Coffee & Tea Thread

[CaffeinePowered]

Instead of sitting and starting blankly at my cube for the next few hours, I thought I'd make a thread about something that keeps me from getting fired by keeping me semi-conscious during even the most boring parts of my job, coffee & tea.

What are your favorite blends or ways to brew? Do you have any particular places that you really like to go to when drinking the stuff, or do you just hate all of it?




I tend to have a cup of coffee when I get up before work, made with a french press, as I can't stand the low-quality shit they brew at work. Heck even starbucks seems generally sub-par and I generally dislike their regular coffee blends and the way they brew them. I'll let the grounds steep for approximately two minutes before I empty the press out and drink.

I absolutely refuse to use cream or sugar as I feel it dulls the real taste of the coffee, which I absolutely enjoy. If any of you ever want to buy me something, I'd be partial to this.

</coffee snob>

<tea snob>



I recently found out that this online store has its warehouse and only storefront literally like a mile or two from where I live, so I just had to go there. The guy that runs it is extremely knowledgeable and enters blends he brings back from China into competitions and what not.

I tend to lean heavily towards green teas, but do enjoy a good white, herbal, or rooibos. I generally dislike black teas though, I just don't think they taste good. And like coffee, I prefer to put nothing in my tea. One of the worst things you can do to a green tea is to mix mint in it, fucking ruins the taste entirely. Currently Im going through two bags, Ku Ding Cha and Yellow Meadow Organic. Ku Ding is extremely bitter, but has oddly, a semi-sweet aftertaste and the Yellow Meadow has a hint of almost a vegetable or squash armoa to it, and is also semi-bitter with little after taste.

If you ever want to get loose leaf tea you might want to order from here, the blends are very nice and he has some premo stuff with the dragonwell blends he has, $20 an ounce and you have to order two. He only gets like 30 - 40oz PER YEAR, and after he sells out, that's it.

[Surf314]

I really like espresso personally. It has to be from a place that knows how to do it right. Granted no one around me knows how to do it really right but its good enough.

If you really want to be a snob you should try some yerba mate in the traditional way. That shit is like taking a hit of cocaine. It's way more potent than coffee IMO but doesn't give you the elevated heart beat or jitters like coffee can.

[Luca Shoal]

Tea superior, coffee inferior.

Also I wanna try Yerba Mate. And so many other types. Teavana is a p good place to get tea.

[Luinbariel]

I dislike coffee (smells great, can't stand drinking it) and I usually can't just sit there and drink a cup of tea.

If I'm going to have tea, I generally like to have cold green tea with lemonade. That is super awesome, and got me through my spring english course a few years back. I had a former classmate working at a Starbucks and he'd have one waiting for me every morning at the back of the booth (lol free stuff hookups).

[Surf314]

I dislike coffee (smells great, can't stand drinking it) and I usually can't just sit there and drink a cup of tea.

If I'm going to have tea, I generally like to have cold green tea with lemonade. That is super awesome, and got me through my spring english course a few years back. I had a former classmate working at a Starbucks and he'd have one waiting for me every morning at the back of the booth (lol free stuff hookups).

Arnold Palmer?

[commish]

I really love coffee and I find the best cup is the kind you brew yourself, I go down to my local costco and I pickup a big bag of their kirkland brand fair trade aribica blend coffee beans, I keep them in the freezer and grind them as needed, I brew my coffee in a french press and let it sit for about 5 mins, I usually like to put a bit of milk just before putting in coffee (as much as I love coffee, milk is the best) I also buy this great biscotti at the costco and the whole bag usually lasts about 2 months before having to resupply.

[Chaosye]

Eh, I hate coffee.

I do like green teas and Earl Grey, though

[CaffeinePowered]

I really like espresso personally. It has to be from a place that knows how to do it right. Granted no one around me knows how to do it really right but its good enough.

If you really want to be a snob you should try some yerba mate in the traditional way. That shit is like taking a hit of cocaine. It's way more potent than coffee IMO but doesn't give you the elevated heart beat or jitters like coffee can.

I really really really miss the coffee shop that I used to go to down at university, fucking place went out of business a year after I left, I have one bag of ground coffee from them that I'm slowly going through.

Place was a traditional Italian coffee shop and a general grad-student/professor hang out. Had a few good conversations with the guy who owned it, which ended in me getting free coffee every now and then when I would hole up for 10 - 12 hours to study for a test.


And I have never tried Yerba-Matte, though I'd probably fuck up making it, I should try sometime.

[Luinbariel]

One of the guys I used to work with at the greenhouse would drink Yerba Matte all the time. It smells amazing but it's grainy as fuck, and I do believe he said at one point you have to be very careful about how you brew some of it,  because some of it contains some thing that is occasionally poisonous or something.

I wish I could have asked him more about that.

