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Recommend me some different coffees
Yoipp
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hi,
I've never really drank coffee before, but I can't help but see (imagine?) a correlation between people who I consider to be "successful" and their consumption of caffeine in the morning. As such I think I'll give it a go for a week at a few different coffee shops at my university and maybe the magic ingredients in those little paper cups will make me a better person. Or maybe I'll just be a $20 experiment in burning my tongue.
Either way I don't really know what to order. Last week I asked the guy at the busiest coffee shop on campus what their most popular coffee was, to which he replied a flat white. I took a small one to go, and I didn't mind the taste, though I think I preferred that nice coffee bean smell as I sat in my first lecture of the day. So; what else should I sample as part of my experiment? Oh, and am I supposed to add sugar to any of these?
I've never really drank coffee before, but I can't help but see (imagine?) a correlation between people who I consider to be "successful" and their consumption of caffeine in the morning. As such I think I'll give it a go for a week at a few different coffee shops at my university and maybe the magic ingredients in those little paper cups will make me a better person. Or maybe I'll just be a $20 experiment in burning my tongue.
Either way I don't really know what to order. Last week I asked the guy at the busiest coffee shop on campus what their most popular coffee was, to which he replied a flat white. I took a small one to go, and I didn't mind the taste, though I think I preferred that nice coffee bean smell as I sat in my first lecture of the day. So; what else should I sample as part of my experiment? Oh, and am I supposed to add sugar to any of these?
Yoipp on
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Go buy a French Press, A bag of decent beans, and a grinder (grinder optional, but preferred). For beans get a medium-ish roast, I like a local brand called "Peace Coffee" that's all organic/fairtrade/shadegrown hippie stuff, but there is lots of good coffee out there.
If it needs sugar then you're doing it wrong.
Listen to this man.
French Press, although not a fast method, is one of the greatest ways to enjoy coffee. It retains the natural oil and essences of the beans... leaving you with much more flavour. Be sure to grind the beans to the correct density. Your local Starbucks will grind a bag of beans for you if you request. I recommend French Pressed Italian roast... ohhh man.
As an aside: Although I would consider myself successful, the coffee has become more of a dependence/crutch than an assist. I've become so used to having 2-3 cups of coffee per day that I can barely function without it... which is an expensive habit. The afternoon cup causes a caffeine crash on the drive home...
And yeah, no cream and sugar. That isn't coffee. Drink that shit BLACK. It's the only way.
Enjoy it in moderation =/
They do indeed make a fine cup, but not so much better than "ordinary" good-quality coffee that you'd never drink any other type again.
A regular Latte is a good Espresso based drink. It's steamed milk with a number of shots of espresso, and a "dallop" of foam on top. Most people get them flavoured (I call these people pussies), but a plain Latte is great. Get extra shots of espresso if you want more coffee flavor. Typical placement of shots, based on size in a retail coffee shop is 1/2/2 for hot and 1/2/3 for cold (small/medium/large)
A Mocha is a latte with Whipped Cream instead of foam, and chocolate syrup added. Still has espresso and optional extra syrup flavors.
A cappucino is NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS. A REAL Cappucino is a latte... except it's about half-milk and half-foam. It's great, has a stronger taste... and is only good when the barista knows what the hell they're doing. If you see a high-school dropout or a princess standing behind the espresso machine, don't order one.
The typical "cappucino" people expect is that gas station "french vanilla" bullshit.
An Americano is espresso shots mixed with hot water. An alternative to coffee. The art comes in the ratio of water to shots.
A misto is half brewed coffee and half steamed milk. *shrug*
I also recommend the French press if you want just a good black coffee. It's not horribly expensive to get started with, and you won't really figure out if you like this or not by hitting up the shops usually, so try to find someone that you know that has one and hit their place up for some coffee if you want to try before you buy.
Seriously, Italian Roast.
For example, I'll spend ~$14 for a pound of seriously good beans, but that bag will last me about two weeks, making 8 cups of coffee a day for myself and my girlfriend. The average coffee mug actually holds 2 cups, so she and I are basically on a two mug a day habit ;-). That's a buck a day total for both of us, as compared to spend $4+ daily in coffee shops. I could get free coffee at work, so theoretically I could save more money drinking that, but life is too short to drink utter swill coffee. One of my coworkers once described it as "hot buttered ass flavour." He was only exaggerating mildly.
Edit: Also, what others said about cream and sugar? It's not until you start drinking good coffee that you will realize that these things are entirely unneeded. They basically get added to cover up the inadequacies of inferior coffee.
I'm a caffeinaholic. Hit up Whole Foods or any similar place where you can buy the beans whole. Everyone has differing tastes so I suggest you sample them and find a few you enjoy. You could also try joining the Gevallia coffee of the month thing. Get a grinder and a good coffee machine and have at it.