Coffee... [Matthew's Journal]

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There are 38 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

To explain my possibly somewhat confused answer:

I used to drink far too much coffee, at which point I did actually like it. I weaned myself off it after realising just how much of it I was drinking, and now don't really like it: it tends to taste much too bitter for me. Decent instant coffees are my preference these days because they're less bitter; Khymos recently suggested adding a small amount of salt, which sounds odd, but I've found does also help a bit. I still treat coffee as nasty-tasting medicine, though.

Actually, if I have any around, I now get emergency caffeine fixes from ProPlus washed down with tea (if it's really needed), on the basis that it's not going to be any worse for me than the coffee...

Other half usually adds a tiny amount of salt and cocoa to the filter when he makes very strong coffee.

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I had seen references to salt in coffee before (usually as "proper naval coffee", without explanation), but until recently I'd never seen the science behind it.

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I like coffee. It *really* doesn't like me...

I can occasionally have a decaf boozy coffee if it's cushioned with a large meal. That's about it.

I did used to enjoy the occasional decaf cappuccino with banana syrup, mind. And possibly if I can recover a little more from the GAD I might be able to have that again sometime, for it is Most Tasty.

Coffee is best served as cake, with walnuts; then it's delicious! Otherwise, no thank you.

Similar to my thinking, except I'd have it without the nuts. I chose other for the first question because I like it in chocolate or cake (or chocolate cake) but not as a drink.

That said, I do like the smell of fresh coffee (beans and drink). I'm not a huge step away from liking it as a drink, but haven't managed it yet.

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When I was a kid my dad didn't drink coffee and my mum drank Nescafe muck. And I have a slight dairy intolerance.

Clearly, with my more adult and refined tastes, I should be having a go at proper strong black coffee, but somehow I never get around to it.

The main reason I don't like coffee is because the intake of caffeine actually makes me feel nauseous - I don't have the same reaction to tea, but coffee for some reason is just Too Much. I do like coffee-flavoured chocolate and ice-cream, though.

Ground freshly from beans every morning.

Coffee?

Meh.

I like mocha 'cos it's chocolate flavoured.

These days, I have soy milk...

Not enough configurations! Or enough types of coffee. Lovely, lovely coffee.

That's slightly unfair. Let me expand a bit. I would distinguish between the following types, at a minimum and then move on to different grinds/roasts:

Stovetop espresso coffee
French press/cafetiere coffee
Percolator coffee
Filter coffee made with a cone filter and paper
Cowboy coffee (grounds poured into a saucepan of boiling water then filtered out with a tea strainer/handkerchief/bandanna or left to gather at the bottom of the cup)

Then obviously you have to determine whether you want a dark roast (I favour this, along with many Americans), an Italian roast which is good for cafetiere and espresso coffee, a French roast which is good for percolators, filters and French press or a light roast which is good for elderly maiden aunts with trembly nerve conditions. You have to consider the grind, too: espresso is much more finely ground than filter or French press, which is in turn finer than percolator. But you shouldn't grind the coffee and then leave it before using it, because with the increased surface area the oils go rancid quite quickly. You can keep it in the freezer but that does funny things to the oils, too cos of breaking down the cell walls, I expect.

Finally: cold milk, cream, steamed milk, heated milk and foam are all different things. Then you have to consider whether or not you want the cream to float on top as with fancy liquer coffee, in which case you pour it off the back of a spoon (were you around when I learned this? I am pretty sure it was in the company of

robert_jones) and obviously you may want to add flavoured syrups, liquers or chocolate. I think the best way to make coffee into a mocha is to add fine chocolate powder to the milk, but some people like Hershey chocolate syrup instead.

Of the instant, we do not speak.

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Wait: a french press is something different from a cafetiere?

You've omitted the Aeropress method for making coffee, although since the only time I made you coffee this way you mistook it for instant, perhaps this merely represents your comtempt for it.

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No, the fact that they are separated only by / indicates that French presses and cafetieres are the same thing called different names. Also known as a press pot.

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But you indicate that Italian roast is good for cafetieres and French for french presses?

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Do you differentiate stovetop espresso machines from the sort of device you find in coffee shops?

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Massively different.

Also, domestic espresso machines should be seperated into boiler pressure vs pump pressure, as they make very different quality brews. A domestic eectric espresso machine with at least 15 bar pump pressure is the closest you'll get to cafe espresso. Mind you, I didn't have a single decent espresso coffee in England, and the only good stuff I did get was plunger coffee in Ambleside.

Come visit, and I will introduce you to goooood coffee. We have a city that's famous for it, for Melbourne is full of Italians and poseurs. ;-)

And FWIW, yes I did once work as a barista.

