Espresso

I used to get it from time to time from starbucks at school but I tend to stay away from coffee products lately and just drink diet soda for caffeine. The $200 is a good investment for the machine because in the long run it has payed for itself instead of buying the prepared drinks.

I'm doing the opposite of you two. I just bought a personal coffeemaker (it brews directly into a travel mug), but I used to drink Mtn Dew or something similar in the morning. I've never really liked coffee, but it's not bad and I'm liking drinking something warm in the morning. Especially right now while it's cold outside.

"I even get my age wrong sometimes."  -CheesyBread

I've been on tea every day since I was about 7 or 8 because it's just a Cape Breton thing.  Kids get tea with breakfast as young as 5 here.  I drink about 7-8 huge cups of tea with milk a day...just black tea.  I also have taken a HUGE liking to those Tetley Tes Infusions which have green/white/black teas in some really good flavors with just 50 calories per liquid sachet.  Try them if you can get them in the states.

I make a about 3-6 double espressos as well if I'm home all day.  If I need to be somewhere I might just have two doubles and a few teas.  Everyone who knows me says the amount of caffeine I drink per day is ridiculous.  I have a high tolerance I guess.  When I wake up I need to have at least 3 teas or 2 double shots just to ward off a caffeine headache.  I need more to truly wake up and become fully alert.  Some might call it a vice but I enjoy the flavor and warmth of the drinks so much that it doesn't ever bother me.  But I will say that I wouldn't drink any of it unless it had caffeine.  I love caffeine.

I used to (as some of you may remember as I posted this on FXB back in the day) that I used to drink like 4 liters of pepsi or more per day...the sugared stuff too.  I had to stop that because of weight gain and switched to diet and started drinking tons of that...that quickly turned into stomach pains every day so I'm on that natural stuff now and it's great.

Fun fact:  Evan's first words were "black pop."  No lie.

Yeah some people think I go overboard but it really has little noticeable effect on me as far as outward appearances go. I notice the effect only from four or more espressos as being a tad edgy. I can drink tea like water though and don't notice anything other than not feeling like shit anymore.

I used to drink a lot of NOS and redbull and such but I quickly came to notice that diet pop wasn't doing it anymore after daily energy drinks and I wasn't keen on spending five bucks a shot on nos every day so I stopped. I also began to feel shitty probably from the other crap and. Itamins they put in those energy drinks as well.

Dew doesn't have caffeine in it in Canada because we have some dumb law that says pop needs to be black (ie. Cola) to contain caffeine. Otherwise I would drink it but if I want pop it's usually diet pepsi or coke zero or pepsi max.

Since I've been clean from oxycontin I tend to overdo everything...coffee, cigs, weed and beer. Anything my gf allows me I take to the maximum. It's zero or ten with me lol. I don't know how the poor girl has put up with me. Six years together and counting.

It just has to be dark in color, doesn't have to be cola flavored. Dr. Pepper is still caffeinated and I suppose if they made black dew they could add caffeine. It's really stupid, actually. It somehow doesn't apply to energy drinks.

Yeah, everything I do is the lesser of 2 evils.

If Mtn Dew had caffeine in it here I would choose it over pepsi...has to be diet though.

I got hooked on the diet stuff after I had to give up the sugared stuff and now my weight is more or less stable but I still prefer the diet.  It tastes sweeter and goes down smoother.

I never slept since last night, had 2 doubles this morning with 4 teas and a liter of diet pep, not even a little jag going yet.  Waiting on the roads to get better to go out and get some perc'd coffee from the shop since I'm stranded at the gf's.  I think the main reason it doesn't affect me is because I take benzos every day.  They are sedatives so I suppose there's a balancing act going on up there in my synapses.

When I was in my teens I used to buy NoDoz, Wake Ups, and PepBack trucker tabs and take a few.  They work but they jack you way too high and crash you way too hard.  Not a fun way to ingest caffeine.  A lot of food delivery guys take them around here to stay awake during nightly deliveries.

As for espresso, I usually brew my shots as hard-tamped doubles with an almost turkish style fine grind and a clean polish.  I drink it straight up in those cute little 2 oz cups and saucers most of the time.  Sometimes I make a nice latte with double ristretto shots and the ODD time I will make a nice dessert drinks (that Faith is currently addicted to) made with a regular latte and a splash of the nescafe international delights flavours.  It's delicious but very sugary.  Mom likes 'em too.

That's really neat!  It's not often you meet a trained barista who doesn't drink any coffee or is caffeine sensitive.  A 600 dollar machine...should be an automatic am I right?  I own a semi automatic because it gives me way more control of my shot strength, crema production, and pressure.  I have used autos and even super autos but I find they only brew decent ristrettos with pods.  The machines can't seem to get the tamp right, as I like a super hard tamp and a clean polish.

One day I might even invest in a manual pump-operated machine just for nostalgia and for increased control.  To be able to brew good shots on 100 year old technology would be something to brag about.

I have a Breville Cafe Roma.  Brews great shots but it could use a better steam baffle (wand) and it makes a mess as after each shot it "pisses itself" into the drip tray.

Sorry Clark:

pods - espresso "teabags" that are easier to brew

tamp - pushing and compressing the grinds into the portafilter (which attaches to the group head where the coffee gets subjected to hot water under extreme pressure.)  Essentially it detemines the strength of the shot as it affects the ability and time for the water to pass through it.

polish - a twist on the tamped espresso grinds that makes it so that if turned upside down the compressed grinds will not fall out.  Determines shot quality and strength.

tamper - a doorknob shaped device that pushes the grinds into the portafilter.

crema - the reddish-brown foam present on top of espresso after it is brewed.

ristretto - means "restricted" (italian)...a strong shot with low volume of liquid (about 3/4 oz single or 1.5 oz double)

single - a single shot (7 grams) of espresso brewed to 1 oz

lungo (long shot) - A single shot brewed to 1.5 oz

double - a double shot (14 grams) of espresso brewed to 2 oz

manual - a turn of the century technology lever operated espresso machine

semi-automatic - Water pressure is used but the shot volume is control manually with a switch

automatic - brews the shot according to instructions entered into the machine

super automatic - grinds, tamps and brews all automatically, used in starbucks

dosing - depositing the correct amount of espresso into the portafilter and leveling it off for tamping later

steam wand/baffle - device that froths milk for lattes and cappuccinos

...not that you CARED or anything.

I'll take that as a mixed compliment.  One the good hand I know a lot about stuff.  On the bad hand it took a lot of time to learn these rather mundane facts that could have been better spent in college or something.  Oh well, knowledge is power.

That's amazing.

But yeah, steaming really needs that human element to be done correcly in my opinion.  There's a certain sound and feel to milk frothing perfectly and maintaining a whirlpool effect (not having to move the pitcher in a circular motion) and it takes a lot of practice and technique to get truly velvety micro bubbles with that awesome texture, sweetness and mouthfeel.  Many coffee bars serve lattes, machiattos and cappucinos with these big ugly merigue looking globs of foam dolloped into it and stirred up.  It's laughable to someone who knows what they're looking for.

Yeah, people were complaining about their baristas being amateurs so their remedy was stirring their scalded, overfrothed milk into the drink to get rid of the globs on top.  Ugly and gross.

That's hilarious.  I never noticed that but it' so true.

Espresso...the man's drink in a gay cup.

What's the prize?