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Coffee drinkers display a distinct pattern of brain functional connectivity

nature.com

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Re: Coffee drinkers display a distinct pattern of brain functional connectivity

#61

Post by ianai »

graderjs wrote: post #33
excitednumber wrote: post #4

Can someone translate this to lay terms?

I think it's not surprising. I think for any psychoactive compound you are going to have some profile of brain activity that's triggered by that psychoactive. And it's also the nature of brain connectivity that if you repeatedly trigger a certain pattern of activity you will reinforce the corresponding connectivity. In other words each psychoactive triggers a particular circuit and the way the brain responds to trigg…

Interestingly, they saw the same pathway patterns in non-coffee drinkers upon drinking coffee. I wonder whether the effect isn’t particularly “hardwired”, but is only constantly being re-stimulated with daily coffee consumption.

Re: Coffee drinkers display a distinct pattern of brain functional connectivity

#62

Post by HDMI_Cable »

the_optimist wrote: post #2

"It is important to note, however, that causality cannot be inferred from our study design."

Observational studies are still useful, even if they can’t prove causation. A study like this can open new question into how coffee effects the brain.

Re: Coffee drinkers display a distinct pattern of brain functional connectivity

#63

Post by havernator »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #13
mensetmanusman wrote: post #5

Coffee is the best drink ever, but how do we get it to taste as good as it smells?

Coffee, done right, is delicious. A high quality bean, appropriately roasted, relatively fresh, freshly ground immediately before use with a bur grinder, and then your choice of method, plenty of grinds but almost always hot water, and preferably some pressure to extract oils, finally filtered through paper. My weapon of choice is an aeropress or a manual espresso press. An Americano is arguably superior to a cup of…

IMO coffee is basically three distinct drinks:

1) Really, really, really shitty coffee that just tastes like bitter and stale, always. Often lots of ash tray in the flavor. (instant, many k-cups, some exceptionally bad gas station coffee, very bad pre-ground coffee usually bought in a large tin [though not all of that!])

2) Normal coffee. It is coffee flavored. It might taste very burnt if it's a dark roast. It might be bad coffee flavored, or good coffee flavored, but it is coffee flavored. This is nearly all coffee you buy at stores like Target. Ground or whole bean and preparation method makes a little difference, but not really that much. Anything involving a filter versus French-press will be fairly different, but that's about it.

3) Fine coffee, prepared well. It's... heavenly. Delicate. Notes of herbs and berry and all kinda of crazy stuff, clear enough that even this guy's crappy palate can pick it up. It's really expensive. It's basically a whole different drink from the entire rest of "coffee". It goes stale in maybe 3 days after opening the bag, so buying more than a little at a time is a bad idea unless you have many people drinking it. I've not found any method to preserve it longer that actually works.

Re: Coffee drinkers display a distinct pattern of brain functional connectivity

#64

Post by throwaway823882 »

lysp wrote: post #24
mensetmanusman wrote: post #5

Coffee is the best drink ever, but how do we get it to taste as good as it smells?

Best way to get flavour out of coffee is cold brew (not cold trip). Leave coarsely ground coffee in water for 12-24 hours at room temperature and then filter the beans out. Lasts for about 2 weeks in the fridge and you can have it straight, with ice, water or milk. Some coffee shops use this technique to find out the flavour of coffee prior to using it for hot coffee. As the heat denatures some of the proteins in cof…

> doing it cold extracts all the flavours without damage

Well, no, flavors fluctuate with temperature. Temperature changes flavor degradation and dissipation, and what compounds are released or not released. Heat can actually contribute the preferred flavors that may be lacking in unheated brews, and vice versa. Hot coffee can be the best tasting coffee, for a very short period of time. Cold-brew coffee is stable for longer, and has less astringent, bitter, and sour flavors, which lends it a cleaner, brighter flavor, but can make it lack "body". Point being, you still have to taste it hot to find out if it's going to taste good hot.

Re: Coffee drinkers display a distinct pattern of brain functional connectivity

#65

Post by Mandatum »

SilverRed wrote: post #59
chadcmulligan wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Australia? Do we have good coffee?

