads. Roasted hazelnut. A hint of citrus and red fruits. Grown high in the Peruvian Andes, this coffee’s rich flavour carries the depth of its mountainous origin. It’s as bold as Machu Picchu. Organic. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/99 "2025-05-13T16:42:22Z")
Espresso. Can be straight espresso, even a ristretto, or with a little bit of cream, or some milk, or lots of milk. Rarely sugar. Sometimes schnapps (fruit brandy), especially in the evening after dinner. The only time I drink brewed coffee is if I’m at a restaurant (diner) that’ll leave a carafe on the table. I have a French press and moka pot for back up, in case the espresso machine needs servicing. Beans are ground in a burr grinder. Coffee beans are normally Starbucks, as that’s my husband’s favorite brand. Sumatra is the default, but he’ll buy anything, as long as it’s not “blonde roast”. We buy other beans as well, either from a local roaster (there are several in the region - one of them we can smell at work) or when we’re traveling. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156/100 "2025-05-13T16:47:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Increasingly the standard order for the younger set seems to be > > > Can I have a tall cup of ice, [insert trendy plant substitute] ‘milk’, a tablespoon of sugar, and 3 tablespoons of caramel sundae sauce? … Oh yeah, and 3 drops of coffee. Please. Hey, that’s a tasty milkshake, and usually folks order it with enough regular coffee to get their caffeine kick from it. What’s not to like? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-more-cafe-society-than-coffee-right/1018156.md?page=6)