COFFEE. Is it something you just drink, something you take seriously, or something you abstain from?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

I'm right in the middle I don't buy five dollar "triple-vente-mocha-latte-mocchiato-what-the-f**ks" from Stabucks, but I DO have a cool Krups machine I've had for years. On one side it's an espresso-capuccino machine, on the other it's a traditional coffee pot. My coffee of choice is Starbucks House Blend (although, on occasion, I'll break the monotony with Peet's House Blend).

I only use Arrowhead or Crystal Geyser water to make coffee...never tap water. The city I live in has ridiculously "hard" water. I made the mistake of having my car in the path of the lawn sprinkler one day and has to use straight vinegar on my windshield to get the spots off.

So every day I start off with 2 cups of Starbucks House Blend, brewed as I've stated above. What about you?

[Lil Missy]

1. Just plain Folgers for me. And I GOTTA have my coffee!!!

[yorgatron]

2. french roast from Costco,tap water,drink it black.

i'm on my second pot today. :9

[flvegan]

3. I detest coffee.

Love a morning boost, but can't stand the taste. I abstain.

[Zoigal]

4. Concentrated make

by a cold water extraction process. One mug every AM with breakfast.
Great coffee. z

[hisownpetard]

37. You mean, a toddy?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. My dear Amerigo Vespucci!

Coffee is something I take seriously...

I need my big mug every morning, after breakfast!

We use tap water, and Colombian beans from our local Ralphs...

It's delicious, and both my husband and I love it!

Gotta have it!

[NMDemDist2]

6. dood you don't even know

I roast my own coffee EVERY WEEK so it's never stale, I buy an imported espresso blend from italy and pull shots from a fairly high end home espresso machine.

I had to fix it once and did the french press thing for a week and thought I was gonna die!

if you don't buy fresh roasted beans weekly and grind them before every cup/pot you don't know what you're missing

and BigBucks doesn't count, their beans are way tooo old to be worth drinking even if they didn't mess the roast up half the time.

but that's just me, your mileage may vary.... :hide:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

9. You're right...it's the next horizon

I learned how to drink coffee by accident. I spent Thanksgiving with some friends who had an old hand-crank coffee grinder. They ground the beans but only had brown sugar and questionable milk, so on that night I had it black for the first time and have been drinking it that way ever since.

There's a "Barefoot Coffee Roasters" nearby (http://www.barefootcoffeeroasters.com/)...I don't know if their beans are any fresher that Starbucks'. They certainly make a freshness claim on their Web Site.

[NMDemDist2]

22. of course they are fresher! they roast right there on site

you get Starbucks it's been sitting in a warehouse for at least weeks if not months before it ever hits the shelves

go try Barefoot, you'll be amazed I bet but only if you invest in a good burr grinder for the house

[Amerigo Vespucci]

25. I have a Cuisinart grinder, which isn't bad, but probaly also isn't the best.

But I will try Barefoot based on your recommendation. Thanks!

[NMDemDist2]

28. i have a Cuisinart burr grinder I got at Costco, it's a fine little grinder

truly, you'll be amazed at the difference, just ask mike c. (I'm evil, just so you know) :evilgrin:

[libnnc]

7. I got one of these for my birthday...

It's amazing. I love it. Changed my life...:loveya:

[Flaxbee]

8. I have about a half cup to a cup every day, but

it's always "cut" with chocolate or coffee soy, sometimes vanilla. I don't like artificial syrups, but I do like some flavored soy milk in it. We use only spring water (Deer Park), b/c our local water tastes funny. Not much of a stickler on brand, though I really do not like Starbucks at all. I don't like their coffee, and the pricing just pisses me off. If I want a pumpkin spice thingummy, I'll go get one for $1 from the 7-11 machine and it tastes just as good as Starbucks' does.

[Madrone]

10. I take mah coffee seriesly!!!!

Darkest roast I can find, finely ground, strong, and BLACK. EVERY day.

