Coffee
- benhall.1
- Moderator
- Posts: 14816
- Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:21 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: I'm a fiddler and, latterly, a fluter. I love the flute. I wish I'd always played it. I love the whistle as well. I'm blessed in having really lovely instruments for all of my musical interests.
- Location: Unimportant island off the great mainland of Europe
Coffee
So there's this thing that's "gone viral". You've probably seen it. It's an American tourist's impressions of life in the UK. Only one thing really caught my attention: the guy said that the coffee in the UK is rubbish (or some such word, I forget). Now, I've never been to the States, so I wouldn't know about Stateside coffee, but friends I know who have been have told me that the coffee in the States is rubbish.
This has me intrigued. So, American chums who've been to the UK: what is it that you didn't like about British coffee? Also, British chums who've been to the States, what is it that you didn't like about American coffee?
As you can tell, this is a matter of great international import.
This has me intrigued. So, American chums who've been to the UK: what is it that you didn't like about British coffee? Also, British chums who've been to the States, what is it that you didn't like about American coffee?
As you can tell, this is a matter of great international import.
- Coffee
- Posts: 1699
- Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2006 5:41 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Location: Anchorage, AK
Re: Coffee
When I saw the title of the thread I wondered why you didn't just send me a pm...
I was in the U.K. for two years. I... don't remember disliking the coffee at all.
I was in the U.K. for two years. I... don't remember disliking the coffee at all.
Last edited by Coffee on Wed Oct 07, 2015 3:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Yes... yes. This is a fertile land, and we will thrive. We will rule over all this land, and we will call it... This Land."
- benhall.1
- Moderator
- Posts: 14816
- Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:21 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: I'm a fiddler and, latterly, a fluter. I love the flute. I wish I'd always played it. I love the whistle as well. I'm blessed in having really lovely instruments for all of my musical interests.
- Location: Unimportant island off the great mainland of Europe
Re: Coffee
Actually, yes, I probably should have.Coffee wrote:When I saw the title of the thread I wondered why you didn't just send me a pm...
I was in the U.K. for two years. I... don't remember disliking the coffee at all. :shrug:
When were you here?
- Coffee
- Posts: 1699
- Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2006 5:41 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Location: Anchorage, AK
Re: Coffee
2006-2008 at RAF Lakenheath.
Honestly, I can't remember anything I disliked about the coffee per se.
Honestly, I can't remember anything I disliked about the coffee per se.
"Yes... yes. This is a fertile land, and we will thrive. We will rule over all this land, and we will call it... This Land."
- an seanduine
- Posts: 1999
- Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2009 10:06 pm
- antispam: No
- Location: just outside Xanadu
Re: Coffee
For my money, the worst coffee is from your local USN coffee mess. After drinking that bilge, everything else is some class of "not so bad".
Considering the international availability of various roasts, and the ability to do your own grind, I just don't understand how you can hold an entire nation accountable for good or bad brewing of coffee.
Bob
Considering the international availability of various roasts, and the ability to do your own grind, I just don't understand how you can hold an entire nation accountable for good or bad brewing of coffee.
Bob
Not everything you can count, counts. And not everything that counts, can be counted
The Expert's Mind has few possibilities.
The Beginner's mind has endless possibilities.
Shunryu Suzuki, Roshi
The Expert's Mind has few possibilities.
The Beginner's mind has endless possibilities.
Shunryu Suzuki, Roshi
- benhall.1
- Moderator
- Posts: 14816
- Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:21 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: I'm a fiddler and, latterly, a fluter. I love the flute. I wish I'd always played it. I love the whistle as well. I'm blessed in having really lovely instruments for all of my musical interests.
- Location: Unimportant island off the great mainland of Europe
Re: Coffee
It's a strange thing here in the UK that, very much depending on the individual establishment, coffee can be great or absolutely abysmal. There are plenty of pubs, though virtually no restaurants any more I suspect, that still serve instant coffee. There's just no excuse for that, IMO. But I can think of at least one place, in a well-known tourist destination in the Cotswolds, where although the coffee is made from beans, it is dreadful. Almost undrinkable.
Thankfully, these days for the most part coffee here strikes me as being somewhere between pretty good and great. Is this exactly as it is in the States? I.E. people didn't used to give enough attention to coffee, but now they do? Or what? Or am I wearing rose-tinted specs about coffee this side of the pond? Have we still got a long way to go?
