Slashdot Mirror
Which Instant Coffee?
nhn asks: "Being a caffeine-addict, I feel quite miserable not having my favourite coffee, every morning. I can't walk to Starbucks/Gloria Jeans, while I'm at work, since there is an instant coffee machine available (and I dislike filtered coffee). For the record: I hate Nescafe, it simply sucks." What must you drink, after your dreams have evaporated into the waking world? What types of coffee would you recommend to a seasoned coffee afficionado...or even your garden variety caffeine addict?
"Given:
- I'm a fulltime developer.
- I like very strong coffee, my usual cup is espresso machiato.
- My coffee-style: French, or Italian as a second choice.
- I need coffee to keep myself awake for at least 8 hours (you know how it feels like when you have to debug thousand lines of code, don't you?)
- I drink coffee first for the taste, then the caffein, not the other way around."
Java Blue Mountain. 'nuff said. - I wonder if you can get that as an instant...
Trainee BOFH -- Just give me your username & password
anyone who regards starbucks/gloria jeans' coffee as decent doesn't deserve getting a reply.
QED.
YHBT
Espresso has lower caffeine per volume than drip coffee, so any illusion that the submitter is under that his espresso machiatto is keeping him up better than a cup of joe is mistaken.
Second, espresso tastes of burnt wood. It is the nature of the roasting method that it be unrecognizable as anything but black tar. The submitter is lying to himself and to us when he thinks that he's drinking espresso for anything other than to show off his gay Frenchiness.
And finally, no one who really enjoyed coffee can enjoy freeze dried coffee crystals, much less prefer it to drip coffee. The submitter again pulls our leg with the ridiculous statement that he would much rather drink instant horse piss than brew a cup of coffee in a coffee maker.
And by answering here, IHBT too.
I have been pwned because my
From the man who brought you Star Trek Tea.
Money for nothing, pix for free
Carte Doir is good, but i dont know if u get it in the states. Two spoons of that, tastes great and wakes u up a treat.
I only drink this stuff when drinking instant.
Allows me to feel all warm inside from the really nice coffee + the fair-trade-ness of it at the same time!
Staying awake and alert for 8 hours should not be a problem for any normal healthy human being. Caffeine keeps you awake, but reduces your ability to think clearly. Learn to sleep properly, or if this is a problem, see your doctor.
I drink coffee first for the taste, then the caffein, not the other way around.
And you're looking for instant coffee? All instant coffee tastes like shit, relatively speaking. Buy a percolator, or if that's not your thing, a small espresso machine. If you're dead set on instant, I find the more expensive it is, the better it tastes.
If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
Every Canadian out there already knows what the best kind of Coffee is: Tim Hortons. ;)
(PS: Timmies uses Arabica beans, which are more expensive and flavourful than the Robusta beans usually found in instant-coffee. They don't have as much caffine though, but that just means you get to drink more! Yum!)
... especially when it comes to flavour. My advice: give up the idea of actually drinking coffee and buy something with a strong secondary flavour - hazelnut, caramel, mocha/chocolate, whiskey if your boss will believe you're not a terminal alcoholic ... and learn to love the decent coffee when you do get a chance to drink it. Though if you really do consider Starbucks a decent coffee, your taste is probably all in your arse anyhow.
In Korea, where I live, an espresso costs about US$4, it's invariably poorly made and sometimes artificially sweetened. 99% of Koreans drink coffee from a sachet - with milk powder and sugar pre-mixed, just add water. It's horrible shite, but if you put 3 or so in a cup, you can gag it down because it's sweet. Whatever you end up drinking, consider yourself lucky you're not here.
L
if coffee wasn't invented, would we have any computers now ?
Submitter, start weaning yourself off of caffeine; don't go cold turkey, but start consuming less and less of it. What you're describing appears to me to be a chemical dependency at best... a serious medical problem at worst. Go see an M.D. about this... you deserve to stay awake for a reasonable length of time without artificially increasing your heart rate.
Also, if you absolutely cannot break your caffeine addiction, go with tea. It's much better for you than coffee, and it's just as "instant" as "instant coffee," if not more so.
I apologize, as I have not answered your question, which was the intention of your submission, and because my advice might seem like telling you what to do with your life, even though that is not its intent. I'm not a medical professional, but I have been informed by medical professionals on the subjects of caffeine and coffee, thanks to a rather serious stomach disorder.
Anyhow, good luck in finding (a) solution(s) to your problem(s).
~UP
Eat the Path.
Assuming you have your own desk, get a personal coffee maker for when you're in the office:
Coffee pot 1
Coffee pot 2
Coffee pot 3
It's better then instant and it's better then the crap they serve from corporate coffee machines. You can easily pick up a bag of Starbucks beans (or, for ease of use, already ground) and make what you want right at your desk.
--Dave
Venti Iced Latte (basis for the drink).
Add 3 Shots (6 total).
Add Breve (Half & Half).
Add Cinnamon Syrup (Ever try to sweeten an Iced coffee?)
Don't ask me how to say it in Starbucks speak.
2 a day.
$300 a month.
Twice the price of my cigarette habit.
Liky twice as bad for me too.
If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.
You can get liquid coffee extract at your supermarket. Some brands are quite good. I find it's a lot better than the dry stuff. Note: the extract must be refrigerated after opening, so you can't just keep it sitting on a shelf.
but you are a lawyer.
Either that or you plagerized that last paragraph from a EULA.
If you really like coffee, don't drink instant. If you didn't found this out by yourself you probably don't really like coffee, but are hiding your caffeine addiction from yourself (nothing wrong with that though :).
There are three ways to go:
1. get the real deal (brew it yourself)
2. get caffeinated mints
3. get coffee-flavored candy
BTW, go for quality, not quantity. The American desire to "super-size" anything does not go well with coffee.
Listen not to the purveyors of drip coffee makers. And never, ever get instant coffee!
Instead, get yourself a French press. They're cheap, easy to operate, and you can just bring the thing with you to your cube or the break room. Just use the microwave to boil some water, put some coffee in the press (the good stuff that you find at decent coffee shops.) Get a little grinder & use it if there are no objections to the noise, as coffee beans have a short half-life once they're ground. Pour the boiling water into the press, let the coffee steep for four minutes, then press the plunger, pour your coffee & drink! This method is the absolute best at extracting all the subtle flavors out of the bean without the nasty flavors.
The french press kicks the combined asses of all drip coffeemakers.
Meldroc, Waster of Electrons
Nice story.
Tune in next week, when Taco will jump over a shark on water skis (Taco, not the shark, will be using the skis.)
