Hey Coffee Lovers!

[Tankster]

To me, 7-11 or the Shell station will do just fine. I am not really drinking it for the flavor but rather the caffeine, and in the winter, warmth.

[Keith Perkins]

I'll drink Starbuck's if it's one of their lighter blends, but I'm sure no Starbuck's snob. Properly buy more Kwik Trip coffee than anything, any good to slightly bold coffee will do it for me. Will take on most flavors as well...love coconut. A little half and half on occasion, usually a touch of milk. Usually grind our own, but drink plenty of pre-ground flavors etc. as well. I have to drink a half pot or more a day.

Costa Rican is good, like some Mexican, Jamaican Blue Mountain, Kona.

[rickztahone]

Ricardo,
Are you a tea drinker? If so what kind? How about wine? Red white sweet or dry?.beer...lager or ale?..last question..chocolate...milk or semi sweet dark?

Al

-Only drink tea when sick.
-Wine - my wife rarely drinks, but when she does, she drinks wine, typically red wine and typically Stella Rosa. That is what I will typically drink with her and I don't mind the taste of that specific wine. However, I have not tried a white wine I have liked to date. I don't like overly sweet wine though, I have come to that conclusion. After a while, the sweetness messes with my throat.
-Beer - now beer, I like . I typically drink Heineken as my main beer but typically like more bitter beers than anything. I'll drink a corona or modelo if available, but rather not drink that to be honest. I do like drinking speciality beers as well, as well as seasonal ones, so long as it isn't fruity
- Chocolate - I may be a rarity here but I typically do not like chocolate. If I do have some now and then, I suppose I would prefer milk. That is kind of evenly split though.

As you can tell, I am not very decisive with my palate lol

I'm pretty much the same. Never really drink it, and usually don't have a need for the extra boost though some days it might be nice. However I do LOVE the smell of it and if I do drink it I need it loaded, can't take it black. The closest I came to a regular use was my time in the Marines, the small packs in the MREs, was great on long field ops or deployment when you needed to stay awake. On the very rare occasions I go into Starbucks I feel overwhelmed, lost, and confused on what/how to order.

Al have you ever had the opportunity to go down to Costa Rica and get it fresh? Was my first time actually seeing it on the tree and its EVERYWHERE! Fields and fields of it, people's backyards, roadsides, some hotels even have trees out front. Seeing the process from tree to cup is pretty interesting.

That sounds like a cool thing to google . Thanks Matt.

[brewmaster15]

Hi Al......straight black, no cream, no sugar, dark french roast.
Jim

MY GD! Theres a blast from the Past! First Tony, now Jim! If I'd have known I'd get a post out of you guys I'd have started this thread alot sooner! Just kidding...Great hearing from you Jim! Hope you have been well my friend!

al

[brewmaster15]

......
Al have you ever had the opportunity to go down to Costa Rica and get it fresh? Was my first time actually seeing it on the tree and its EVERYWHERE! Fields and fields of it, people's backyards, roadsides, some hotels even have trees out front. Seeing the process from tree to cup is pretty interesting.

Matt, Its on one of my places to visit...I almost moved there after the college..a fellow biologist and I .. He went, I stayed . I have raised coffee plants though, We have a greenhouse here in CT, called Logees that has it growing, and I used to keep a plant of it.. I'm actually going there tomorrow if all goes well, I'll see if I can snap a pic while there.

[brewmaster15]

-Only drink tea when sick.
-Wine - my wife rarely drinks, but when she does, she drinks wine, typically red wine and typically Stella Rosa. That is what I will typically drink with her and I don't mind the taste of that specific wine. However, I have not tried a white wine I have liked to date. I don't like overly sweet wine though, I have come to that conclusion. After a while, the sweetness messes with my throat.
-Beer - now beer, I like . I typically drink Heineken as my main beer but typically like more bitter beers than anything. I'll drink a corona or modelo if available, but rather not drink that to be honest. I do like drinking speciality beers as well, as well as seasonal ones, so long as it isn't fruity
- Chocolate - I may be a rarity here but I typically do not like chocolate. If I do have some now and then, I suppose I would prefer milk. That is kind of evenly split though.

As you can tell, I am not very decisive with my palate lol

Ricardo, I have put all your data in the Coffee-a-tron 5000 and its given me a list of coffees for you to try...

- Central american coffee, something with a medium roast, not french roast.. It suggests Costa Rican Coffee, or Guatemalan. It also suggest you go with whole milk , not creamer, or skim milk, and finally it says you may or may not like 1/4-1/2 teaspoon sugar.

