BS: Decaf Coffee

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 11:50 AM

I have always wondered why many folk add lots of MILK to both tea & coffee. I have guessed that it might be that low quality tea OR coffee needed milk to make it palatable, and it just became a habit, even when better quality was used.
(yes, I'm sure some really prefer the taste of the milk, but I find I can't really taste the quality of the tea/coffee when adulterated.)

Years ago, I knew a couple of students who were living VERY frugally. They bought the cheapest tea they could find, brewed it VERY strong, and added half milk to cut the strong, bitter flavor. Yuck!

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: KEVINOAF
Date: 09 Apr 09 - 04:43 AM

drinking coffee in the british isles has always been a hazardous business anyway < most of the natives have never learned how to make it and have not ventured beyond Nescafe, which also explains their consumption of their own version of 'tea' -- glad I no longer live there!

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Bill D
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 10:30 PM

I saw JBM listed at $57 a lb. somewhere.... I don't think I'd spend that if I COULD afford it.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 05:59 PM

What I said in the other thread.

Last time I bought some JBM it was US $35 per pound, and that was probably 1995 or so. I do have some pure Kona (in roasted beans) in an air tight container in the freezer.

My little brother roasts his own in one of those hot-air popcorn poppers. Seems to work very well for him, except his wife insists he do it outside.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 05:15 PM

How's this for combining threads...

Anyone tried the coffee made from beans that civet cats have eaten the beans and then crapped them out, from whence they are gathered, dried, roasted and sold to moronic idiots who would eat shit if it were priced at £50 a slice?

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Bill D
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 04:27 PM

I am told that most of Jamaican Blue Mountain is sold under contract to Japan, and that a lot of what is offered otherwise is good, but not the 'real thing'. I know *I* am not calibrated well enough to tell very good coffee from excellent.

I enjoy a mild Guatemala Antigua as much as anything, with some of the Ethiopian types when I am wanting a stronger 'flavor'.

I think one of the Ethiopian coffess is prized by some gourmets more than Jamaican.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Goose Gander
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 03:22 PM

To my rather plebian tastes, any decent Hawaiian or Mexican whole bean stuff is worth drinking.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 03:12 PM

Drink Jamaica Blue Mountain -- 1/3 less caffeine when it's grown. Of course, at the PRICE of JBM you don't drink much of it....

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: KEVINOAF
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 01:25 PM

BillD---I stand corrected on the finer points of arabica but as we are amongst decaf drinkers,---I thank you for the clarification! beans from the Levant are my individual preference whenI can get them!

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Goose Gander
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 12:51 PM

I actually like the Cafe du Monde stuff with chicory, but then I probably don't know any better.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Bill D
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 11:59 AM

"...my preference is for Arabica beans ..."

That's pretty general. Almost all decent coffee IS Arabica. One needs to specify type & region.

Robusta beans are often used as cheaper filler and blended with Arabica to produce many off-the-shelf commercial brands.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: MartinRyan
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 10:55 AM

One of the side-effects of the 10 - 15 year economic boom which has just ground (sorry) to a spectacular halt in Ireland was that it sprinkled a scatter of people over the country who actually knew how to make good coffee. Mind you, when they worked in cafes they were still pestered with complaints from people who thought they were getting poor value if their expresso cup wasn't filled to the brim! Let's hope they don't all go home now that the bubble has burst...

Regards

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 10:35 AM

The gift shop is a hoot! Especially the "Adults" section. Wish I were rich -- there's at least one person I'd like to give that apron to.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 09:55 AM

Liz, it's a real place you know. Quite a nice pub, actually. But nothing can ever replace the old Fly-By-Night Club in Anchorage (of Sainted Memory).

I do so hope that you enjoyed browsing through their gift shop....

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: GUEST,LTS snorting stuff over her keyboard
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 07:21 AM

Rap... you owe the British Government a new keyboard, and me a large amount of mental floss....



















Reminds me of someone I once dated....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: KEVINOAF
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 04:42 AM

nice to be acquainted with so many discerning coffee-snobs! my preference is for Arabica beans brewed with ground fig seasoning (vienese-style) and taken with Dutch koffee-melk, alternatively black with a few dros of rose-water. decaf just ain't coffee

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 10:46 PM

Now Spaw -- did you know that between Nenana and Fairbanks is a place called "Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn"?

