[SAM 2021]

The first time I tasted Starbucks was on a United flight when it was new to the airline. The stewardess' were excited about it and had carts full of all the extra stuff you can add to the coffee.

She acted disappointed when I asked for plain coffee.
"Wouldn't you like to try this or that?" No just coffee.

It tasted burnt and too strong to me.
I just could not see why you would pay $5 for a cup of burnt coffee when an entire tin cost $3.99

To each his own.

 

[NY Min]

just could not see why you would pay $5 for a cup of burnt coffee when an entire tin cost $3.99

Easy. By the time you order it as a double-soy mocha latte with extra caramel, you have no idea what the coffee itself tastes like.

Starbucks,, as you noticed on that plane, did not burst onto the scene offering a choice of just black or regular coffee.

 

[SAM 2021]

Easy. By the time you order it as a double-soy mocha latte with extra caramel, you have no idea what the coffee itself tastes like.

Isn't that a fancy Hot Chocolate?

 

[NY Min]

If they called it hot chocolate, they'd have to only charge $3 for it instead of $7.

My theory is that they have to burn the straight coffee black and bitter in order for there to still be any suggestion of coffee flavor still detectable in most of their menu choices.

 

[KoolAde2]

I do not view the idea of stockpiling as much as possible to be the ideal method of survivalism/prepping/homesteading.

I know that I can not grow coffee beans, so I shifted over to drinking green tea, and growing tea bushes.

I have switch to Tea myself. I have several varieties in the house. What tea bushes have you found that would be able to grow in Maine. By the way all teas come from the same leaf it is all in how the tea leaves are processed to get Green Tea, Black Tea, Oolong Tea and then you have Matcha Tea which is just Green Tea ground into a fine Power.

 

[NY Min]

I have had two cups of Starbucks coffee from a Starbucks store in my life. The first was brought to me by a co-worker just after the store opened. I asked her please skip it next time, get it from the neighborhood coffee place that we'd been using the last five years, or even better, wait for them to brew me a cup of Turkish at the Lebanese joint.

The second time it seemed only polite to order at least one cup while squatting on their wi-fi for a whole morning. I only managed about 3 sips of that one. But the wi-fi was good.

 

[NY Min]

By the way all teas come from the same leaf it is all in how the tea leaves are processed to get Green Tea, Black Tea, Oolong Tea and then you have Matcha Tea which is just Green Tea ground into a fine Power.

Yes and no. All tea is made from the leaves of a camellia sinensis bush. But just like all roses do not smell the same, all camellia sinensis leaves do not taste the same. Japanese green teas taste very different from Chinese green teas, as Chinese black teas differ from Indian black teas.

The differences are not so obvious if all you drink is cheap tea dust brewed in a tea bag, but there nonetheless. It is true that you can make white, green, oolong, black, or pu-erh tea from the same tea leaves depending only on how they are dried/fermented or not.

 

[KoolAde2]

Yes and no. All tea is made from the leaves of a camellia sinensis bush. But just like all roses do not smell the same, all camellia sinensis leaves do not taste the same. Japanese green teas taste very different from Chinese green teas, as Chinese black teas differ from Indian black teas.

The differences are not so obvious if all you drink is cheap tea dust brewed in a tea bag, but there nonetheless.

That comes from the Region they are Grown. Still all Teas come from the Camellia Sinensis Bush it just depends on how they are cured. Thus the degree of Caffeine in the Tea.

 

[KoolAde2]

I have a Coffee Plant as part of my indoor collection. From what I understand it probably will take years to get berries to get the seeds that the coffee is made from. All parts of the Coffee Plant are poison to both Human and all Pets

 

[NY Min]

Certainly differences come from the climate, soil, degree of shade, when in the season leaves are picked, and so forth as well as the particular variety of the camellia sinensis species you have. But that means you can't necessarily duplicate your favorite tea just by planting a camellia sinensis bush. You can get tea of some sort if it survives, and you can process that to your taste as white to pu-erh.