[Surf314]

Yerba Mate isn't as hard as it seems but there are some things to know before making it. It takes A LOT to make a cup, you should be filling your mug about half to 2/3rds full of it. It's good for like 4 brewings though so you can throw some saran wrap over it and stick it in the fridge to keep it good. Most people like the 2-3rd brewings the best.

When you first spoon it out dry it will have some dust which is why most people rinse it through the strainer, this also helps cut down the strength so you don't feel like you just got beaten to death with the energy stick after taking a few swigs. And the special straw is needed to strain because of the way it is prepared with it just sitting loose in the cup and continuously brewing while drinking.

Taste wise the best way to compare it is coka-cola tea with a hint of grassyness.

[KorJax]

I hate tea for the most part, something about it's taste I do not like at all.  However I do admit that my experience with tea has been mostly from your standard iced-tea pouches, store bought drinks, etc.

Raw coffee I don't like either, it tastes like drinking liquid asprin (maybe that's just because the only coffee my dad buys are pure dark roast).

However I lovvvveeee psudo-coffee mixed drinks.  Latte's, espresso, fake cappuchino's, etc.  Milk+Sugar+Vanilla Extract+Ideally a pinch of chocolate syrup+coffee = win win win.

I also recently found a giant bag of frozen mocha frappuchino mix in my closet, so I've been making some frappuchino's with coffee mixed in for the funsies throughout the summer.  It's OKAY... obviously stuff at places like Panera are much better but it still tastes good and I don't spend $3.60 in the process.

I do have the problem of making WAY too much though of whatever I make 

[SBCrystal]

YAYAYAYAYAY!

I love coffee. Occasionally (like when I run out of things), I drink my coffee plain but mostly I have a lot of cream and a bit of sugar. I like a dark, strong brew. The best kind of coffee I ever had was stuff my mum brought home from work one time (she used to work at a specialty coffee store). It was $60/lb and she got a pound for free! It was so smooth and almost creamy. I wish I could remember what kind it was but I can't, not like I could afford it anyway.

I'm a huge snob when it comes to brewing. I refuse to use coffee makers, or pre-ground coffee. I store my beans in an air-tight container and grind them myself and I brew them in a percolator. I love percolated coffee because it makes it really strong, really hot and it doesn't "burn".

One of the best kinds of coffee I've also ever had was stuff that Luin picked me up. It is Zavida fair-trade, organic, shade-grown coffee. The best thing about it is that it appeals to my sense of self-righteousness but also shade-grown coffee just tastes better and they don't hurt the rainforest growing it.

As for teas, I really love going to places and getting London Fogs. Yum! But I like black, red, green teas the best. I DO like green tea with mint, but I also like cold green tea with lemonade and plain green tea. When Luin and I went on our adventure to the mountains we stopped in Victoria on Vancouver Island and we found this place called "Silk Road". It's locally made fair trade organic tea! I bought a sampler pack with a chai and two green teas. BEST TEA EVER. And I prefer my tea to be loose-leaf rather than in a bag. Also, green tea makes me way more hyper and caffeinated than coffee, which is strange to me.

[Scary Womanizing Pig Mask]

"Blacker then a moonless night, hotter and more bitter than hell itself.. That is coffee."



But yeah, I'm a relatively frequent coffee drinker (or at least enough of one to buy myself an esspreso machine.) And I'm totally with you caff; Always take it black; after all, I'm drinking it because I want something bitter, so why would I try to sweeten it up?

I must admit though, I can be a bit of a douche when it comes to it. If it takes 5 words or more to to describe what your order it's not coffee anymore. Get your venti mocha frappachino with a vanilla clove and extra milk out of here :X And the next person I hear tell me what a HUGE caffeine addict they are, and how I don't want to see them with out it is getting my boot to their head. (I think the subject of coffee is the only thing that can get me legitimately mad at people XP)

As for tea, while I enjoy it, I generally don't make myself any, or go out of my way to get some. If it's served I'll gladly drink it and enjoy it, but really don't know anything about the different colours of it and what they all mean >.<

[Badgerman of DOOM]

I'm a huge caffeine addict. You don't want to see me without it.

ilupigmask

[Geoff]

Seeing as how I just passed out for a couple hours, I should probably start drinking some of this stuff.

[Surf314]

Thanks to this thread this is what I am doing right now:

http://www.miyerbamatecafe.com/preparing.html

[Surf314]

I thought this mate looked roasted, it's too strong in flavor to be made this way.

[Versus]

I love coffee. Also mocha.

[If-I-Die-Its-Lag]

I drink coffee about almost every week day. It helps me stay awake for the grueling hours of monotonic professors and note taking.

I usually add some half and half, and some sugar to the coffee.

[Tragic Hero]

Double Cup of black coffee every morning.  I prefer a shot or 2 of espresso or a Roast type of coffee.

Also, just invested in a pound of Turkish Coffee and a Cezve.  Haven't quite perfected making it yet (can't quite get the foam right) but it is some pretty fantastic tasting coffee.  And its quite potent.