Coffee thread

[G0navybeat@rmy]

Considering the huge role this divine liquid plays in our colleges and in our military, I gotta say I was pretty shocked to not find a coffee thread. I've been a coffee drinker since the ripe young age of six, and only stopping for FROG week at UNG. Only recently have I discovered the traditions of coffee (and the coffee mugs), but I digress, this thread is for all the coffee lovers (addicts) to discuss anything coffee related.

Personally I take my coffee black, sometimes with milk if it's a darker roast.

 

[puzzler]

I’m always curious about how people make their coffee. I use a Keurig because it’s so convenient and easy. But of course there are drip methods, the French press, percolators, and even a technique I tried once involving boiling water, ground coffee, and crushed egg shells.
Others?

 

[Capt MJ]

I shall break out and , as I enjoy the discussions. I truly have nothing to contribute, as I do not drink coffee nor like the taste or smell. I’m the one who takes a bite out of a chocolate, realizes it has a coffee flavor, and hands it off to my patient DH.

I only realized why in about the last 10 years. Childhood incident that irrevocably linked coffee and bad things. My dad always set one of those timer things on their percolator drip coffee pot and set it up the night before. It was in a counter area where mom kept coffee in a canister. I think I was around 4-5, and I woke up early and smelled something. I wandered out to the kitchen, and the coffee pot area, pinewood kitchen cabinets, kitchen curtains - all aflame, with a horrible burnt smell of scorched something. I ran screaming to wake my parents. Fire department arrived quickly and confined fire to kitchen area, confirmed the timer gadget was the likely culprit. Funny how memory and body reactions are so strongly linked by a deep-seated emotion like fear. I can recognize how baseless the fear is, but I recoil at the idea of ingesting coffee. So there you have it. Coffee is my kryptonite.

 

[MidCakePa]

I have two espressos daily — morning and afternoon — made with my trusty Nespresso machine. It’s an old-school device purchased more than 15 years ago, after we returned from an expat assignment in Europe, where I learned the joys of espresso and Nespresso.

Unlike today’s Nespresso machines, it’s mostly manual, with a steam nozzle for milk. No bells and whistles whatsoever. It’s a dinosaur compared to today’s models, but I’m determined to keep using it until it goes belly-up. Knowing Swiss engineering, that may never happen.

I passed on the joy of Nespresso to DD, who kept her own machine in her Mother B room. I trust she’ll carry it with her throughout her AD career and beyond.

 

[flieger83]

Yeah...I'm the one that was told at the academy: "Oh, you'll live on coffee here...it's the only way to survive the late-night academics..."

Never took a drop.

Then in pilot training, I was told "java is the life-blood of the aviator...it's your friend." One day I was "snacko" which meant I had to make the 2 1/2 gallon pot of coffee. I followed the directions exactly: it said eight scoops, so I used eight scoops. Hey, how was I to know there was a difference between a coffee scoop and a sugar scoop? The flight commander filled his cup, took a deep drink, and promptly spewed it all over the ready room.

I was immediately graded "UNSAT" in coffee and never had to be the snacko again, which was NOT a bad thing!

To this day, I can't stand even the smell of it.

 

[Capt MJ]

Yeah...I'm the one that was told at the academy: "Oh, you'll live on coffee here...it's the only way to survive the late-night academics..."

Never took a drop.

Then in pilot training, I was told "java is the life-blood of the aviator...it's your friend." One day I was "snacko" which meant I had to make the 2 1/2 gallon pot of coffee. I followed the directions exactly: it said eight scoops, so I used eight scoops. Hey, how was I to know there was a difference between a coffee scoop and a sugar scoop? The flight commander filled his cup, took a deep drink, and promptly spewed it all over the ready room.

I was immediately graded "UNSAT" in coffee and never had to be the snacko again, which was NOT a bad thing!

To this day, I can't stand even the smell of it.

I knew you were family somehow!

Too funny. I arrived at my second duty station in Naples, IT, once again the first female officer assigned. I was the new Tanker Ops staff officer, responsible for scheduling USNS tankers around the Med to meet up with 6th fleet ships and then break off to fill up in various ports. After a week of settling in, one of the senior enlisted came to see me and pronounced himself ready to show me the coffee mess and how to set it up in the AM. I assumed it was part of the Command Duty Officer morning drill and resigned myself to learning what to do when I had the duty. I dutifully took notes and observed the SOP. Then the petty officer told me the CO and CSO liked to have it ready by 0700 on work days. It became increasingly clear to me this was being briefed to me as a daily duty, and the petty officer was dumping it upward on me. I asked him if I was expected to do this daily, and if the male officer I had just relieved had done it every day. He said “uh, no, we just figured since you were a woman, you’d take it over.” I told him I didn’t drink coffee, and if it wasn’t part of CDO duties on a rotating basis, I saw no reason for me to get involved. I then took myself off to see my new department head to brief him on the coffee situation, pronounced myself willing to do it rotationally, but I didn’t expect to get stuck with it for the reason stated. The DH was a decent guy, wIfe was a Navy nurse, so he went to see the CSO, and magically, the duty radioman who picked up early message traffic and opened the office would now light off the coffee. I hadn’t thought about that for years. I have a bunch of stories from that command in that same vein, but this was The Coffee Power Struggle.

