Coffee drinkers wanted for advice

[Chris]

On advice of my doctor, I'm trying to kick the soda habit.  A few cans of Pepsi through the day...okay, more like 8-10...is doing bad things to my body. When I commented on the caffeine, the doc suggests that I learn to enjoy a good cup or two of coffee during the day, maybe one cup from Starbucks or Caribou in the morning for the caffeine kick.

Sounds good, but I don't know squat about coffee.  I mean, I drank some while I was in the Army, but never enjoyed the taste.  It was only for the heat and the caffeine.

So, what I'm looking for is coffee advice.  What should I try?  Taste wise, I enjoy chocolate, so something flavored that way wouldn't be bad.  Otherwise, I've been a soda drinker for so long, I'm probably addicted to the sweet as well as the caffeine. Or, is coffee kind of like beer, an acquired taste?  

Advice is greatly appreciated.

[Guest]

I can't help but think that if you start drinking coffee that is loaded with sugar, milk, and chocolate, that you wont really be doing much better than the pepsi.

[Sindawe]

1. Buy a GOOD coffee maker.  Opinions differ on the best means of brewing (french press vs. drip vs. perculator).  Personally I prefer a perculator over a drip.

2. Buy a coffee grinder and whole beans. Keep the beans in the fridge in an air tight container until ready to brew.

3. Use cold freshly drawn water when making coffee.

4. Once its brewed, take it off the heat right away.  Put in a thermal bottle to keep it warm.

If you're longing for chocolate, a teaspoon of a powdered chocolate mix (like hot chocolate) works nice to flavor the coffee.  As does a stick or two of cinnamon ground up with the beans.

I like my coffee black, no sugar. If I want some sweetness, I'll add a bit of honey (no granulated sucrose in my house) or some Sambuca if its a Sunday morning.

If all you're after is a sweet caffeine buzz, this http://www.monsterenergy.com/scripts/me_productLoCarb.php is my favorite.  Tastes like liquid sweet tarts and packs a good jolt of caffeine.

[BrokenPaw]

cas,

I know you're asking about coffee specifically, but if you're a soda drinker like me, and you're interested in the caffeine kick, you might try switching to diet soda.  Diet Mountain Dew and Diet Dr. Pepper taste pretty similar to the non-diet versions of themselves.  

I switched from an 8-10 cans of non-diet Coke to a similar intake of diet mountain dew, and lost many pounds.

Just a thought.

-BP

[TarpleyG]

Diet sodas are a lot better for you if you must drink soda and I prefer them now to the sticky mess I was drinking before.  That said, I found that I like the "fizz" more than anything so I started drinking seltzer/club soda/sparkling water and pretty much drink that all day now.  I have a diet Coke once a day and sometimes 2.  I like milk with dinner but stick to skim milk.  Also, you might try iced tea.  Not much caffeine but it's something else to drink that isn't as bad as soda.  If you are just after the caffeine, slowly reduce your intake over a few weeks and wean yourself off it.  As for coffee, I prefer plain old Dunkin Donuts with a tad of cream and Sweet & Low.

Greg

[Paddy]

Why you should kick the soda habit

As for coffee, I only drink 100% Columbian,black, ground fresh, drip coffeemaker.

[K Frame]

Consider cold brewing your coffee with a Toddy-style system.

You brew a concentrate that you add to hot water.

The results are QUITE amazing.

[Stickjockey]

+1 on:

*whole beans and a grinder

*cold water. Preferrably filtered, not straight from the tap.

*percolator (Anyone know where to find one?)

Also, if you aren't into bitter, try stirring just a few grains of salt into your cupful.

[K Frame]

"Also, if you aren't into bitter, try stirring just a few grains of salt into your cupful."

If you're not into bitter, skip the salt and watch your brewing temperature.

185 to 190 deg. F. is pretty close to perfect for brewing a flavorful, but not bitter, cup of coffee.

The closer you get to 200 deg. F the more bitter components you pull from the coffee.

If you get to 205 to 210 and try to brew coffee, it's going to taste like a family of skunks shat in it.


Another thing to remember is that no matter what your brewing apparatus, KEEP IT CLEAN!

I normally double wash my coffee pot (an insulated Nissan French Press).

Nothing will make expensive, high quality coffee taste like year-old Folger's faster than stale, rancid coffee oils.

[French G.]

Try some hot teas if you can't hack coffee. Some such as English Breakfast tea have plenty of caffiene, other herbals have no caffeine. Get some Penguin mints, taste like Altoids, loaded with caffeine. If it is a drink thing, try substituting a V-8 or water. If it is a carbonation thing, try mixing some seltzer water with a fruit juice you like. I am convinced that as the sole interface between your bloodstream and the outside world your gums are very important. The best thing for my mouth has been cutting back soda to near nothing.

