The coffee and tea drinkers club.

[Macro Device]

@Count von Schwalbe was right.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Pretty similar stuff - sodium carbonate. Baking soda is similar but less strong.

 

[eidairaman1]

I tried Kopi Luwak. Was the most expensive cup of coffee I ever bought. Didn’t much care for it. Would not recommend.

I will need to find out which 1s have been by brand or 'flavor/type' probably has different names even

 

[neurotix]

As I said in a post at the beginning of the thread, I keep the coffee simple, and just use a drip brew machine.

Tea, however, is a whole other story. I do looseleaf tea only, in a french press daily.

I believe in the health benefits of drinking tea, so I drink all grades of it- White tea, green tea, oolong tea, Pu Erh (red) tea, and black tea. I have quite a few on hand:

Rishi Vanilla Mint Chai (Vanilla Pu Erh)- Pu Erh tea, the sweetest grade of Vietnamese cinnamon, cacao shells, mint, vanilla bean

Rishi Peach Blossom - White peony white tea with dried peach and tangerine peels

Rishi white peony. White tea. Tea buds picked while young and dried, minimally processed/aged. Tastes kind of like wood or dirt, has an Earthy taste.

I also have Harney & Sons Japanese sencha, Sugimoto Tea sencha I just picked up recently while at a Mitsuwa, Cameron's masala chai (2lbs bag for $30) that I make almost daily now, Cameron's French plum black tea, Cameron's Gunpowder green tea, Rishi Iron Goddess of Mercy oolong (the best oolong I've ever had), and probably others I am forgetting.

The only tea that gets milk or creamer in it is the Masala chai. A lot of people are surprised to hear that milk bonds with the catechins in tea, making them inert. So you lose the health benefits of tea by adding milk. I drink Chai almost daily but just drink it black with brown sugar.

I am not a total tea snob though, I will admit that Bigelow Earl Grey is something we have in the house and I like it.

Anyway, my tea cup holds 16oz and the french press makes two cups, I drink around 3 pots/french presses of tea daily. Something like 96oz daily lol.

Anyone else like tea as much as me?

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

I drink around 3 pots/french presses of tea daily. Something like 96oz daily lol.

I thought I drank a lot of water at ~120 oz daily, but tea is another level.

 

[Chrispy_]

I'm about to get around to this, just grind beans yourself. Its apparently pretty cost effective vs Nespresso cups (we use some B brand of them... but still).

Yeah, I started hand-grinding about 15 years ago, but my first electric grinder was a cheap £60 Krups conical burr grinder and it was honestly fine for espresso. Just avoid blade grinders and flat burr grinders if you want consistent fine ground coffee for espresso/moka pot etc.

Expensive beans in an expensive grinder are nice, but supermarket arabica in a cheap (but decent) grinder is most of the way there for pennies/cents. When you grind coffee yourself, the coffee grounds seem to be much less dry than pre-ground coffee. I think the darker the roast the more oily my coffee grinds are so if you like the taste of darker roasts, I'd recommend starting with dark roast beans to grind yourself as it's likely the biggest contrast over pre-ground pods.

Anyone else like tea as much as me?

I'm okay with teabags, which immediately disqualifies me as any kind of tea connoisseur, but I do like me some Lapsang Souchong which appears to be a (very) acquired taste.

 

[1freedude]

I had some Earl Grey tea yesterday. Not bad, but I think I prefer black tea.

Not sure if trying to be funny, but....
Why not both?

 

[Chrispy_]

Just add vodka to it, at a certain point you stop caring what it tastes like. Big brain move.
No, actually, don’t, I tried that and it doesn’t actually change much - it’s still coffee. Just with vodka in it. Although rum and cognac do actually work to alter flavor and ARE a viable ingredient on a cold day.

Irish coffee is pretty good if you don't sweeten your drinks.
If you sweeten your coffee then replace the Irish whisky with Baileys (Irish cream liquor).

 

[remixedcat]

My coffee pot

 

[neurotix]

I'm okay with teabags, which immediately disqualifies me as any kind of tea connoisseur, but I do like me some Lapsang Souchong which appears to be a (very) acquired taste.

I have tried Lapsang Souchong before on a friend's recommendation. It was good in it's own way but I don't have any anymore and wouldn't want to get it again. Like you said, an acquired taste that I didn't particularly like. +1 for you for liking it though, it's a real tea.

 

[1freedude]

My coffee pot
View attachment 380943

That was my first "real" machine. I worked 11pm-7am, and would fill up a pumper carafe for the shift. At that time, my joe was Dunkin Donuts. I kinda miss that flavor. Very distinctive brew. Thanks for the memories.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

my little 3 cup mokapot that I use:



my little red corvette

I could have saved a little weight by bringing my aeropress here instead but I could only bring one and mokapot makes a better brew.