Yum!

[Ellen Forradalom]

11. You can take my coffee when you pry the mug from my cold dead fingers.

I brew mine at home and sip on it all day long at work.

I do like a hot Starbucks after a brisk run or swim. None of those sugary flavored drinks for me, a grande latte will do nicely.

[Gonzo Gardener]

12. We're 'coffee twins'!

:hi:
Seattle Mountain Coffee - 'Sumatra' 100% Arabica beans (from CostCo), Mr. Coffee bean grinder, bottled water, and into the Krups Il Primo for a perfect cup of luv in a mug!

[Amerigo Vespucci]

26. Nothing beats that first sip, does it?

:hi:

[Blue-Jay]

13. I love *good* coffee, but I hate coffee snobs.

[FloridaJudy]

14. Coffee is God

I also avoid Starbuck$, but the convenience store down at the corner brews a mean dark roast - only 39 cents if you bring your own mug. Dunkin' Donuts is also set to open in walking distance. Life is good.

[Reverend_Smitty]

15. I enjoy coffee

but I don't NEED to have it, it's more or less something I treat myself to every now and then...simply because I love Starbucks and if I went there every day I would go broke. Also I don't drink it in the summer, it's more of a winter drink for me

[hippywife]

16. I abstain but the husband

drinks more than enough for both of us. In addition to his usual morning pot, he's had a whole four-cup pot of espresso both yesterday and today.

[KitchenWitch]

17. I prepare a coffee IV every morning...

I keed I keed.

I do loves me the good coffee. Not a big fan of Charbucks, I miss Caribou Coffee. I just ran out of my stash of Caribou beans (kept in my freezer to keep from getting stale).

I will be having the holiday roast from Peet's next. I hope it is as good as Caribou.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

29. Peet's was the first coffee that overwhelmed me.

My dad brought a bag of it home and it was the first time I stepped outside of the Maxwell House realm (what I'd known previously).

Years went by and I discovered Starbucks House Blend by accident. I went in one day looking for a cappucino and they said that the machine had broken down, that all they had was regular brewed coffee. I tried it and drank it ever since.

But after reading the responses to this thread I'm going to have to stop at the nearby Barefoot Coffee Roasters and see what they have going on.

:toast:

[FloridaJudy]

31. ZOMG, Peet's!

{sigh}

I miss Berkeley.

[triguy46]

18. Yes, yes, no longer abstain.

Bottom line, if its hot and brown, I'll drink it. I much prefer good coffee, strong and black. I even like the coffee sold at a place that many at DU abhor, whose name will go unmentioned, but by coincidence was the name of the mate on the Pequod.

[Ivan Sputnik]

19. I take it seriously

I drink four or five cups a day -- black, no sugar. That's pretty serious, I guess.

[mike_c]

20. I'm like you-- I take my coffee seriously....

I buy green beans, usually single estate, fair trade organic beans but always cupped and reviewed regardless, roast them and grind them myself, and brew in a french press. My town's tap water is quite good, so I use it.

[NMDemDist2]

23. heheheh

:evilgrin:

[mike_c]

32. that little roaster has done 3-4 batches a week....

Every week. I'd recommend it to anyone! :hi:

[NMDemDist2]

34. glad it's still doing a good job for you

our bigger one is plugging away too, 3 and 4 batches a week for us too, more when we have guests

it really is a whole different beverage when it's fresh isn't it?

[seemunkee]

21. Never acquired the taste for it

[ThomCat]

24. It's something I never used to drink until the pain took over.

Now I crave it when I'm in pain. :(

[Arkansas Granny]

27. I've had a coffee habit since I was in my teens. My everyday

brand is Folger's Columbian but I occasionally treat myself to some higher priced coffee. I have a little coffee maker that makes one cup at a time so every cup is fresh brewed.

