The coffee and tea appreciation thread

[BlaezaLite]

Cheapo Instant coffee lobbed in a pint cup with half a cup of semi-skimmed and vaguely hot water out my RGB kettle.

 

[Chrispy_]

my little 3 cup mokapot that I use:

View attachment 380950

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.

Are electric moka pots any good? I've been tempted, but I have an actual espresso machine and my understanding was that moka pots are like an expresso but lower pressure, so worse extraction and more bitterness from any given beans.

Zero actual experience, though.

 

[Frick]

This thread gave me an urge to chug a whole bottle of ice tea, but I have no ice tea left and it's almost 10 PM

I like the idea of iced tea, but whenever I drink it I am super dissapointed because it's literally just cold tea. Literally the only good iced tea I have ever had was in a noodle restaurant in Nagoya, and it was so good as to be unbelivable.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Are electric moka pots any good?

I wouldnt know. Mine is a regular one for a gas hob. The electrical one shouldnt be any different. Its just a glorified electric kettle at the end of the day.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

Aeropress users: what do you use for filters?

Two standard original filters on top of each other, used repeatedly, keeping their position and orientation of the inner one. When the inner one gets too brown and clogged, it is retired and the outer one goes in its position, and it is replaced by a new one.

Here is the inner filter still in pretty good shape:



BTW the inventor himself uses the standard filters also repeatedly, but I have no idea, how he manages to use them so many times as he claims. Perhaps my grinder produces too much fine particles, which clog up the filter.

 

[LittleBro]

Coffee twice a day at work through automatic espresso machine, any high roasted beans (intesity at least 8/10) would do. No milk/creamer, no sugar or sweeteners, just coffee.
I am obsessed with green tea and herbal teas (wild thyme, linden flower, nettle, hop). Also tried many other teas (white, black, rooibos, yerba mate, matcha, ...).
From green teas: japan bancha, lung ching, gyokuro, sencha makato, even cheap sencha is OK. I really hate gunpowder.
Sometimes I drink 3L of tea per day. A bit expensive habit with gyokuro green tea, that's why standard sencha is good.

Any other green tea fanatics here? How much do you spend for a tea?

 

[BoggledBeagle]

LittleBro, I see that you use quality green teas, I want to make sure that you do not throw the leaves away, but eat them instead. Most of the good stuff is still left in the leaves.

 

[1freedude]

I used to double stack them. Dont remember why I stopped.

@Chrispy_ my experience with pressure pot is this: just like espresso, the press has to be correct. You need to experiment with the grind, heat, press pressure, and water amount. If too much pressure, it wont work, too little and it's under extracted. Opposite with heat, too much, and under extraction, too little, and it may not develope enough pressure to flow. Way more complex than portafilter work.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

I'm a big time coffee drinker. I don't use anything fancy to make my coffee. I use regular BUNN coffee pot but use what I consider "good" coffee. No l Folgers or Maxwell House. Normally I drink Duncan Donuts Columbian blend, Seattle's Best, or Starbucks. I drink coffee like most people drink beer.

 

[Chomiq]

I don't really drink coffee, but I do drink Inka, which is is a roasted mixture of rye, barley, chicory, and sugar beet that's caffeine free. And then I also drink tea, mostly regular Lipton with a LOT of lemon juice.

 

[AusWolf]

Why can't I find this stuff in the UK? It's what got me through university.

View attachment 380820

Actually, just found it on Amazon. Highly recommended.

 

[_JP_]

Damn, I found the first post then forgot to join this club! (was working hours, tho)
Coffee has been a thing since I'm 13, being Portuguese, I guess that was a given. And lately have started having tea more often. Never anything fancy for both sides.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Aeropress users: what do you use for filters?

I use metal filters with my aeropress. Although I'll occasionally switch to a paper filters for a few brews but I mainly reserve the paper filters for use with my mokapot.

 

[LittleBro]

LittleBro, I see that you use quality green teas, I want to make sure that you do not throw the leaves away, but eat them instead. Most of the good stuff is still left in the leaves.