 

[nomdeplume]

Debate settled

 

[1freedude]

Defo closest to real espresso one can get. I have the one from Ikea, it makes a great cup, but the clean-up, ehh.

Aeropress users: what do you use for filters?

I have tried cloth, but it wasnt easy to clean up and be sustainable. They were washable, but the shape was inconsistent after they dried.

I like a very clean cup o' joe, and the metal discs seem like they will let the fines thru. Thoughts?

Now, I use paper filters that I rinse off. When they dry, the deformation is very slight. Not sure if all of the water used to clean them makes it cost effective, or eco smart.

 

[sepheronx]

I normally drink alcohol but I am cutting back cause I wanna live a bit longer plus be healthier.

So I switched to drinking green tea with honey.

 

[Mindweaver]

I have a Nespresso Vertuo machine.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Huge fan of New Mexico Coffee, Biscositto/Adobe Morning/ Traditional Pinion.

It's become the house coffee for us. Wife orders a half dozen 2lb bags off their website every couple of months and we stay well stocked and happily caffeinated.

As for Tea, I am a huge fan of "cream" tea where you take a standard tea and add in a little (dry) vanilla which gives the tea a really light creamy flavor without any milk or actual cream.

Earl Grey Cream and Chamomile Cream make an absolutely delightful cuppa.

 

[remixedcat]

That was my first "real" machine. I worked 11pm-7am, and would fill up a pumper carafe for the shift. At that time, my joe was Dunkin Donuts. I kinda miss that flavor. Very distinctive brew. Thanks for the memories.

It's been good. Gotta clean mine out tho since the brew takes longer it need cleaned

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Not sure if trying to be funny, but....
Why not both?View attachment 380929

So Earl Grey is tea, usually black tea, with Bergamot Orange rind (or oil). I just was saying I like plain black tea better.

 

[1freedude]

So Earl Grey is tea, usually black tea, with Bergamot Orange rind (or oil). I just was saying I like plain black tea better.

I get it now.

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Huge fan of New Mexico Coffee, Biscositto/Adobe Morning/ Traditional Pinion.

It's become the house coffee for us. Wife orders a half dozen 2lb bags off their website every couple of months and we stay well stocked and happily caffeinated.

As for Tea, I am a huge fan of "cream" tea where you take a standard tea and add in a little (dry) vanilla which gives the tea a really light creamy flavor without any milk or actual cream.

Earl Grey Cream and Chamomile Cream make an absolutely delightful cuppa.

Gonna fly my dunce flag a lil' more and ask, what's dry vanilla?

 

[Hyderz]

two teaspoon of nescafe classic and some milk.
i do drink variety of tea but mostly chinese tea jasmine, the occasional english breakfast and green tea for dinner

 

[dragontamer5788]

So the highest-grade tea my tea shop offers is TGFOP1 Assam and TGFOP Darjeeling tea.

I actually did buy some TGFOP (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe) tea, which costs about twice as much as regular tea and gave them as Christmas gifts to a few tea-drinking family members and close friends. We enjoyed some of them and I feel like I can taste the difference. Everyone seems to have commented that the tea does taste a good deal better.

Anyone else have access to higher-grades of tea? I'm usually fine with the "regular" stuff, and "graded" teas is just something I get only as a somewhat fancy gift on occasion. Tea in general is quite cheap so its not a "big" deal to pay 2x the cost. Ungraded whole-leaf teas are still a huge step up from your typical Tea Dust that you'd get from Lipton.

But at least sometimes, I like to pretend that I'm fancy and can taste all the nuanced flavors!

---------

Double-checking the prices: 4oz (115g) of whole-leaf loose tea is ~$8. But 4oz (115g) of whole-leaf TGFOP loose tea is $16, literally double.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Gonna fly my dunce flag a lil' more and ask, what's dry vanilla?

-Lol it's just plain ole vanilla bean, not vanilla extract which I consider to be "wet vanilla"

Admittedly my terminology might be unique to me on this one...

 

[KrazyT]

Usually, coffee simple expresso, 3/4 a day.
At house I use a grinder with an expresso machine, it's better, and cheaper.
Only using Italian coffee, the classic Lavazza, and the Lucaffee Mama Lucia ...
At work, it's (the average) Nespresso, convenient but tastes like ... a Nespresso ...
The same as McDo, it looks like a burger but taste as a McDo.
And the weekend it's time for the Moka with the mighty Bialetti ! (see the FreedomEclipse #87 post)
Nothing beats the smell of the coffee in the morning
And for tea, I don't really liked it until recently. Always putting some sugar in it !
Some friends introduce a vey tasty Darjeeling, and waw, this is good, and no sugar needed !