So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[LizzieMaine]

My grandfather would only drink fresh-made coffee. If he didn't see you spoon the Sanka granules from the jar into to the cup and pour the water in on top of them, he'd send it back.

I refuse to drink a cup of tea that hasn't had the bag soaking in it for a minimum of fifteen minutes. None of that insipid dunk-once-and-throw-it-away rusty water for me.

 

[Zombie_61]

Coffee & Americans, an observation. On my many travels in The States, I have never come across a diner/eaterie/coffee house where every single cup of coffee is made fresh, perhaps I've just been unlucky. A pot of coffee is made, then left on the hot plate and served to guests until it's empty, only then is a fresh brew of coffee made to replenish the pot. If you are unlucky enough to get the last cup that's been on the hot plate for more than an hour, it will taste like liquorice, just disgusting. I have complained, and in fairness, the waiter has always served up fresh coffee......gratis...

Leaving a partial pot of coffee on the burner to age for a few hours is very common here in the U.S.. Considering the number of Starbucks locations and the like and the apparently extreme consumption of the stuff, I find it a little strange that my wife and I will occasionally have a server tell us that they will have to make a fresh pot for us because they normally don't serve a lot of coffee. But my wife isn't shy about ordering her coffee "As fresh as possible", and we've never had a server make a fuss about making a fresh pot. But there have been times when they've either forgotten or ignored her request and she'll get a cup that tastes like it was drained from the engine of an old car.

 

[GHT]

I have never come across a diner/eaterie/tea/coffee house
where every single cup of tea is made fresh, perhaps I’ve just been unlucky too.

I refuse to drink a cup of tea that hasn't had the bag soaking in it for a minimum of fifteen minutes. None of that insipid dunk-once-and-throw-it-away rusty water for me.

Two points on the same problem. But first I have to admit to heresy, I don't like tea, can't stand the taste of it, but it doesn't excuse me from making it properly. As 2jakes has discovered, poorly made tea has a distinct aged flavour. Lizzies' problem is similar.

For tea to be made properly, whether it's with loose tea leaves in a pot, or tea bags in a cup, the water must still be boiling when it's poured onto the tea. It's not enough to leave the water in the kettle, even for a few seconds. Scalding water straight onto the tea causes the said tea to infuse properly.
And if you want the perfect cup of tea, warm the pot and cup first, take the pot or cup to the kettle, whilst the water is still boiling and pour immediately. Never, as I have seen staff at some cafes do, add milk first. A tea bag, floating round in milk, before the water is added, is so gross.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Tea with milk, period, is gross. Tea with sugar is even worse. Tea with lemon is a filthy habit which must be eradicated at all costs.

 

[2jakes]

Tea with milk, period, is gross. Tea with sugar is even worse. Tea with lemon is a filthy habit which must be eradicated at all costs.

Totally agree...and I could’ve gone all day without reading this...lol !

 

[swanson_eyes]

I don't care how old it is; I won't drink drip-brew on principle. The Italians perfected coffee via espresso and everyone else ruined it by watering it down and taking pressure out of the equation. It't the pressure that forces the essence and flavor out of those grounds. I will make an exception for french press because it's at least better tasting than drip-brew, but you had better use at least a heaping tablespoon of grounds per cup and they had better be med-dark roast.

 

[Trenchfriend]

I tell you, Darjeeling/Ceylon/Asam-tea with brown sugar, on the afternoon, is one of the greatest inventions on earth, to me!

So:
Tea, Earl-Grey, HOT!

Or "frisian-mixture" (Assam/Ceylon), and so on...

Germany likes black-tea, still today. Available at every supermarket.

 

[2jakes]

I tell you, Darjeeling/Ceylon/Asam-tea with brown sugar, on the afternoon, is one of the greatest inventions on earth, to me!

So:
Tea, Earl-Grey, HOT!

Or "frisian-mixture" (Assam/Ceylon), and so on...

Germany likes black-tea, still today. Available at every supermarket.

Is it true that in Germany warm beer is preferred over cold since most of the time it’s
cold atmosphere & folks want something warm?
Or the flavor is noticeable/tastier when drinking it warm over cold beer?
Or perhaps both ?

 

[Trenchfriend]

My father was born 1938 and off course he knows the "warm-beer", which was and is applied on a bad cold, still today. But today, it's more a traditional and peripheral matter.
Germans generally drink normal, mostly cold beer on every season.

