Lighter subject...coffee! :)

For sure the thread shows that coffee is not a lighter subject on TF

Real men drink their coffee black...

... so of course I drink mine with milk, sugar, and/or cream.

When at home or aboard and not doing a drive-through, I use the instant vanilla latte packets that Starbucks sells, a kurig with Cappuccino kups, or instant Folgers with powdered creamer.

But, funny thing about coffee and me: the first time I ever had coffee, I was fishing in the ocean with my dad on a 10' inflatable. I was cold and hungry, so he gave me a piece of dark chocolate and a cup of coffee from his plastic thermos lid. The thermos had been sitting in the bottom of the boat so he reached overboard and rinsed it out with seawater before filing it.

To this day I will sometimes put a tiny bit of salt in my coffee as that's how I first tasted it, and that's how it is "right".

We use Nespresso on our boat, and in our Airstream trailer. We've spent about 500 nights aboard the boat and probably have 2-3 cups per person per day. We've spent over 750 nights in the Airstream with the same consumption. Both machines have been rock solid (Nespresso Pixie)

The quality of the espresso is very good. The Nespresso milk foamer also works really well. It takes around a minute from a cold start to be drinking a cappuccino. The total power consumption is actually very low because of the short duty cycle.

As stated above, they do need pure sine wave power.

Just as a side note:
One thing many people aren't aware of because it's kind of counter-intuitive, the darker the roast, the LESS caffeine in the coffee. Roasting actually destroys caffeine, so those seeking that "shot" or "boost" should lean towards light-medium roasts. Very dark roasts, typically served at a Starbucks, has less go-getum juice than regular coffee, even tho the flavor is stronger.

I have a french press at home but on the boat it's two spoonfuls of hot chocolate and one spoonful of instant coffee, making me a budget minded, easy clean, up no messy coffee grounds to deal with Mocha-Man.

Also, if it's really cold out, I'll make a concoction called Jump-Up-Go-Go! which I first created while camping in the mountains at -20 Celsius. First you make spearmint tea, then you add the hot chocolate & coffee, then melt in 1/3 of a Mars Bar.

I have a Keurig machine and use Dunkin Donuts coffee in it. Don't forget that Keurig make a refillable/washable cartridge called My K-Cup for the economy-minded.

I use a stovetop espresso maker, or specifically a Bialetti stainless steel 6 cup version (that is 6 espresso shots, equivalent to a couple of normal cups!) Love it and make good coffee each and every time!



I have also been experimenting with pour over coffee making, as one of my coffeesnob friends claims that once you get the technique right, it makes the smoothest coffee possible. I am not so sure, but maybe my technique needs more work so I'll keep in experimenting some more, but it does seem to give a very good caffeine hit!

Lobstah said:

Just as a side note:
One thing many people aren't aware of because it's kind of counter-intuitive, the darker the roast, the LESS caffeine in the coffee. Roasting actually destroys caffeine, so those seeking that "shot" or "boost" should lean towards light-medium roasts. Very dark roasts, typically served at a Starbucks, has less go-getum juice than regular coffee, even tho the flavor is stronger.

Click to expand...

Mmmm, I didn't know that. Learn something every day.

Lobstah said:

Just as a side note:
One thing many people aren't aware of because it's kind of counter-intuitive, the darker the roast, the LESS caffeine in the coffee. Roasting actually destroys caffeine, so those seeking that "shot" or "boost" should lean towards light-medium roasts. Very dark roasts, typically served at a Starbucks, has less go-getum juice than regular coffee, even tho the flavor is stronger.

Click to expand...

I'll stick with me dark roast!

The myth that lighter roasts have more caffeine is created by associating caffeine with bean size
https://driftaway.coffee/caffeine/

gaston said:

Starbucks isn't coffee.

Click to expand...

Agree 100%. Great advertising campaign though to get so many people to drink that stuff.

The Starbucks people told me about the dark roast coffee having less caffeine several years ago. Been drinking dark black for some time now and have almost no issues w it.

Coffee/caffeine is poison though and none of us should be drinking any of it. Like smoking it's addictive.

Bob H,
Don't recall any adds for Starbucks. I think I started going there because of the Wi-fi. Did'nt have it at home for awhile when we came down from Alaska. Went to the small town library but we were so often downriver in the much bigger town shopping ..... and Starbucks was .. there. You notice they choose their locations carefully.

To me there is no better coffee than coffee made at the mountain cabin. The pure, unchlorinated well water is the secret. Just returned from a long weekend up there. The weather was perfect. Busting through the mountain roads with the top down is exhilirating.

The picture is of the lane in front of the cabin.

I do it the ol' fashion way, similar to a French drip but ya slowly spoon the hot water over the grounds making for an intense, dark flavored coffee. A little more trouble but worth it.

Moonstruck said:

Just returned from a long weekend up there. The weather was perfect.

Click to expand...

Well, that about does it for me! Time to head back to the mountains of Arizona.

I went to a local event this weekend that showcased local agriculture. It was in a park that is called The Fruit and Spice Park. It has a huge collection of tropical fruit trees.