Yes, Melbourne is well known for it but everywhere is pretty good. Its theorized that's why Starbucks failed in Australia. No one would tolerate sugared up mud water made by untrained teenagers when high quality coffee is everywhere.

I mean there's still a few in the CBD and I like the different flavours, sure it's like smoking menthols but who cares? If it tastes good and you enjoy it - all the power to you.

Re: Coffee drinkers display a distinct pattern of brain functional connectivity

#66

Post by havernator »

lysp wrote: post #24
mensetmanusman wrote: post #5

Coffee is the best drink ever, but how do we get it to taste as good as it smells?

Best way to get flavour out of coffee is cold brew (not cold trip). Leave coarsely ground coffee in water for 12-24 hours at room temperature and then filter the beans out. Lasts for about 2 weeks in the fridge and you can have it straight, with ice, water or milk. Some coffee shops use this technique to find out the flavour of coffee prior to using it for hot coffee. As the heat denatures some of the proteins in cof…

> Best way to get flavour out of coffee is cold brew (not cold trip).

Can confirm that this is the best way to brew all but the finest beans. Elevates mid-tier beans quite a bit.

Re: Coffee drinkers display a distinct pattern of brain functional connectivity

#67

Post by moehm »

havernator wrote: post #63
xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coffee, done right, is delicious. A high quality bean, appropriately roasted, relatively fresh, freshly ground immediately before use with a bur grinder, and then your choice of method, plenty of grinds but almost always hot water, and preferably some pressure to extract oils, finally filtered through paper. My weapon of choice is an aeropress or a manual espresso press. An Americano is arguably superior to a cup of…

IMO coffee is basically three distinct drinks: 1) Really, really, really shitty coffee that just tastes like bitter and stale, always. Often lots of ash tray in the flavor. (instant, many k-cups, some exceptionally bad gas station coffee, very bad pre-ground coffee usually bought in a large tin [though not all of that!]) 2) Normal coffee. It is coffee flavored. It might taste very burnt if it's a dark roast. It might…

> I've not found any method to preserve it longer that actually works.

Have you tried vacuum packaging and freezing it? You want to vacuum package it so no moisture is trapped with the beans.

Re: Coffee drinkers display a distinct pattern of brain functional connectivity

#69

Post by havernator »

moehm wrote: post #67
havernator wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO coffee is basically three distinct drinks: 1) Really, really, really shitty coffee that just tastes like bitter and stale, always. Often lots of ash tray in the flavor. (instant, many k-cups, some exceptionally bad gas station coffee, very bad pre-ground coffee usually bought in a large tin [though not all of that!]) 2) Normal coffee. It is coffee flavored. It might taste very burnt if it's a dark roast. It might…

> I've not found any method to preserve it longer that actually works. Have you tried vacuum packaging and freezing it? You want to vacuum package it so no moisture is trapped with the beans.

Vacuum packer is a thing I don't have. Might work. I've heard conflicting things about freezing (I've tried it with lesser beans in Tupperware, didn't seem to make much difference either way)

Re: Coffee drinkers display a distinct pattern of brain functional connectivity

#70

Post by thatcat »

havernator wrote: post #63
xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coffee, done right, is delicious. A high quality bean, appropriately roasted, relatively fresh, freshly ground immediately before use with a bur grinder, and then your choice of method, plenty of grinds but almost always hot water, and preferably some pressure to extract oils, finally filtered through paper. My weapon of choice is an aeropress or a manual espresso press. An Americano is arguably superior to a cup of…

IMO coffee is basically three distinct drinks: 1) Really, really, really shitty coffee that just tastes like bitter and stale, always. Often lots of ash tray in the flavor. (instant, many k-cups, some exceptionally bad gas station coffee, very bad pre-ground coffee usually bought in a large tin [though not all of that!]) 2) Normal coffee. It is coffee flavored. It might taste very burnt if it's a dark roast. It might…

Fine fresh roasted coffee will say good as whole beans for at least a week or so IME, it goes bad extremely quickly after being ground though.
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