 

[Don't Give Up the Ship]

18 years of running Merchant ships (bridge and cargo ops)-we always had fresh coffee (fresh = ~30 minutes old). There's a huge checklist for getting a ship ready to get underway...those checklists need to have fresh coffee as #1 on the list. Dont wake the Captain w/o fresh coffee!

 

[Wahoo Fan]

Coffee consumption and health: umbrella review of meta-analyses of multiple health outcomes

Objectives To evaluate the existing evidence for associations between coffee consumption and multiple health outcomes. Design Umbrella review of the evidence across meta-analyses of observational and interventional studies of coffee consumption and any health outcome. Data sources PubMed...

www.bmj.com

Possible health benefits of coffee!
This article is consistent with other medical analyses I have read regarding the research of coffee drinking and health outcomes.
️️️

 

[justdoit19]

There may not be a specific coffee thread (I swear there has been ), but I KNOW it’s been discussed. Highlights I recall from the past, not sure why, are:

CaptMJ (I think?) mentioning the fuzz in the cup. DONT WASH THE COFFEE CUP!!

And Brewmeist (I think?) talking about making it with some strange contraption.

No idea why those particular things occupy my brain space!!

I’m intrigued by midcakepa’s contraption/method. I thought nespresso was only the thing George Clooney swears by. Got one of those for my DD. It’s good, but I think the pods it requires are waaaay overpriced. And I’m frugal.

I use my little keurig, with refillable grounds. Two big cups a day.

What’s your favorite brand of coffee? I like dark and thick, and have found Starbucks French roast (sams club) to be my fav so far. Open to other suggestions with the same strong brew!!

Signed,
Coffee Snob

 

[justdoit19]

BTW….as a coffee snob….I find this personality defect to be the worst part of traveling/vacationing. It takes forever to figure out the perfect brew with an unfamiliar pot. And stopping for a cup at a gas station/store along the way? Forget about it…

I travel with a good quality Starbucks powdered (is that the right word) coffee on my person. And add as needed to my cup. That works pretty well.

 

[Capt MJ]

I will contribute DH particularly enjoys Peet’s Big Bang for his daily cups, with just a splash of milk. He uses the refillable Keurig cup.

He occasionally indulges in 100% pure Kona.

Every so often, he’ll have Kona Chocolate Macadamia Nut, more as a dessert cup than a serious cup of coffee.

And when we go on cruise, while I’m having afternoon tea, he’ll have a raspberry latte, but never otherwise goes to a Starbucks or coffee shop and orders “foo-foo coffee.”

 

[Anonymous121]

My personal favorite is Black Rifle Coffee's Blackbeards Delight.

 

[Capt MJ]

My personal favorite is Black Rifle Coffee's Blackbeards Delight.

I love the story behind this company and get a kick out of the names and marketing. Definitely “in the club.” I’ve seen it at the Commissary, and of course can order online. Any recommendations for a straightforward, medium roast full bodied? DH likes to try different things, but I know where his sweet spot is.

 

[Anonymous121]

I love the story behind this company and get a kick out of the names and marketing. Definitely “in the club.” I’ve seen it at the Commissary, and of course can order online. Any recommendations for a straightforward, medium roast full bodied? DH likes to try different things, but I know where his sweet spot is.

I've had AK-47, Just Black, Freedom Roast. They're all very solid medium roasts. It's been a long time since I've had them though so memory doesn't serve too well in terms of flavor profile. I usually always go back to Blackbeard's Delight.

 

[Capt MJ]

I've had AK-47, Just Black, Freedom Roast. They're all very solid medium roasts. It's been a long time since I've had them though so memory doesn't serve too well in terms of flavor profile. I usually always go back to Blackbeard's Delight.

Thank you - I found the humorous coffee quiz on the site, so that was helpful.

For the past 20 or so years, we have given each other consumables or experiences for gifts, and if we need a “thing,” we mutually get it. These will be fun to try.

 

[USMCGrunt]

I started drinking coffee in College solely as an aid to stay awake. It is an acquired taste. I learned the hard way about it's addictive aspects when I had to go cold turkey during OCS. Headaches were rough.