They have recently put in a coffee plant! They say it can grown in South Florida! I may have to plant a few in my yard. There is a related plant called Wild Coffee that grows like crazy in my yard. My bees love the nectar.

When the zombie apocalypse comes, I'd still have coffee.

I don't care if Starbucks is coffee or not, it's pure genius. Obviously loved by a lot of people too.

Now, as to our coffee on the boat. Keurig. In a way it's just fancy instant coffee, but the ability to have so many choices and flavors and the ease with which it's made, make it our choice. Ours is plumbed directly into the water line. There are fancier machines, especially for the food service industry, less expensive per serving machines, but the combination of choice and ease wins.

We don't have enough espresso lovers to get a Nespresso or similar on the boat. Those who do like it, are happy with the occasional starbucks or other coffee shop. At home we do have an espresso maker.

BobH said:

Agree 100%. Great advertising campaign though to get so many people to drink that stuff.

Click to expand...

OK, I will bite. If its not coffee, what is it or is this just snark?

Very interesting post regarding myth busting the caffeine content.
One of the MANY things that's great about this forum
I also found this, not sure it adds any clarity to the point though:

https://cspinet.org/eating-healthy/ingredients-of-concern/caffeine-chart

One thing my Admiral loves about the Jura is that it grinds the exact amount of coffee in a built-in bur grinder for you cup, just before brewing, so it's always "fresh ground".

Fresh ground french roast still tastes like used engine oil to me

78puget-trawler said:

OK, I will bite. If its not coffee, what is it or is this just snark?

Click to expand...

To me it always tastes like instead of roasting the beans they burn them. Always seems to have burnt taste. Heck, we have some friends who drink Coors Light, I guess there is no accounting for (bad?) taste.

Bob H,
That's why I mentioned one must keep stirring the coffee in my description of brewing the pot. (Post #27). Gan't let the grounds settle in the bottom of the pot or the taste will be of burnt grounds. That's the way to make camp coffee really good. But over a fire one's arms may get burnt.

I don't think Starbucks coffee comes with a stirrer.

BobH said:

I don't think Starbucks coffee comes with a stirrer.

Click to expand...

And there's one of the advantages of cold-brewing. No stirrer needed

I pour room temp water over 1lb of grounds, let it set for 24hrs, then drain into storage bottles and put it in the fridge.

Minimal cleanup...and minimal cost, 2 things I really like.

Easy Peasy

BobH said:

Agree 100%. Great advertising campaign though to get so many people to drink that stuff.

Click to expand...

My wife who is a Starbucks lover has dragged me into more Starbucks across the planet then I can count. I have tried ordering Pike's Roast, then tea, but now fortunately settle for the coffee that comes with the joke line: "I'll have a tall blond".

Bay Pelican said:

My wife who is a Starbucks lover has dragged me into more Starbucks across the planet then I can count. I have tried ordering Pike's Roast, then tea, but now fortunately settle for the coffee that comes with the joke line: "I'll have a tall blond".

Click to expand...

My wife and I both tag along and we get cake or dessert and bottled water.

Starbucks still reminds me of the coffee shop on the television show, Frasier. Of course, Frasier was set in Seattle, the home of Starbucks.

I usually don't order coffee at Starbucks but rather a large black tea latte, made with their Royal English Breakfast tea. Better than any coffee.

78puget-trawler said:

I usually don't order coffee at Starbucks but rather a large black tea latte, made with their Royal English Breakfast tea. Better than any coffee.

Click to expand...

Blasphemy!

Ted

What's "light" with black coffee? Can understand if your're talking "girly" coffee with sugar and cream.

Lobstah said:

The spurred a bit of research to see how hard it would be to make this nectar of the coffee gods at home. For about $40, the good folks at Amazon delivered a Filtron coffee brewer to my doorstep.
You add a pound of ground coffee, let it sit for 24hrs, and drain the concentrate into the included carafe. I actually kept two of the store-bought bottles with the squeeze tops that I use to store my concentrate in.

Click to expand...

I made coffee this way for years. You are right, a cold brewed coffee has very little of the bitterness that other forms of brewing impart. OTOH, that bitterness is one of the things that many coffee drinkers like. One of the great things about the cold brew is that you can vary the strength of the coffee just by varying the amount of concentrate you add and, as you pointed out, it is very easy to clean up.

Being basically lazy, I finally moved to a Keurig a number of years ago. It is more expensive, but is the quickest and easiest way to make a good tasting cup of coffee that I have found. We have a Keurig at home and have a small one on the boat.

FlyWright said:

Love the onboard coffee, too. We use a small Keurig with San Francisco Bay French Roast 'pouch cups' from Rogers Coffee Company. The 'cups' are 95% biodegradable and the coffee is strong but smooth. My coffee costs $0.30-0.35 per cup, delivered to my door.

Click to expand...

I buy the same from Costco. It isn't my wife's favorite, but I like the flavor and the relative price. I will need to check out that link however. It would be great to have a box delivered between Costco runs.

I am actually drinking a cup of it now at the office waiting for my next patient.