The Coffee Thread

[WyoBadger]

Robusta is cheaper, has more caffeine, grows anywhere...

Not here.

But seriously. Coffee is sort of a special occassion thing for me, like bacon. Can't have bacon without coffee. The smell of frying bacon mixing with that of coffee is one of those things that just makes the world a better place. I generally like tea better, but tea can't compare to coffee for aroma.

I use an old, banged-up-all-to-crud percolator that my parents got for a wedding present back before dirt was invented. The bottom is charred with the smoke from many campfires. Probably the only reasons for its continued existance are that 1. I don't drink coffee all that much, and 2. Mrs. Badger hates coffee, so she's never bothered to replace it with something cute and shiney as she has most of my old junk. (I miss my speckled enamel cooking pans) It makes superb coffee. Or at least good enough for me.

They grow some pretty good, strong coffee down in Haiti. I always bring back a bunch. It lasts me a long, long time.

Is it just me, or does most restaurant (and much homemade) coffee taste a bit like dirty dishwater smells?

T

[TC]

For me, it's been a love affair since Freshman year of college the night before Prof. Clark's killer Psychology final. I had my first cup ever around midnight. Pulled my first all-nighter while my Buddy Paul slept in the corner. I Aced the exam while my poor friend cried over his F. It's been true love ever since.
Give me pretty much any variety except the nasty stuff they brew at work in the industrial steel can. You need a knife and fork to drink that stuff.

[Bloomfield]

Good good stuff: lucidity in a cup.

O that's where it went!

Second the French press.

[peeplj]

There is one thing about a percolator that I love (unfortunately, it's not the coffee it produces...)

When I was very small, I woke every morning to the sound of my parent's percolator...a wonderful, distinctive burble-hiss-sigh that would blend in to the sounds and smells of my mom making breakfast for the family.

There is just something about that sound that means warmth, comfort, home, and love to me.

Unfortunately, I don't care much at all for the taste of percolated coffee...if a French press coffee is a 10 and a drip maker is an 8 (or a 9 with a really good blend and filter), then percolated coffee is about a 4. The only coffee that's worse that I've tried is hospital coffee.

--James

P.S. Bloo, I don't have to be lucid. That's what God made coffee and shell scripts for!

--James

[fearfaoin]

When I was very small, I woke every morning to the sound of my parent's percolator...a wonderful, distinctive burble-hiss-sigh that would blend in to the sounds and smells of my mom making breakfast for the family.

Yes! I'd forgotten all about that! What a great sound...

[djm]

I was sure I could find that old percolator tv ad (was it for Nescafe?) somewhere on the 'net, but perhaps there are few of us left who remember.

X:1
T:Old Percolater Ad
R:Dark Brew
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:G
.D4 .E.G .A.B | .d2 .d2 .d2 z2 ||

djm

[Innocent Bystander]

percolators. Hunh.

I have my own ibrik. I prefer Turkish (or Greek) coffee. Picked up the habit when I was in Saudi. Then lost it again.

Every now and again (about five years) I feel like some Turkish coffee and buy a pound, or as small a quantity as I can. And for a month I make some. Then I forget and the coffee goes stale and has to be thrown out.

[peeplj]

percolators. Hunh.

I have my own ibrik. I prefer Turkish (or Greek) coffee. Picked up the habit when I was in Saudi. Then lost it again.

Every now and again (about five years) I feel like some Turkish coffee and buy a pound, or as small a quantity as I can. And for a month I make some. Then I forget and the coffee goes stale and has to be thrown out.

I looked up Ibrik on Wikipedia...I can't quite figure it out, though.

Is it just a long-handled pot you hold in the fire? They don't really have any info on how it works.

--James

[Bloomfield]

1. Put cold water into ibrik
2. Add sugar
3. Add very-finely-ground turkish coffee
4. Boil in ibrik (low heat)
5. Pour into (pretty) cup
6. Wait for grounds to settle
8. Drink

[peeplj]

1. Put finely-ground turkish coffee into ibrik.
2. Add sugar
3. Add water
4. Boil in ibrik
5. Pour into (pretty) cup
6. Wait for grounds to settle
8. Drink

Sounds like what my folks used to call "Depression coffee."

Only they would "shock" the coffee by adding a little cold water before decanting it into cups which is supposed to make the grounds settle out faster.

--James

[Bloomfield]

Sounds like what my folks used to call "Depression coffee."

It's really a wonderfully rich and smooth drink, with a frothy top if well-made. Not at all like cowboy coffee or depression coffee.

[CHasR]

Does anyone else remember the study they did a few years ago where they shot up a bunch of spiders with all kinds of substances including,lsd, pot, alcohol, tobbacco, opiates, meth, crack, coke, and caffeine?
Then they watched them all build webs?
(dont ask me how they did this...)

And they mostly managed to build functional webs while being stoned, drunk, speeding, tripping, what-have-you;
the webs were all screwy, but they held together;

however the spiders on caffeine never really managed to create a web per se; but rather just a couple of screwed-up strands barely hanging together?

[Lambchop]

I was sure I could find that old percolator tv ad (was it for Nescafe?) somewhere on the 'net, but perhaps there are few of us left who remember.

X:1
T:Old Percolater Ad
R:Dark Brew
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:G
.D4 .E.G .A.B | .d2 .d2 .d2 z2 ||

djm

Maxwell House . . . good to the last drop. (??)

[Innocent Bystander]

1. Put cold water into ibrik
2. Add sugar OPTIONAL
3. Add very-finely-ground turkish coffee
4. Boil in ibrik (low heat) until it reaches the top of the ibrik.
4a. Let the coffee cool down a little and boil it again.
4b. and boil it again.
4c. Add a drop of chilled water or rose-water to settle the grounds.
5. Pour into (pretty) cup
5b. Serve with a glass of cold water.
6. Wait for grounds to settle. Unnecessary!
8. Drink

[djm]

Maxwell House . . . good to the last drop.

Thx, Lambie. Good for what we'll leave for another day.

djm