Coffee

last time I went to buy beans at my local coffee roaster, they were out of the one I usually get, so I decided to try some new ones. One of the ones I got was the Viennese Blend. I opened it today and oof, the coffee tastes like drinking an ashtray.

Yeah, for drip coffee I kind of feel like the best coffee is the one I make at home, since at this point I can basically make it the way I like it. As long as I have some good quality, carefully roasted, fresh beans to work with, I can usually dial in the grind and method to get it pretty good by the second or third try, which is as good as I find at any outside coffee shop, for my taste at least.

I love Warren Zanes's coffee story about Tom Petty - he didn't include it in his book, but after Petty died, he published it in Rolling Stone as a tribute.

Basically, Petty has the best coffee he's ever had at this diner north of Malibu, so he asks about it, and it's just Maxwell House, so he asks “can I see how you make it?” The manager takes Petty into the kitchen, where he sees a Bunn Automatic coffeemaker ("The Bunn Automatic is a pretty standard fixture. For the places that do high-volume work, their units are professional-grade, tied into the plumbing rather than just sitting on the countertop.") So Petty installed two machines in his home, and later, following the example of a private chef who made an especially good cup of Maxwell House, he made sure that anyone making coffee use a knife to level off every cup of coffee grounds that was measured out, it had to be exact. Then Zanes elaborates:

Had I ever seen Tom Petty without a cup of coffee? I wasn’t sure I had. When he walked onto his bus after a show, the crowd still thinking they might get one more song, there was a cup of coffee waiting for him. On the plane? A cup of coffee. At the Heartbreaker clubhouse? Coffee...

Yes, he told me, he’d tried some espresso, made backstage by one of the Heartbreakers. I’m guessing Benmont Tench or Steve Ferrone, but Petty didn’t say. He just said he didn’t get it. Should a cup of coffee be over that quickly? Is what’s good for tequila good for coffee? He didn’t answer the question, just looked at me in a way that said, No, it isn’t, Warren. What he was after in a cup of coffee, he explained, was something he found in a Gainesville diner, where he could sit for hours, getting refills, wrapping his fingers around a cup that kept being replenished. This, I came to believe, is what this coffee story was all about. It wasn’t about coffee. Not exactly.

And I totally get Zanes point, because if I'm having coffee at home, that's what I like to do - just chill for a while and have a big, warm cup wrapped in my fingers and be able to nurse it for a while. I almost never have espresso or anything like that at home, only when I'm out at a restaurant or café with someone.

(I'm not really a Maxwell House drinker, but I don't think it's bad either - I would not turn down a cup if I was at a diner.)

I still remember, back in the 80s, the satisfaction of a cigarette and a cup of coffee after a cheeseburger. I wonder if Tom Petty enjoyed the same feeling with weed. Seems to be the most likely explanation for his love of Maxwell House.

I got a Cafelat Robot (lever espresso machine) over the holidays, which totally flips the effort-to-enjoyment-time ratio of drip coffee. Except the time and care to make the espresso is part of the pleasure, and the tiny perfect beverage is like this 30-second pause to stop & engage the senses. And then it's over and I'm back to my day. Sort of a cross between wine/scotch tasting, microdosing and meditation. I'm a fan, though I get that it's not for everyone.

The iced oat mocha (or “ICM”) has become my weekend jam. So thick and creamy and delish

Realized I was tipping the barista who makes my IOM half of what I pay the bartender to open a can of beer

are you tipping on the ipad or like government money?

Real money

good man

I managed to go two weeks without coffee and it was hard, compared with meat (January) or alcohol (one random week, might do it seriously later). It was probably the first time I stopped a daily consumption started in my... early or mid twenties. The week was mostly fine, I drank juice, the coffee at work is bad anyway, but on the weekend when you lay down a real breakfast and there's a steaming coffeepot but it's not for you ! How do you replace the pleasure you want.

brother why you do this to yourself

I read it was technically the most consumed "drug" in the world, with 90%+ adults drinking it everyday in the US, and I got curious.

