Coffee poll, 2024 version.

[Mary Terry]

LOL. Reminds me of my time as an underwriter when I had to occasionally pay a visit to our independent agents. Where all of them seemed to have the same infamous "Bunn" coffee makers that exuded the smell of totally burnt coffee for hours on end.

Enough to turn any number of people off when it comes to coffee.

Starbucks stores stink like burnt coffee to me.

 

[Mary Terry]

Their coffee is crap. What we put in a single shot of espresso they put in a 35 oz bucket with about 100 grams of sugar. And they were like double the price of the local cafes. They obviously did no research at all before coming to Australia, they just rolled in thinking they were the greatest and expected us to just suck it up.

Starbucks has done the same thing all over the world.

 

[Mary Terry]

Gods, I miss a morning cup of inky and rich high-altitude so much. Put in my veeiiiiiinnns.

Alas, I love coffee but it no longer likes me. Drank too much in my 20s and paid for it. Now my stomach & guts & brain cannot tolerate more than one tiny watered-down espresso every month.

It's why I'm on the hunt for the perfect black coffee perfume to add to my fragrance collection. Most I've sampled so far haven't quite hit the spot---either too acrid, too synthetic, too Starbucksy, or too much like an uncleaned instant machine people keep mouldering in their kitchen. The blend I require would be smooth, dark, fresh, buzzy and heady, a little smoky and burny but not too much, kind of Noir-ish or jazzy in mood.

I also don't mind a creamier French style smell, so long as it isn't straight up gourmand/lactonic or like an American advert for instant (remember those?). Like Dionne Warwick once wisely tweeted: they want us to put mayonnaise in our coffee, I won't tolerate it.

Years ago, I lived in New Orleans, Louisiana when it was still one of the major ports of entry to the USA for raw coffee beans. I loved the smell every morning wafting from what was called the warehouse district adjacent to the Mississippi River where bulk coffee beans were roasted. I'm not much of a coffee drinker but I like the smell of properly roasted coffee beans, too.

 

[Judge]

Starbucks stores stink like burnt coffee to me.

I like the dark coffees, rich in flavor. However I draw a line at the one's that have that "burnt" taste...like so many French roast coffees. Gevalia's "Espresso Roast" is probably right on the edge when it comes to European coffees. Strong, fully bodied, even a bit bitter with the first sip. But not burnt per se.

Of course taste is entirely subjective...though I sometimes wonder if to like dark roast coffees means accepting that "burnt" taste as well, apart from enhanced bitterness?

 

[Outdated]

Starbucks has done the same thing all over the world.

I've never even been in one, just like you mentioned, the smell put me off. Smells more like flavoured milk and sweet cakes to me. It's been a lot of years since I've seen one around but apparently there's a few in Sydney and Brisbane, in the airports and major train stations where unknowing tourists are bound to be wandering by in a jet lagged daze.

Of course taste is entirely subjective...though I sometimes wonder if to like dark roast coffees means accepting that "burnt" taste as well, apart from enhanced bitterness?

You can have dark roast without that bitter biteyness. Slow Roasted. Often marketed as a Family Cup or as a Traditional Breakfast Coffee.

Espresso describes the way in which the beans are roasted - really hot really fast. In olden times it loosely translated as Burnt Rubbish. When a vendor ran out of freshly roasted beans he'd chuck a couple of handfuls in a dry frypan and "roast" them that way. It didn't become popular because it was good and people liked it, it became popular because people going to Europe for the first time wanted to sound educated and sophisticated and Espresso was an easy Italian word to remember.

 

[Judge]

Starbucks has done the same thing all over the world.

Ironic. The one single product I like from McDonald's is their coffee.

Yet when I think of an outfit like Starbucks, it makes me thing of your quote. "The same thing all over the world". Like McDonald's fast food, which I generally loathe.

Starbucks has just never appealed to me to even give their coffees a try. Am I a hypocrite?

 

[Judge]

You can have dark roast without that bitter biteyness. Slow Roasted. Often marketed as a Family Cup or as a Traditional Breakfast Coffee.

That's very helpful. Thanks!

 

[Outdated]

Ironic. The one single product I like from McDonald's is their coffee.

MacDonalds started doing MacCafe here about 20 years ago and it's actually good coffee. I don't know if it's the same in the US or not, and I've never tried it myself but my nose doesn't tell lies. I know good coffee when I smell it.

 

[Mary Terry]

Ironic. The one single product I like from McDonald's is their coffee.

Yet when I think of an outfit like Starbucks, it makes me thing of your quote. "The same thing all over the world". Like McDonald's fast food, which I generally loathe.

Starbucks has just never appealed to me to even give their coffees a try. Am I a hypocrite?

Not a hypocrite. You're missing nothing by avoiding Starbucks.

The only thing I "like" from McDonald's is a child's happy meal. Meaning that I can tolerate it. You get a tiny little hamburger, small container of about 10 French fries, juice or bottled water, and a toy.

 

[Judge]

MacDonalds started doing MacCafe here about 20 years ago and it's actually good coffee. I don't know if it's the same in the US or not, and I've never tried it myself but my nose doesn't tell lies. I know good coffee when I smell it.

It is indeed. Usually my second choice to Dunkin Donuts.