There you have it. The Coffee-a-tron 5000 has never been wrong . Any decent beanery should be able to fill that prescription.

-al

[Bud Smith]

Just give me some good fresh black coffee and add some Baileys french vanilla and I am happy

[Northwoods Discus]

My wife and I are coffee nuts. On the road we get our coffee at Biggby's in MI. Do not really care for Starbucks. For Xmas we got a super automatic espresso machine. Did I say we really love coffee. We can make espresso, all the milk based drinks and regular cafe americano. Don't have to stop at the coffee shop on the way to work anymore.
Our daughter bought us some syrups, salted caramel, vanilla, and hazelnut. I like the flavored stuff occasionally but generally a good strong black coffee is best.
When we went to Kauai we went to the coffee plantation and saw the coffee bushes. Kona coffee and lots of samples to try, we were in heaven.

[brewmaster15]

Theres a really cool story here on the History of Coffee ...

http://www.talkaboutcoffee.com/history.html

and like in all things Nature... There is always another organism that lives off another...
http://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intro...offeeRust.aspx

Thats a good read as it explains alot about the genetic origins of coffee.... Pay careful attention to

One distressing development in coffee breeding has been the dramatic loss of genetic diversity among the wild Coffea species. There is very little genetic diversity in coffee outside the tropical forests in southwestern Ethiopia, where Coffea evolved. Because of logging, fuelwood harvest, and expanded cultivation driven by a growing human population, these forests have been reduced to less than one-tenth their original size. Ethiopia's Institute of Biodiversity Conservation and Research is struggling to hang on to what is left, and the Ethiopian government has prohibited the export of coffee plants and coffee seed from the country.

The reason we have coffee today is largely because of the genetic diversity in wild coffee.. Thats where we get resistant genes to these kinds of diseases....

Anyhow, some light reading to go with your cup of Joe.

al

[Carolina discus]

Hi Al,
Had to comment on this one...I am the coffe sissy and Cathy is the coffee "queen" LOL...I only drink vanilla ice coffee with LOTS of creame year round ...Cathy gets the darkest, strongest coffe at a local shop where we get all our beans called "Zombie fuel" (its a surper dark sumatra roast) ...its is bought whole bean, ground fresh each morning (usually by me when I make it for her) and brewed in a french press....the "mud water" is then poured in a huge mug and no creame and sugar is used...straight black. I tried it once and I had to hide under a table for a few hours it was so scarey.

Wine...now thats a WHOLE different topic...lol

[brewmaster15]

Hi Al,
Had to comment on this one...I am the coffe sissy and Cathy is the coffee "queen" LOL...I only drink vanilla ice coffee with LOTS of creame year round ...Cathy gets the darkest, strongest coffe at a local shop where we get all our beans called "Zombie fuel" (its a surper dark sumatra roast) ...its is bought whole bean, ground fresh each morning (usually by me when I make it for her) and brewed in a french press....the "mud water" is then poured in a huge mug and no creame and sugar is used...straight black. I tried it once and I had to hide under a table for a few hours it was so scarey.

Wine...now thats a WHOLE different topic...lol

lol!...I am the coffe sissy and Cathy is the coffee "queen" LOL...I only drink vanilla ice coffee with LOTS of creame year round

[OC Discus]

Im a Starbucks addict. Sumatra is my favorite. It is a dark roast with supposedly less acid. Two strong mugs in the AM and 3 shots of espresso after lunch. Just one artificial sweetener. I make it too strong to drink black. Tried the blond roast without sweetener, but went back to bold.

On the road, if starbucks is not available, I go for the cold Starbucks double shot drinks found in convenience stores. My wife and I have separate coffee pots.

[pauline]

Just give me some good fresh black coffee and add some Baileys french vanilla and I am happy

That's exactly what I enjoy.

[smallchange]

Hi Al........ Café Santo Domingo. Black

[rickztahone]

Ricardo, I have put all your data in the Coffee-a-tron 5000 and its given me a list of coffees for you to try...

- Central american coffee, something with a medium roast, not french roast.. It suggests Costa Rican Coffee, or Guatemalan. It also suggest you go with whole milk , not creamer, or skim milk, and finally it says you may or may not like 1/4-1/2 teaspoon sugar.

There you have it. The Coffee-a-tron 5000 has never been wrong . Any decent beanery should be able to fill that prescription.

-al

Al, can I get a picture of that Coffee-a-tron 5000 rig? LOL. I will give those a try my friend.