67 replies to this topic

[scubadoo97]

again my obsession is no lid unless walking with the cup.

[Borgstrom]

My wife likes half and half in hers and the only thing about it that I think unique is she puts the half and half in the mug than pours the coffee on top. No stirring necessary that way.

I do the same thing. I think it keeps the coffee warmer than that stirring business, and I swear I can taste the wood of wooden stirrers.

+1

Save the planet. Cream in cup first, then coffee.

[kayb]

And while you are there, try the rethermalized donuts! Yes, they are just as bad as they sound!

"Rethermalized"? I believe that one belongs on the "culinary apocalypse" thread. Or at least the "death of the English language as we know it" thread.

Rethermalized. That just makes my eyelashes hurt.

[scubadoo97]

My wife likes half and half in hers and the only thing about it that I think unique is she puts the half and half in the mug than pours the coffee on top. No stirring necessary that way.

I do the same thing. I think it keeps the coffee warmer than that stirring business, and I swear I can taste the wood of wooden stirrers.

+1

Save the planet. Cream in cup first, then coffee.

yes that's how we do it. My wife like creamer in her coffee. Never need a spoon using the creamer first method.

Edited by scubadoo97, 04 November 2010 - 02:48 PM.

[andiesenji]

My wife likes half and half in hers and the only thing about it that I think unique is she puts the half and half in the mug than pours the coffee on top. No stirring necessary that way.

I do the same thing. I think it keeps the coffee warmer than that stirring business, and I swear I can taste the wood of wooden stirrers.

+1

Save the planet. Cream in cup first, then coffee.

Lordy, talk about obsessive fetishes. Let's hope that the folks who like coffee this way don't run into a similar thing that has long occupied tea fan(atics).
Sometime after the turn of the last century there was some brouhaha about "Milk in First" and "Milk in Last" and the supposed "harm" there might be because it wasn't "sanitary." Or some such nonsense.
My great grandmother, a very aristocratic Victorian lady considered that to be some kind of idiocy because she preferred having the milk in her cup first because it mixed well and it was safer for her delicate bone china cups. The milk was always warmed but not hot.
The milk we had was actually more like what we know today as half & half as it was from Jersey cows and the butterfat content was much higher.

Anyway, I like the cream in my coffee first and I like it warmed and I know exactly how much cream is in my coffee this way because I can see the level in the cup.

[David A. Goldfarb]

And while you are there, try the rethermalized donuts! Yes, they are just as bad as they sound!

"Rethermalized"? I believe that one belongs on the "culinary apocalypse" thread. Or at least the "death of the English language as we know it" thread.

Rethermalized. That just makes my eyelashes hurt.

Does it mean, like, "warmed up"?

[Kerry Beal]

And while you are there, try the rethermalized donuts! Yes, they are just as bad as they sound!

"Rethermalized"? I believe that one belongs on the "culinary apocalypse" thread. Or at least the "death of the English language as we know it" thread.

Rethermalized. That just makes my eyelashes hurt.

Does it mean, like, "warmed up"?

Timmy's fries them in the factory in Oakville - transports frozen. The franchise bakes them.

[nakji]

Here's mine. I take my coffee black. But nine times out of ten, black coffee is extremely hot straight out of the pot. I assume this is because most people cool their coffee down with milk/cream to a reasonable drinking temperature. It's nicest, I guess, when the milk is warmed up, but in a take-out coffee situation that doesn't happen so much. So I have to either ignore the coffee for a few minutes until it hits what I feel is a reasonable drinking temperature; burn my tongue; or - and I have done this the odd time in Tim Hortons where they keep their coffee very, very hot - float an ice cube in it. I don't prefer it this way, but I have done it.

What I DO prefer, and have only ever been able to do in South Korea, is use one of those plastic stir-stick things - do you know the kind? They're usually orange or brown in Canada, but at Starbucks in SK they're green. They don't have these stir-sticks at the take-out coffee places in my hometown in Canada, nor in Japan or China - I've only seen them in Seoul. But they make the perfect straw for sipping up black coffee. As you draw the coffee up the small passage ways, it cools the coffee somewhat, and aerates it a little on exit into your mouth, just enough to keep it from burning. Perfect. And I can drink my coffee right away. I keep meaning to pick up a box of the things when I'm back in Canada to carry some around with me, but since I rarely have take-away coffee anymore, it's one of those "someday..." things.

