What's the appeal of coffee?

I don't like coffee. I do drink tea though occasionally.

 

It's like beer, an acquired taste that you acquire because you're not drinking it for the taste.

 

For me it's the taste, if it's good. Also, it's a zero calorie way to get some caffeine when I need it.

 

Yes, you like the taste, now that you've acquired it.

But I agree there's a vast universe of difference in aroma and flavor between a good cup of espresso or well made cappuccino and a cup of Quickie Mart drip coffee.

True story: in college, I drank institutional-grade coffee that was filtered through a pile of dead cockroaches for many months until we found the dead cockroaches. After we cleaned out the dead cockroaches, the coffee still tasted the same.

 

i love the flavor of coffee. i agree somewhat about it being an acquired taste, but i enjoyed it the very first time i tried it with a little cream and sugar. i was drinking it black when i was 15. on the other hand i find mountain dew to be one of the most vile things i've ever tasted. people have different tastes. it's weird.

 

If you're going to acquire a taste, it helps to acquire it young.

[image=http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac296/Jabbadabba2/marlborobaby.jpg]

 

That is awesome!

 

Delicious alkaloids

I like the taste of coffee but at this point I'm very much addicted to caffeine. If I don't have a cup early in the morning I end up with a headache, and may punch anyone who gets between me and my fix.

 

I've always thought that coffee smells absurdly delicious. So I was hugely dissapointed when I finally tried coffee and found out how bitter it is. I'm guessing it's just an acquired taste.

Scummy

 

Put more sugar/cream in it.

 

Just diluting it won't make me like it.

Scummy

 

It's just as easy to get addicted to bad coffee as good coffee, but you'll have more fun doing it if it's good coffee. First thing you do, stay away from Starbucks. Second thing, invest your money in a good espresso machine. And by invest, I mean spend. Third, stay away from those plastic capsule coffees. They are a sick joke. I recommend the Jura Ena 9. It automates everything. Fantastic coffee for the extremely lazy.

 

Starbuck's lattes are actually good, as long as you don't get their plain coffee.

 

Starbucks will never be able to deliver the bean quality that smaller cafes can use. There are about 7 places within 2 miles of my house that sell better lattes than I can get at Starbucks. But obviously my own cappuccinos are better than all of them.

The bean quality is 80% of the battle, water quality 15% and brewing style/expertise 5%.

 

Oh come on. There's plenty to appreciate in the taste of both coffee and beer, and just because its an acquired taste doesn't mean it needs to be acquired for some other reason. You can acquire a taste simply because you want to acquire it. Like people that only ever drink decaf.

 

I agree it's possible in theory, but it doesn't happen much in practice. I know people who switched to decaffeinated coffee after decades of being hooked to the hard stuff, for health reasons. I know people who drink N/A beer because they're recovering alcoholics.

 

I agree with it having to do with the quality of the coffee--I just went to Costa Rica for six weeks and when I came back and had a cup of Folger's I spewed it and made a run for the peppermint-flavored creamer.


Unfortunately, many years of college has left me a caffeine addict and I would rather drink the nasty "coffee" we have here in America than get caffeine headaches.

 

Coffee; the nectar of the gods, especially wih proper amounts of cream and sugar.

 

I don't understand the concept of an "acquired taste." I remember first hearing that term from my dad when I was a kid and asked why he drank beer if it tasted so awful. Turned out he was just drinking a crappy beer. I'm not interested in finding out which coffee tastes good because I hate consuming a ****load (in comparison to most sodas and teas) of caffeine.

 

i only drink it because it makes me look cool

 

I sort of get the developed taste thing. I had tried coffee here and here and did no like it. But on one occasion in my life I needed a wake me up boost and went for coffee. LO AND BEHOLD there was chocolate creamer and I have been hooked ever since.

 

I've been avoiding coffee lately precisely because I get headaches in the days after I drink it. For me, coffee is something that's good, if it meets my specific customized standards.


Which is to say French Vanilla with sugar and milk added.

 

I tend to agree, although I wonder if this is because I have a softspot for small coffee houses.

I also wonder how Starbucks can aquire enough beans for the bean-specific roasts they offer, given the
volume of business they enjoy.