Are you a coffee snob?
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A good brew that is not burnt needs no sugar...
You seem to have missed the point. It's not about the coffee; it's all about the sugar.
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A good brew that is not burnt needs no sugar...
no, not missed ... sugar can help towards softening the burnt beans...
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We don't have Starbucks (well, actually we have only one, fairly recent) in Italy and to tell you the truth, it would be useless here. We have hundreds of cafès and if someone is on the move he will take a coffee directly at the counter (very common) in less than two minutes instead of taking away. It usually costs around 1€ that way, and pastries too, so it's cheap. While I'm in London though Starbucks is a blessing: London requires an awful lot of walking and while being slightly warmer than the parts of Italy I come from it's also freaking windy and damp. Being able to keep on moving while holding a moderately sized cup of hot coffee is a real blessing from the skies - most of the time I'm not even interested in the coffee itself but anything warm would do. The usual italian way doesn't help as much since the coffee is extremely shorter and the few minutes in the heated cafè are never enough. Also the cities are smaller and more cramped so there is less to walk.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF * GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X * Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game. * I'm a puny punmaker.
I loved travelling in Italy. Every time the wife got attacked by a shop there would always be a cafe nearby where I could get the cheapest espresso that generally was better than most restaurant efforts. Bouncing off the walls by the end of the afternoon :sigh:
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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My coworkers were complaining because we ran out of Starbucks coffee and are now drinking Folgers. I can't taste much of a difference between the two and its free! Personally I would rather be hooked on the cheap stuff anyway!
Hogan
I am from Austria and every time when we are in the States we got coffee issues. On our project sites we try to get the strongest roast possible, and it still is just like tea, tasting too bitter overall. But not much flavor. One day a colleague from Switzerland took his Espresso cooker with him, and along some real coffee. First problem was, with 110V AC it took ages to get it hot, but then this was really nice! However, our American co-workers nearly got a stroke from this strength :) BR Florian
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I loved travelling in Italy. Every time the wife got attacked by a shop there would always be a cafe nearby where I could get the cheapest espresso that generally was better than most restaurant efforts. Bouncing off the walls by the end of the afternoon :sigh:
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
Mycroft Holmes wrote:
cafe nearby where I could get the cheapest espresso that generally was better than most restaurant efforts.
That's a general rule actually, restaurant coffee usually is far worst than cafè ones as they usually have less specialized equipment and less trained personnel. It takes several months of training just to get the coffee right for a barman, it's not as easy as it seems. When you're lucky restaurant coffee is barely drinkable, it's an additional service and overcharged for. Many people wait to get to the nearest cafè after a meal.
Mycroft Holmes wrote:
Bouncing off the walls by the end of the afternoon :sigh:
Espresso is short but full of caffeine, without the digestion needed by the milk it gives less aftercrash. Makes people jump - which is needed given the usually relaxed lifestyle in Italy.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF * GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X * Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game. * I'm a puny punmaker.
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Brent Jenkins wrote:
Have you come across any coffee in the UK that's anything close to good (like in France)?
In central London there is Waterstones, an enormous bookshop. It has both a cafè and a restaurant... the cafè makes a passable espresso (but I only took it twice in several years). In the UK I usually binge on Starbucks given that it's an "exotic" experience for people who don't have that shop chain - in fact they're usually chock full of italians :D I was to try "Cafè Nero" but the pastries weren't interesting so I got out and sought a Starbucks. Cafè Costa is good but I only took a cappuccino once and that's very hard to elephant up - it takes an unusual amount of talent to make a bad cappuccino.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF * GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X * Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game. * I'm a puny punmaker.
Starbucks coffee is barely drinkable, their tea is, in the words of Douglas Adams " a liquid almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea". Costa coffee I find too strong and bitter, with little coffee flavour. Of the chains, I like Nero best, Leon isn't bad. Most of the time I make my own (as I work mostly at home) and - having tried every coffee they sell, and plenty of others from different suppliers - keep coming back to Mayfair Blend from the Drury Tea and Coffee Company on New Row in London. And no, I don't have any connection to them other than as a customer 8)
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We don't have Starbucks (well, actually we have only one, fairly recent) in Italy and to tell you the truth, it would be useless here. We have hundreds of cafès and if someone is on the move he will take a coffee directly at the counter (very common) in less than two minutes instead of taking away. It usually costs around 1€ that way, and pastries too, so it's cheap. While I'm in London though Starbucks is a blessing: London requires an awful lot of walking and while being slightly warmer than the parts of Italy I come from it's also freaking windy and damp. Being able to keep on moving while holding a moderately sized cup of hot coffee is a real blessing from the skies - most of the time I'm not even interested in the coffee itself but anything warm would do. The usual italian way doesn't help as much since the coffee is extremely shorter and the few minutes in the heated cafè are never enough. Also the cities are smaller and more cramped so there is less to walk.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF * GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X * Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game. * I'm a puny punmaker.