Yet I want to expand these tastes as I know there are likely better coffees out there. Though at the same time reading online coffee comparisons from one year to the next seems frustrating at times. Where I see the "usual suspects" over and over.

It's good though that we have an abundance of choices here...though prices can vary greatly.

 

[Mary Terry]

I like the dark coffees, rich in flavor. However I draw a line at the one's that have that "burnt" taste...like so many French roast coffees. Gevalia's "Espresso Roast" is probably right on the edge when it comes to European coffees. Strong, fully bodied, even a bit bitter with the first sip. But not burnt per se.

Of course taste is entirely subjective...though I sometimes wonder if to like dark roast coffees means accepting that "burnt" taste as well, apart from enhanced bitterness?

Have you ever tried chicory coffee? It's very dark and strong.

 

[Outdated]

The only thing I "like" from McDonald's is a child's happy meal. Meaning that I can tolerate it. You get a tiny little hamburger, small container of about 10 French fries, juice or bottled water, and a toy.

The only reason I'll ever buy anything from MacDonalds is because they're open late and there's nothing else. Adelaide's a very quiet and sleepy town, all the real fast food joints are shut by 9:00.

 

[Outdated]

Have you ever tried chicory coffee? It's very dark and strong.

I haven't had chicory since I was a kid, and then it was only as a history lesson. In the post war era people used to drink chicory because they couldn't get real coffee. It tastes sort of like coffee but it doesn't have the same kick and it's also quite sweet without adding any sugar.

 

[Judge]

Have you ever tried chicory coffee? It's very dark and strong.

Nope. Had to google it! Thanks.

https://fullcoffeeroast.com/best-chicory-coffee-brands/
Not cheap!

 

[Outdated]

Have you ever tried chicory coffee? It's very dark and strong.

Another interesting thing I tried one time and I liked it. A South African man living in the same small country town as me recognised all the trees the council had plated along the main street, and late one night he went harvesting all the beans. He roasted them and ground them and used them as coffee. They also gave that familiar caffeine hit.

Carob.

As a replacement for chocolate it really sucks but as a replacement for coffee it's pretty good.

 

[Mary Terry]

Another interesting thing I tried one time and I liked it. A South African man living in the same small country town as me recognised all the trees the council had plated along the main street, and late one night he went harvesting all the beans. He roasted them and ground them and used them as coffee. They also gave that familiar caffeine hit.

Carob.

As a replacement for chocolate it really sucks but as a replacement for coffee it's pretty good.

Members of the Mormon church (Latter Day Saints) are prohibited from consuming caffeine so they drink Postum as a coffee substitute. It's a powdered, roasted grain beverage that tastes awful.

 

[Seladon]

Have you ever tried chicory coffee? It's very dark and strong.

I love it! My favourite hot drink tbh, now I can't have much of any real coffee. The best way I can describe it is sweetness is sort of nutty and chocolatey but with a bitter smoky edge. Seems to be a love or hate drink for most people, like Marmite.

Years ago, I lived in New Orleans, Louisiana when it was still one of the major ports of entry to the USA for raw coffee beans. I loved the smell every morning wafting from what was called the warehouse district adjacent to the Mississippi River where bulk coffee beans were roasted. I'm not much of a coffee drinker but I like the smell of properly roasted coffee beans, too.

Tell me more, how did you find it to live in Nawlins? What were your favourite and least favouritr parts of the culture? How come you ended up there, and how come you left? Would you go back?

This is crazy serendipity, because lately I've been back on a New Orleans vibe in terms of what I'm consuming and enjoying. Since I was a little kid in love from afar and in my head with Marie Laveau, Dr. John and Remy LeBeau, I've always been so intrigued by the place and have wanted to visit, and now decades later I still sometimes like to immerse myself in the sounds, colours, patois and taste of the place. The Cajun accent particularly does something so nice to my brain. And yes, so does chicory coffee, which I'm told the locals like to drink as a breakfast item.

For me it's almost like...sounds crazy, but it's like I'm connected to the place and the lore of NO in the 5D? Despite never having been and having no 3D real-world current-timeline links? I get that with a few other places in the world, too, especially certain towns in Japan and this little one in Brittany (I am half Welsh, so I guess that one makes a bit more sense).

 

[Roisin]

Got to start my day with coffee, love a stove top perculated Colombian medium roast at the weekend, but otherwise it's simply instant coffee to keep my brain working.

 

[Xinyta]

I'm a straight black coffee guy. Though I am sticking to, namely, decaf.

I don't do cream and sugar anymore. For both mental and physical health reasons. I personally don't know how I could get myself to drink coffee with coffee creamer.

 

[MNAus]

I'm lucky enough to have a bean-to-cup machine (not a very impressive one and VERY old) but it makes decent coffee. We prefer the chocolately, caramel flavours to citrus/fruit tones and found a fantastic local roaster that has the perfect flavour profile for us. Every now and then we'd try a different one, but always kind of regretted it and looked forward to the pack finishing.

Problem is I was using it to self medicate for ADHD. So I was drinking about 12 espressos a day, often as super strength flat whites. Sometimes more, not often less. Now I have the meds I'm on decaf!!! because caffeine and the meds don't play that well together, for me at least. So that chapter is over I guess. Miss it a bit, but wouldn't trade back.