  Give coffee another shot also, try some different kinds black. As said, no gains with coffee if you drop a pound of sugar in it. The military often doesn't have primo coffee, nor primo makers of coffee. It really is a wonderful beverage if done correctly.

     I don't know about diet sodas, I can notice my body react to nearly any artificial sweetner. aspartame gives me headaches and the occasional weird reaction. Last time I had a Coke C2 my anthrax injection sites swelled up and started itching. That was 3 months ago, haven't had an anthrax shot since '99. Maltitol or Splenda taste better, but when they say laxative effect they aren't kidding. I am carefully picking my way through some sugar free candy I got for Christmas, two pieces a day seems to be the maximum permissible exposure. Of course on slow days at work I just leave the bag sit out and fail to warn others. I had some cookies baked with splenda once, really made me sensitive to spatial disorientation, I'd lay under a car and lose it pretty much every time I stood up. So, I suspect almost any fake sweetner. Now we know margarine is worse than butter, fake fat is not prevalent since no one enjoys anal seepage, and artificial sweetners will probably kill you. Life is too short, so I will eat real butter, realsteaks, drink ice cold whole milk, and use real sugar when I want it. I try to moderate, that's about it.

[Sindawe]

*percolator (Anyone know where to find one?)

http://about.pricegrabber.com/search.php?form_keyword=Farberware%20Percolators&mode=about_coffeetea&skd=1  I use the 12 cup model at home.  Still on my 2nd unit in 15 years.  I have a non-electric one I use for camping, same as my parents had for years.  Look at Wally World or Target as well.

[Chris]

I can't help but think that if you start drinking coffee that is loaded with sugar, milk, and chocolate, that you wont really be doing much better than the pepsi.

Okay, you're close to hitting the nail on the head.  The doc has said a cup of Starbucks special high calorie coffee a day, not 8-10 cups, like I'm doing with Pepsi.  The calories aren't helping the wasteline, which in terms isn't helping the blood pressure.  And, the soda (carbonation, acid, etc.) combined with a high stress job and love of spicy food, ain't doing much good for my stomach.

Hence, my New Year's Self-Bet.  I've done it before, and it has worked.  Pick an item I really want.  Save money for the item.  Goal date is always my birthday (10/8), so I have ten months.  This year, the goal is to weigh less than 210 lbs (currently 247), reduce my blood pressure, and my cholesterol.  Basically, get my body back into shape.  Not 185 lbs end of Amry basic training shape.  Just pretty good shape.  The reward?  Sig Sauer 232, a gun I've lusted after for years.

[charby]

I mostly drink coffee at work, either Folgers or Maxwell House, basically whatever is on sale when the secretary goes shopping. Its brewed in a Bun drip system. Not the greatest but tasted the best right when it gets done brewing. I put about three teaspoons of non dairy creamer in a 16oz cup and drink about 3-4 a day. Not for the taste but for the caffeine

At home I have a small stove top Italian made espresso maker and I grind my own beans, I prefer pea berry beans. It makes about three shots of espresso per pot and I dump this into a 10oz coffee cup and fill up with cold 2% milk.

I know I am weird but what the hell.

Charby

[mfree]

Ok. Here we go. My blood runs black with java, so I figure I'll chime in.

1. Regular drip is the way to go on the cheap. Get a gold-plated basket style filter and wash it often, and make sure *all* the soap is gone. Nonbleached paper is next best. Bleached paper leaves an aftertaste.

2. French press is *really* good but *really* labor intensive.

3. Percolators boil coffee. Period. Bad mojo, though I've had a few miraculously good pots before.

4. For storebought, it's hard to beat Chock Full O' Nuts.

5. Mill grinders instead of blade. Beating your beans to death is bad.

6. My favorite? Ethiopian blended 50/50 with some Kenyan AA. Sumatran is good if you like earthy/fruity coffee. "fruity" means kind of acidic, or tangy. Earthy means... tastes like dirt It's not a bad thing though.

Now, these are personalized tastes... I can't stand a case of the bitters, must have been poisoned in a past life. I think it's sad that the pot or pot and a half I drink through the day is generic overheated swill, but it's much better than chugging soda, even diet soda since that's still full of mind-altering substances (phenylalanines). But my first two cups are the day, I can make that as good as I want

PS don't refrigerate the beans. My local roaster taught me that. Just keep 'em in the ~airtight bag they came in.

[K Frame]

"2. French press is *really* good but *really* labor intensive."

:/

Bring water to temperature in a separate pot, pour over ground beans, wait 4 to 6 minutes (depending on grind), plunge.