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 10:22 PM

I 'might' try the blend, PoppaGator, but I'd prefer the bulk Chicory and mix it in MY proportions as I grind my coffee.

There used to be a chicory/coffee brand called French Market that I remember as being good, but that was so long ago that it was before I actually knew what good coffee was. I drank tea back then.

My local stores have just quit carrying it, and I can no longer even find the little orange box I used to buy...even online.

   I finally found the Community Coffee web page where I can order pure chicory, so maybe I'll get some.

(They sure would rather sell you THEIR blend, but I use a lighter touch)

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 09:26 PM

So Rap, I know its only a little over 2 hours and 140 or so miles between French Lick, Indiana, and Big Bone Lick, Kentucky. Any idea how far it is from there to Tiny Dick Lick, Idaho?

What this has to do with coffee I have no idea..........We'll try to tie it up later.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 08:30 PM

Damned few things as fine, PoppaGator, as sitting at the Cafe du Monde, sipping their coffee, eating beignets, and watching the Old Muddy flow by. Pretty near sitting in the old hotel in French Lick, Indiana sipping one of their superb mint juleps.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Jeri
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 08:26 PM

One cup of STRONG Peet's French Roast in the morning. Best stuff on Earth! Any more than one or two cups and I start throwing PVCs and don't get to sleep until 3AM.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 08:12 PM

Obviously Spaw enjoys coffee that tastes like it came out of an ass. Now we know why you have that shit eating grin Spaw.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 06:54 PM

Obviously Olesko wouldn't know great coffee if it bit him in the ass........When you have the palate of a warthog it can be impossible to discern what really is good and wonderful. Warthogs spend a lot of time licking their asses so what does this tell you?

Originally the name "Olesko" meant, "Stays busy licking asses and balls." So what else can you expect?

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: GUEST,BanjoRay
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 04:38 PM

I love the taste of real coffee - unfortunately caffeine gives me aortic fibrillation, which is horrible. When I get it, I find I can't walk upstairs without stopping for a gasp. So, I now drink decaffeinated coffee, decaffeinated tea, and no cola or chocolate, which has a similar effect. This has made my condition MUCH easier to bear.
I find the taste of these to be fine now I've got used to them.

I think being a coffee addict would be worse that the fibrillation....

Ray

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: PoppaGator
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 03:34 PM

"There are worse things... anyone else remember that horrid Chickory stuff?"

(and I'd LOVE to find real raw Chicory again to add to my mix...it has disappeared from stores, and I will NOT buy those pre-mix things, like Luzianne.)

I dearly love the local coffee-and-chicory blend indiginous to New Orleans ~ but I know how nasty a poorly proportioned mixture can be (that is, when there's too much chicory and not enough coffee). I can only imagine how disappointing it must be to resort to straight-up chicory as a substitute for coffee rather than as an additive.

The use of chicory-for-coffee in New Orleans dates back to the Civil War, when the port was blockaded by Union forces, making real coffee unavailable. The situation must have been very much like that of Europe in WWII, when chicory served as "ersatz coffee" for a lot of unhappy caffeine addicts on both sides of the conflict.

I'm not sure anyone knows why Orleanians developed a taste for the coffee-and-chicory blend once the port reopened and once again became the continent's main point of entry for real coffee beans. Perhaps supplies of the real stuff were just that limited; maybe money was so tight that almost all the imported bean needed to be "sold up the river," leaving locals with a short supply of real coffee that needed to be supplemented.

In any event, over the years, blenders developed a mix wherein just enough chicory was used to enhance the flavor, aroma, and "strength" of coffee without overwhelming it. Different local brands provide slightly different proportions of the mix; the cheapest (unsurprisingly) include the highest concentration of chicory versus coffee.

CDM brand (named for the famous Cafe du Monde) is perhaps the worst offender, with the "green" taste of chicory overwhelming the real coffee flavor. I cannot believe that the stuff sold in supermarkets under the CDM name could possibly be the same blend brewed and sold at the actual Cafe on Jackson Square, which is invariably quite excellent, and should always be ordered "au lait," that is, brewed strong and then mixed half-and-half with hot milk. (You can order your coffee black at the Cafe du Monde; they just mix it half-and-half with water rather than milk.)