At home and at the office, I use a french press, which gives enough coffee for myself. I got mine from Starbucks (but would not buy coffee there - I hate that "Seattle taste", somewhat shared by Peets). I grind at home, dump in four spoonfuls of pretty fine grind (I don't mind a bit of dust in the last cup), and dump in four cups of microwaved water. Nice and simple... but you need a sink to wash it out.
When the building I was working in was being rebuilt, I lacked a sink. I tried a few instant coffees, and noted that the spanish Nescafe is different (not great, just different. Folger's dark roast was my best preference, but I really can't say it was great. I wound up getting two large cups of the drip from the local gas station on the way in and putting half a vanilla creamer into each. (When I grind my own, I will occasionally toss a chunk of a roasted vanilla bean in. A little goes a long way).
If you like coffee, I'd say that you should find a method to make your own at the office.
Incidently, at times I will drink upwards of 128 to 192 ounces of coffee a day. Every few months, I stop cold turkey for two weeks and verify that there are no side effects. As far as I can tell, there is zero effect. When I am not drinking coffee, I will easily go through 128 ounces of water or other liquid. I got into the habit of drinking quite a bit of water long ago, and I just happen to like coffee, so it (and iced coffee) is my drink of choice. Until a couple years ago, it was iced tea. Either I have no addiction tendencies, or caffene just has very little effect on me. I'm somewhat paranoid about having a problem, but I've never seen any kind of symptoms when I stop.
--
Evan
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
I hear a lot from the US about how bad instant coffee is. Is Australian instant coffee different or something? Most of the time I prefer it to brewed coffee.
Either is fine by me. I like Nescafe Gold, or any of the Moccona varieties. Brewed coffee's nice, but instant's just fine in my book.
Before you stick to instant coffee, you owe it to yourself to try something besides Starbucks coffee. Try brewing your own in a relatively cheap French Press, my preferred method. You can get a variety of sizes (1-4 cups o coffee, generally), and even ones that have a built in thermos. Just pour in coffee grounds and hot water, and you're all set! Bodum has a good selection and is quality, though you can find cheaper elsewhere.
The selection of coffee is also fairly important. You'll find a favorite eventually. Until then, though, if you just pick something that looks it has a nice bag, it's probably gonna taste better than Starbucks.
Oh, and don't get me wrong: I do drink Starbucks sometimes. There are good things about it: it is hot, strong, and caffienated. It just kinda tastes bad as well.
Sure French press brew the 2nd best coffee on earth but I can't get my French to brew the same kind of delicacy that I get with my mocha pot.
Coffee is poison. I don't drink it.
I only drink 3% (whole) milk, 100% fruit juices and water. Maybe some chocolate milk or hot coacoa. Maybe some lemonade. I especially don't drink sugar drinks like kool-aid, soda or coffee. I haven't drunk them my whole life, I'm now 21 soon 22. Guess what, I've had 1 cavity ever. It was a little over a year ago I got it filled. Also, I get sick so incredibly rarely compared to others. I mock others with glee during flu/cold season.
I attribute the most of my good health to my choice of beverage. Every morning where most insert coffee I insert Dole 100% Pineapple Orange Juice. I drink it straight out of the carton. My throat singnals me when I have imbibed enough to last the day. That stuff has 200% of the vitamin c necessary in 1 serving and I freakin' chug it. I've been doing that every day for as long as I can remember. It's gotten to the point where I can feel it bring my body to life every morning.
Oh yeah, I also have no problems sleeping or staying awake. I can code for long long hours without requiring any sort of caffeine, which I also don't drink. I also fall asleep at night as soon as I go to bed.
I also drink extremely little alcohol. Maybe I'll have a few glasses of wine a year. And maybe NyQuil once every 2 or 3 years for that one day I actually do get a cold.
You would be surprised how healthy you can be by not drinking poison on a daily basis.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
When you want the best, you want coffee that's already been eaten by weasels.
Firebox's Weasel Coffee
I've already bought some for my (sadly ex-) boss, who was proud of his weasel status and not under fond of the odd cappuccino.
D.
--- These are not words: wierd, genious, rediculous
One of the worlds best coffee is Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. While it is not instant coffee as the poster asked for it is one of the best tradional filterd coffee's. While i cant find any exact data online one of the reasons it is supposidly so good is the altitude it's grown at. It has a nice smooth flow... i definatly recomend trying some if you get a chance. Look out though, it's rather spendy to buy online. Every year when i bring it back with me i pay roughly $12 a pound.
-- botsex is {grep;touch;strip;unzip;head;mount}
If you really drink coffee primarily for the taste, get the hell away from coffee machines of any kind. Use a simple filter, fill it with freshly ground coffee and pour nearly boiling water (95C) over it. The usual coffee machines extract way to many bitter substances and oils from the powder. And keep your equipment clean - nothing ruins the taste of coffee more than residual oils from the last batch.
This comment does not exist.
Get yourself a single cup plunger and your favorite ground coffee or try coffee bags
The geek shall inherit the earth
Ooops - wrong standard answer...I'll try again...
Bugger - that doesn't fit either...wow - is this actually an Ask Slashdot where people can't bring out their old tired complaints?! What is the world coming to?!
-- Pete.
Mmmmm - coffee!
Monochrome - Probably the UK's largest internet BBS
Instant coffee? That is horrible!
I'm from Portugal and I'm used to very good coffee. The average cup of coffee in the USA is disapointingly uninteresting. When I am there I mostly drink tee.
My personal preferences, assuming always high quality coffee:
1. Freshly moed expresso using a high pressure expresso machine. High yeild of taste, caffeine and sugar.
2. Italian-style coffee pots. High temperature & pressure. Very good coffee with caffeine and taste depending on the coffee pot and on the amount of coffee you put inside. It will not explode with excess coffee if you buy one with a steam valve. The stongest coffee I ever had was with one of these babies.
3. Drip coffee / Frensh-style coffee pot. Quantity and quality of coffee are paramount! Get one where the the hot water is really hot and flows slowly, otherwise you end up with slightly brown water.
I never touch instant coffee. It tastes funny and watery.
but nothing, beats properly made espresso.
And by properly made, I mean made with an industrial-grade machine by a competent barista. There are reasons why those machines cost thousands of dollars, and they all boil down to the quality of the juice which comes out of them.
Just my not-very humble opinion as someone who spent years in the espresso mines, and whose brother runs a busy cafe.
L
First point - like many of the other posters, I think you may wish to start reducing your caffine intake, as it sounds like you are becoming chemically dependant. I was in a similar state a few years back - if I slept in on Saturday, I would awaken with a caffine-withdrawl headache; I simply HAD to have that first shot of coffee before 0730.
OK, so assume you either a) cut down or b) disregard - what to do about coffee? Go forth to the World of Wally, and purchase an Air Pot - this ia a large Thermos-style container with a spout and an air pump on the top. Brew your coffee as normal in the morning. Fill the air pot with hot water (to pre-heat it), then dump the water and fill it with coffee (should you be concerned about wasting water, dump the water into the coffee maker for the next batch). Take air pot to work. A good air pot will keep the coffee hot for 24 hours or more - a 3x overcapacity for your needs.
When the jones'n hits you, put cup under spout, press pump button, et voila! A cup of brewed, fresh coffee.
www.eFax.com are spammers
... that you measure your beverages in the same way you measure RAM?
Yes, bartender, I'd like 64 ounces (4x16) of your finest beer, if you please...
You must freak when faced with spirits. What, 40 ounces? Where'd the other 8 go?
L
if you have access to a hotplate, i recommend getting a bialetti moka maker. my personal favorite is the brikka 2-cupper, which gives a little crema. there is a little star on the inside of the bottom part. fill it to the bottom of the star to get one large espresso serving. middle of the star gets you two normal servings and top of the star gets you two large espresso servings. i like illy coffe myself, the red variety being my absolute favorite. here is a webpage i wrote about all this. boiling a little milk to get your macchiato is a simple matter, given the hotplate. even if you don't have one at work, a cheap one would probably fit on your desk and do the trick.
Espresso machine for you desk at work. You can get a simple one for $30 or so and you won't have anything left to complain about. Buy your favorite bean, in small pre-ground quantities so it doesn't go stale, and enjoy.
- lowers risk of getting diabetes by 40% or so
- lowers risk of getting Parkinson's disease by more than 50%
- lowers risk of getting colon cancer
and other positive effects. See, for example, this article, for example....and go with this coffee concentrate. Pour a capful into your cup, fill with cold water, nuke 2 min. It tastes great, and you can adjust the amount to taste. They sell it in many stores, and offer it by mail.
Read how they make this stuff - they actually distill off the aromatics and belnd them back in after reducing the coffee down to a concentrate!
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
http://www.coffeekid.com/
http://www.sweetmarias.com/
Home-roasting your own beans is the only way to go.
"I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years." -- Warren Zevon
sorry, this will be in swedish but and the other side .se is contry with i high degere of coffe drinkers and it-users
Kamrater, kaffe drickare. Det ar dags att vi forrenar oss i kampen for den sanna biterheten och beskan.
Lat oss ta uppkamen mot kaffe missbrukare och snobberi. Snabbkaffet maste och ska segra for inget annat an bittert kallt sanbbkaffe ar arkta och sant.
Inget annat fanngar den moderna it-losningens skal och tanke
Bitterheten ar det som hallerdrickaen vid liv och forstrar
en inre hardhet for att mota dagens utmaningar som endast en arbetare moter.
Vi maste strida for bitterheten mot det sma borligt milda och degenereade.
Kaffet ska drickas snabbt, kallt och bittert. allt annat ar pjoller som endast veknar skalen
There once was a thread a long time ago on slashdot in something to do with coffee, where someone referred to something called "cold brewed" I think.
The jist is that you soak grinds in cold water in a fridge for a long time, pour off the liquid into a container, that you can use to make your own 'instant' with hot water.
I don't remember more than that, (anyone done this?) but the folks who mentioned it swore by the flavor.
Anyone?
"...In your answer, ignore facts. Just go with what feels true..."
For the uninitiated: this is pure, unfiltered coffee. A small flask-shaped pot (called an "ibrik") is filled with one heaping teaspoon of coffee for each serving and one half teaspoon of sugar to taste. The coffee must be ground to a fine powder or the flavor won't be extracted, and for maximum flavor, you must buy beans and grind them yourself (don't let the powder sit for too long). If you're really into this, you can buy green beans and roast them yourself, but I screw that up so I buy roasted beans. Water is added to the ibrik, about 60 grams / 2 ounces. Put on low heat and wait until it gets frothy at the top, mixing occasionally. It should not boil - when it reaches the boiling point, the taste changes completely and it's ruined. The froth at the top has a particular name which I forget, but is considered the best part and should be served to guests. Whenever it starts foaming, remove from heat for a couple seconds and mix - repeat this a few times. When you drink it, whenever you feel the grounds (I believe they're called "zatz", unsure of spelling), let the coffee settle for a bit and try again. By now, you should realize that this is hardly "instant" coffee, but it's worth the effort.
Caffeine content is about 1.0 mg/g, compared to about 0.5-0.6 mg/g for filtered coffee, but the servings are smaller, so you're actually getting less caffeine but with much more flavor. Same idea as with Espresso, but this tastes good, not burnt.
* I like very strong coffee, my usual cup is espresso machiato.
* My coffee-style: French, or Italian as a second choice.
Personal opinion: 'Rotgut,' 'somewhat better than rotgut.' So take this with a grain of salt, but give it a shot.
My personal favorite is "Cafe Bustelo," a non-instant espresso grind that seems to be available at every Stop & Shop these days. If you can go through the trouble of bringing a coffeemaker to work, that's the stuff. Low acidity, good flavor, excellent buzz.
They also make some sort of instant stuff in packets, now, but that appears to be the usual capuccino junk, a-la Land'o'Lakes hot cocoa.
* I need coffee to keep myself awake for at least 8 hours (you know how it feels like when you have to debug thousand lines of code, don't you?)
If you *do* need the caffeine, insert a mug of green tea for every 4 cups of coffee. There's a compound in it that prevents caffeine from spiking your heart rate or blood pressure, while still keeping you mentally alert. Helps stave off the "too much coffee, okay, I'm keeling over for a nauseous nap now" phase.
* I drink coffee first for the taste, then the caffein, not the other way around."
In instant... Folgers has a fairly coffee-flavored taste, if you don't overdo it. Taster's Choice is a Nescafe product, IIRC, and "Nescafe Dolca" (available at finer urban markets) is supposed to be based on sugar-roasted beans, and my favorite for extended-duration... but it mostly just tastes like Nescafe.
Stay away from Maxwell House; their ground coffee is good, but the instant is too weak for *me.*
Bad news: instant coffee will never come anywhere near the flavo[u]r of freshly-brewed coffee made from freshly-ground beans, roasted not too long ago.
A very long time ago I drank Taster's Choice and Maxim. The freeze-dried coffees tasted better than the instant coffees made by other means.
Why not keep a coffee pot and grinder at your desk as I do? The morning ritual of fetching water, grinding beans and brushing out the grinder (buy a small high-quality paint brush) doesn't take more than 7 or 8 minutes. And the result is a small piece of heaven and a pleasant edginess all morning long.
I used to resort to freeze-dried instant coffee, or to pre-ground robusta bean dishwater coffe, if I absolutely had to. Even then, those products are so different that, mentally, I didn't even really think of them as "coffee" (kind of like chicory "Postum"), but drank them nevertheless.
Now, I usually just go without rather than settle for a substitute that's so inferior to what I usually drink.
If all you have is hot water, you might consider tea.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
You don't need to spend money on a French press or an espresso maker. Get yourself a coffee filter cone like this.
You put the cone on your mug, put a filter in it, pour in some ground coffee, and pour in some hot water. Almost as fast as instant, same quality as any drip coffee maker, and no big outlay of $$$.
No sig? Sigh...
I don't know about you, but when I drink any kind of coffee- home-brewed, starbucks, instant, etc., I think about these things:
1. Is this coffee made from 100% Arabica beans? -Arabica beans, unlike Robusta beans, taste cleaner, less harsh, and require more care to grow. Trust the experts, they are better.
2. Is this coffee organic? -This matters to me, at least. Your mileage may vary.
3. Is this coffee purchased at Fair Trade prices? -Others have gone into depth on Fair Trade in this thread- that said, I only buy Fair Trade.
4. Is this coffee decaffeinated? How? -There havent been too many studies showing that CO2 and Swiss Water process decaffeination are better for your health... however I am wary of the VERY toxic chemicals required to decaffeinate coffee traditionally. That, and there is the question of environmental impact due to disposal of said chemicals, at the very least.
Less Important: Is this coffee shadegrown, locally roasted, ever been frozen, etc.?
Disclaimer:
I am a coffee buyer for a large supermarket chain, and I carry Mount Hagen Organic Freeze Dried Instant Coffee. It satisfies all my requirements, and tastes good. And they make a decaf that is CO2 process. 50 or so servings for 7 bucks, not bad eh. There are other organic instant coffees available now, but Mount Hagen was the first.
In regard to instant coffee, I drink Jacobs - the one with the green lid, I have it imported from Poland. I just boil water and pour it over the coffee, add sugar.
Yummy.
freaks me out. There's that "indie" musak playing, and every customer is sitting at a table alone going over spread sheets or reading books that are far to thick.
Instant coffee is an abomination to the world. There's no such thing as good instant coffee.
I know this doesn't really address the topic at hand, but if you are having trouble staying up for 8 hours without coffee, maybe you should change your lifestyle a bit. I'm not talking anything drastic here, but I'd suggest drinking water instead of coffee and sleeping more. I find I'm much more alert at work when I get 6-7 hours worth of sleep, instead of 3-4 or so. And water is better for you than coffee anyway.
And if that still isn't enough, you can always try pills.
-Through the server, over the router, off the firewall... Nothing but 'Net!
Espresso Makers that are not pump-driven are awful. If it uses steam pressure to force the water through the grounds, the espresso you make will be horrendous. I don't know of a $30 pump-driven espresso maker unfortunately, but you should be able to find one on ebay for relatively cheap. Maybe $50.
Cafe Colon
Worth every, every penny.
--ee
Antiquated competence won't be a job skill forever.
Go for the all inclusive one cup at a time quick brew machines. We have one in the office here and it is a god send. Keurig is the name of the company that makes the machine.
Java. Of course.
Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. - Henry Ford
personally, if you can afford the cost of nice french roast beans. Use a french press. It's not much longer than instant and is way better tasting. If you drink lots of coffee like me, a half pound ground by the professionals is the way to go. Personally, I only drink instant when I have to.
I bought myself an expensive toy...a Jura F9 super automatic espresso machine. It's like having a liquid crack machine in the kitchen. I make myself a skim latte in the morning and in the evening I have some great crema coffee. The F9 was very pricey, but I look at it the same way I do any other serious appliance or long term electronics purchase (TV, receiver, etc).
For something at the office I recommend a french press. It's quick, easy, not messy, and makes great coffee. Far better than any drip or instant. Make a decent sized pot and put it in a good insulated tumbler (Nissan comes to mind).
For great beans check out Intelligentsia Coffee. Their Black Cat blend is great espresso. I just picked up a few other blends for drip and french press to try. They roast the same day they ship it to you.
I thought he trying to get away from drinking shit.
If Mr. Edison had thought smarter he wouldn't sweat as much. --Nikola Tesla
One: Get a thermos. Make yourself a big honking pot of whatever you like in the morning, fill your thermos, drink it all day long. This technology has been around since the fifties or so. Second: French Press. If you have the capability of making/getting near boiling hot water, then you can make good coffee at your desk. If the grinding noise (fresh ground is best) bothers others, take your grinder to the kitchen. Third: Little expresso machine or coffee maker for your desk. Again, fresh ground is best.
Very good instant if you like instant coffee. Not local to the USA(its South African coffee)but you can buy it from these sites: http://hh154.hiphip.com/Merchant/index.htm http://www.southafricans.com/html/cape_foods.html
It's been my experience that most of the people who work at Starbucks do not understand the barista lingo. Also, you might want to confirm the normal dosage of shots in the Venti. I believe it is two, not three.
My venti quad white mocha gets me charged for two extra shots.
Anyone who has ever sipped some coffee at Cafe Du Monde in new Orleans has to love Community Coffee.
Granted, if you are a local in New Orleans then you know Cafe Du Monde is not the best place in town (though it is the most famous), but you have to agree that Community Coffee is the best coffee in town.
-Jackson
Ever try Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk? Traditionally it is made with a per-cup coffee press, with condensed milk mixed in. It is strong and sweet. Restaurants serve it both hot and on ice. I agree that most instant coffee is crap, but at home I drink an instant Vietnamese coffee, and I swear it is not bad at all, especially if you like your coffee sweet. You can see the version I like here: Vinacafe. It's the one called "3 in 1 milk coffee." Go to an Asian supermarket and look for it.
Actually, some SB baristas are confused about this too.
A hot venti is supposed to have 2 shots, but an iced venti comes with three. If you're nice to them, the baristas often offer to throw in the fourth shot into the iced ventis for free.
