BS: instant coffee

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Firecat
Date: 05 Jan 03 - 09:27 AM

I don't care what it is as long as it looks and tastes vaguely like coffee! As for tea, I can tell you the exact date and time of my last cup! It was 1st April 1998, at 1:10am Russian time (10:10pm British time) in a country camp about 80 miles outside Moscow!

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Les from Hull
Date: 05 Jan 03 - 08:34 AM

Maggie drinks real coffee with Baileys instead of milk. And I make coffee ice cream with real coffee. Anything you can do with instant coffee-style-drink you can do better with coffee. You can get a better range of flavours and roasts, too.

Might I add that drinking fairly-traded coffee (discussed here some time ago, I think) is better for the planet than supporting Nestle and the like!

Les

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 05 Jan 03 - 07:22 AM

Instant coffe with Bailey's Irish Cream instead of milk. Yum Yum!!
Hic!!.....Giok

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: JennyO
Date: 05 Jan 03 - 07:18 AM

You been drinking too much coffee, Misophist? Feel better now after your rant?

I love the real thing - but I still think it's a fun thread!

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: mack/misophist
Date: 04 Jan 03 - 11:49 PM

I have had it with this thread. It's time to shut it down. Instant coffee was invented by people who hate the real thing. It stinks. End of story. End of rant. End of thread.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: DancingMom
Date: 04 Jan 03 - 11:38 PM

Oh, my, a cup of hot fresh brewed coffee is one of my greatest pleasures. I have made coffee-flavored Liqueur with instant coffee. That's the only time I fool with instant.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Haruo
Date: 04 Jan 03 - 09:10 PM

Really fresh coffee may have antioxidants, but nowhere near as many as even day-old tea. Green tea is best but even black tea has health benefits in this area, if any.

Haruo

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Thomas the Rhymer
Date: 04 Jan 03 - 08:04 PM

Really fresh coffee has anti-oxidants, and instant seems to have anti-flavorants... I do waste alot o money on the good stuff, ...maybe if I drank instant, I'd quit coffee altogether! ...but coffee makes me so happy!^)

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Jan 03 - 07:49 PM

I just can't stand the smell of Coffee or the taste of it.

I like tea however I only drink one cup a day, but I like it more than sticking coffee.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Pushkin
Date: 04 Jan 03 - 07:31 PM

Instant coffee is superb for making coffee ice cream (especially when you've got a cheap vanilla ice cream because the local shop doesn't stock Ben & Jerrys!).    Simply add a spoonful of the instant coffee (poweder is better than granules, and you're away).   Also great for staining manuscripts.   It doesn't matter what type you use for either of these purposes but I must admit I prefer the caffeinated version as all instant coffee is really made from freeze dried mouse droppings (according to my other half!!!).

Pushkin

Subject: Lyr Add: COFFEE GRINDIN' BLUES (Lucille Bogan)
From: Brian Hoskin
Date: 03 Jan 03 - 06:38 AM

Coffee Grindin' Blues - Lucille Bogan


Ain't nobody, it ain't nobody
Ain't nobody in town can grind a coffee like mine

I drink so much coffee, till I grind it in my sleep
I drink so much coffee, I grind it in my sleep
And when it get like that, you know it can't be beat

It's so doggone good that it made me bite my tongue
It's so doggone good it made me bite my tongue
Will keep it for my daddy, ain't gonna give nobody none

I ain't ever loved it this-a way before
I ain't ever loved it this-a way before
And I hope the Lord that I won't love it any more

I've got so now that I can't control my mind
I've got so now that I can't control my mind
I go to bed blue and I get up cryin'

It's so doggone good that it made me talk out of my head
It's so doggone good it made me talk out of my head
And it's better to me than any that I have ever had

Now I grind my coffee, at the 2 and 3 dollars a pound
I grind my coffee, at the 2 and 3 dollars a pound
And it ain't no mo' cheap like mine in town

It's so doggone good until it'll make you bite your tongue
It's so doggone good that it'll make you bite your tongue
And I'm a coffee grindin' mama and won't you let me grind you some?

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: JennyO
Date: 03 Jan 03 - 05:55 AM

This reminds me of an old blues song I have a recording of, called "Coffee House Blues' sung by Lightnin' Hopkins. It starts off:

"Mama got mad at Papa, cos he didn't bring no coffee home......"

Anyone have all the words?

I have a thermos coffee plunger, which I take camping with me, so I never have to drink that stuff they call Instant Coffee.

Life's too short to drink bad coffee.

Good cuppa tea's nice, too. (see the thread about tea)

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Haruo
Date: 03 Jan 03 - 01:40 AM

My dad was an inveterate instant coffee drinker; preferred it to the real stuff. But then the "real stuff" in those days was mostly pretty lame, sort of the Wonder Bread of ground-bean beverages, minus the vitamins to build 12 bodies or whatever... My early experiences with coffee were with instant (not sure what brand), but I never acquired a taste for it. If I have to have instant, I tend towards one of the ones with chicory added. The best (of a poor lot) was Sunrise (a Nestlé product, I think) that has been discontinued at least in the Seattle market. The best remaining appears to be Mountain Blend, also by Nestlé. And BTW, to borrow a march from the NRA, baby formula made with unsanitary water doesn't kill babies, people kill babies... (Sorry) My roommate is a Mountain Blend drinker (former Sunrise drinker) which is how I happen to have any experience in the matter. My personal preference is for any of several of the Bargreen's coffees (e.g. their Breakfast Roast, or their French Roast with a little Kenya Super Select added), but those are not instant, hence off topic. I used to really like Starbuck's Ethiopian Yergacheff back in the days when Starbucks was not yet a household curse word even in Seattle, and I love Caffè Appassionato's Celebes (or maybe they call it, in politically correct orthography, Sulawesi?). Also not instant.

I do like a good stiff cup of not-too-hot Lipton's Instant Tea with little saccharin tablets and milk. 2%. But I don't fool myself into calling it "tea".

My roommate tends to run out of Mountain Blend and go spend three times as much on a per unit weight basis for a 2 oz. thing of Folger's crystals, which he can't stand and complains about constantly till they're gone. I get tired of hearing it. So that was my Christmas present to him this time around: a perpetually replaced jar of Mountain Blend.

Haruo

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: reggie miles
Date: 03 Jan 03 - 01:36 AM

The second verse from my friend Robert OneMan Johnson's song "Life's Too Short" goes like this.

Life's too short,
For Nescafe.
I want my coffee percolated,
And the beans ground fresh every day.
I want real sugar,
And real cream.
I wanna catch a buzz from real caffiene.
Because life's too short.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Mark Clark
Date: 03 Jan 03 - 12:48 AM

GUEST,Grr, Which platform and browser are you using? The strings “ and ” are the standard HTML code for the left and right double quote marks, respectively. Their use in typography enhances readability and looks much nicer than using the old typewriter symbol (") commonly used in preparing computer programs. A modern word processing program will optionally convert all typewriter double quote symbols to proper left and right double quotes as you type. You may not even notice. If you usually prepare documents using an ASCII text editor and a markup language such as LaTeX, you are already familiar with the concept of designating left and right quote marks with separate characters.

Along the same lines, the string — produces a proper typographic em dash character, much preferred over one or more hyphens to accomplish the same punctuation.

If your browser doesn't properly interpret these encoded characters, you may not have a very recent version of your browser. I generally preview a post prior to posting to be sure I haven't mistyped a special symbol or botched an active link. The post above that seems to give you trouble looks fine in my browser.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: GUEST,Grrr
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 10:10 PM

What's with this guy and his &rdquo?&m&m candy nonsense?. There is such a thing as English.

Subject: Lyr Add: COFFEE BLUES (Mississippi John Hurt)
From: Mark Clark
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 09:37 PM

COFFEE BLUES
As recorded by Mississippi John Hurt on “Rediscovered” (1998)

(Spoken: This is the “Coffee Blues,” I likes a certain brand—Maxwell's House—it's good till the last drop just like it says on the can. I used to have a girl cookin' a good Maxwell House. She moved away. Some said Memphis and some said Leland, but I found her, an’ I wanted her to cook me some good Maxwell's House. Y’understand, if I can get just a spoonful of Maxwell's House, do me as much good as two or three cups of this other coffee.)

1. I've got to go to Memphis, bring her back to Leland.
I wanna see my baby 'bout a lovin' spoonful,
’Bout a lovin' spoonful.
Well, I've just got to have my lovin'—.

(Spoken: I found her.)

2. Good mornin', baby, how you do this morning?
Well, please, ma'am, just a lovin' spoon—,
Just a lovin' spoonful.
I declare, I got to have my one lovin' spoonful.

3. My baby packed her suitcase and she went away.
I couldn't let her stay for my lovin'—,
My lovin' spoonful.
Well, I've just got to have my lovin'—.

4. Good mornin', baby, how you do this morning?
Well, please, ma'am, just a lovin' spoon—,
Just a lovin' spoonful.
Well, I’ve just got to have my lovin'—.

5. Oh, the preacher in the pulpit, jumpin' up and down,
He laid his Bible down for his lovin'—.
(Spoken: Ain't Maxwell’s House all right?)
Well, I've just got to have my lovin'—.

6. You can bring me your whiskey; you can bring me tea.
Never satisfied mean man without my lovin’ spoon—,
My lovin’—.
Well, I’ve just got to have my lovin’—.

7. Good morning, baby; how you do this morning?
Well, please, ma’am, just a lovin’—,
Just a lovin’ spoonful.
Makes things all right with a lovin’—.

8. When your baby get married, and she won’t do right,
Go to bed at night, get her lovin’—,
Well, a lovin’ spoonful.
Well, I just got to have my lovin’—.

9. Good mornin’, baby; how you do this morning?
Well, please, ma’am, just a lovin’—
Boy, the womens in Greenwood, they raisin’ sand.
It’s all about that lovin’—.

10. That lovin spoonful.
I declare it’s all right, that lovin’—.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: CraigS
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 07:38 PM

I seem to remember that Blind Blake said one of his tunes was "like Maxwell House coffee - good to the last drop!"

On another tack, it is very difficult to buy any branded coffee, real or instant, that is not limked in some way to Jacobs Kraft Suchard Nestlé. I import small quantities from an artisan torrefacteur in France, so I get a bit extra for myself, but if you want to boycott the faceless in your supermarket, the fair trade packs are the best bet - and you can get them (and other fair trade stuff) in Oxfam as well. But if you have to drink instant coffee, the obvious safe buy where taste is concerned is Carte Noir, marketed from Scandinavia to the Adriatic by ...

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 07:36 PM

Postum remains one of the horrors of childhood. Didn't know that it still existed. Like Marmite, it should have been banned ages ago. Ovaltine! Ovaltine! we cried. - Can't compare to a good hot chocolate, however, preferably made with Ybarra.
Usually I drink a cup of Seattle's Best coffee at bedtime, microwaving the leftover from the day's pot.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: banjomad (inactive)
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 07:18 PM

{postum Spaw? you a moron, oops mormon.
No offence, Dave

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 06:25 PM

Had a friend who always carried instant coffee into a restaurant. He would order coffee, then add a spoonful of instant and stir.
In a chem lab down the hall from where I used to work, they made their own instant. Coffee went into a large glass container filled with water, which was boiled down to a thick syrup. A spoonful of this was put in a beaker and boiling water added. About as bad as it sounds.
My recipe for instant- brew a large pot, enough for the day. Pour a cup anytime and nuke it in the microwave to get it hot again. Takes 100 seconds from cold to hot.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: black walnut
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 06:02 PM

Sounds like you're missing something, Spaw. A dishwasher.