Man, that's just disgusting! No, I'm kidding. I do eat them, though not every green tea can easily be eaten. I find Lung Ching to be the most edible.
Sencha and bancha often contain a lot of stems which are hard to chew and often end up between teeth. Not a big fan of this.

 

[AusWolf]

Damn, I found the first post then forgot to join this club! (was working hours, tho)
Coffee has been a thing since I'm 13, being Portuguese, I guess that was a given. And lately have started having tea more often. Never anything fancy for both sides.

Being Portuguese? I'd rather associate coffee with being human.

Although, I have a friend who quit drinking coffee about a decade ago. I'll never figure out how he survived and is still alive.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

... Sometimes I drink 3L of tea per day. ...

Oh. Seems a bit... excessive.

 

[de.das.dude]

I am a strictly tea man. We have a vendor who gets tea straight from the estates in Darjeeling and we have darjeeling tea, without milk.

Closest you would get to taste internationally would be Twinnings, which is also made in my home city and from the same tea estates mentioned above. I'll take a pic tomorrow when i make a cuppa

 

[Chrispy_]

Two standard original filters on top of each other, used repeatedly, keeping their position and orientation of the inner one. When the inner one gets too brown and clogged, it is retired and the outer one goes in its position, and it is replaced by a new one.

Here is the inner filter still in pretty good shape:

View attachment 381000

BTW the inventor himself uses the standard filters also repeatedly, but I have no idea, how he manages to use them so many times as he claims. Perhaps my grinder produces too much fine particles, which clog up the filter.

I reuse Aeropress filters half a dozen times. It's definitely worth buying the genuine ones as the size accuracy matters and the genuine ones aren't expensive.

 

[Waldorf]

while i drink coffee once in a while, more often tea, i do read almost all articles about "studies" around them.
seems that coffee (health) benefits are only there when you drink it in the morning (amount doesnt matter), certain teas will affect ppl with blood pressure issues,
and recent one shows tea bags to be worse than fast food when it comes to releasing micro/nano plastics into the drink (and being absorbed by the body within hours).

not sure if i care to find a place for leaves (island), or even dive into having enough storage for a dozen different ones, as i dont like to drink the same each time.

(and please, for those that have to drink no-sugar stuff like sodas (unless your dr said so), switch to real sugar versions, they are "better" in every way.)

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Although, I have a friend who quit drinking coffee about a decade ago. I'll never figure out how he survived and is still alive

As much as I share that sentiment, caffeine is not a hard habit to break. The flip side is that it forms habits quickly.

Not that I have any desire to try.

 

[Chrispy_]

RGB kettle.

It was inevitable, wasn't it....

 

[BlaezaLite]

It was inevitable, wasn't it....

It was £16 from Asda. Bargain!

 

[Chrispy_]

As much as I share that sentiment, caffeine is not a hard habit to break.

I've gone caffeine-free for a week or two occasionally over the last 30 years or so. Initial sluggishness and headache from lacking caffeine stops for me after around 48h.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

I've gone caffeine-free for a week or two occasionally over the last 30 years or so. Initial sluggishness and headache from lacking caffeine stops for me after around 48h.

For me it takes a ramp down of one cup less per day. No issues if I do that.

I only do it if I get to 4-5 doubleshots a day, so it would be pretty rough if I quit cold turkey.



Said doubleshot ^

Lovely crema, and yes that is more coffee than just 2 shots of espresso. The machine has the quantity setting turned up so it is more of an Espresso/Americano hybrid.

 

[dragontamer5788]

I've gone caffeine-free for a week or two occasionally over the last 30 years or so. Initial sluggishness and headache from lacking caffeine stops for me after around 48h.

It can take a whole week for me, but I've been prone to overdrink caffeine sometimes.

I've been sticking to 2 cups max of coffee per day and the withdrawal drops to only 2 days or so. I can have a lot of tea without much withdrawal symptoms.

Moderation is key. And moderation is like 16oz / 500ml of coffee max, hard limit.