Thankfully, these days for the most part coffee here strikes me as being somewhere between pretty good and great. Is this exactly as it is in the States? I.E. people didn't used to give enough attention to coffee, but now they do? Or what? Or am I wearing rose-tinted specs about coffee this side of the pond? Have we still got a long way to go?
- an seanduine
- Posts: 1999
- Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2009 10:06 pm
- antispam: No
- Location: just outside Xanadu
Re: Coffee
Well clearly tastes in the type of roast and type of bean will vary. I like Italian style roasts, and stick pretty close to water method decaffeinated beans. We do our own grinds. Here in the 'States we seem to be having a surge in availability of 'boutique' coffee roasts.
I know that sort of sounds 'precious', but it beats the large corporate mantra of:" We have only two sizes. . .too large and too small!"
St*rb*cks are ubiquitous here, and at least provide a drinkable cup.
Since we're retired now, we don't often have coffee 'out'. But we enjoy a cup at a couple of privately operated (non-chain) espresso shops. And no matter how plush the restaurant we may go to for a celebration, it will get struck straight off the list if the after dinner coffee isn't up to snuff.
Bob
I know that sort of sounds 'precious', but it beats the large corporate mantra of:" We have only two sizes. . .too large and too small!"
St*rb*cks are ubiquitous here, and at least provide a drinkable cup.
Since we're retired now, we don't often have coffee 'out'. But we enjoy a cup at a couple of privately operated (non-chain) espresso shops. And no matter how plush the restaurant we may go to for a celebration, it will get struck straight off the list if the after dinner coffee isn't up to snuff.
Bob
Not everything you can count, counts. And not everything that counts, can be counted
The Expert's Mind has few possibilities.
The Beginner's mind has endless possibilities.
Shunryu Suzuki, Roshi
The Expert's Mind has few possibilities.
The Beginner's mind has endless possibilities.
Shunryu Suzuki, Roshi
- benhall.1
- Moderator
- Posts: 14816
- Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:21 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: I'm a fiddler and, latterly, a fluter. I love the flute. I wish I'd always played it. I love the whistle as well. I'm blessed in having really lovely instruments for all of my musical interests.
- Location: Unimportant island off the great mainland of Europe
Re: Coffee
Ooh! I can't drink de-caf. Just, like, NO. I've yet to have a cup of de-caf coffee that tastes like coffee to me. Starb*ll*cks is pretty ubiquitous here too and I can't stand their coffee. It tastes like plastic to me. And I totally agree with you about restaurants - they've simply got to have good coffee to get near my 'list'.an seanduine wrote:Well clearly tastes in the type of roast and type of bean will vary. I like Italian style roasts, and stick pretty close to water method decaffeinated beans. We do our own grinds. Here in the 'States we seem to be having a surge in availability of 'boutique' coffee roasts.
I know that sort of sounds 'precious', but it beats the large corporate mantra of:" We have only two sizes. . .too large and too small!"
St*rb*cks are ubiquitous here, and at least provide a drinkable cup.
Since we're retired now, we don't often have coffee 'out'. But we enjoy a cup at a couple of privately operated (non-chain) espresso shops. And no matter how plush the restaurant we may go to for a celebration, it will get struck straight off the list if the after dinner coffee isn't up to snuff.
Bob
- Nanohedron
- Moderatorer
- Posts: 38239
- Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2002 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: Been a fluter, citternist, and uilleann piper; committed now to the way of the harp.
Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps. - Location: Lefse country
Re: Coffee
I call 'em Charbucks 'cause to me their coffee tastes scorched. Won't touch it.
Dunn Bros and Caribou Coffee are local chains that, despite being chains, seem to have coffeemaking down; this may be in part due to their being confined mainly to the Twin Cities Metro Area. Both are reliably good IMO and I never wonder if another shop might be better, but I think I lean more toward Caribou: Many's the tionól where Caribou was on tap, and each time I recall being distinctly pleased and comforted by their brew. Lucky me.
That place in the Cotswolds, Ben: Do you know if their coffee is served fresh? Because troubling to make it from whole beans won't help if the coffeepot sits on a hotplate for hours. But I expect you know that. The only way to keep coffee fresh and hot for extended periods is to keep it in a thermos right after brewing.
Dunn Bros and Caribou Coffee are local chains that, despite being chains, seem to have coffeemaking down; this may be in part due to their being confined mainly to the Twin Cities Metro Area. Both are reliably good IMO and I never wonder if another shop might be better, but I think I lean more toward Caribou: Many's the tionól where Caribou was on tap, and each time I recall being distinctly pleased and comforted by their brew. Lucky me.