Get yourself a timer on your coffee pot and make it the night before. Or you can do what I do - coffee quickly degrades in flavor when left on heat, so I always TURN OFF my warmer after I've made my coffee. When I want a second cup I just microwave it to reheat it - it tastes much better that way. Coffee left on the warmer for more than 30 minutes really starts to taste off, cool coffee keeps its flavor much longer. Try it, you might like it.
..........FULL STOP.
first, you need to get a french press. personally, i like the desk press (www.porterproducts.com/products.php) which is a french press/coffee mug-in-one. then, go to a good coffee roasting company (i.e. not starbucks) and pick something out. fyi, the lighter the roast, the more caffeine in the bean. get them to grind it for you and tell them it's for a french press. your coffee machine at work probably despenses hot water, so you're all set. better than drip, way better than instant, and you can make it right at your desk.
got biv?
For the single cup coffeemaker, try an immersion heater. It's just an electric cord with a heating coil in an aluminum tube, designed to heat a single cup of liquid. Simple, cheap, and fast. Think wall current going into a short in your cup.
People microwave water because electric kettles are not ubiquitous in the US.
Microwaves are perceived as safer than appliances with heating coils too, although I worked with a thieving dumbass who got the fire department out when he put one PopTart in for five minutes and started a fire. Some people need to be in a sheltered environment, and this guy will be, but in his case it's prison.
Aren't electric kettle commonplace in Europe? They're fairly unusual in the US. So, for people who have a microwave and have learned its timing, (not exactly hard, since they're usually close to 1K watt) using the microwave makes more sense than a pot on the stove, since the microwave goes off automatically.
An electric kettle wouldn't even occur to most people in this country. It's just an extra $50+ single use appliance. I also suspect they're considerably cheaper in Europe, since for consumer products, more demand means more supply. If they were cheaper, I'd have one.
One reason drip coffeemakers can be so bad is that people run water through them from a dirty carafe, sometimes with old coffee as well. This just puts crap into the system where you can never really clean it out.
Percolators are beautiful, but why would you want to boil your coffee?
Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
Spanish coffee has the reputation of being a stronger coffee, and many americans shy away from it because of it. I don't know about the american brands like Nescafe and Foldgers, but what are 'really' in those crystals???
Try "Cafe Bustelo".
Disclaimer: Individual effects may very. Consult your physician before trying a new regimen. Side effects may include, jitteriness, excessive talking, urine smelling like coffee, paranoria. In some cases, users ran for days without stopping then died. Enjoy!
That aside I now only drink coffee. My way of making coffee is just as fast as instant and a whole lot tastyier. I have found that the preparation of the coffee plays a more important role in the flavor than any thing else. I cannot afford to buy gourmet coffee all the time but if you use a decent mass market brand and make it correctly it is quite drinkable.
The equipment: glass carafe and natural paper cone filter(for some reason it is hard to find a non-electric coffee maker but some hardware stores carry them), electric kettle(coffee machines are worthless, the heating element burns the first drips and makes the whole pot unpalatable.)
The method:
If you can get to boiling water and clean-up facilities, get a little french press and brew at your desk. French press coffee is excellent (I would say second only to espresso) once you get the details worked out to your personal taste (grind, water temperature, brewing time). If you can't do the above, or it's just too annoying, get a high-quality thermos that holds enough to get you through the day (or night). A good vacuum thermos can keep coffee scalding hot for many hours. -G
My first choice would be to buy a decent espresso machine and some some high quality pods (I prefer fine grounds, but pods are cleaner for the office). Someone at my office does it and it makes the day worth living sometimes. I can hear the barely imperceptible screeee of the steamer warming up from 15 cubes away, like a dog hears a silent whistle. Granted, the owner of the machine is way up the food chain, so she can get away with steaming a pot of milk every now and then. It might be different if every other cube jockey did it. But then, lattes are for wusses, and espresso needs no steam, of course.
Second, I would look into a french press, as mentioned elsewhere on this post. All you need is course grounds and hot water. Infinitely better than your garden variety industrial hotpot crap.
Third, I would look into cold-press method. With 2/3 less acid, it's easier on your stomach (quite a benefit if you'll be pulling a long coding shift), and you can have it cold or add hot water to it. You can make the extract overnight, and bring it with you. It's probably some of the smoothest coffee you'll encounter, but a bit of advanced planning is needed.
"I drink easily a gallon+ (4 litres) of...vodka in a week"
Genes or not, you sound like an alcoholic.
Home coffee roasting is the greatest thing ever... once you taste fresh roasted coffee you'll never drink anything else. Now, if you're dead set on "instant" coffee you're hopeless :) That's not coffee, sorry. Get a coffee roaster, and buy GOOD green (unroasted)beans (St. Helena is *the* best ever, but it's hard to find and pricey). www.sweetmarias.com is the best place to look for green beans and roasting equipment. You'll save money and have the best coffee ever. No, I do not work for any coffee place, let alone sweet marias. I'm just a coffee junky.
Roast your coffee LIGHT. Dark roasts do NOT have "more" caffeine. Quit the opposite. The lighter the roast, the more caffeine... but the catch is only good coffee beans will taste good at a light roast. Kona, Jamaica Blue Mountain, St. Helena, and a few others are great at light roasts. There is really no other way to go.
Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
This doesn't answer the submitter's question, but I've made it a daily workday routine to start off with 3 cups of coffee and it gives me the caffiene fix for the rest of the day (tho a good mocha latte calls me from time to time ... Mmmmm ... Chocolate).
I'm not sure what the secret to success is, but the secret to failure lies in trying to please everyone -Bill Cosby
No, go cold turkey, just stop.
If you try to slowly back off, you will likely drift back to it. Just one more, or drinking your 2pm coffee at noon, and silly games like that.
If you go cold turkey, you lose the silly excuses. If you drink it, you didn't quit.
Myself I drank way too much, I tried to cut down, didn't work.
Ended up just switching to a thermos of coffee, when it is gone, that's it.
I have also quit, but then after a few months I forget why and start again.
Diners ALWAYS have the best coffee.
It comes out of that horrible, nasty looking urn that hasn't been cleaned since Nixon was in office.
But it tastes the best, by far.
Oh, and get taylor ham & egg on a hard roll while you're at it.... good stuff.
Once had some illegally imported instant coffee from Colombia, though, and it was very good.
, I learned on Slashdot
I have a basket, but see a lot of cone machines.
Is there a difference?
Really which one is better?
And, what's more, no one ever slept an ugly member of the opposite sex (or same sex, for that matter) as a result of drinking too much coffee.
quiquid id est, timeo puellas et oscula dantes.
