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
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
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
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.
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.I had a jar for backup and ended up just tossing it into the trash.
That's because "jar" isn't for backup. "tar" is for backup; "jar" is for packaging java applications.
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.
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.