Any coffee obscessions out there?

[TonyC]

<font color=blue> If i drank a cup at night I would be wide awake all night </font color=blue>

I'm with you Alan. I'm reading about all this coffee consumption and am amazed at everyone's tolerance to caffeine. I need it in the morning to the tune of two cups of regular coffee. A big glass of iced tea with lunch provides my next surge of energy. After that, forget it. If I drink any caffeine much past noon I'd never get to sleep. It wasn't always that way but when I turned somewhere around 35 to 40 I figured it out that it was effecting my sleep.

 

[MChalkley]

DrDan - I've been roasting my own beans for about a year now. I use a Hearthware Precision roaster. My favorite brewer is a Hario Nouveau vacuum brewer. There's several models of vacuum pots out there, all of them make better coffee than anything else I've tried. When I'm traveling, I can't always find a place that does more than wave a bag of beans over the pot when they "brew" coffee, it seems (some places make their coffee "strong" by opening the bag before they wave it over the pot of hot water, I think), so I take along some pre-ground coffee, a plug-in "dunk-it" type heater, and a french press style press/mug. Then the only problem I have left is finding a little cream...

I've been getting the green beans from Sweet Marias, though Pete sent me some wonderful Kenya a while back from Green Mountain. Unfortunately, the sales person I talked to thereafter told me they aren't set up to sell green beans.

Let me know how the home roasting goes and what type of beans you find yourself likeing best. I'm very partial to the Yemens and African varieties, myself.

MarkC

 

[MChalkley]

Looks lik I kiled dis thred. Musta bin sumthin I sed... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MarkC

 

[MikePA]

Everyone is over on the other forum reading about your 3 ball........hitch. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Hey, JM III can't respond to all the straight lines, can he? /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

 

[MChalkley]

Mike - No, he can't have 'em all, but don't worry, he'll probably have the last one... /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

MarkC

 

[glennmac]

I prefer tea. There are lots of teas to become obsessive about. Lots of decaffeinated flavors and varieties.

Sometimes I just have the urge for coffee. Cant figure out why.

For fake sugar users, I recommend Splenda (yellow packets) over aspartame (blue) or saccharin (pink). It's actually made from real sugar and they havent yet found anything horrible that it may cause.

 

[MChalkley]

glennmac - Ditto on the Splenda, though I don't use it in coffee or tea. Tastes great, is less filling, and, so far, they can't prove it kills you. What more could you want? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MarkC

 

[Bird]

And as with a lot of other things, I never heard of Splenda. But then I don't put any of those pollutants in my tea or coffee either./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Just like I don't drink any of those "diet" drinks; I want the real thing or nothing./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif But of course, I do occasionally make slight concessions; I do drink "light" beer./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[DrDan]

Mark

Oh my god my roaster, new grinder and French Press arrived...

So far I have only roasted some Kenya AB which was like drinking the nectars of god. Mmmmmmm

Now then, today I received two samples from Pete at Green Mountain.

They were: Costa Rican La Minita Terrazu and Yemen Mocha Senani. I roasted some of the La Minita tonight and will give it a five hour rest and then grind some up about midnight. It is supposed to be a wonderful coffee.

Thank you Pete! I am having a ball discovering all these new tastes. Now what the heck do ya do with all the energy ya get from the constant "buzz"?

LOL Anyhow I'm having a ball playing with it. I always get myself something for Christmas. This was it for 2001 and it should last into the years to come.

DrDan

 

[MChalkley]

DrDan - You hit the jackpot!

It sounds like we may have similar tastes. What did I say my favorites were? Yemen and Africa. And you've already tried and loved Kenya (part of Africa, last time I looked), and Pete has sent some of the very highly coveted Yemen Senani (they were out of Yemen when he sent me a couple samples, but I got some wonderful Kenya AA and Ugandan Bigisu from him). May I offer a suggestion? Roast the Yemen a little darker than the Kenya (I use about an 8 on my Precision - I don't remember if you said what kind of roaster you got). Let it rest 8 hours before you grind and brew it. Make sure you time it just right, so there's no one else around when you brew it - you won't want to share it. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I'm finishing off a cup of Yemen Hirazi I brewed a few hours ago right now. (Those Nissan stainless steel vacuum mugs are wonderful!)

As to the buzz, you just get a lot more done. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif And you're right - this is a hobby/obsession that you will enjoy immensely!

MarkC