[chileheadmike]

I roast my own beans, grind, and brew in a French press. I drink it black with no cream or sugar.
Once the coffee is ready, I pour a cup into my favorite mug and the rest into my travel mug to take to work, lid on.
Once at work, the lid is removed and the coffee enjoyed.

I've seen a couple of references to fat free half and half. Makes no sense to me. How can half cream and half milk be no fat?
I'm thinking this is one of the culinary signs of the apolocypse.

[rmillman]

searching for the best beans:

1) cup of excellence, http://www.cupofexcellence.org/, go there, see who had the highest lots for a particular country, trace it to the roaster and buy the beans
2) coffee review, coffeereview.com, look at the highest rated in a particular month, buy and drink.

All coffee is weigh

[andiesenji]

They sell this kind coffee stir straws at Smart & Final. They are cheap.
I've purchased them for parties.

They are hollow, inches long and are also used in bars for mixed drinks.

Are these similar to the ones you mention?

[nakji]

Those are exactly the ones! I'd order a box, but I hardly ever have take-away coffee anymore. Still, it'd be nice to have a stash in my purse for emergencies...

[andiesenji]

Speaking of coffee fetishes, I met a person yesterday who told me she had two coffee brewers and an espresso machine that she uses every day.

One is for "breakfast" coffee, one is for "dinner" coffee because she doesn't want to "cross-contaminate" the brewers with different types of coffee.

I know this kind of thing makes sense with teas that are so different (green, oolong and black) but this is the first time I've heard that coffee residue from one type can affect another type.
I mean, it is possible to clean these things so they are fairly pristine.

Both of the coffee brewers are the Technivorm, the breakfast has a thermal carafe, the dinner a glass one.
I haven't paid much attention to the discussion about this brewer so didn't realize, until I got home and checked, how expensive they are.

It reminded me of the Jack Nicholson character in The Bucket List.

Edited by andiesenji, 10 November 2010 - 09:40 AM.

[lancastermike]

Speaking of coffee fetishes, I met a person yesterday who told me she had two coffee brewers and an espresso machine that she uses every day.

One is for "breakfast" coffee, one is for "dinner" coffee because she doesn't want to "cross-contaminate" the brewers with different types of coffee.

I know this kind of thing makes sense with teas that are so different (green, oolong and black) but this is the first time I've heard that coffee residue from one type can affect another type.
I mean, it is possible to clean these things so they are fairly pristine.

Both of the coffee brewers are the Technivorm, the breakfast has a thermal carafe, the dinner a glass one.
I haven't paid much attention to the discussion about this brewer so didn't realize, until I got home and checked, how expensive they are.

It reminded me of the Jack Nicholson character in The Bucket List.

The OP asked for obsessions. The person you speak of certainly is.

[KD1191]

I'd been reading this thread from the beginning, but only this morning realized my own quirk.

My wife takes cream and sugar in her coffee, I like the smallest touch of cream. I prepare both in the mornings, and always insist on stirring my coffee first, lest an iota of her sugar make it into my cup via the shared spoon.

[scubadoo97]

Speaking of coffee fetishes, I met a person yesterday who told me she had two coffee brewers and an espresso machine that she uses every day.

One is for "breakfast" coffee, one is for "dinner" coffee because she doesn't want to "cross-contaminate" the brewers with different types of coffee.

I know this kind of thing makes sense with teas that are so different (green, oolong and black) but this is the first time I've heard that coffee residue from one type can affect another type.
I mean, it is possible to clean these things so they are fairly pristine.

Both of the coffee brewers are the Technivorm, the breakfast has a thermal carafe, the dinner a glass one.
I haven't paid much attention to the discussion about this brewer so didn't realize, until I got home and checked, how expensive they are.

It reminded me of the Jack Nicholson character in The Bucket List.

The OP asked for obsessions. The person you speak of certainly is.

