Saturday CoffeeDay 9/12/09 Coffee anyone?

[charizzi]

30:70 I don't drink coffee very often, and I only do if I really need the caffeine boost in the morning, especially now that I'm having to wake up earlier for work. Other than that, I usually reach for black tea in the morning if it is a weekday. I'm not a huge fan of the coffee taste unless it is loaded with sugar and milk... or if its flavored in some way.

[twinofmunin]

A year and change ago, I stopped ingesting caffeine and high-fructose corn syrup. Cold turkey. This has brought me nothing but good.

I say "no caffeine" but of course I still do drink tea... mostly Japanese greens, at this point, but sometimes the caffeine quantity in something else will throw me for a brief loop. However, it is not at all comparable to my horrible caffeine addiction from before.

I still do have coffee occasionally, as a dessert coffee (at a restaurant, for example) or sometimes socially (meet at a coffee shop). In particular, it is usually easier in my part(s) of the US to acquire good coffee In The Wild than good tea.

[Carl]

When I lived in San Antonio I discovered a coffee shop run by a brother and sister from Lebanon who roasted their own coffee beans. They introduced me to the world of coffee which can be extraordinary. I loved their Sumatran, Kenyan, and Costa Rican beans. When I moved to Dallas 25 years ago I had them send coffee care packages at least once a month and I ground the beans as needed.

Sadly they are no longer in business...but coffee can be a great drink exhibiting the characteristics of the land, the weather, the cultivation, and of course, the roasting technique of the purveyor, and the brewing style of the person making the cup of coffee.

That said, I drink coffee now only as a way to motivate me in the morning at work which starts at 6:30 a.m. (We have a Starbucks downstairs in the cafeteria, but to me all their coffees taste the same - highly roasted, acidic, and lacking any subtleties.) I also use coffee to combat sinus headaches... for which the great plains of North Texas is justly famous in helping create.

My tea journey excites me precisely because of all the styles, the tastes, the culture(s) and perhaps as importantly, the enthusiasm, knowledge and joy of the tea community. My ratio is about 1 : 10.

In the cuppa this morning: Huan Jin Gui Oolong from Norbu Tea. A nice floral aroma and taste with a hint of the roast, and a thin mouth feel. Of course, I never know at this stage if I'm describing the tea or the inadequacies of my brewing technique.

Wishing everyone a tea-lightful Saturday.

[Chip]

0:100 for me. I have never ever been able to drink a cuppa coffee, just tastes aweful, smells aweful, bleh. In my life, I have drunk a total of less than a cup.

BUT, I have always loved the aroma of roasted beans and even bought beans just to smell once. Add hot water, and bleh. I have thought about trying it lately, not sure why.

Coffee addicts kinda crack me up, so intense about their need of coffee. Seems tea drinkers are more mellow in their addiction.

Began the TD with Hatsumi from O-Cha. SweeTea enjoyed some of this newly opened sencha while Lili, Pyrit, Gandalf passed.

[Ebtoulson]

Wow I'm really surprised at how many people love coffee but just don't drink it and at how many people still drink coffee here on the TEAchat.

As for a little background I saw a coffee related topic and noticed Chip expressing his complete and utter disgust for the taste of coffee. This made me wonder how many of us 'tea drinkers' still drink/like/love the dreaded coffee. As for myself, I used to be a coffee junky or more specifically an espresso junky, I own a pretty nice espresso machine and used to have a double shot every morning. Sometime during my freshmen year in college however I started to try to live a healthier lifestyle, i.e. exercise more, watch what I eat and drink. Since I had always enjoyed green tea I decided to switch, about this time adagio did a promotion with the internet broadcasting company revision3, so my first order was with them. As for today I voted 10:90, I still love coffee but I just don't drink it that often, I only fire up the espresso machine on late study nights.

With all this coffee love maybe we could start up a coffee thread bwhahaha jk

[olivierco]

No coffee for me. I guess I haven't drunken more than 10 cups of coffee in my life. I even tasted some high quality coffees but I stayed indifferent to their tastes.

Otsuusan sencha in a few minutes.

[geeber1]

BUT, I have always loved the aroma of roasted beans and even bought beans just to smell once.

Chip, your post reminded me of something about my daughter. You know how when you go into a candle or soap shop and they have bowls of coffee beans to clear your sense of smell while smelling their products? Whenever we used to come across a really bad smell somewhere, she would say "We need to smell the beans," meaning that we had to get away from whatever the bad smell was. I always thought it was cute!

[Donna417]

I must be one of the few people on the planet who has never had a cup of coffee, and I have been hanging around for 61 years. Plenty of time if I wanted to. I just can't get past the smell which is really unappealing. Not to mention that coming across the taste of it unexpectedly in other things, like candies, definitely does not make my day. Tea all the way for me.

My tea day so far is an embarrassment -- it's been a really rushed morning so it was a PG Tips bag. Ah well, it happens. Tonight at work I'll brew up some nice rooibos or honeybush after dinner.

[brlarson]

Enjoying the third day of steeps of Jing's semi-wild wudong dancong.

[brad4419]

0:100 I used to drink cheap coffee but as soon as I tried tea that was the end of coffee. Why drink coffee when we have tea? I guess caffeine is the answer to that question but I haven't tried any quality coffee so I wont say its bad.

No tea again today. This is my second "detox" day without caffeine and I can tell the effect. Occasional headaches and my head just doesn't feel right. I hope its the caffeine

[Chip]

My tea day so far is an embarrassment -- it's been a really rushed morning so it was a PG Tips bag.

PG Tips has some fans on the forum.

Welcome to the forum. Enjoy what you drink, drink what you enjoy...

TD continued with matcha in a new Cory Lum Celadon Chawan with DW.

[Ebtoulson]

No tea again today. This is my second "detox" day without caffeine and I can tell the effect. Occasional headaches and my head just doesn't feel right. I hope its the caffeine

Good luck man, I'm trying to quit soda (2 weeks down and counting) although I'm considering tea my detox . I'm thinking about just allowing myself 1 soda a week to help.

3 tea session today..going for the matcha

[kymidwife]

saw this on Facebook today, and it seemed fitting for the poll topic today

coffeekitteh.jpg (7.38 KiB) Viewed 540 times

[brad4419]

No tea again today. This is my second "detox" day without caffeine and I can tell the effect. Occasional headaches and my head just doesn't feel right. I hope its the caffeine

Good luck man, I'm trying to quit soda (2 weeks down and counting) although I'm considering tea my detox . I'm thinking about just allowing myself 1 soda a week to help.

3 tea session today..going for the matcha

Eboulson its really worth the effort. I quite drinking soda a bit over 5 yrs ago and I don't miss it at all. Its so hard to quite but then after a while you realize its not that great anyway. I tried to drink some mt. dew a few years ago and took a few sips and threw it out. I think we just get used to drinking soda from a young age and don't reallize how many other better drinks are out there. Tomorrow Im having some oolong and just can't wait.

[thirtysixbelow]

I love coffee but it doesn't love me. My digestive system gets owned and the levels of caffeine make it very addictive for me. I enjoy a cup maybe every 2 weeks or so. I like a darker roasted coffee with just enough creme to smooth it out... mmm