~b.w.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Mark Clark
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 05:22 PM

Recalling Mississippi John Hurt's Coffee Blues, I'd guess that most people wouldn't prefer instant coffee. <g>

      - Mark

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Stewart
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 04:59 PM

Haven't had instant in years, but when we lived in Nederland I recall Douwe Egberts instant was better than most others. But mostly bought their beans and ground them fresh. Almost as good was bicycling past their roasting plant just outside of Utrecht. Of course in Seattle one is never more than a block away from an espresso shop, so no need for instant coffee.

Cheers, S. in Seattle

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 04:38 PM

The difference between tea and coffee - when you drink a good cup of tea you know it's good for you, and when you drink a good cup of coffee you know it probably isn't, but what the hell.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Bullfrog Jones
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 04:32 PM

Never touch it! If I can't have real coffee I'd rather go without. And like Dead Horse I can't stand tea.

BJ

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: catspaw49
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 04:00 PM

My Ol' Man used to call it "Insane Coffee" and that's about it......If I go for an instant hot drink, I drink Postum.

As far as camping goes B-W, we take the coffee maker! We make a morning pot and I can always have a hot cup later by warming it up in the microwave. It's kinda' nice sitting around playing cards in the evening with a hot cup of coffee, looking out the window at the campfire while the air conditioner blows icy air........ah yes, I love camping!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: John Hardly
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 03:51 PM

instant coffee is, I believe, merely an additive to spice up Diet Coke.

Oh, and it makes passable iced coffee if sweetened to within an mole of saturation.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 03:31 PM

Better than being a camp gourmet!!

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: black walnut
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 01:13 PM

Why should one EVER have to make instant? I take a one cup filter with me when I'm camping ... a few grounds, a bit of hot water, raw sugar brought from home, a little milk. Gourmet camper, that's me.

~b.w.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 01:12 PM

Maxwell House in hot tap water scoffed down as quickly as I can so I don't have to actually taste it --- once or twice a day.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: YOR
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 01:04 PM

Instant coffee should be flushed!

Tea, hot chocolate, coke at home or 7-11 coffee if your in a rush.

Roy

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Schantieman
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 12:57 PM

Kenco is very good, as instant coffee goes, and I believe it's reasonably fair traded.

Cafe Direct is also excellent and is certainly environmentally and socially sound.

Both are available decaff (if that's what you want - I do in the evening) and Kenco comes in about four different varieties. None is quite like real coffee but (particularly if you drink it black with no sugar as I do) they are reasonable substitutes. Come to think of it, if you're going to add milk & sugar, does it matter much anyway?
(ducks for cover!)

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: GUEST,Les B.
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 12:11 PM

If you put instant coffee in a microwave will it go back in time ??

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 12:02 PM

First put about 2 teaspoonfulls of cold water in the cup. Then add instant coffee as suits. Stir until granules are disolved, then add milk, and sugar if desired, stir it all up. Top up with water just off the boil, ergo, instant coffee.
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Naemanson
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 11:58 AM

Well, I drink it. I gave up real coffe for a long time (Good on you, Peg) but eventually drifted back to it. By then I had disposed of my coffee maker and since I was only using coffee as a method to get caffeine into my system taste did not enter the equation. And I couldn't justify buying a coffeepot for such a use. So I continue to drink it.

My favorite is Taster's Choice, preferably used to wash down crunchy peanut butter on whole wheat toast.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Dead Horse
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 08:51 AM

I have always held that instant coffee should be made in exactly the opposite way that the English make tea.
1 Heat the water, don't boil it.
2 Add milk (sugar to taste)
3 Add coffee.
P.S. I am one of those rare birds that can't stand tea.

Subject: Lyr Add: PROPER CUP OF COFFEE
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 07:01 AM

And the answer is!!!



Verse 1
A Sultan sat on his oriental mat, in his harem in downtown Persia,
He took a sip of coffee, just a drip, and he said to his servant Kersia,
"Ah, curse ya, curse ya, curse ya, That's the worst cup of coffee in Persia!"