And yes, final caffeine content will vary with processing, although much of the reason many black teas have more is that black teas are often more finely chopped/have more dust in them and are usually brewed with hotter water for a longer steep time. Also, the particular variety of camellia sinensis has a lot to do with caffeine levels. The variety assamica is used in a lot of popular black tea/blends, and it is higher caffeine. Japanese premium shade-grown green teas have higher caffeine levels, and matcha powdered tea gives a higher-caffeine beverage as well. (Matcha runs 38 to 176 mg per cup versus the usual green tea's 20 to 45 mg (although some shade grown can reach 90) and usual black tea's 37 to 90. Coffee averages 95 mg/cup)

If you're after a beverage strictly for the caffeine, learn to love strong matcha green tea or long-simmered chai masala made from low-quality black tea dust. Russian black tea left steeping nigh unto forever on the samovar will to it as well.

 

[Rocky Mountain Beer Man]

I got some G7 from Amazon and had a cup this afternoon - woke up 2 hours later 😵‍💫

 

[NY Min]

G7 black or G7 Viet-style, moderated with a bunch of coconut creamer and sugar in the packet?

 

[Rocky Mountain Beer Man]

Viet, 100 pouch bag

 

[ajole]

No instant coffee, and no other coffee either. I hate the taste, so….that’s easy.

 

[zooeyhll]

Imagine my surprise at college when I tried to make my first cup of coffee in my dorm room by adding the grounds to my water and stirring.

Actually, I believe that's how they do it in some other countries.

From what I've read, in the Middle East they drink their coffee grounds and all.

 

[zooeyhll]

I have a long story to this...but I'll cut to the punch line: People who say they don't like coffee, just haven't had it done right.

Right for them. I came from a coffee-drinking family - my own and my ex and her family - and I detested it.

They all drank it loaded with cream and sugar. It smelled (to me) bad and tasted worse.

Then, 35 years ago, I was driving through Alaska. Trying to make the State Ferry at Valdez - I was running late and had about 300 miles to go. I needed a pick-me-up - stopped at one of the rare roadside markets, looking for a Diet Coke.

They had none. But they had a big coffee urn...what the hey.

I took it black. Three sips of good, strong black coffee, and I was a born-again addict.

Napoleon was a coffee addict. It's said he would drink up to 20 cups a day of strong coffee.

There's a quote about coffee that is "attributed" to him. When asked what made a perfect cup of coffee, he said it should be: "black as the Devil, hot as Hell, as pure as an angel, and as sweet as love".

 

[NY Min]

From what I've read, in the Middle East they drink their coffee grounds and all.

No, they don't. Turkish coffee (and all its clones under other names) is made by just boiling coffee in water with or without added sugar in a slope-sided pot and then pouring everything into a small cup. But the grounds sink to the bottom of the cup, and you don't drink them. Like espresso it's a very strong dark-roast sippin' coffee.

 

[Riverghost]

Yes....when applicable!!! Maxim or Maxspresso mixed with BRCC instant for the added jolt. This is my trail coffee.....best I've found for the $$

 

[KoolAde2]

No, they don't. Turkish coffee (and all its clones under other names) is made by just boiling coffee in water with or without added sugar in a slope-sided pot and then pouring everything into a small cup. But the grounds sink to the bottom of the cup, and you don't drink them. Like espresso it's a very strong dark-roast sippin' coffee.

Isn't that what a Percolator did too Coffee and the longer you let it Percolate the stronger it got.

 

[Pchristu]

I've thought the same thing. trouble is, instant coffee has that.....well.....INSTANT taste. I'm pretty picky on coffee. I've been grinding my own bean blends for so many years, it's hard to think about instant. There is the fact that instant stores well if vaccuum sealed. I just cannot find one I'd be willing to call tasty enough to do so.

Two suggestions: Starbucks (sealed individual servings). Medaglia d’Oro instant espresso (comes in a very small jar). Both make a decent cup of coffee now; would be magnificent when nothing else available. Also, since in small quantities, the rest of the stash won’t start aging when you open one. I say it’s for barter, but know myself well enough to admit that’s not likely so.