When I reported to the fleet, the young Marines called it "Lifer Juice" and believed only the "old timers" drank it (Company Gunny, 1st Sergeant, etc). I heard rumors that junior Marines were required to fire up the pot and that they spiked the coffee with LSD sending a SNCO to the hospital. (urban legend?) As a result, I never took from the community pot and brought my own in a Stanley steel thermos every day we were in garrison.

In the field, we had C-rations with a packet of hot cocoa mix. If we had the luxury of heating a meal, I would mix the cocoa and freeze dried coffee in my canteen cup and drink that for a boost. I had to be really desperate to drink that coffee straight (cold or hot). Some people would "dip" the freeze dried stuff on patrols - that wasn't for me.

Today, I use a simple drip coffee brewer from Mr. Coffee and usually buy Folger's breakfast blend. I am NOT a coffee snob - it is simply a convenient way to onboard caffeine!

 

[Old Navy BGO]

I'm sure I've posted elsewhere about my pet peeve -- not being able to get a coffee, black, medium at the typical coffee shop without waiting in line for all those millenials getting their latte's with an order long enough to fill a phone book. (Dang, I just aged myself there - many here don't even know what a phone book is !)

I am not a coffee snob .. I will drink any coffee, any where, any time. I drink far less than I used to ..usually make one in my Keurig for the drive in to work, drink about half on the way in, and sip a little of it (cold, and in January/Feb frozen) on the way home. Maybe 1 or 2 cups of whatever sawdust we serve in the office during the course of the day. If I don't drink the full cup before it gets cold ...I dump in the potted plant in my office. (The plant was given to me by a client when my Dad died 9 years ago, and thrives on a little coffee every day!)

I like the variety and lack of waste that comes with Keurig cups.. I usually have a selection of K cups on the little rotary thing they sell, and kind of randomly pic. No particular favorites, but almost always have some Starbuck Pikes Blend, Caribou, , and Tully's Hawaiian on hand.

A seasoned mug is important. I have used the same mug at work since my days in Patrol Wing 5 Brunswick -- It's double walled stainless steel (unbreakable) insulated bought at LL Beans' circa 1990. It gets washed once a year -- I bring it home over New Years every year, drop a few Efferdent or baking powder in, let it soak a day or so...dishwash and then good to go for the next year.

 

[OldRetSWO]

I grew up the child of coffee drinkers and never touched the stuff.
Then, I was surrounded by coffee drinkers at USNA and never touched the stuff.
Then I went to the fleet and was REALLY surrounded by coffee drinkers with lots of night
watches and again never touched the stuff except to bring it to my troops when they were
doing all-night repairs.

Then I left the Active Navy and went out to the cruel civilian world working for GE.
.
About a month or two later, I was on my FIRST BUSINESS TRIP - a three hour car ride with
my boss (USNA Grad) and a couple of other folks when we hit a highway rest area. I (driver)
gassed up the car and when we got back on the road, my boss handed me a cup and
said "I didn't get a chance to ask so this is 1 sugar, 1 cream". Finding myself in a rough
situation at 70 MPH, I started sipping.
.
Now, my wife and I have come to agreement on our custom mix of about half Colombian,
quarter French Vanilla and quarter Chocolate Roast coffees which we mix every few weeks.
I drink it black with a little sweetener.

 

[MidCakePa]

I’m intrigued by midcakepa’s contraption/method. I thought nespresso was only the thing George Clooney swears by.

Here it is, my fully manual Nespresso machine, circa 2004. Same brand that the good Mr. Clooney endorses, but he surely prefers the new-fangled versions that boast microchips and the ability to brew, wash, rinse, change oil and cure cancer.

The pods are indeed pricey, but significantly less than I’d pay for a commercially brewed espresso from that behemoth Seattle brand. Costco (speaking of behemoth Seattle brands) sells knock-off Nespresso pods, which cost a bit less. But their engineering and quality control leave a bit to be desired, as a snug fit inside the machine isn’t always consistent.

Aside: I use Black Rifle Coffee as a case study in my undergraduate business courses, to demonstrate the power of market segmentation. Colleges being a progressive bastion, and my particular campus being well known for leading in that regard, many of my students find it very hard to openly discuss a brand with pro-military positioning.

 

[MidCakePa]

At this moment, I’m sitting on my patio, chatting with DW, catching up on the WSJ, and sipping a “renversé.” It’s a Swiss specialty, perhaps best described as a “reverse latte.” I first steam milk in my Chapon Chocolatier mug, picked up in Paris, then add the fresh-brewed espresso on top. It’s my Saturday morning comfort drink.