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Yes, and Starbucks is like dishwater.
Starbucks is just about all dark roast, which although not inherently evil, often allows cheap coffee to be used (and in their case sold for excessive prices). Unfortunately, Trader Joe's tends toward dark roasts as well; unfortunately, because some of theirs are good and reasonable (others, not so much; don't bother with their Kona, but if they ever have Jamaica Blue Mountain again, it was good and a reasonable price for that, even if not top-notch; and their "Smooth and Mellow Blend" is decent).
ftp> get |fortune 377 I/O error: smart remark generator failed
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Yes, and Starbucks is like dishwater.
Starbucks is just about all dark roast, which although not inherently evil, often allows cheap coffee to be used (and in their case sold for excessive prices). Unfortunately, Trader Joe's tends toward dark roasts as well; unfortunately, because some of theirs are good and reasonable (others, not so much; don't bother with their Kona, but if they ever have Jamaica Blue Mountain again, it was good and a reasonable price for that, even if not top-notch; and their "Smooth and Mellow Blend" is decent).
ftp> get |fortune 377 I/O error: smart remark generator failed
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I agree there are differences. But I find the differences about the same as those between Coke and Pepsi. Basically the same thing.
Hogan
snorkie wrote:
Coke and Pepsi. Basically the same thing
Burn the heretic! BURN HIM!
Software Zen:
delete this; -
My coworkers were complaining because we ran out of Starbucks coffee and are now drinking Folgers. I can't taste much of a difference between the two and its free! Personally I would rather be hooked on the cheap stuff anyway!
Hogan
Oh, I am so much of a snob, it's painful. I buy online only because nothing in the stores is worth a crap. I have several different coffee making utensils, like a ceramic filter holder that sits on top of the cup, a water heater with 1-degree accuracy so I can heat the water to the perfect temperature, an espresso press that I use at work, and a Japanese hand-powered bean grinder, because there's so much darn Zen in grinding your own beans by hand. I prefer the Italian roast to all others, although a really good but not burnt French roast can be a pleasure as well. I've tried the flavored varieties, but I always come back to un-flavored. As far as beans go, the Arabica is the one I most commonly drink, only because it is the most common bean to be found in these here parts, y'all. The Kona bean is interesting, but I'm not keen on the flavors. The Kenya AA is a darn good bean as well, but my favorite (currently) is the Jamaican Blue Mountain bean. When I make my single cups of coffee by pouring 209-degree (F) water over Jamaican Blue beans ground moments before and letting the water drip for several minutes through an oil-absorbing filter to remove the majority of any bitterness, my wife calls me a snob. I love it. :)
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My coworkers were complaining because we ran out of Starbucks coffee and are now drinking Folgers. I can't taste much of a difference between the two and its free! Personally I would rather be hooked on the cheap stuff anyway!
Hogan
in a way, yes. the coffee has to taste good without any additives. for me if you need extras to dull the bitterness or change the flavor, then I don't want anything to do with it. a good cup of drip or percolated mild black coffee I would gladly pay for, but a cup of Starbucks even for free I would have to be pretty desperate to contemplate.
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My coworkers were complaining because we ran out of Starbucks coffee and are now drinking Folgers. I can't taste much of a difference between the two and its free! Personally I would rather be hooked on the cheap stuff anyway!
Hogan
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Yes, and Starbucks is like dishwater.
True. Sadly my better half likes it. I prefer CBTL.
We're philosophical about power outages here. A.C. come, A.C. go.
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Mycroft Holmes wrote:
cafe nearby where I could get the cheapest espresso that generally was better than most restaurant efforts.
That's a general rule actually, restaurant coffee usually is far worst than cafè ones as they usually have less specialized equipment and less trained personnel. It takes several months of training just to get the coffee right for a barman, it's not as easy as it seems. When you're lucky restaurant coffee is barely drinkable, it's an additional service and overcharged for. Many people wait to get to the nearest cafè after a meal.
Mycroft Holmes wrote:
Bouncing off the walls by the end of the afternoon :sigh:
Espresso is short but full of caffeine, without the digestion needed by the milk it gives less aftercrash. Makes people jump - which is needed given the usually relaxed lifestyle in Italy.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF * GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X * Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game. * I'm a puny punmaker.
I found an espresso machine at Heathrow airport that had a sign "Not to be used by untrained staff". The coffee was still undrinkable.
We're philosophical about power outages here. A.C. come, A.C. go.
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I found an espresso machine at Heathrow airport that had a sign "Not to be used by untrained staff". The coffee was still undrinkable.
We're philosophical about power outages here. A.C. come, A.C. go.
Espresso in London tends to be undrinkable. The most common mistake is making it too long, thus washed out.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF * GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X * Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game. * I'm a puny punmaker.