Chorus
"'Cause...
All I want is a proper cup of coffee, made in a proper copper coffee pot,
I may be off my dot, but I want a proper coffee in a proper copper pot.
Iron coffee pots and tin coffee pots, they are no use to me!
If I can't have a proper cup of coffee in a proper copper coffee pot, I'll have a cup of tea!"

Verse 2
In days of old when knights and men were bold, and whiskey was much cheaper,
Burt Turpin rode to a coffee shop and showed his pistols to the keeper,
He said "Stand and deliver! Can't you see that I'm all a'quiver?"
[Repeat Chorus]

Verse 3
When Bonaparte found that he was in the cart and he lost that Waterloo fight,
He gave his sword to Wellington, my Lord, and he said "Those British can't half fight,
Now you've had your Waterloo, sir, tell me what am I having with you, sir?"
[Repeat Chorus]

Verse 4
Now King Solomon and his queen would carry on, so we heard in the ancient scandals,
He bought her lots of silver coffee pots with diamond legs and handles,
And said the Queen of Sheba, "I'd rather have any old tea-bag..."
[Repeat Chorus 3 Times]

Memories of John Foreman
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: banjomad (inactive)
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 06:16 AM

There is one thing worse than instant coffee------instant tea.
Yeeuch. Dave

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: open mike
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 08:22 PM

if you want something instant-
how about a cup of barley based beveredge
like cafix, postum, pero or such?
also known as barley cup , i believe.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: ballpienhammer
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 07:56 PM

Happy New Year all! I use Folgers and Maxwell House alternately. I drink instant if I'm in a hurry and make a Bunn pot of 1/2 Arabaca - 1/2 Hazelnut if I have time to drink it all.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Blues=Life
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 07:44 PM

I find the "Folger's Singles" to be the best alternative to instant. It's kindof a teabag with instant and ground coffee inside. You have to dunk it up and down for a minute, but what you get tastes worlds better than instant. Then again, I'm not giving up my morning pot of French Roast any time soon, either.

Blues

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Bobert
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 07:34 PM

Pass...............

Coffee is coffee and that which ain't...ain't!

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: SlickerBill
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 06:59 PM

I have found a reasonable use for instant coffee; it's a poor man's latte. Boil some water and pour a coffee cup about 2/3 full of milk. heat up the cup of milk in the microwave; make sure it's good and hot. Then stir in a heaping spoonful of instant coffee, and top it up with the boiling water. To my taste (which I'll admit were irreparably damaged with four years of university caffeteria coffee) this is pretty close to the latte you'll get in many a restaurant. Anyway, it's a damn sight better than trying to make a cup of coffee with the stuff. Cheers   sb

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 04:50 PM

But do you want it in your tea? The father of my children tried pouring some expressed milk in tea one time--and it went down the drain after the first taste.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 04:18 PM

Breast milk is better for babies, and comes in the containers fathers prefer!

nigel

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: SINSULL
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 04:15 PM

Add to the nutritional value the fact that formula diluted with unsanitary water kills babies.

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 04:06 PM

McGoH: Cardiff Students Union long ago (1987?) banned the sale of Nescafé and other Nestlé products as a protest against the way they merchandised 'formula' milk in third world countries, persuading women to buy their product rather than used the natural (and better) product available naturally.

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: Peg
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 03:38 PM

I do sometimes enjoy having instant coffee; developed a taste for it in England in fact, years ago. But it is not to be confused with real coffee. (which, BTW, I gave up entirely just over a month ago! Only one day of headaches. I now start the day with green or black tea and my blood sugar is much more under control now.)

It's rather like expecting carob to taste like chocolate. it doesn't, but it is not without its merits.

peg

Subject: RE: BS: instant coffee
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 03:34 PM

Tastes disgusting, but it's a quick fix. Granules are better than powder, which is repulsve, so I go for whatever the cheapest granules are. (But of course don't buy Nescafe, in light of the way they are about how they are after hungry Ethiopia to pay up millions - see recent thread.)