Luzianne used to be a favorite local brand of chicory-coffee, but it has fallen out of favor among locals of late. I don't know if they changed their formula, or what. The favorite local brand for the past twenty years or so, by far, is Community Coffee New Orleans Blend.

When I first came here 35 years ago, Community Coffee was pretty much unheard of, and most people brewed Luzianne, French Market, or Union brand coffee at home. Community is a Baton Rouge company ~ not quite local ~ which was very successful in taking over the metro New Orleans coffee market sometime around the early 1980s.

Community Coffee has a website and ships LOTS of their product around the nation and the world. Bill, you might risk the price of a single 13-oz bag (plus shipping) before giving up on any and all pre-mixed chicory coffee blends. Also, you can buy straight chicory from Community via mail order if you don't trust their blenders and just want to continue mixing your own.

And, oh yeah, getting back to the main topic: Chicory, since it's not coffee, does not contain caffeine. That is undoubtedly part of the reason why straight chicory is so disappointing as a substitute for coffee. (Flavor is also a factor, of course.) However, in a coffee/chicory blend, where the addition of the chicory makes the coffee darker and more strongly flavored, the caffeine content is actually somewhat less than that of pure coffee. As noted above, dark-roasted coffee is actually lower in caffeine than "light" coffee, and the coffee customarily blended with chicory for the New-Orleans-style blend is customarily dark-roasted.

Which means that a cup of thick, dark chicory coffee is actually kinda "weak" from a caffeine-addict's viewpoint ~ really no more stimulating than "half-caf." So don't hesitate to have an after-dinner cup of local coffee when you dine at your favorite upscale or neighborhood New Orleans restaurant. You won't be up all night; you'll just be temporarily rejuvenated for the drive home.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 03:05 PM

At one point the only coffee available was coffee with caffeine in it!! Then someone came up with the idea that De-caffienated coffee would take away the 'heart attack' risk.... BUT subsequent testing of people who consumed D-caff showed that their cholestrol levels were significantly high as a result of drinking it!!!! and they were as likely to have heart problems as those drinking the real thing..... so I guess whichever you choose is as bad for you... I enjoy the real thing and probably drink too much of it but we only live once and I intend to enjoy my life even if I die younger than I might be if I did everything 'right'

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 11:59 AM

I buy whole beans....some regular, a little decaf.... and mix 'em to suit. If I want to drink MORE coffee, but am afraid of not getting to sleep, I go up to 50/50.....if I am feeling poor, but needing the buzz, I go to 100% and drink less. It's a matter of getting acclimated.

(and I'd LOVE to find real raw Chicory again to add to my mix...it has disappeared from stores, and I will NOT buy those pre-mix things, like Luzianne.)

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: bobad
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 11:50 AM

Well Ron, we may not be in agreement on the subject of bagels but I totally agree with your opinion on Tim Horton's coffee.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Wesley S
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 11:28 AM

The main thing I look for when I buy coffee is "fair trade" on the label.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 11:20 AM

"I'll throw my Extra-Large Tim Hortons in their face!!!"

That is about the only thing you can do with Tim Horton's coffee. It is close to undrinkable. If I want water, I can get it at home.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 11:11 AM

I'm one of the few people on the planet not addicted to brown stuff in cups. I very much enjoy the (single) cup of tea or coffee (mostly tea; depends on what breakfast is) Tom brings me in the morning, but if he didn't bring it, I'd not bother to get a cup.

And, in general, I think the taste of decaf is inferior to real brewed coffee -- and I prefer a dark roast when I drink coffee.

But we very accidently acquired a box of decaf coffee bags on the first day of last December's 10 days of post-ice storm powerlessness.

I don't like to drink caffeinated drinks after mid-day as it affects my sleep -- but I occasionally like a nice pre-bedtime fancy coffee with a liqueur and booze and whipped cream (if I have it) and the decaf coffee bags are worth having around just for that purpose. Besides, the flavors enhance each other.

But basically I just don't consume much coffee

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 09:55 AM

Really? Jees, if my pee was the colour of Decaf coffee like it is the colour of Bud, then I'd be really worried!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 08:57 AM

Because it's from the French, like vino and nyet.

