What's the appeal of coffee?

"French Vanilla with sugar and milk added"

"chocolate creamer"

"with proper amounts of cream and sugar"

Wow, it's like you all learned to drink coffee at the American Girl store.

 

The only way to drink the sludge the guys brewed in the break room was to put copious amounts of cream and sugar in it. They did grind their own coffee beans, but it didn't overpower the fact that the water where I lived was nasty.

I've backed off on the amount of each I need, but I adore peppermint flavor so I tend to add that to my coffee.

I also agree more with Evan here, it isn't necessarily an acquired taste so much as it is finding out what you like and drinking that. I like peppermint, thus peppermint coffee is what I like to drink.

I like sweet things, thus fruity beer is what I prefer to drink.

 

I'd say the caffeine is a strong reason why most people drink coffee. But I personally can't drink it without some kind of flavor to it, like vanilla and add whip cream. My Dad will drink coffee black, no suger. I don't know how people can drink it black.

 

Ulcers. People like incubating ulcers. That's the only reason I can think of.

Bizarrely, I heard a few years ago that people started making coffee with caffeinated water. Caffeinated Water? Really?
Yes, seems that water was the only beverage allowed on the Stock market floor, so one of the brokers came up with the idea of making (and selling) caffeinated water. And some other crazed person thought of making coffee with it...

Go figure.

Smells ok, but tastes bloody frickin' awful.

Only coffee I like is the paint collor, "Swiss Coffee", which is, naturally, just a shade off-white.

 

Swiss people must fail at coffee then.

 

Jura is one of the best consumer espresso machine brands, and it's Swiss made. But of course the Swiss learned everything they know about coffee from the Austrians, who learned it from the Turks. Unless they learned it from the Italians.

 

Living in Seattle, I can tell you who actually buys their coffee at Starbucks locally: tourists, transplants and Eastsiders (suburbanites).

It's the same thing with beer; with all the amazing microbrews and imports available here, I cannot fathom how anyone can drink mass produced swill.

 

Seriously, we're already over 50 posts and nobody has made a "I take it black....like my men joke?" Kendrabeans, I;m particularly disappointed at you.

 

Oh, I can't stay mad at you.

 

Cafe culture is one of the things I miss most about Vienna. Being able to sit in a dingy, smoky room and get served a superlative latte by a surly middle aged waiter capable of delivering the goods all while staring at you like he wished you were dead - damn it was nice. Chicago has great coffee, but no local sense that it's a thing of any importance.

 

Brak

I love coffee though.

 

I love legal mind-altering substances. I won't create a faux-snobby justification for it.

 

Here's an original thought to counter the off the shelf talking points on Starbucks.

They get no credit for doing more to increase the overall quality of coffee in the US than any other force.

Does anyone remember coffee in the 70's and 80's at any typical establishment? OMG, it was always some cheap ass, sitting on a burner for 10 hours in a pot that hadn't been washed since the Eisenhower administration, no choice on creamer, no choice on sugar... garbage.

All mainstream joints increased their coffee quality in the wake of SB's success.

I love high quality little cafes too (here and abroad) but that's a different story.

 

I'd totally give Starbucks credit for luring an establishment like McDonald's into the business of trying to serve drinkable coffee. And I don't hate Starbucks, they're just too large to offer a product that is truly great. They also killed a lot of great small cafes. Maybe they offered better working conditions and benefits to employees than the ones those little cafes were offering, so I don't necessarily mourn the loss. And they've probably helped create the level of demand that allows some small independent cafes to thrive. All I'm saying is don't drink their coffee if you can do better.

 

Note: What is the appeal of instant coffee... other than being "instant"?

 

I've put a tablespoon of Folgers Crystals in my mouth, dissolved it with my own saliva and swallowed it. It wasn't pleasant, but it's the best way to enjoy instant.

 

I think it is solely because it is instant. I've only ever used it while backpacking (see above: addict ) and I'm assuming most people only use it in cases where a coffee machine is unavailable.

 

I may never need to drink another cup of coffee. A friend of mine gave me a few sample packs of STAY ALERT Caffeine Supplement Chewing Gum (arctic mint flavor), 100 mg caffeine per piece, recommended safe and effective by the committee on military research.

THIS **** IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! I'VE NEVER FELT SO ALIVE!!!!!!

Edit:

AND IT COMES IN CINNAMON FLAVOR TOO! THE CINNAMON IS GREAT I LIKE IT EVEN MORE THAN ARCTIC MINT

 

well i am drinking tea right now, so.

 

A friend offered me Kopi luwak coffee once. She told me it had been defecated by civets;
I thought she said decaffeinated at the time. Still, it's pretty good coffee, however I don't
know what all the fuss is about. When they can teach a civet to eat malted barley and
**** scotch, I'll be impressed.

 

Agree. It's just the caffeine with its instant addictive nature that makes your brain lie and say "I like the taste" Beer is the same way. Beer tastes like crap unless you've been cultured or jedi-mind-tricked yourself into liking it

Proof: give any young child coffee or beer for the first time. Instant yuck face

 

I always love it when people who don't like something assume that other people like it because of something they consider to be distasteful. Its weirdly defensive. No one cares if you don't like it, why do you care so much that others do?

 

Because they want you to wake up, SHEEPLE.

 

The aussies learned to make good coffee from the Italians. Hell the local starbucks in Adelaide was horrible compared to the local places and even mcdonalds. Hell mcdonalds had its own barristas in the middle of the city near the train station. And they brewed the same coffee they used for the lattes and stuff and it was good.



Although Kendra could you enlighten us on the whole coffee drinking establishment of those from seattle that don't drink Starbucks. what do they drink?

And is local coffee that good that anyone makes good coffee even the diners?