But the consumtion of classic beer goes down, year by year.
Consumtion a head, on a year:
1990: 150 litres
2013: 100 litres

 

[2jakes]

^^^^^

Do you know why the consumption is less ?

 

[Zombie_61]

^^^^^

Do you know why the consumption is less ?

Cirrhosis of the liver is killing them off?

 

[Trenchfriend]

@2jakes

-upcoming low-priced (good-quality)mass-market-wine since the 80's/90's
-more and more unsafe jobs > less drunkenness
-bad average-taste of mass-market-beer (filtered to death, cheaper bitter-hop, bad hop-extract!)
-to many people, beer seems to be an outdated or bad proletarian-thing of old days
-upcoming alcopops on discos/events
-todays more clarification about beer as one of the starter-drugs

 

[Fading Fast]

I don't care how old it is; I won't drink drip-brew on principle. The Italians perfected coffee via espresso and everyone else ruined it by watering it down and taking pressure out of the equation. It't the pressure that forces the essence and flavor out of those grounds. I will make an exception for french press because it's at least better tasting than drip-brew, but you had better use at least a heaping tablespoon of grounds per cup and they had better be med-dark roast.

I am that odd person that drinks coffee once in awhile. I have a take it or leave it feel for it, which seems odd in this country as most people drink a lot of it daily or don't drink it at all. Many years ago, I had my first French press cup and, agree, it was a meaningfully richer flavor - it felt infused with coffee. By comparison, most coffee now tastes to me like it is coffee-flavored water. I am surprised that French press hasn't had more acceptance in America, but again, what do I know, I have a cup of coffee a few times a month.

 

[GHT]

My wife often calls me Mr Grumpy, perhaps I should lighten up, but it just seems that day to day manners have disappeared. For instance, the cell phone gives us all a mobile phone and that's changed our lives so completely, but why can't people remember others when using their phones?
Walking and looking at a phone are two mutually incompatible activities yet thousands of Londoners do it every day, seemingly relying on other pedestrians not to walk into them. What's so important that it can't wait until you've sat down somewhere?

 

[2jakes]

My wife often calls me Mr Grumpy, perhaps I should lighten up, but it just seems that day to day manners have disappeared. For instance, the cell phone gives us all a mobile phone and that's changed our lives so completely, but why can't people remember others when using their phones?
Walking and looking at a phone are two mutually incompatible activities yet thousands of Londoners do it every day, seemingly relying on other pedestrians not to walk into them. What's so important that it can't wait until you've sat down somewhere?

We have the same thing over here, but what’s scarier is that they doing it while driving !

 

[tonyb]

Percolators were far and away the most common coffee brewing devices in my early years, although I'd on rare occasion spot a vacuum pot, which appeared quite exotic through my youthful eyes, mostly on account of their relative scarcity.
Can't recall when I last saw a percolator. The auto-drip brewers became the norm 'round about my high school years.
Good coffee tastes good cold, which is how I drink it -- at least a full pot of it per day. And I brew it in an auto-drip coffee maker, double strength, or stronger. I make the lovely missus her morning latte with a Breville espresso machine, bought eight years ago, on sale for $400. I believe we've amortized the cost.
One tip for stretching the palatable life of drip coffee left on the warming plate ...
Place a cup (or something that'll withstand the temperature) at the glass pot's top, to slow the evaporation. This works best with those commercial duty glass pots (Bunn-omatic, for instance) with narrow top openings.

 

[Stearmen]

Percolators were far and away the most common coffee brewing devices in my early years, although I'd on rare occasion spot a vacuum pot, which appeared quite exotic through my youthful eyes, mostly on account of their relative scarcity.
Can't recall when I last saw a percolator.

When my mother past away, I made sure my sister got her old percolator. She says the coffee taste so much better!

 

[swanson_eyes]

Oh, yeah--I do like percolated.

 

[tonyb]

Percolator coffee tastes good when fresh, and with the proper grind.

The canned coffee prevalent in my early years -- Maxwell House, Folger's, etc. -- came ground for use in percolators. I suspect that the grind has changed over the decades, as auto-drip coffee makers supplanted percolators in the average American kitchen. Can't say I've paid it much mind, though, as I buy whole bean arabica and grind it much more finely than anything I've ever seen in a can of coffee.

 

[p51]

I'll go to my grave wondering while coffee has such an appeal other than waking you up when you need it.
I've never once encountered any type of coffee that didn't make me gag from the smell...