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Coffee for people who don't like coffee

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Re: Coffee for people who don't like coffee

#41

Post by maxwellg »

kmm wrote: post #6

I thought coffee for people who don't like coffee was instant coffee? The linked Clever Dripper seems like it's comparatively a bit more effort and waste. Apart from the advantage of instant preparation, to my undiscerning palate instant coffee has got all the qualities and taste of coffee I enjoy, and not being a coffee-connoisseur, I can't be disappointed by its apparent blandness or one-dimensionality.

One-dimensionality isn't the issue - the issue is that most drip coffee makers and most cheap to-go coffee is terribly, terribly burnt. The coffee would taste so much better if it was brewed fresh at a lower temperature, but instead you end up with a pot of near-boiling water sitting on a heating element for hours.

Re: Coffee for people who don't like coffee

#42

Post by TacticalCoder »

90s_dev wrote: post #31

> You'll get diabetes. Have a coffee. When I was a kid, I hated even the smell of coffee so much, that tasting it could make me throw up. A few years ago, to help kick my soda habit, I forced myself to drink black coffee every single day. The first day, I could barely stomach a few sips. After a week or so, I could finish the whole cup with great difficulty. After another few weeks, I could finish it without minding.…

> Since I'm too stupid and/or lazy to figure out how to clean my coffee machine (the instructions said something about vinegar once in a while)...

I love coffee but don't want the barista ceremony / fetishism around making coffee so I bought a fully automated coffee machine: grains in, pushing one button, coffee out (and the "grains in" part only has to be done once every x days).

At the store (not where I bought it) they were surprised my machine lasted "only" 6 years: zero maintenance on my part so there's that. When I mean zero maintenance: I literally only put grains and water in and that's it.

So I just bought a new machine. Thing is: coffee in grains is the cheapest so the cost of the machine is paid-for in months (wife and I are heavy coffee drinkers).

Seller told me I should follow the procedure to clean it once every blue moon and it should last 10 years easily, not 6.

I'll try to do it.

Re: Coffee for people who don't like coffee

#43

Post by hackama »

dgunay wrote: post #15
dieselerator wrote: post #8

> The idea that coffee can have any taste other burnt rubber was interesting. That summarizes the article. This is not a recommendation, but you can buy caffeine pills.

The worldwide obsession with dark roast coffee baffles me. I guess if you're adding sugar then it doesn't matter that the coffee is burnt to a crisp.

Dark roast is less acidic than light roasts.

Re: Coffee for people who don't like coffee

#44

Post by cmrdporcupine »

maxwellg wrote: post #37

During Covid I spent a lot of time on my home coffee setup - I've since dialed it back but I've kept the pourover, the grinder, and the Chemex. We found a local business that roasts beans in their garage that we love. The biggest problem is that really good coffee ruins bad coffee foreger. After making my own for so long, traveling and dealing with gas station or hotel breakfast coffee is especially jarring. Sometime…

There are two kinds of coffee in my brain:

Third wave fancy coffee I make at home in our Chemex or Technivorm or get in really really good shops, as you describe.

McDonald's, gas station, donut shop coffee. It's swill but you confectionize it with cream and sugar. Double double as we say up here. It's not good, but it it's a utility. You just don't expect much from it, and that's fine

The problem coffee is the stuff in-between. Stuff that pretends to be specialty coffee, overroasted, overpriced ... but not actually good. Starbucks or restaurant espresso. Grocery store whole bean coffees that markets itself in a nice bag but turns out to be stale oily overroasted mediocrity. Simultaneously expensive, raises your expectations... and then just turns out to be junk.

Re: Coffee for people who don't like coffee

#45

Post by kaishiro »

maxwellg wrote: post #37

During Covid I spent a lot of time on my home coffee setup - I've since dialed it back but I've kept the pourover, the grinder, and the Chemex. We found a local business that roasts beans in their garage that we love. The biggest problem is that really good coffee ruins bad coffee foreger. After making my own for so long, traveling and dealing with gas station or hotel breakfast coffee is especially jarring. Sometime…

It’s funny you mention that. I moved to Melbourne AU a while back and quickly realized how bad the coffee I had been drinking my whole life had been. I honestly had trouble finding a bad cup of coffee there - although as it’s primarily an espresso based coffee culture it’s admittedly quite a different animal. I dove in pretty deep over the years, finally ending up with a Silvia/Mazzer setup, but oddly enough would sometimes find myself longing for a pot of “shitty diner coffee” - particularly on the weekends. After being introduce to real American diners, my wife - a lifelong Australian - also occasionally has the same craving. We always look forward to our first diner breakfast whenever we had back stateside. I guess at this point I just classify it as a different beverage altogether!