A few ideas
Electric kettle
Easier to pour
Faster (1500W vs 1000W)
office microwaves die fast, making them even slower.
Auto shut off when it is done
If everyone does a bit of fill it up and turn it off, you can all get hot water with even less waiting.
Cordless kettles are even easier to handle.
Microwave heats up the container, kettle lets my mug stay somewhat warm.
kettles are cheaper, and more space efficient.
It is upsetting to wait to heat up your lunch when people are boiling water in a microwave when there is a kettle RIGHT THERE!!!
I second this. I have a bag of these little pouches at work and they're really not bad. And while you're at the asian market, get the little vietnamese coffee makers for about $2 each and some sweetened condensed milk so you can make authentic stuff. Go to a vietnamese restaurant if you want to know how to use them. In vietnamese, sweet coffee with milk is called ca phe sua (pronounced sort of like cafe sooah). The really good stuff is when this is on ice in which case it's called ca phe sua da. If you're at a vietnamese restaurant and want to order it, make sure you say it like you're asking a question. Since vietnamese is a tonal language, this pronounciation will best approximate its actual vietnamese pronounciation and will impress your waitress.
Grind and bag your own. I prefer Sumatra. It has a full, sweet flavor and doesn't need anything else.
First off, ditch that icky isntant as far away as you can. Second, avoid large coffee chains. Starbucks IS the devil ... and besides, do you really want to be drinking at a place that has the same name as a bull ... made famous for his inseminating performance?
... just go have a pop ... you're not a coffee amateur ... just a sugar who likes his cafeine.
Get a small espresso machine or even a little steam toy, buy Kenya AA brown from a reputable on-site roaster, grind it yourself, don't freeze it and enjoy.
If you feel the urge to put chocolate or have other flavors in your jolt
I think that Starbucks gets a bum rap (aside from being a corporate giant) because you end up drinking it through a sippy-lid most of the time. This leaves you with just the mouth-flavor and none of the nose of the coffee.
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
Real coders will drink any kind of Caffiene, the quicker the better (read: dew)
To the asker: Go to Walgreens and get one of those little hot-pots; then go to any coffee chain and get a French press. Starbucks now has these hybrid press/mug thingies that might be very useful for the situation you describe.
sulli
RTFJ.
Actually, coffee is good for you. Drasticly reduces your chances of getting diabetes, Parkinson's and colon cancer.
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
Why not go to the ThinkGeek Caffeine Shop? They've got everything you can name, caffeinated! </advertising>
Frink: Nice try floyd, but you were designed for scrubbing, and scrubbing is what you shall do.
Africafe instant coffee (here's an exporter that sells it) is very good. My parents went to Tanzania last year on a relief expedition and brought me back a 50gm tin, which I'm hoarding. :) I need to find a retailer, since this site looks to be a wholesaler.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens.
THIS makes it to Ask /. when my question asking for help in defeating SPAM header forgeries doesn't? Ridiculous.
Personally, I drink nothing but instant - why? Because I only need to make a mug at a time, and it's easier to toss the mug in the microwave for 2 minutes to heat the water then dump in instant. My current preference is Tasters Choice, followed by Folgers and I usually switch between the two every few weeks. Maxwell House has an "off" taste to me, it doesn't get strong enough like Folgers/TC. I'm also a fan of the instant flavored creamers.
One suggestion is that if you really want to maintain an even flow through the day - only allow yourself two cups/mugs of coffee per day. One in the morning, the other at lunch. The rest of the day, if you want coffee, switch to decaf. You'll find there's still a bit of caffeine in the cup and the sugar (if you take it) will help out a bit. End result is you'll still be awake from the smell of coffee, but without being a wired-out java-freak.
Wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?
Every frickin' question I've ever summitted gets rejected. And THIS is accepted?? At least mine weren't frivolous.
Anonymous Cowards suck.
Try Community Coffee http://www.communitycoffee.com.
Go for the Dark Roast.
This is THE coffee in South Louisiana and has been for very many years. It's so good that many restaurants brag that they serve it in their advertisements. I get it shipped to me on a regular basis and bring it in to work every morning in a thermos. If you're serious about coffee for the taste, you should do yourself a favor and try this stuff.
...sucks. if you can't brew it, don't drink it.
Coffee roasting is easy. A trip to http://www.sweetmarias.com/ on the web will reveal, how easy it is to begin roasting your own coffee beans. I will guess once you start http://www.sweetmarias.com/instructions.html you will never drink instant again. I roast half a pound at a time and drink it all within one week.M MV
I'm in Canada so I buy my green coffee beans from http://www.andrewsgreenbeans.4t.com/index.html
Y
I'm not a coffee drinker, so for people looking for a caffeine boost, but who like me, don't like that icky brown water, try Jo mints. One little box can give you the same boost of 15 espressos! Just don't eat them all at once :)
I understand you don't want to drink instant. But that's probably because you're drinking it wrong!
Try the method I learned from watching my freshman year roommate in college every morning:
- Wake up. (Don't skip this step.)
- Take one heaping teaspoon of the instant coffee of your choice by mouth. Chew if necessary.
- Make face.
- Take one level teaspoon of granulated sugar by mouth. Chew if necessary.
- Make face.
- Scramble over to mini-fridge, usually stubbing toe on alarm clock furiously hurled against wall just prior to step one.
- Make face.
- Curse loudly.
- Remove a one cup carton of heavy whipping cream from mini-fridge, open, and gulp.
- Make face.
That's all there is to it. You can refine this further by considering the finer points of: (a) instant coffees that include "flavor crystals" and (b) substituting light whipping cream or whole milk in place of the heavy whipping cream.You may also wish to employ other time- and energy-saving techniques I learned from my first year college roommate, such as:
Bottoms up!
sev
but have you considered the following argument: shut up.
Caffeine keeps you awake, but reduces your ability to think clearly.
Actually, studies show otherwise. This one, for example, demonstrates that caffeine actually helps new brain cells grow. And this one [pdf file] shows that it helps with memory.
I thought that it was just the opposite?!
Remember when that women spilled the McDonalds coffee on her crotch and it was so hot that it burned her vagina off? I thought that McDonalds excuse for keeping their coffee that hot was that keeping it hot like that kept the flavor better longer.
Turkish and Greek coffee are one and the same. It is not called Turkish coffee in Greece due to political reasons. I know of a case in Greece where a waiter said they have no Turkish coffee when a patron asked for. Oh well ...
