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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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
Dude-- It's the genes, not the drinks.. I drink easily a gallon+ (4 litres) of coffee daily and quite nearly that much vodka in a week with the assorted glass of wine and of course some single-malt scotch thrown in for good measure. I also never get sick.. Cold/flu season comes and goes and I always get through it unscathed.. Do yourself a favor; Pat yourself on the back that you got the 'not sick' gene and live a little- The stuff isn't poison.
- 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.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 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!
Maybe he was talking about the ice cream. He says it tastes great and that a couple of spoon fulls really wakes you up. Ice cream generally tastes good and I'm sure that having a couple of spoon fulls dropped on you while your asleep will definetly wake you up :-)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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If you have to stay awake for eight hours at a stretch then you need to try a different strategy:
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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.
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