Cross contamination? I understand if she was using flavored beans in one brewer but if not it tops the list of obsessions.

[andiesenji]

Speaking of coffee fetishes, I met a person yesterday who told me she had two coffee brewers and an espresso machine that she uses every day.

One is for "breakfast" coffee, one is for "dinner" coffee because she doesn't want to "cross-contaminate" the brewers with different types of coffee.

I know this kind of thing makes sense with teas that are so different (green, oolong and black) but this is the first time I've heard that coffee residue from one type can affect another type.
I mean, it is possible to clean these things so they are fairly pristine.

Both of the coffee brewers are the Technivorm, the breakfast has a thermal carafe, the dinner a glass one.
I haven't paid much attention to the discussion about this brewer so didn't realize, until I got home and checked, how expensive they are.

It reminded me of the Jack Nicholson character in The Bucket List.

The OP asked for obsessions. The person you speak of certainly is.

Cross contamination? I understand if she was using flavored beans in one brewer but if not it tops the list of obsessions.

No, she is too much of a "purist" to allow flavored coffee in her "machines," as she called them.

Her breakfast coffee is Kona and her dinner coffee is an "estate" Jamaican. Wallford or some similar name.

[andiesenji]

I had the name wrong. It is Wallingford Blue Mountain.

[scubadoo97]

Interesting that she limits herself to 2 beans. Both good but both very expensive with the cost more reflective of availability than quality.

Okay now I know why she limits herself to two beans. She only has room for 2 drip coffee machines.
I have at least a half a dozen varietals that I roast on a regular basis

This is funny stuff.

[andiesenji]

Interesting that she limits herself to 2 beans. Both good but both very expensive with the cost more reflective of availability than quality.

Okay now I know why she limits herself to two beans. She only has room for 2 drip coffee machines.
I have at least a half a dozen varietals that I roast on a regular basis

This is funny stuff.

I suspect that she is more interested in impressing other people than in actually enjoying the coffee. Her husband is a local bigwig and they entertain constantly. She has a live-in cook/housekeeper but brags that she always makes the coffee herself. (We met while I was in Dillards looking at handbags.) I'm pretty sure you are much more of a connoisseur of coffees that she is. I'm sure you are more like my friends who always buy the green beans, roast them to the desired "peak" then brew, and they buy a few varietals and blend them to get just the flavor they want. I lent them my espresso machine several months ago because I rarely use it, tried to give it to them but they wouldn't accept it as a gift. They prefer one of the old vacuum brewers that I gave them several years ago as they say it makes better coffee than any of the newer types they have tried.
I don't consider them obsessive as they are always experimenting and trying new things.

Edited by andiesenji, 11 November 2010 - 09:05 AM.

[brechin]

I asked her why she did it. "It's obvious! The place where the lid and cup seam meet is usually leaky, so you want it on the other side!" "Yes!!" I replied. "And this alignment allows you to feel where the lid opening is with your hand -- without looking!" "Of course!" she said, as if all right-minded people simply know this.

Chris - you are exactly right! A few years ago, I tried drinking from a few misaligned lids that leaked all over the place. After a couple tries I figured out that the opposing seam/opening placement is best. I wish I knew that before getting coffee all over the place.

[Susie Q]

Nirvana for me is Diedrich Sumatra full roast, french pressed, served in a bowl to keep my hands warm. My first bowl is 1/2 and 1/2 with whole milk to get my daily calcium, after that it's black. I'm not a coffee snob. If it's good, it's good. Who cares where it came from. I have on occasion taken my own electric tea pot, french press, bowls, and coffee when traveling.

I've been drinking coffee since I was three years old (got started with coffee milk on a camp out)and can drink it hot or cold. I'll also drink it slightly sweetened and with cream once in a great, great while. I don't mind arab coffee that is flavored with cardamon, BUT NEVER will I drink flavored coffee. YUCK!

I fully understand the 180 degree sip hole/seam thing. I've had it drip on me too.

Edited by Susie Q, 10 January 2011 - 06:26 PM.