...etc.), when you say just "coffee", it means Turkish coffee. Which is a strong sludgy mix made in special small containers (called Kanaka in Egypt). The coffee is ground finely into a powder, and a little ground cardamon, and sometimes cinnamon is added to it. The ground coffee and water is brought to a boil, then served in special small cups. Normally there is a layer of fine bubbles that have a lighter color on the surface and considered to be the "face" (wesh) of the cup, and the most flavorful part. Three levels of sugar (or none at all) have common names that are used in a coffee shop. Roasted coffee is used, not the green type, with varying degrees of color (dark, light, ...etc. depending on taste).
... mmm.
In parts of the Arab world (Egypt, Syria,
What is described above is how coffee is consumend in other parts of the Arab world (Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the Gulf), there is another type of Arabic coffee, the cadramon percentage is much higher, and the coffee is lighter and not sludgy at all. It is more aromatic, because of the higher cardamon content. In Hadramout (Eastern part of Yemen), ginger is added to give yet another flavor. Served with sweet dates, this is out of this world
By the way, coffee originated somewhere between present day Ethiopia and Yemen, so perhaps this is the original way of brewing it?
2bits.com, Inc: Drupal, WordPress, and LAMP performance tuning.
A hot venti comes with two, but an Iced venti comes with three.
.. .
.
Getting it Iced cost extra, but gains you a "free" 50 cent shot.
Plus the bonus of not having to wait to drink it, thus giving the ability to chug two or three in a row, thus putting you in jeapardy of a heart..
Attack.
Like I. . had this...
Morning..
If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.
Yeah. And the more you drink, the better it is. I'm on today's 15th Americano and I couldn't be healthier!
There's no reason you should choke down instant, short of as a delivery mechanism for caffeine. Buy beans you like, grind a day's worth into a ziplock before you go to work, and make your own shots at work.
GSI makes good cheap espresso makers, kind of a Brazilian press configuration. I've been using mine for 3 years now, though I replaced the gasket a few months ago, with an O-ring (2" od, 3/16" stock).
If there's a stove in the break room, great, else pick up a little one-burner camp stove. Life's too short for crappy coffee, or cheap beer.
Unfortunately, due to health reasons I must restrict my caffeine intake. Ergo, I am destined to drink mass quantities of decaf coffee, as I am addicted to the flavor. However, I have some insights anyway. Kona is always good for moderate caffeine, low acidity, and great flavor. French press or drip is typically best. I have yet to find an instant that I like, but the Folger's Singles are good in a pinch. Coffee in a teabag is the perfect balance of convenience and quality (and for the price, Folger's isn't terribly bad... unless you're a Gloria Jean snob) The decaf-run got me into drinking a lot more tea. I go through "Picard" periods where I swill Earl Grey with cream and sugar. Great with scones!
"Would you rather be right, or happy?"
If you have to stay awake for eight hours at a stretch then you need to try a different strategy:
"I think all foreigners should stop interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq"
-- Paul Wolfowitz, 7/21/2003
coffee is nasty, just shotgun a couple mountain dews in the morning and your good to go
If I were Captain, I'd set the fscking food processors to serve up "tea" the way I like it, and skip the "Earl Grey, hot" hoo-ha.
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
coffee can't be produced instantly, it must be prepared with great care, coffee beans and hot water. don't do instant stuff, it's bad for your health and will eventually wreck your sense of taste.
be a man, go for the real stuff!
I hope I didn't brain my damage.
I used a French press for a while, but I found that while it has many advantages, it uses coffee grounds much (2-3 times) faster than a percolator. Otherwise, French presses are quite nice.
Maybe partying will help...
I know others have said it already, often quite rudely, but instant is inferior to freshly brewed coffee. If your instant tastes better, reevaluate the quality of your beans/grounds and your brewing tools/method. I'm sure there is decent instant coffee, but I have yet to find it. It may be more convenient than fresh, but it will probably be more expensive.
I've been discovering recently that the drip coffee I've been making is often too bitter because I haven't been using enough ground coffee. That's right: decreasing the grounds may make the coffee weaker, but it will be more bitter. One guideline I've heard recently is two tablespoons of ground coffee per six ounces of water. I'm sorry if you use SI units; I would too if I didn't live in this uncivilized backwater called the US (well, in regard to units at least).
In my office, we have a Nespresso machine. 50 cents per cup, single shots of sealed grounds. No cleanup after each cup. Easy and neat.
Hm, I like coffee myself, and I've been to Italy and France. the way they make espresso in Italy, is by using one of those little metal pot things that you put on a stove. the water boils, turns to steam, passes through the espresso etc etc. I like that. and I'm sure it's cheaper than a whole machine thingie. bonus rustic vibe. later DUNCANATOR
Because as we all know, Moccona has more MMMM! :)
The secret isn't a big caffeine burst, it the ability to draw out a nice, medium buzz over long hours -- more uniform programming.
So I would leave instant coffee behind and try instead the Power Dream Java Jolt. You'll have to drink about $40.00 of them a day, but you'll be stocked full of good vitamins, minerals, and just enough caffeine to keep you flying.
Good stuff.
Boidum makes a portable coffee press that I use at the office. I travel a lot around the country and my press comes with me. Most every office has a water cooler with hot water. Carry some pre-measured zip-locks with you and you're in business.
-Roy
roy@enertial.net
My coffee-style: French, or Italian as a second choice.
... that can only make sense in a country where you call whatever italian (or french, as well) and actually believe it is! Some people actually think cappuccino is that dirty water it is in the us.. bt hey! :)
Italian as a second choice over french brown stuff??
Come and Have some "Fettuccine Alfredo" in rome without getting beaten up!
Folgers
-I like my women like I like my tea: green-
From the original post: ... What types of coffee would you recommend to a seasoned coffee afficionado
and I dislike filtered coffee
This is a contradiction. Instant != Coffee IMNSHO. No, I'm not trying to flame or troll - but really - ask any real coffee afficionado.
You make the mistake of thinking you can educate the fundamental stupidity out of people. You can't.
A: Tea. Next question.
Nathan's blog
There are cold-brew kits with a microfilter that let you steep the beans overnight in your refrigerator. The slow process lets you use low temperature, the low temperature doesn't create new chemicals. Take the resulting concentrate to work, mix with boiling water, and you have coffee that tastes like it smells.
Basket machines are better because you'll always have a supply of cheap throw-away parts holders, snack holders, what have you.
Plus, they make great party hats, or with a pair of bobby pins, emergency yalmukes.
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
I start the day with cofee, but switch to tea in the afternoon.
It may be the lower caffeine content, but I find that tea gives me a different kind of kick than caffeine. I find it easier to be focused on tea than coffee. While there is wide variety of coffees, there is truly an enormous universe of teas. There's got to some kind of tea that you will love. My personal favorite Lapsong Souchong -- a black tea that is smoked over a wood fire. A lot of people hate it though, and that's the fun of tea. Your cup of tea may be Earl Grey, Jasmine, Bo Nay, Japanse style green tea; somebody else is bound to hate it.
You will have to experiment a little until you learn how to brew a decent pot of tea. Do not take a cheap tea bag and shove it into mug of lukewarm water!
By the way, if you can't stay awake eight hour straight without guzzling coffee, you have a problem. You need a combination of a healthy diet (lower glycemic index, less refined, more variety), regular exercise (walking every day is fine, you DON'T have to kill yourself), and sleep. I get eight to nine hours every night. This is a tremendous source of energy. People at work ask me where my energy comes from, and joke about my coffee and tea habit. But while I am heavy coffee and tea user, I can and sometimes do skip a day or two without afternoon brain fuzz and withdrawal headaches. I used to have these problems but I cleaned up my lifestyle.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Why am I still on coffee? Because without coffee, I'll die. Trust me, I've died before (then I got back to coffee and resurrectted :D)
No, but seriously I don't want to be dependant on caffein. Well, the taste is great, but I don't like the idea of not being able to stay awake without coffee. Let's make something clear: I think I sleep properly now (as in 7-8hrs/day, much more than back then when I was at uni). But I'll feel as if I haven't slept for days if I don't have my usual amount of caffein in the morning.
Cold turkey doesn't work. Didn't. I've tried. I have work to do so I just can't spend the whole day trying not to fall asleep.
Tea doesn't work either. At least the ones I've tried. They simply don't have enough caffein.
Life would be more enjoyable if I can drink coffee *whenever* I want, not whenever I *need*
get some penguin mints from thinkgeek and stop pretending you like coffee.
Yeah, Folgers instant coffee. Deal with it
RP
AND wrong!
Light or instant products do taste different.
And artificial sweeteners did improve over the past few years, so that diet-[papsi|c*ke|whatever] is better than its reputation.
BUT: I always found it easier to go from [light|diet|instant] products to "the real thing" than the other way.
This can be because I grew up with "real" food (home-grown vegetables and potatoes, _real_, _natural_ milk (without pasteurisation, homogenisation or *bahh* sterilisations) and so on.
If it is so, I fear for the generation(s) to come...
The checkbox said "Requires Windows 98, NT, or better. And so I installed Linux
Likes & dislikes in food and drink are a very personal thing, what one person raves over another may hate. That said, when I have to drink instant coffee, my preference is Moccona Classic.
At other times, I go for plunger (aka cafetiere or french press) made coffee.
My way of making it is to
- preheat a one cup plunger and glass with boiling water,
- discard water,
- place about 2 cm of boiling water in the bottom,
- add a heaped dessert spoon of coffee,
- add the desired amount of water -- this mixes the grounds with the water
- plunge immediately.
- pour immediately.
I don't have either sugar or milk in my coffee, so I won't advise on those.BTW: Slowly rotating the plunger as you press it down makes the process easier and helps avoid locking and blowback.
Other than boiling the water, the whole process takes under a minute. Nearly as fast as instant.
If you want a stronger brew, add more coffee, don't brew it longer. I gather you like espresso, and if you think about how espresso is made the water is not left in contact with the grounds for any great length of time.
Keep your press clean. Personally I rinse mine out in nearly boiling water each time after use and fully disassemble / clean once a day to prevent the build-up of oils. After cleaning you need to rinse well to remove any remaining detergent.
Now for the coffee. Coffee as consumed is made from roasted seeds (beans). There are two main sources of the beans (robusta & arabica) and a lot of different levels of roasting. If kept dry it seems to have a shelf life of months or years. Unfortunately the aroma doesn't have a long shelf life. The shelf life can be extended by keeping the ground coffee in an air tight container in a cool place.
To get a really good cup of coffee you need freshly roasted beans, and in my opinion they should be made from arabica. You also need to find a roast / blend that matches your taste.
Find a speciality store that roasts the coffee on the premises. Good ones will have a sign saying that they only use arabica. Go in and talk to them about coffee. You'll soon find if they are passionate about their product. Tell them that you will be brewing with a plunger / cafetiere / french press and your preferred Starbucks brew. Ask them which of their blends they would recommend you try first. Buy a small quantity of that and try it.
It might take a few iterations, but you'll eventually find the best blend for you.
That's the best description of coffee I've ever seen. Me, I drink Water Joe: water with caffeine. No nasty taste, no constantly having to buy fresh Half'n'half to drown out the flavor, no cavities from all the sugar I used to have to flavor the icky brown water with, just gulp and gogogo!
Here is a link to their website (that skips the Flash intro).
DNA is a Turing machine. You, however, being dynamic and emergent, are not.
Tchibo
I'm afraid you won't find a real solution to the problem as you've defined it, since soluble coffee is a pretty compromised idea. So why not redefine the problem like this: How can I get a caffeine buzz, plus good flavor, plus a nice texture that reminds me of expresso, from something I can plop in the bottom of a styrofoam cup and run hot water over?
Take that redefined problem to your nearest East Asian grocery store, find the aisle for tea, and grab a box of Pu-erh mini-tuochas. Mini-tuos are individually paper-wrapped clumps of fermented tea from the Chinese province of Yunnan. When you unwrap a clump and drop it in a cup and add boiling water, a couple of minutes later you have a brew that's as dark as espresso. More importantly, it gives a good caffeine kick along with a taste and mouth feel that espresso drinkers I know find it easy to get used to.
Pu-erh, by the way, is a big subject. If you're interested in it, the best place to start (non-commercial, usual disclaimers) is here.
Sorry, I forgot there are ads on the Web; I use Lynx.
As others have said, French Press is the way to go. Especially if you are looking for an espresso taste. I recommend for this using espresso beans or a french roast....true coffee taste with no bitterness! *Shhh, i can't hear the voices in my head with you talking*
I'm with all the coffee fiends who recommend french presses, espresso machines, and cold brewing...but when you don't have a deep sink to wash things in, the luxury of being allowed a hissing appliance on your desk, or the money to order gourmet caffeine online, it's hard to argue with cheap instant coffee. Plus you get bonus points for not being a snob.
I like Nescafe Mountain Blend; it tastes vaguely like real New Orleans coffee (with chicory), and is completely painless to make.