I don't recall ever breaking a sweat doing that...

[charby]

ditto on Mike.. I drink a lot of tea, make a lot of mine with an infuser so french press would not be too labor intensive. Yes it takes a bit more effort that a automatic coffee maker, but you do get a good cup of coffee.

Charby

[Sindawe]

Comparable to resin extraction out of trimmings using a motorized tumbler...

What...

[crt360]

Start by drinking a lot of cheap office coffee out of little styrofoam cups.  It must be black with no sugar or sweetener.  You may never acquire a taste for it, but you will learn to appreciate anything else called coffee.  If you're really manly, leave a full cup out on your desk until it is room temperature then down it in about 10 seconds.  Repeat.  Feel the unpleasant sensation in your empty stomach.  Know that your breath is among the foulest in the office.  Pour another cup.  Are your hands shaking yet?  Good.  Keep a fresh cup handy to occupy them.

If you're trying to reduce stress, lower blood pressure and avoid stomach problems, stay away from coffee.  I like coffee (in fact I'm drinking some leftover office coffee as I type this), but I've cut way back in the last few years and feel a lot better for doing so.

[TarpleyG]

Start by drinking a lot of cheap office coffee out of little styrofoam cups.  It must be black with no sugar or sweetener.  You may never acquire a taste for it, but you will learn to appreciate anything else called coffee.  If you're really manly, leave a full cup out on your desk until it is room temperature then down it in about 10 seconds.  Repeat.  Feel the unpleasant sensation in your empty stomach.  Know that your breath is among the foulest in the office.  Pour another cup.  Are your hands shaking yet?  Good.  Keep a fresh cup handy to occupy them.

If you're trying to reduce stress, lower blood pressure and avoid stomach problems, stay away from coffee.  I like coffee (in fact I'm drinking some leftover office coffee as I type this), but I've cut way back in the last few years and feel a lot better for doing so.

Got a guy in our office that's a 2-cupper.  Goes to the machine and gets 2 cups full to the brim and carefully navigates his way back to his cubicle.  One day I'll sneak up behind him and yell BOO!

Greg

[SpookyPistolero]

All the advice on trying to make a good cup is very good, especially if you have the means (time and money) to make it happen.

Basically, I'd say all things in moderation. Give the coffee a try but don't be a hero. Don't shotgun it all because you'll be shaky and agitated.

I think a really good introductory flavor might be Hazelnut, it's one of my usual winter favorites anyway. I also like the house blend at Atlanta Bread Company if you are in a hurry.

[doczinn]

If you want the very best, there are places that send it to you in the mail the same day they roast it. The best off-the shelf that I've found is called Eight O'Clock Coffee.

1. You MUST use whole beans.
2. You MUST grind them right before you make the coffee.
3. Anything less is swill.

Experiment. Coffee varies greatly, and the only certainties are the 3 listed above.

[mtnbkr]

I've tried many different methods (drip, perc, espresso, press) and many different coffees.  I've found that for me, the best balance of effort and reward has been with Maxwell House Hazelnut done "just right" in my drip maker (ie, the right balance of water and coffee).  Sure, other coffees and methods produce a better cup, but either it's more expense or more hassle than I want to put into it on a regular basis (we're talking about the daily pot, not that "special cup").  That said, Elephant Bean coffee at the Fresh Market in my parents' town is fantastic.  Elephant Bean coffee is a larger bean (hence the name) and produces one of the richest cups without the acid bite I've ever had.  I used a medium coarse grind.  At $8/lb, it's not too expensive, but I don't think I can get it locally.  

Chris

[Vodka7]

I switched from an 8-10 cans of non-diet Coke to a similar intake of diet mountain dew, and lost many pounds.

Seconded.  I lost a good twenty pounds over several months when I stopped drinking a 2 liter a day of regular soda  and eventually ended up at 4-6 cans of diet a day.  They never taste the same, but you get used to the diet variations of everything eventually.  Sierra Mist Free is pretty good for a diet, and so is almost every diet root beer I've had.

[Antibubba]

It isn't just the caffeine, it's how it's delivered.  I like my coffee with a bit of cream, and the fat and protein slows the absorbtion a bit-it doesn't dump straight into my veins.  Whereas, if it means wake up or die, a Mountain Dew is like an injection of wakeup juice.  That's almost the only time I drink soda anymore-maybe 1 or 2 a month.

[K Frame]

"we're talking about the daily pot, not that "special cup"

My daily pot IS a special cup, and I take great pains with it.

One good sip of coffee is equal to 30,000 bad pots of coffee, as far as I'm concerned.


"Elephant bean..."

Bring me some next time you go down to Roanoke.