[Mjx]

I think in most NYC diners and corner sandwich shops (AKA "delis," which doesn't necessarily mean "Jewish delis" in New York as it would in many other U.S. cities), a "regular" would be a coffee with milk and two sugars in a blue paper cup with an image of the Parthenon in white (AKA a "Partho cup")....

Ugh. I found that out the hard way, when I once (and only once) ordered a 'regular' coffee in NYC, thinking it would have to mean 'plain'.
And, my particular coffee fetish is that it cannot contain any dairy product or facsimile thereof, as I find such substances disgusting in coffee. Seriously: I can drink virtually any coffee, with any flavouring in it (raspberry? in coffee? ridiculous, but okay, whatever...), at any temperature, with any amount of sugar, and be philosophical about it. I think I could even handle salt in my coffee; I know, to my mild sorrow, that I can handle pepper in it (this involved a very strange mistake). But dairy in coffee renders it undrinkable to me: I find caffé latte entirely incomprehensible. If I'm feeling exhausted or otherwise enfeebled, even the smell of coffee with dairy in it makes me feel queasy.

(I do have actual standards, but I drink so much coffee made by others that I'm pretty tolerant of less-than-perfection.)

[Toliver]

I am an iced coffee lover as well...

My brother loves iced coffee because he can consume it quicker than when it's hot...get that caffeine in ASAP.
My SIL got mad at me when I suggested he take his "leftover" brewed coffee and make coffee ice cubes out of it. That way, when he makes his iced coffee with the coffee ice cubes, he won't be diluting it with ice cubes made from water.
My SIL still shoots me dirty looks whenever the subject of his iced coffee arises.

[haresfur]

Yesterday, I went to our local breakfast place (Phenix Square Restaurant) to get a sack of bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches and a coffee to go. When I got there, I realized something astonishing: for the first time in my life, the server had put the lid on the coffee cup correctly, so that the lid opening was at six o'clock, directly across from the cup's seam at twelve o'clock.

I asked her why she did it. "It's obvious! The place where the lid and cup seam meet is usually leaky, so you want it on the other side!" "Yes!!" I replied. "And this alignment allows you to feel where the lid opening is with your hand -- without looking!" "Of course!" she said, as if all right-minded people simply know this.

Not the best picture, but note the text at the top of the lid:

[Shel_B]

Cream!

I usually drink coffee black, but every now and then I'd like some cream in it. Many coffee bars offer "cream" that is really half-and-half. Some offer a variety of "whiteners," such as half-and-half, whole and skim milk, soy milk, etc., but not real cream.

I might be asked if I'd like cream with the coffee, but often it's half-and-half that's being offered.

So, my peeve is that other items are described as cream, and that real cream is very difficult to find in a coffee shop. There are only three places that I know of in Berkeley that offer real cream, and two offer manufacturing cream All the other shops I've visited offer ersatz cream.

[pastrygirl]

One sugar and a splash of milk. Half and half if milk is too hard to come by (i.e if I'm making espresso at work and there is no milk in the bar fridge and I don't feel like going downstairs to the walk-in), but not too much or it will be too rich. Heavy cream? Ugh, way too rich, I don't know how people can drink that!

[Zachary]

Oh boy!

In the morning: I have about a dozen mugs, of which my favorites are from Calistoga Pottery (though my Heart Roasters mug is nice). They're handleless, but beautiful, and they'll teach you to not fill the mug all the way full. Beans are from Catalina Coffee in Houston, ordered every two weeks. Burr grinder, good water (we have to have a whole house filter and softener out here). My biggest thing though is the proper ratio. 6 grams of coffee beans in 100 grams of 202-205 degree water. The goal is to get brewing done in 3 minutes. Most coffee goes into a thermal carafe. Drunk black, and hot.

Thanks,

Zachary

[David A. Goldfarb]

I just bought an Espro Calibrated Espresso Tamper. It does help me make more consistent espresso, but it feels obsessive and fetishistic.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Cariamanga-Vilcabamba blend, medium roast, fresh ground, in a Moka pot, and into a checkerboard ceramic mug with a splash of whole milk. I will accept no substitutes in my home.

Outside of home, I won't drink coffee unless it's essencia in hot full-fat milk.