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...also, to plagiarise madly, the best possible answer to a hot drink preference question comes from a lesbian acquaintance who likes her tea 'like she likes her men...lukewarm, weak and ultimately unsatisfying'.

*giggle*

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My answer is, truly, sometimes. Half the time it's appealing and the other half the time it makes me nauseated. I've no clue why. Weird, that.

But I am also a total coffee wimp.

As an addition to your last pool, "...with lots and lots of cinnamon."

Other -- I quite like coffee, but am horribly sensitive to caffeine and I don't enjoy insomnia and thus drink very little of it. I made what I thought was decaf cafetiere coffee the other week after dinner and was awake until 6am.

When I was in Cambridge I drank more than I do now -- cafetiere or coffee machine coffee with breakfast after morning prayer. Now, my intake tends to be after Mass on a Sunday and generally instant, though visiting LSM last week meant I got proper coffee.

Also Turkish/Greek/Arabic coffee, which is the best sort of coffee in the world. Cafetière coffee is better than filter IMO.

Sugar in espresso, instant and Turkish, but not in filter/cafetière.

[X] Instant decaf with lots of milk and honey

Totally blown away when we had lunch at the Harbour Master in Aberaeron and got served filter coffee with a jug of hot milk to go in it. Perfection.

At home we now habitually have a half-caf blend using 50% regular and 50% decaf ground coffee (usually get from that chap on Cambridge market who mixes both types of beans and then grinds them together). That way I can have 2-3 cups and not feel over stimulated.

I also have the attitude that I gave up smoking so an overfondness for coffee is no big deal ;)

I have a cup of decaf with sweetener in the afternoon as it usually satisfies my craving for biscuits.

You know, this data does begin to explain how Starbucks sustains multiple branches. I'd always assumed they were heavily reliant on their income from tea and grown-up milkshakes.

I'd always assumed they were reliant on convincing people that going to McDonald’s makes you sophisticated.

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What sort of coffee do you like is rather complicated. It depends on situation. I'll happily drink almost any kind of coffee, depending on circumstances. (Like I'll drink almost any kind of wine, if provided by other people. If providing wine myself, I'll be a lot pickier.)

If having coffee after a meal, I will have espresso where possible, with sugar. If having coffee at work, I'll have a cappucino or latte (real Italians will faint). Otherwise, I'll have coffee. The nastier the coffee, the more milk and sugar I'll want to make it palatable. (So coffee provided in the 1st class of Virgin trains requires 2 little milk thingies plus two sugars to even make it into my mouth.)

However, generally, I prefer to have tea.

Very occasionally with a good strong coffee a little sugar is a nice addition, but having given up on real milk as a student because it never kept long enough to be worth buying (and finding UHT or powdered milk to be vile) I no longer actually like coffee with milk in. It's OK in tea, but somehow in coffee it always seems too greasy.

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I drink black coffee mainly for the health benefits, but I've most certainly acquired the taste of over-done, semi-stale coffee... owing to years of working overnight shifts where I'm the only person there, so the coffee sits for 4 or 5 hours before I get to the bottom of the pot.

Still, it's aces for insulin sensitivity, so coffee shall stay in my diet.

Milk?

Sugar?

I do not adulterate the Sacrament. Except, occasionally, with brandy.

Love coffee: strong and with a hint of milk (short macchiato or piccolo latte). Unfortunately (1) I'm not supposed to drink coffee while thyroidy, and (2) I'm currently lactose intolerant. I miss coffee. On the plus side, I'm developing an impressive tea collection.

That's deeply unfair! I gave up coffee for lent a couple of years back, and my office-mate told me never to do so again...

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Whilst my preferences are fairly picky, I will happily drink coffee that isn't exactly-what-I-wanted (I do like to know what it is that I'm getting though, and people who pass off Americano as filter or vv are irritating). I do try to avoid Nescafe on account of a)evil and b)vile.

On the other hand I absolutely do not tolerate the addition of any milk (cow or otherwise) or sugar (including flavoured syrups) in my coffee (or tea). Non-sweet alcohol might be OK (but I've not tried it). This appears to be more socially acceptable with coffee than tea (dunno why).

I really dislike coffee. If I take a sip by mistake, I won't throw up, but I will grimace and try to spit it out and / or rinse my mouth out.

I like tea, and drink too much of it.

I broke my coffee habit (which used to be a heavy-use one) when I was 19 or 20, because drinking it made me remember someone who'd just broken my heart and I was fed up with bursting into tears when I drank it!!
But I like it occasionally, only if it's very good. The smell is fantastic, especially slow-roasted beans.

The only thing wrong with coffee is that it fails to be as nice as freshly ground coffee beans smell. Otherwise it's lovely stuff.

June