• LAVA Moderator: Mysterier

Serious Coffee Discussion

I love coffee , but i only allow myself one cup a day as to much caffeine tends to make me anxious.

Being European i despise all of The Starbucks type places , they lack character & put smaller local places out of business.
I was very upset to find out that a branch had been opened in Belem Lisbon , a place that has a tradition for the Best Custard tarts in the world & has some great little coffee shops.

Anyhow , i never drink instant i can't stand it , i would rather go without.
My favorite brand is Lavazza and i always drink it with warm milk & sugar .

I would love a fancy machine like the one that Samadhi has , it looks great and i'm sure makes a lovely coffee , but i'm more than happy with my humble сafetière, i'm not sure what you guys in the states call them a Coffee Plunger or a French Press ?
looks like thishttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Frenchpress-wiki.jpg/250px-Frenchpress-wiki.jpg
 
recently returned from vietnam. they have some good coffee. really strong, like expresso, but chocolate-y, unlike expresso, and mixed with condensed milk. then almost always iced. we brought some home with us. i've been successful in making it using my mother's expresso machine.

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what you start with. that's the double shot sized whatever, but i only fill each of the little shot cups two-thirds full.

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to get this.

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then you mix it up and add lots of ice. perfect.
 
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^ I *love* Vietnamese coffee and it's something I miss about living in Melbourne - there are so many little hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurants and i'd always buy a Vietnamese coffee <3

I've cut down to one coffee in the morning now; it was a transition, but i'm dealing with it quite well. :)
 
16oz iced breve with 3 shots, or, 2 shots with a dollop of cream; much the same as HAAC's except with no ice. Hopefully a sparkling mineral water with that.
oh yes

At home I boil water and use a cone filter, and grind my beans, which are normally a medium roast to a near espresso grind consistency.
With lots of cream.

~
I have been telling myself to stop drinking it again though.
;)

Edit:
Using a French Press or an Espresso machine is my favorite means of extraction, but a press becomes too much of a hassle so I use a cone...
 
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I dont know much about coffee tbph but I have always loved the smell of a fresh brew. During my time in the military, I would make a mug of Navy mud and add cream and sugar and sip it because it is cold as hell in the North Atlantic in the winter. I basically used the mug as a hand warmer. ;)

Over the years I'd have the occasional mocha or cappuccino but just could never develop a taste to be a regular coffee drinker. More recently when I'd travel for my job (sometimes to different countries), I'd grab a mocha to help beat back the effects of travel tiredness. I think this got me hooked on having a cup nearly every morning now but usually in the winter. *$ unfortunately is way too convenient but I try not to go there too often (not that going to Peet's is any better) but I do appreciate the little independent coffee houses.

Last summer I found an organic coffee joint in Santa Cruz with all kinds of tasty coffee concoctions. Believe it or not, Jamba Juice serves organic coffee and it isnt bad. I was trying to make an effort to make more coffee at home but I got lazy and stopped. I'm definitely more of a flavored coffee guy but I do get a double espresso every once in a while just to watch the hair on my arms stand up. I dont mind drinking cold coffee drinks but not a fan of the whipped cream, syrup swirls, sprinkles and whatever else might get dumped on them.....just give me my caffeine fix already! :)
 
finished off my last bag of vietnamese coffee yesterday. had to cut the last cup with expresso. so sad. but i'm on to new things.

anyone made cold brew before? any tips on ratio and time? right now i'm pretty sure i have a little less than a pound of french roast in 100 ounces of water. at the 10 hour mark. thinking 20-24 hours will be good?
 
I love coffee , but i only allow myself one cup a day as to much caffeine tends to make me anxious.

Being European i despise all of The Starbucks type places , they lack character & put smaller local places out of business.
I was very upset to find out that a branch had been opened in Belem Lisbon , a place that has a tradition for the Best Custard tarts in the world & has some great little coffee shops.

Anyhow , i never drink instant i can't stand it , i would rather go without.
My favorite brand is Lavazza and i always drink it with warm milk & sugar .

I would love a fancy machine like the one that Samadhi has , it looks great and i'm sure makes a lovely coffee , but i'm more than happy with my humble сafetière, i'm not sure what you guys in the states call them a Coffee Plunger or a French Press ?
looks like thishttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Frenchpress-wiki.jpg/250px-Frenchpress-wiki.jpg




That's what I use a french press for tea and coffee. I have three different ones. French press exctract the most caffeine than any other method.

I'm gonna post more later, I love coffee and tea!
 