Decaf is the Budweiser of coffees.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: SINSULL
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 08:42 AM

I used to drink 50 cups per day. Then I went to the doctor with stomach problems. Caffeine withdrawal was a nightmare. It took more than a year to finally get past the headache. I lived on Excedrin - full of caffeine. For years I drank decaf. Now I savor two huge vats of coffee every morning. If I am out with friends I will have coffee while they have dessert - even espresso. The first thing that comes into my head when I think of nuclear war is "My god. Where will I get my coffee?" Yes - it is that important.

But I love to sleep too. My dreams are always completely entertaining and I rememember them. Like going to see a good movie and being able to control the ending.

Bad morning today and I am babbling. But can anyone tell me why caffeine is "e" before "i" when it doesn't sound like neighbor and weigh?

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: olddude
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 08:42 AM

I make coffee the missus says ... god how can you drink that it could walk on its own,   well coffee isn't coffee unless it is strong and real. decaf ... forget it .. weak ..forget it

gimme the old cowboy boil it till it can't pour stuff ...

and my loaded with sugar donut to go with it also

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: dwditty
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 08:42 AM

As Letterman said about decaf before his bypass surgery - "Useless brown water!"

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 07:53 AM

I would drink ordinary coffee but I don't like the palpitations it gives me. Really scarey when your heart rate goes over 300!
Decaf is OK for me, though you can't get so many flavours.

Why doesn't Cola give me palpitations though?
It must be that the caffeine works together with some other chemical in the coffee.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: KEVINOAF
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 04:39 AM

decaf coffee is like alcohol- free booze, consumed only by pseuds for the sake of appearance! coffee is an adventure, if you need sleep drink coco --------

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Neil D
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 04:30 AM

Or Postum? :<(

Spaw. You got Tim Hortons down there? WTF?!

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 03:48 AM

There are worse things... anyone else remember that horrid Chickory stuff? Nasty as all getout. I remember the shock I had when I actually drank real coffee for the first time after 18 years on the chickory crap.

These days, I'm not allowed to drink expresso when in certain company... they can't cope with the jazzed up, 120mph, humming bird person they say I become.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Peace
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 01:36 AM

Heck, we were so poor when I was a kid that if ya didn't wake up Christmas day with a hard on ya had nothing to play with at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Ernest
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 01:35 AM

Try dehydrated water with your decaf...

;0)
Ernest

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Peace
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 01:34 AM

Yeah? Just wait until you run water thru it three times.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Janie
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 01:30 AM

I LOVE good coffee. The pricey, locally roasted, swiss water-method whole bean coffees are about as tasty as the real stuff - but I want my java jolt!

Like many people, I am downwardly mobile. The hardest adjustment has been switching back to Eight O'Clock Columbian from $12-$14/lb locally roasted coffee.

I know I will have fallen completely from grace when I'm back to buying ground Maxwell House "Master Blend."

Relative deprivation is a terrible thing.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 01:09 AM

"WHAT"S THE POINT?"

Uh........Your piss smells better and is less corrosive?   How the fuck should I know Bruce?

Ya' know dude.....It seems every week there is some new study or another about coffee. One suggests we drink more, one says less, one says not at all, and the last one is written by two former Urinal salesmen from Stuttgart, jazzed to the max on caffeine.

Fuck 'em all and enjoy! Some broke-dick jadrool wants to give me shit about it, I'll throw my Extra-Large Tim Hortons in their face!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: GUEST,Peace
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 12:21 AM

Decaf? Like drinking beer that's .05%. WHAT'S THE POINT?

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 12:04 AM

Darkly roasted coffees supposedly have less caffeine since more of it's burnt out in the roasting process. Whether it's enough to really make a difference is debatable, but it's certain that anyone who thinks the opposite (that lighter "milder" coffees have less caffeine) is dead wrong.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: Goose Gander
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 11:38 PM

You can sleep when you're dead, pour the real stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: olddude
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 11:10 PM

And sleep, life is too short to sleep, savour the coffee I say
and stay awake, make the most out of our time here on earth ...
there are commercials on TV about the new kitchen gadget, or how to have buns of steel... all would be missed by sleep

Subject: BS: Decaf Coffee
From: olddude
Date: 06 Apr 09 - 11:07 PM

I am sorry, I have tried them all ... still can't stand decaf
give me the high octane version of the real thing ..
yea it is suppose to be better for you ... Nope ...

And I drink way too much coffee so here i am always at the wee hours surfing the web or on the Cat or youtube or plucking the geetar

Now if only I had a chocolate donut!!