Re: Coffee for people who don't like coffee

#46

Post by alabastervlog »

maxwellg wrote: post #37

During Covid I spent a lot of time on my home coffee setup - I've since dialed it back but I've kept the pourover, the grinder, and the Chemex. We found a local business that roasts beans in their garage that we love. The biggest problem is that really good coffee ruins bad coffee foreger. After making my own for so long, traveling and dealing with gas station or hotel breakfast coffee is especially jarring. Sometime…

I can still drink normal coffee. I can even tolerate most Keurig trash, still.

I find the good stuff to basically be a totally different category of drink, I think is what helps. Most coffee is pretty much just "coffee flavored" with just a little variation. The good stuff... it sits somewhere between coffee and tea, often has surprisingly little "coffee flavor", and delivers all kinds of interesting and delicate notes.

Like if you ask me "where can I get some good coffee around here" I've got recommendations, but if you follow up with "no, I mean good coffee" I'm going to have a different set of recommendations. Good coffee is a separate category of drink, LOL.

Re: Coffee for people who don't like coffee

#47

Post by blacksmith_tb »

pton_xd wrote: post #17
simojo wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Eat a [roasted] coffee bean by itself.

That was implied but it still doesn't make any sense. Eating dry tea leaves tastes nothing like drinking a cup of tea.

People eat chocolate-covered espresso beans? This strikes me as similar, just more in-your-face.

People do eat tea leaves (matcha for example, or Burmese pickled tea leaf salad). But a dry spoonful wouldn't be a good way to get a feel for a given tea, I agree.

Re: Coffee for people who don't like coffee

#48

Post by kaishiro »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #44
maxwellg wrote: post #37

During Covid I spent a lot of time on my home coffee setup - I've since dialed it back but I've kept the pourover, the grinder, and the Chemex. We found a local business that roasts beans in their garage that we love. The biggest problem is that really good coffee ruins bad coffee foreger. After making my own for so long, traveling and dealing with gas station or hotel breakfast coffee is especially jarring. Sometime…

There are two kinds of coffee in my brain: Third wave fancy coffee I make at home in our Chemex or Technivorm or get in really really good shops, as you describe. McDonald's, gas station, donut shop coffee. It's swill but you confectionize it with cream and sugar. Double double as we say up here. It's not good, but it it's a utility. You just don't expect much from it, and that's fine The problem coffee is the stuff…

You and I were seemingly writing our comments at the same time - and yours describes what I was trying to say so much more successfully than my own! Completely agree on all counts.

Re: Coffee for people who don't like coffee

#49

Post by 90s_dev »

jerkstate wrote: post #39
90s_dev wrote: post #31

> You'll get diabetes. Have a coffee. When I was a kid, I hated even the smell of coffee so much, that tasting it could make me throw up. A few years ago, to help kick my soda habit, I forced myself to drink black coffee every single day. The first day, I could barely stomach a few sips. After a week or so, I could finish the whole cup with great difficulty. After another few weeks, I could finish it without minding.…

You probably want to use citric acid to clean your coffee maker, vinegar will make it taste worse imo

I donated it a long time ago. This method just feels more right for me.

Re: Coffee for people who don't like coffee

#50

Post by alabastervlog »

arealaccount wrote: post #33
90s_dev wrote: post #31

> You'll get diabetes. Have a coffee. When I was a kid, I hated even the smell of coffee so much, that tasting it could make me throw up. A few years ago, to help kick my soda habit, I forced myself to drink black coffee every single day. The first day, I could barely stomach a few sips. After a week or so, I could finish the whole cup with great difficulty. After another few weeks, I could finish it without minding.…

You should learn about pour overs

I posted this elsewhere in the thread, but IKEA's got a really cheap steel pourover cup with integrated fine-mesh metal filter (you can still use paper filters in it if you want to get the oils out and avoid a little grit getting through, though).

It's probably the cheapest non-DIY coffee making option out there.

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