[TK421]

30. Well, the norm for me would usually be Maxwell House French Roast

but since we had a coffee shop open up right across the street from my job, we've been a tad bit spoiled as of late....real Italian coffee ( also espresso and lattes to go )

You see, lounge...I'm better than you, because I get to sample fine Italian coffee from right across my workplace, and as I wait for my slaves to prepare my morning brew, I have a few moments to browse between pages of such fine works as "War and Peace" and "The Fountainhead" ( go ahead and whine about it, you WISH you had that time to take in these masterworks ). That makes me superior to you wanna-be coffee drinkers......you wish you had such a place right across from your job...you just WISH!!! Oh, and not to mention two short blocks from my apartment! ( neener, neener ). :D

[KitchenWitch]

39. I just make my houseboy, Paco Rabinowitz, do my reading for me

I cannot bother my beautiful mind with such drudgery!

:D

[Lydia Leftcoast]

33. I start the day with a 16 oz. mug of Peace Coffee French roast, and

I savor the taste of it.

If I don't get my morning coffee, I am not fit for human company.

[Wapsie B]

35. Serious java-drinker here.

I only have 3 cups, maybe 4 in a day, but it's gotta be good. Maxwell House Columbian Supreme is my day to day brand. I do love Starbuck's Verona blend as well and am always open to trying new brands. But I drink it with creamer and make it strong. It cannot be weak in any way. Don't be bashful with those beans I say.

[ThingsGottaChange]

36. COFFEE...

The elixir of life! I'm just a Master Blend drinker with some milk so I can drink it really fast. Please no TV or talking until I've had my pot.

[mwdem]

38. Well.....

people have been know to take enemas with it. Just sayin'.

[harmonicon]

40. coffee owns my soul

I drink it black, made with a french press, or just grounds in the cup (really, it's good! the grounds settle to the bottom). I still don't know where to get good beans around here (been in this city since Oct.), but have had pretty decent luck with different dark roasts from African beans from the normal grocery store. I bought some fair trade stuff this week that's good, so that's nice. I don't know about starbucks for beans.... Oh! and if I could get it here, I'd drink coffee with chicory in it - amazing stuff. But, shit, I'll drink the most vile instant or gas-station brew rather than go without, which is no option - ever.

[BlueIris]

41. I drink organic fair trade Columbian to keep the migraine demons away.

About the only reason I drink it at this point, too.

[DarkTirade]

42. Only time in my life I ever regularly drank coffee

was when I was working at a pizza place to put myself through school... and for several months straight they kept scheduling me to close Saturday night and open Sunday morning. So I usually got home at 2-3ish am and had to wake up by 9:30 or 10 because I didn't have a car and it took me a while to walk to work.

[jpgray]

43. I take coffee quite seriously

But really all you need is a good Moka pot, a burr grinder, and some fresh-roasted beans. Bliss!

[NewJeffCT]

44. I need my coffee every morning

weekdays, I usually get an extra large one... weekends, I'll sometimes brew my own at home.

Usually, about 60-90 minutes after I finish my first cup, I'll get another one - medium or large, depending on my mood.

I can't drink coffee in the afternoon, though.

[formerrepuke]

45. That $5.00 crap from $tarbuck$ isn't coffee (no matter what they call it)....its dessert..n/t

[semillama]

46. tap water, but otherwise fair trade shade grown if I have a choice.

I also got the avid coffee drinkers at work to switch over to seeking out fair trade shade grown coffee for the communal coffee pot.

Actually we have 2 coffee pots: the one for people who enjoy coffee, and the one that uses Folger's for the cretins who just need a couple cups to get through the day and don't know what they are missing.

[sakabatou]

47. I take it

The caffeine helps with the migraines.

[MrCoffee]

48. this is the greatest thread i've ever seen anywhere ever.

[Iggo]

49. I don't drink.

I dose.

One badass cup in the morning for a kick-start, and that's it for the day.

[MissB]

50. I hate coffee.

I can reach back to my 21st birthday and put the blame on that evening.