That place in the Cotswolds, Ben: Do you know if their coffee is served fresh? Because troubling to make it from whole beans won't help if the coffeepot sits on a hotplate for hours. But I expect you know that. The only way to keep coffee fresh and hot for extended periods is to keep it in a thermos right after brewing.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
- Coffee
- Posts: 1699
- Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2006 5:41 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Location: Anchorage, AK
Re: Coffee
Decaf? Yeah I drink that most of the day, every day.
But my decaf is clear and comes straight out of the tap...
But my decaf is clear and comes straight out of the tap...
"Yes... yes. This is a fertile land, and we will thrive. We will rule over all this land, and we will call it... This Land."
- Nanohedron
- Moderatorer
- Posts: 38239
- Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2002 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: Been a fluter, citternist, and uilleann piper; committed now to the way of the harp.
Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps. - Location: Lefse country
Re: Coffee
Decaf. The very idea.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
- benhall.1
- Moderator
- Posts: 14816
- Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:21 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: I'm a fiddler and, latterly, a fluter. I love the flute. I wish I'd always played it. I love the whistle as well. I'm blessed in having really lovely instruments for all of my musical interests.
- Location: Unimportant island off the great mainland of Europe
Re: Coffee
Quite agree.Nanohedron wrote:I call 'em Charbucks 'cause to me their coffee tastes scorched. Won't touch it.
Yes, I do indeed. And I suspect exactly what you suggest.Nanohedron wrote:That place in the Cotswolds, Ben: Do you know if their coffee is served fresh? Because troubling to make it from whole beans won't help if the coffeepot sits on a hotplate for hours. But I expect you know that.
I don't even like that, although I see what you mean. Still not hot enough or fresh enough for me.Nanohedron wrote: The only way to keep coffee fresh and hot for extended periods is to keep it in a thermos right after brewing.
- Nanohedron
- Moderatorer
- Posts: 38239
- Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2002 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: Been a fluter, citternist, and uilleann piper; committed now to the way of the harp.
Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps. - Location: Lefse country
Re: Coffee
Ha. I suspect you've never tried it.benhall.1 wrote:I don't even like that, although I see what you mean. Still not hot enough or fresh enough for me.Nanohedron wrote: The only way to keep coffee fresh and hot for extended periods is to keep it in a thermos right after brewing.
If you want bethermosed coffee at its best, I wouldn't serve it to others past a couple of hours max (such a duration is an unlikely event in any case); it's still in reliable good form up to that point. Beyond that is shaky ground. I wouldn't keep it hot any other way, for leaving it on the burner is absolutely out of the question. But at home for my private use, I descend into savagery: When I brew a pot I only drink a couple of cups, so I put the fresh coffee in an ewer, I suppose you'd call it; whatever you call it, in the end it's a thermos made for serving coffee, but it looks nice enough (thanks, Mom ). Anyway, what doesn't fit in the ewer I drink up, and the ewer serves me over the next couple of days. It may not be hot by then, but it still tastes fresh, which is the main thing; cold coffee and I are old friends, but it can't be stanky and foul. The thermos works against that like a champ. If I want to I can always nuke it. Anyway, at home I'm in it for the caffeine, not the finer points. As I said, savagery. But it's a refined savagery.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
- calanthrophy
- Posts: 59
- Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2014 2:37 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Location: Missouri, USA
- Contact:
Re: Coffee
Yes. I've always wondered how they get away with charging $3 a cup for it.Nanohedron wrote:I call 'em Charbucks 'cause to me their coffee tastes scorched. Won't touch it.
My acoustic recordings (with whistles, of course):
https://soundcloud.com/jake_thiele
Words I write:
http://jakeisalwaysright.blogspot.com
https://soundcloud.com/jake_thiele
Words I write:
http://jakeisalwaysright.blogspot.com
- Nanohedron
- Moderatorer
- Posts: 38239
- Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2002 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: Been a fluter, citternist, and uilleann piper; committed now to the way of the harp.
Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps. - Location: Lefse country
Re: Coffee
Not to mention their culture of browbeating customers with their prancy corporate language. "I'd like a large, please." "You mean a Venti." "Do I? Explain 'Venti' to me." "It's a large." "Then I'd like a large." "You mean 'Venti'."calanthrophy wrote:Yes. I've always wondered how they get away with charging $3 a cup for it.Nanohedron wrote:I call 'em Charbucks 'cause to me their coffee tastes scorched. Won't touch it.
Actually, no. I don't.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician