Coffee drinkers: Have your preferences changed over time?

Started by Kitsunetsuki, September 13, 2010, 10:09:02 AM

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Kitsunetsuki

So...Coffee...I know some of you love the stuff, and I'm curious as to whether you ever changed up how you drink it...A little back-story, if you will...

I started drinking coffee when I was relatively young (pre-teenage years), but I attribute that to the Brazilian side of my family. My grandmother always had a pot of coffee going for my grandfather, and my mother had a penchant for the stuff as well. My grandmother always drank espresso, but the rest of the fam would drink regular coffee. I never liked the smell as a kid, and didn't like the taste much either.

Then, while with the WASP-y side of the family, I tried coffee ice cream. *the heavens open up - light shines down upon me - angels sing* Yeah, it was that good. I loved it. So, I started drinking coffee here and there. But, I'd put something like 5-6 teaspoons of sugar in it, and about half the cup was cream. (a la coffee ice cream) This persisted throughout my teens and into my (early) 20's.

And then, somewhere along the line, it was too sweet. So, I started cutting back on the sugar. Then, the cream was too much, so I started cutting back on that. To be honest, I probably would have consumed much more coffee than I did for the simple fact that I hated "coffee mouth." That "oh-so-disgusting" aftertaste brought on by the mix of coffee and dairy. (I've always hated milk products anyway, mostly because of that aftertaste - the fact that I'm lactose intolerant simply pushed that envelope over the edge.) So, yeah...Also, I developed a preference for espresso over regular coffee. I can only assume this was due to my grandmother and her thing for espresso at midnight. (Yeah, coffee doesn't keep me awake at all.)

Lately, due to having so many friends that love the stuff (coffee) and mention it at every turn, I've been craving it. So, I dusted off my little Bialetti pot & bought some espresso for myself. I made some last week and started fixing it my "usual" way - sugar, cream, etc. And...it was gross. Not the coffee, but the dairy. So gross, I actually dumped the cup and made another pot. This time, just sugar...and voila! Perfect...

So, I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience. Have your coffee tastes changed over time? Did you start out liking it one way, but now like it fixed completely different? Or has it always been the same for you? Inquiring minds want to know! ;)

Oh, and yeah...Black, two sugars, please! ;D
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Nico

No, not really. I always preferred my coffee black, no sugar.

Kitsunetsuki

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Hemingway

I prefer espresso, no sugar or anything. I sometimes use milk if I'm drinking coffee at work, which tastes pretty horrid compared to what I prefer. Bleh, I want coffee now.

TheLovelyMaid

I tend to take my coffee hot in the fall and winter...then I switch to iced in the springtime and summer.

Kitsunetsuki

Quote from: Hemingway on September 13, 2010, 12:39:04 PM
Bleh, I want coffee now.
*laughs* isn't that always the way?

Quote from: TheLovelyMaid on September 13, 2010, 01:02:53 PM
I tend to take my coffee hot in the fall and winter...then I switch to iced in the springtime and summer.
I couldn't drink it iced for many years, oddly enough. Though, my preference is to let it get lukewarm & then chug the whole thing at once. Not sure why, but I do that with all hot drinks. :)
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Lilias

Milk, one sugar, please :-) My preferences haven't changed as much as evolved. When I started drinking coffee, around 17, when energy levels for study started to become an issue, I bought simple instant; the first coffee maker came home years later, with my first paycheck.

I never cared much for Greek coffee, although the first dark roast, introduced in 1992, was a hit with us students. (The manufacturers had converted an antique bus into a cafe and, at the time, parked it every morning on campus, outside the Department of Letters, and offered little cups to the students coming in. Considering that oriental-style coffee has twice the caffeine of western styles, it was an ingenious idea.)

Incidentally, the biggest change took place when I moved from Greece to the UK. My ideal mug of coffee includes a generous dash of evaporated milk, which is not popular here, so I had to switch to non-dairy powder creamer, which is a fair substitute - ordinary milk is too watery. I've also grown fond of raw cane sugar, which, in turn, was not available in Greece.

What has not changed is the fact that I still consider coffee a tool. I drink it to kick-start my system in the morning (and I can't function without it). If I need more transfusions later I tend to drink tea or cola, and when we go out I'm more likely to get hot chocolate than coffee. Unless you suggest a white chocolate mocha. Then all principle flees ;)
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
~Wendell Berry

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Transgirlenstein

I use to use cream or milk but it started to upset my stomach so now I drink it black with two sugars.
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Avis habilis

No ma'am. Black, no sugar, & keep it coming any hour of the day or night.

(Turning lactose intolerant Transgirlenstein?)

Transgirlenstein

(possibly, it's only milk that seems to bug me though.  though my parents buy this unpasteurized milk that doesn't bug me at all).
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Caeli

I'm like Lilias - I drink coffee as a tool, rather than as a recreational beverage. I will prefer water (cold and iced) at almost all times, and if I'm craving something sweet, I usually pull out apple or orange juice. Much of the time, I also have a jug of brewed tea in the fridge - fruit teas, sometimes, but a lot of times I do prefer greens and blacks or barley, no flavoring added.

I feel that adding anything to a drink is absolute travesty, so I tend not to - a habit of upbringing. If I remember to ask, I will sometimes request sugar or milk, depending on my whim of the time.

My one exception to the rule is Vietnamese iced offee. I love Vietnamese iced coffee. Even with milk and ice, it's so damned strong... fantastic for finals week. <3
ʙᴜᴛᴛᴇʀғʟɪᴇs ᴀʀᴇ ɢᴏᴅ's ᴘʀᴏᴏғ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴀᴛ ʟɪғᴇ
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Kitsunetsuki

I'm kind of jealous of those who can use it as a tool, but the caffeine does absolutely nothing for me. I've been known to drink a whole "pot" of espresso (or about 6 espresso "shots") and go right to sleep. Even when I've had a cafezinho (strong Brazilian coffee) or two, it does nothing. *sighs*
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Will

Quote from: Kit on September 13, 2010, 05:16:26 PM
I'm kind of jealous of those who can use it as a tool, but the caffeine does absolutely nothing for me. I've been known to drink a whole "pot" of espresso (or about 6 espresso "shots") and go right to sleep. Even when I've had a cafezinho (strong Brazilian coffee) or two, it does nothing. *sighs*

I understand, definitely.  All caffeine basically does is clear my head.  It does "wake me up," but only in the sense that it helps me focus and shake off the blahs in the morning.  It doesn't actually speed me up.  I have to drink an awful lot to feel any kind of stimulant effects.

I've gone through periods where I drank a lot (4-6 cups worth in a sitting being a lot, to me) every day, and times where I might drink two a day.  I hardly ever use creamer anymore, but when I do, I prefer the powdered stuff.  As Lilias pointed out, milk is much too watery.  Otherwise, I take it strong, with two sugars. ;D

I also have an espresso machine that I use occasionally, though I try to limit myself.  The times when my caffeine intake spiked all started with abusing that espresso machine. >.>
If you can heal the symptoms, but not affect the cause
It's like trying to heal a gunshot wound with gauze

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Cecilia

Looks up at Will's post. I have a semi-automatic espresso machine...push a button, grinds and shoots out espresso.  I was up to 17 shots a day for a while before I cut back.  (they are too convenient!)  I like a double shot with steamed milk. The steaming takes care of the watery milk problem. 

When I was first drinking coffee, I drank the watery crap my parents made black.  I didn't know you could put anything in it because they didn't.

However, my hubby's tastes have been a near parallel to yours...he went from sticky sweet milky coffee and has transitioned to two shots, no sugar...though he does add a little milk.

Will

Oh my, that is incredibly convenient.  I would be in trouble quickly.
If you can heal the symptoms, but not affect the cause
It's like trying to heal a gunshot wound with gauze

One day, I will find the right words, and they will be simple.
- Jack Kerouac

Kitsunetsuki

Quote from: Will on September 13, 2010, 05:49:51 PM
I understand, definitely.  All caffeine basically does is clear my head.  It does "wake me up," but only in the sense that it helps me focus and shake off the blahs in the morning.  It doesn't actually speed me up.  I have to drink an awful lot to feel any kind of stimulant effects.
I get more stimulation from a couple of Excedrin, honestly. I need three to banish my migraines & if I haven't had caffeine in a long while, I end up shaking like a leaf. Makes me wonder what's so different about the caffeine found in a pill vs the caffeine found in a drink. (I also grew up on Guarana soda...which might explain my lack of reaction to caffeine in drinks.)

Quote from: Cecilia on September 13, 2010, 06:12:12 PM
However, my hubby's tastes have been a near parallel to yours...he went from sticky sweet milky coffee and has transitioned to two shots, no sugar...though he does add a little milk.
*laughs* Sounds about right. I had a weird addiction to sugar when I was young though. I would even put two tablespoons of sugar on my frosted flakes. :P

~I just want to thank everyone for sharing their coffee preferences/experiences with me. I appreciate it very much. ;D ~
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Cecilia

Quote from: Kit on September 13, 2010, 06:30:02 PM
I had a weird addiction to sugar when I was young though. I would even put two tablespoons of sugar on my frosted flakes. :P


It's oddly disturbing that I know exactly what that tastes like!  Shudders.  I have reduced my sugar intake to almost nil and my mouth hurts with the memory.

Kitsunetsuki

Quote from: Cecilia on September 13, 2010, 06:34:26 PM
It's oddly disturbing that I know exactly what that tastes like!  Shudders.  I have reduced my sugar intake to almost nil and my mouth hurts with the memory.
I can't even eat Frosted Flakes anymore...much too sweet for me. I still enjoy sweets, but it is rare that I partake in them. I bake for a living and have noticed that once my sense of smell is saturated with a thing, I no longer desire it. If I smell bread all day long, it's as though I've eaten a whole loaf. Same goes for sweets. Might be my sense of smell ;) heh...
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jessicaRP

I used to hate coffee till I started college. At first it was to help me stay awake, but even though I'm done I still drink coffee regularly.

Caeli

I almost never use coffee to 'wake up' or 'speed up' my life, actually. Coffee more has the effect of being useful during morning shifts; I still remember the bleariness that comes with starting work at 4:30am... Not something I'm like to repeat anytime soon.

Like Lilias, I would rather tea later (the instant hot chocolate packets are a bit sweet for me).

I try to make the effort to wake up earlier than I need to so I can 'wake up' while I'm up doing stuff. I cook breakfast + lunch to eat at school, I shower, I read or write something. If I'm super-motivated, I'll wake up early and take a 15-30 minute walk around the apartment and get some fresh air.

I loooove morning fresh air.
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Serephino

I also would say my tastes have more evolved than changed.  When I was a kid I liked coffee flavored ice cream and yogurt.  I didn't like the way my mom drank it; powdered creamer and a little sugar.  It was still too bitter for my tastes.  But then I discovered the wonderful world of cappuccino.   

The one constant is I like it sweet and flavored, but I try different things.  Right now my favorite is a frozen white chocolate raspberry mocha with extra raspberry flavoring.   

Saerrael

Black, no sugar.
But I started drinking it with milk and sugar.
I prefer a strong cup of coffee and normally drink about three to four in a row, then nothing after that for the rest of the day.
I do drink tea with sugar the rest of the day, though.

Spice

My parents didn't drink coffee. So I didn't start until I was in college and then I drank it black with lots and lots of sugar. Now I put one sweetener in my cup. Not a big change, but a change.

Aviva

I used to be a coffe drinker. I used to love mine with a quater cup of milk and two spoonfuls of sugar then I fell pregnant with my eldest and one problem became that the smell of coffe made me heave, the taste of coffee if I could get that far made me feel worse and so it was cut out entirely. Six years later I still can not drink it but oddly now love eating celery which I once hated until falling pregnant.
Back from a very long break.

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Lilias

I stopped drinking coffee when I was pregnant as well; it didn't make me sick, but I simply didn't like it. God, those were tough times... It was the middle of winter, the darkest time of the year, and with the exhaustion of the early months on me, I found it very hard to wake up at all. I was worried, after I had the Spawn, that my tastes might have changed for good, but the first cup reassured me ;D
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
~Wendell Berry

Double Os <> Double As (updated Feb 20) <> The Hoard <> 50 Tales 2024 <> The Lab <> ELLUIKI