How Do You Take Your Coffee?

Going to cafes became a “thing” right after I got out of college. It was a bit of a novelty back then and just like anything else I typically avoid anything trendy for a solid 10 years. Case in point: I didn’t carry a cell phone for many years and just got a smart phone a couple of years ago. I’m just rebellious that way. I let others be the guinea pigs and watch how different services and products affect their lives before I make a decision.

The same is true with coffee houses. I avoided them like the plague until a couple of years ago. It was just too… hipster… for me ::shudder:: but now it’s just a way of life. Or maybe not. Who knows? I’m a bit clueless about these things.

hipster-1

Despite not going to cafes I did use to love Starbucks frappuccinos. Yum! I’d buy them from a store. frappacino

That is until I decided to not drink them any more. I couldn’t be wasting all that money on coffee. After all my children need to eat, don’t they? When I tried a Starbucks frappuccino again after a 10 year hiatus I spit it out. It was too god-damned sweet.

“Oh my god! Diabetes! Sugar is the new cocaine! Sugar is evil!”

These were my thoughts as I spewed the expensive coffee everywhere. “Sugar is evil” is kind of in right now so perhaps I’m not as out of touch as I think. The point is that I’m old enough to start caring what I put into my body.

I realized then that I despise Starbucks. I couldn’t tell you why exactly but I blame it on their overly sweet, overly priced coffee. I don’t care that they’re no longer trendy; I still hate the company. I’m just going to be stubborn about that.

starbucks

I realized that just because I thought Starbucks was evil doesn’t necessarily mean that all coffee houses are evil. So I decided to give a couple of local ones a try and I love them!

coffee level up

They’ll give me not-so-expensive iced coffee with a pump or two of hazelnut flavoring (keeping the sugar low so I can actually enjoy my coffee) and I get to use the WiFi to read my favorite WordPress blogs at the same time.

WiFi! I love WiFi. I just discovered it. I know, I’m behind the times, but I like it. I’m like a kid in a candy shop. Er, coffee shop.

iced latte

So, how do you take YOUR coffee? I like my coffee iced with hazelnut unless I’m in the mood for something hot. Then I’ll usually go for tea.

53 thoughts on “How Do You Take Your Coffee?”

  1. I take my coffee without any coffee in it. To me coffee is so bitter as to be undrinkable. (I can’t even eat coffee ice cream!) Tea is my hot drink of choice, or hot chocolate is good too. (But not the hot chocolate from Starbucks, bleh. It’s hot chocolate for people who would rather be drinking coffee, so it’s really dark and bitter.) Hot spiced apple cider is also yum.

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    1. Well, we definitely disagree on the coffee thing however, I LOVE hot chocolate and hot spiced apple cider. YUM YUM! I want some hot apple cider right NOW.

      How do you feel about pumpkin flavored drinks? Like or no?

      How do you like your tea? Do you like iced tea? Sweet or unsweet?

      So many questions, I know, but I’m genuinely curious. 😀

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      1. Loose tea leaves dumped right in the pot, and strained out as you pour. Earl Grey or something aromatic, and none of that weird green tea stuff. Sugar and cream please.

        Iced tea with lots of sugar and lemon is good, but I’ve had lots of really bad iced tea, so I’m picky. Sun tea made with Luzianne tea bags is my favorite to drink iced.

        Pumpkin flavor? Doesn’t really go well with tea. The only pumpkin drink I’ve had lately was Pumpkin Juice we got at Diagon Alley. It was really strange, like cold spiced apple cider with a pumpkin aftertaste. I’ll stick with Butterbeer.

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        1. Your hot tea sounds good, although I usually like my tea iced and unsweetened with a slice of lemon. That’s like sacrilegious here in the South where sweet tea reigns supreme.

          I ask about pumpkin because I can’t stand most things pumpkin flavored. Except the occasional pumpkin pie. That’s if it’s made right. Everyone gets excited about pumpkin flavored everything in the fall and I don’t get it.

          I had to look up Butterbeer and I’m glad I did because it sounds AMAZING! Where can I get it (or do I have to find a recipe to make it myself)?

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          1. Real Butterbeer is only available at the Harry Potter areas of the Universal Studios theme parks, as far as I know. They have it hot, cold, frozen and ice cream. The hot and cold versions have a wonderful head of foam!

            I’ve made a very close copy of the cold version (minus the foam) by starting with cream soda and mixing in some butterscotch ice cream topping. Yum.

            A lot of the “pumpkin spice” stuff doesn’t actually have any pumpkin, just the spices that you would put in pumpkin. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, allspice. Put that in tea, and you get chai tea, which some people really like.

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          2. Blech, I hate chai tea. Must be the cloves because the other ingredients are yummy.

            As far as the butterbeer goes I haven’t been to Universal Studios since way before they opened up the Harry Potter section (so a looooong time ago), but it sounds like I’m missing out!

            Cream soda + butterscotch topping sounds so freaking good! I’m going to give that a try this week. So glad you told me about it!

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    2. Ditto with the coffee thing. It really IS bitter! Yuck! Tea is my choice (tho not too strong or it’s bitter also). Aussies drink plenty of it, (hot). I have Earl Grey Tea, 3 full teapots of it every morning. LOVE IT! 🙂

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          1. There are liters, cups, gallons but I’m mostly familiar with fluid ounces myself due to drinking soda (ie. fizzy drinking fizzy drinks like coca cola/pepsi). A can of soda = 12 oz. I calculated it and you drink the equivalent of 6 or 7 coke cans of tea a day. That’s a lot!

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    1. ::belting::”You take it on the run, baby. If that’s the way you want it, baby, then I don’t want you around…”

      REO Speedwagon lyrics aside you really shouldn’t steal people’s coffee! You’d better not steal MINE or you’ll be in trouble mister!

      You’re a sneaky one. I gotta watch out for you…

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  3. I hate the taste of coffee itself. Way too bitter. But I love caffeine and I love a hot drink in the morning. So mine’s a homemade brew: 1 tsp instant coffee, 2 heaping tsp cocoa, 1 tsp creamer, hot water, then some half-n-half to cool it a bit.

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    1. That sounds…interesting. I think I have all those ingredients at home so I’ll give it a try and let you know what I think.

      What’s up with all these people not liking coffee and thinking it tastes too bitter? I bet you all don’t like beer either. For shame.

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      1. Coffee, alcohol, pickles, green olives, horseradish
        If you mixed even two of those together and threatened me with it, I’d confess to anything. Mix them all…

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        1. Charles, sounds like you might be a supertaster like me. Some flavors that most people find pleasant I find completely overwhelming and nasty. Anything bitter or biting is right out. Raw onions, radishes, pecans, walnuts, beer, ugh. I have a texture issue too – cream cheese and sour cream are unpleasant for me because of this.

          There’s other people that are non-tasters. They are the opposite of a supertaster, and they are the ones heaping onions and hot sauce on their food.

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          2. I’ve heard of this and I’m wondering if it’s an developmental/infancy thing. There are all sorts of issues regarding sensation processing.

            For example, with food I like very strong flavors with various textures and temperatures to it (I like to mix food). I wouldn’t call it “non-taster” though because I’m very sensitive to picking up on different flavors. I like most foods.

            I think it’s more common to find people who don’t like certain textures, strong flavors, or mixing their food. At least I’ve found that to be case.

            I’m very sensitive to light and noises. My eyes are sensitive and so I like it dark. Loud jarring noises really rattle me and put me on edge, although I do like listening to music I love loudly. I am more sensitive to pain and touch so I don’t like strangers touching me. I generally don’t like crowds because of the visual/sound/touch amplification.

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  5. I will drink coffee by any means necessary. If I go to Starbucks, I get a mocha with an extra shot of espresso in it. If I go to a small time coffee shop, I will either get their blend for the day or maybe an iced coffee. I can drink coffee black, or I can drink it with cream and sugar.

    Mmm…coffee.

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    1. Finally! Someone sensible. All those weirdos (see above) don’t like coffee or they are picky about it. Because of that I can forgive you for going to Starbucks. That, plus you are not a coffee snob.

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  6. I’m with ubi and charles… coffee is bitter and I really don’t enjoy it. In fact, I’ll go you stubborn one better… I only started drinking it this very year… that’s, uh, “many” years that I refused to drink it.

    We grind beans at home, and I found Starbucks (which Costco rebrands) really dark/bitter; eventually we found a Cameron’s hazelnut that’s much milder. Restaurant coffee, I’ve found, is just awful.

    I’ve gradually worked my way DOWN to two Splenda packets plus cream… but my wife drinks it black and she reacts the same way when she tastes mine, “ugh; too sweet!”

    If I’m going to add any flavor, I like French vanilla. And I like mocha too charles.

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  7. Let me just add: Your Bitstrips artwork really turns out cool on these posts. Did Bitstrips really have all the pieces to do the “jump for the coffee and score 100 points” one, the “looking back at the WiFi coffee shop” one, etc.? Or are you adding some of your own images/artwork?

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    1. Yes, it did have those. They add some new ones every day. I add the caption and change my clothes and facial expressions. One day I will perhaps draw my own character, but for now this works (and is a lot of fun!)

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  10. Is it true? – something about Americans and flat whites… hum… I’m not making sense again. I heard something recently about Americans and flat whites but I can’t remember what it was now….
    I like coffee… But not with flavouring added, and not too strong. And I have it ‘quite milky’ and mostly with no sugar… Or with ‘3 grains of sugar’ – is a bit of a joke, I ask for a tiny teeny bit of sugar and I find people putting a small teaspoon full in… I say ‘dip the tip of the teaspoon in the sugar then stir my coffee’ and people say ‘oh so you want 3 grains then’.
    I also like iced coffee.

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    1. Flat whites? Does that mean coffee with milk minus foam?

      That is so funny JJ about people trying to give you more sugar than you want! I’ve found at the coffee houses (or fast food restaurants that now carry iced coffee) they sugar it up to the point where I feel like I’m drinking a sickly sweet dessert. I like strong coffee with cream and a just a little bit of sweet so it’s not TOO bitter, but if I’m in a rush I can drink it “black” (no cream or sugar) but I don’t like that.

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      1. Yeah that’s a flat white… I think if I recall correctly the thing I heard recently is that people in the US didn’t know what a flat white was until quite recently… I thought that would be odd as surely people over there make ordinary coffee at home ie without something to froth the milk. Therefore they have been drinking flat whites along with the rest of the world for however long someone decided to put milk in said coffee…

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About Quixie

Hi! I go by "Quixie." Quixie is a shortened version of "quixotic," which means: "exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical." It's how I described my evangelical Christian faith when I started blogging 10 years ago. Now I'm an agnostic atheist who is trying to find a balance between idealism and reality. I write about my mental health journey with bipolar disorder, my loss of faith (deconversion), parenting teens, reading, exercise/health, work-life, and my marriage separation/divorce.