Curious about what it is we're all trying to stave off with it? That's too adventurous for me

But yes I also did this and literally the first day I was asking myself "why do I gave a headache and why is everything in life suddenly bad?" And then I realised and it didn't get any better for like a week

Ah, physiologically the worst of it was over in 36 hours and I didn't get a headache. I thought maybe my body would reactivate some natural process that caffeine takes over, but not really, it's like you're 5% asleep and can't knock it off. So I can report there is indeed a point to drinking coffee, thank you for attending my TED talk.

I went on a two-week coffee fast some years back. It was mostly fine, I think I had two very mild headaches early on and then no noticeable physical or even really psychological effects. Maybe felt a little more tired in the mornings? But I certainly didn't feel any better. So my conclusion was, why would I not drink coffee?

who doesnt like a nice coffee

I brew a pot every two days at least. and I'm talking a big pot. I can drink coffee at midnight no problem. I'm wired that way. I can report that after years of trying, almond milk does not go with it. I'm solidly a half and half guy now. I like to drink coffee out of a wine glass.

I’m making a shift to 1 reg coff and anything subsequent to be decaf. For the quitters, why not just switch to decaf (honest question)?

Ah, physiologically the worst of it was over in 36 hours and I didn't get a headache. I thought maybe my body would reactivate some natural process that caffeine takes over, but not really, it's like you're 5% asleep and can't knock it off. So I can report there is indeed a point to drinking coffee, thank you for attending my TED talk.

― Nabozo, Sunday, 25 February 2024 9:52 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

it’s kind of hilarious and wonderful how non-addictive coffee is. we just drink it every day because it’s good. not sure it should even quality as a drug

Today I tipped $3 on my IOM, I think that is the right amount

i would go broke!

I was just in Mexico and I found myself only drinking like 1/2 cup per day (down from 2-3) because it was hot and I didn't have great coffee. Felt fine.

That said, I got mildly irate when the airport's only coffee option appeared to be a Starbucks, and on top of that the line was really long. Eventually I walked around and found a little bar that had an espresso machine and no line though.

it's gotten very difficult to buy just about the only coffee I like now (Boyd's Red Wagon blend) for some reason so now I have to have it shipped to me from the maker in big boxes, which led to me confronting the fact that I spend $40 a week on coffee (this is coffee at home, not coffee out) but given that that's for 3 people who drink multiple cups a morning I suppose that isn't that bad. I never buy coffee out anymore unless I'm at a restaurant.

not really coffe but Koffe Kup donuts were my love, then they went ou t of business. what kind of &*^%^%$ is that

Initial rating of IAM slightly lower than IOM

Taro latte anyone?

its what taro milk i dont think ive had taro milk or if thats a thing i like taro tho ive had taro bubble tea i think thats just got taro flavor in it, prob not as good as regular coffee but id try it maybe nice for a treat

I misheard "the ideal copy" as "the ideal coffee" on Wire's "Ambitious" which is answered in the song with phrases like "H2O." Not that Wire would've sold out, but that could've been the basis for an awesome coffee commercial in the '80s.

which terrible prepackaged coffee brand of the 80s would it be for, is the question

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9avjD9ugXc

i want a stovetop percolator now :\

My parents had a glass percolator, and in addition to the problems mentioned in the video, they would sometimes start a pot and forget to watch it, so it perked for 5-10 or even more minutes after it was done.

Such 60s/70s nostalgia on the glass and steel stovetop percs, before my time but would like to try

I think my mom used her steel stovetop perc well into the 90s. My grandparents definitely did; they died knowing no other coffee prep.

it's after noon, time to switch from coffee to fake coffee.

i drank an afternoon coffee today, as a treat

fancy

thats right

There's unfinished coffee in the cafetiere in front of me, it's 8.30pm, do I microwave and consume n.b. am also on the beers

let's fuckin do this

also cooking orzo. champion of the fuckin world

coffee + beers is a low key speedball