I’ve never been a coffee drinker. I’ve always loved the way it smelled, but it never tasted the same. I would eat coffee-flavored things. Coffee ice cream is my favorite flavor next to chocolate. Coffee candies and shakes are a great treat. I’ve even had a coffee scented candle. I just figured if I was going to load it down with lots of sugar then there was no point in cultivating the habit.
My preference was for hot chocolate, if the need for a warm beverage arose, but this past winter I was struck with lactose intolerance. All of a sudden, any contact with milk gave me really bad stomach pains. Lactaid offered no help whatsoever. My only reason to visit a Starbucks had disappeared.
Fast forward to August. Very big changes have been going on in my life and I was struggling to drag myself out of bed each morning and get my children off to school without forgetting all the important stuff. Stress will do that to ya. I had to have something to get me going in the morning. I tried hot tea, but couldn’t cultivate any true enthusiasm. I wanted to like it, but it just wasn’t happening for me.
Finally I broke down and got a coffee pot. By goodness, if I couldn’t manage on my own, I was going to get a shot of caffeine in some how, some way. I bought my first ever can of coffee grounds and some liquid creamer, because it had fewer carbs than the powdered kind my mama loves. What I found was that I could just make the coffee with some flavored creamer and didn’t need extra sugar.
Of course, I’m still not completely in the habit because sometimes I forget to make it. I don’t feel a major jolt of energy or anything after drinking it (maybe the brand I bought doesn’t have enough caffeine?), and I don’t miss it when I don’t have it, but it does give me a bit more focus in the morning, it seems.
So I’m forcing myself to take on a new habit. Pitiful, huh? Definitely crazy! What is your newest addiction? Do you like coffee? If so, what brand do you recommend? How do you take it?
Angel
Coming Soon!
This Wednesday, September 22, we welcome author Diane O’Brian Kelly to the Playground.
14 comments:
Now that the weather is cooling off, I love hot, lemon tea. It calms me and helps me focus...something I need a lot of help with. :)
Melitta! Hands down, it's the most mellow-tasting coffee I've ever found. And it's a very fine grind, so you don't use as much of it. Sometimes I can find it in the grocery store, but most of the time I have to order it from the Melitta site. You can try some of it next week :-).
Just Maxwell House or Folgers. I drink it black, no sugar. I do enjoy a latte sometimes but I don't really consider that real coffee. It's more of a treat.
I am not a coffee fan. I love how it smells but can't stand how it tastes. Zilla drinks almost nothing but coffee...no matter the time of day. I don't even like coffee flavored things like candy or cakes.
I know Maven Linda swears it would increase my productivity...so far I haven't gotten to the point where I need the productivity more than my taste buds. I'm thinking that day might be coming up soon though...
Instigator
Community Coffee with Chickory - love it! Not for everyone though. I love coffee with cream. I have to have it in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon when I hit the wall. My son swears by hot green tea but I can't seem to develop a taste for it.
Maybe what you need to get you started in the morning more than the caffeine is just a hot beverage. Try hot cider or hot cranberry juice.
My favorite brand is what's on sale or the one I have a coupon for.
FYI: McDonald's has better coffee than Starbuck's!
I'm a hot tea drinker and have been for years. I have a wooden tea box filled with differnt kinds of teas -- black teas, green teas, roiboos, mint, chamomile . I drink different ones for different reasons -- PG Tips or Typhoo first thing to get me started, mint or ginger tea if my tummy's a little queasy, Constant Comment if I'm wanting something a little spicy, chamomile to help me relax. I love chai lattes, but it's more like dessert than a beverage.
I drink black teas with milk and sugar, which generally elicits funny looks in restaurants here. Do I care? Nope.
I'll have coffee occasionally and like Jean I enjoy the occasional latte as a treat.
Yes, I must have my coffee in the morning! I don't really function until then. But I still have to add sweetener and creamer. We drink Maxwell House mostly, but our nice neighbor gave us a bag from the coffee shop where he works. It has a great taste but it's a little pricey so we save it for the weekends. :-D
I love my coffee - any time of year. I have my own grinder so it's always fresh and the smell alone is great. I experiment with different beans but I drink it strong and black. I'm thinking if you are adding sugar, you really don't care for the taste of coffee lol.
Probably so, catslady! But I tend to like everything sweet, so that's no surprise to me. :)
I wouldn't know if I'm making it strong or not. I just put what was recommended on the back of the canister into the coffee pot. I normally make a 4 cup serving and drink half, pouring the rest out. I get tired of it after a while. Wonder if I should drink more later in the morning. :)
I haven't gotten to the whole grind my own beans stage yet. But if this keeps up I just might.
Thanks, Maven Linda!!! See, you told me coffee would be good for me, so I'm trying it. I wish it could fix the chaos, but at least it seems to make me better able to handle the chaos. :)
Angel
Another good coffee is Gorilla. No kidding. It's a local brand in NYC, and it's great.
Just think of the coolness factor around here, to drink Gorilla Coffee :-).
I second the recommendation for Melitta coffee. Now and then the website will have a half price sale, and I stock up. My dad won't drink anything but Maxwell House, and when I get coffee down at his house it tastes pretty good. Since I've started drinking it black I don't like the flavored coffees as much -- I prefer just the plain, unadulterated coffee. I am not a fan of Starbucks coffee at all. It's too bitter for my tastes. I suppose that's ok if you're loading it up with cream and some kind of syrup, but black -- no thank you.
Ugh. I'm not a coffee fan. Tea, yes, definitely, pots and pots every day. And I drink it with milk, but no sugar.
I have a serious caffeine habit. I get downright cranky without it.
I've developed a hot tea habit. I drank blueberry green tea for a while, but now I'm just drinking standard black tea with a pack of splenda and a splash of light vanilla soymilk. Works for me.
My level of desperation would have to be pretty high for me to drink coffee. The smell used to make me gag. Now I can tolerate it, but I don't care for the taste, no matter how much I adulterate it.
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