Just brewed a cup of arabica. I prefer good coffee black and instant doped with lots of cream and honey (fuck sugar!) It's my fortune to live in a city that takes coffee seriously. I'm slowly working myself through the menu at Dark City Coffee (add a .com and you have the site) but every now and again I'll head out to Kensington Market and café hop for a bit. Hm, that cup I just brewed didn't last long. Maybe just one more...
 
frappe.jpg


Im greek and i love drinking frappe everyday. Its in our culture, the laid back thing while sippin some of this for hours. Whenever i go to greece me and my friends will go out and just sit for hours and drink frappe and play backgammon and just talk. I drink this stuff everyday. Nescafe coffee 3 coffee no sugar or milk. I love it black and bitter the taste is so good. I drink it all day everyday you know, you make one in the morning and just sip on it througout the entire day.
 
hydro i have never made cold brew myself, i always just purchased it from this shitty little place called mardi gras zone because when you live in a warzone you don't have a real grocery store, just this place that sells indian food - in - a -space bag and cartons of cold brew coffee 2 for 3$.

we've been drinking 1000 faces Narino, best god damn columbian i've had in a long time. its also all roasted locally (in Athens) so it feels good and all that other localvore crap.
 
I love coffee, to me it's a staple of modern life.

I brew at home, we have a small coffee chain here called Zarraffa's; they import a range of different coffee varieties. My favourite one is the Columbian... nutty and chocolaty =)
 
yeah i usually do home brew because of the economical factors, but I like a breve(half and half instead of milk) with 3 shots in a small cup, either cap or latte style with extra foam, or if its a bad ass coffee shop and they got pure cream a cap or latte extra foam mmmmmmm fatty goodness, then if you like sugar sprinkle on top of foam and eat it off.mmmmmm
 
I jumped into coffee to the point where I had an anxiety attack-- then promptly quit. I've gotten back into it, but never more than one or two cups a day, typically not on consecutive days.

I have a French press and buy locally branded stuff that is supposedly straight from wherever good coffee comes from. I drink it black, accompanied with sunshine and perhaps some jazz.
 
finished off my last bag of vietnamese coffee yesterday. had to cut the last cup with expresso. so sad. but i'm on to new things.

anyone made cold brew before? any tips on ratio and time? right now i'm pretty sure i have a little less than a pound of french roast in 100 ounces of water. at the 10 hour mark. thinking 20-24 hours will be good?
There's a Vietnamese guy that works nearby who brews a uniquely potent, splendiferously odorous, bean.

he said it was about $20 and i'd have to go into the city to purchase. if i ever get $20 i'll report back with the specific name.

miss you bardeaux.. :(
 
^Yeah, his name was the first thing I noticed about this revived thread.<3:(<3

Like thujone, I live in a town that takes coffee drinking seriously--we have quite a few local roasters. I used to work for a guy that was quite eccentric but an amazing cook. He drove everyone crazy as a boss but we lived for his holiday parties where he cooked everything over either on open fire in his fireplace or a self-built clay oven in his garden. After the delicious meals he would open a jar of green coffee berries and ask how many wanted coffee--then he would roast the beans by shaking them in a little roaster made for that purpose (from who knows where in his travels), grind them and pour into a glass carafe.
 
I must say that I am in a phase where I like a chain like Star*ucks, because even though they are a chain, you can still get a decent cup of coffee, go sit in a chair (depending what store you go to), use their wi-fi and chill. I have also learned about different types of coffee and tea from them. In the end, they are IMO, a well put together chain, like any other chain.

Now, I fully support the independent little coffee house. They have their own history(sometimes), occasionally they will have musicians playing, and things like that. Star*bucks wouldn't exist if it were not for these special little independent coffee houses.

This brings me to the last point. All the studying and research that I do has made me want to make my own flavors and mixes. Now I am starting to make my own blends, brew my own tea and add different flavors. It has made me want to do it myself.

I have even gone as far as invisioning my own shop, with the best of all that I have learn and seen.

i apologize if I went off topic. First post in here.

Anyway, I can appreciate all three types of coffee houses. They all fit into my life.

If I had to drop one, the chain would have to go. A corporation is a corporation.
.
 
i recently learned how to make thai iced tea at home, and am now applying that knowledge to coffee. add to your coffee grounds: 2 crushed green cardamom pods, 2 whole cloves, 1 star anise, tablespoon of cocoa powder. put sweetened condensed milk in the bottom of your mug before you pour the coffee in - ta da, thai mocha.
 
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