h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Like it or loathe it, you've missed out instant.

Instant is not a good cup of coffee... therefore has no place in this article...

I drink instant all day at work - but I don't kid myself it's good coffee, which is what this article is about. Instant (notice how I do not use the phrase 'instant coffee') has a taste of its own - some of the better quality intsants are really quite palatable, but I always prefer a cup of what I have always called 'real' coffee if its on offer.

Good coffee takes a few minutes to make whichever method you use, and you always end up with loads of grisly bits and pieces to wash out - so it's only worthwhile doing if you can take your time and then sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labours.

On the other hand, if you can get someone else to brew it for you...

Since I drink coffee black, there is certainly no place for instant in this article. I believe that instant with milk is closer to coffee with milk, but I don't drink either.

Aaargh! Black instant!

It'a a relevant point though - I take instant with milk and sugar (although I can forgo the sugar at a pinch). I drink real coffee with or without milk, depending on my mood. The better the coffee, the less likely I am to put sugar in it.

Confession time - as I type this I am slurping on a mug of Earl Gray tea - made in a pot, with leaves.

I forgot to mention - my father-in-law drinks supermarket own-brand instant - the cheapest range - and regards it as a real treat.

My mother-in-law drinks only tea, and they used to get this foul stuff in especially for me, because I prefer coffee. They are now aware that I prefer _coffee_! I drink tea at their house.

Oh dear, I didn't mean to start this off. Maybe I shouldn't tell you, but if I go anywhere and can't have instant, I usually have to have it black or not at all. All the other types of coffee are far too bitter for me and taste disgusting. I've obviously been brought up wrong.

I was brought up on Nescafe, but as a treat my mum would sometimes get what she always called 'real coffee'. She used to make it by boiling it up with milk in a pan. I have not had it like that as an adult, and I'm not about to try, but I liked it as a kid.

I don't actually object to instant - I just see it as a different drink to 'proper' coffee.

It sounds like it's the same for you, Mina, if you like instant and dislike other kinds of coffee then you obviously perceive a big difference.

There was a big article about coffee houses in the Guardian at the weekend, and I seem to recall (I've binned it now) that it stated that most Europeans and Americans enjoyed the bitterness of coffee, but that the British palate found it too bitter and in general tried to mitigate the bitterness with milk and sugar.

This makes sense to me - the British taste in chocolate also tends toward the sweet and milky compared with mainland Europe, and I could name a good half a dozen people who take tea-bags on holiday with them because 'you can't get a decent cup of tea abroad.' (Three of them are from Yorkshire, for what it's worth).

The notion that a decent cup of tea involves a tea-bag is difficult for me, but then I'm told that my tastes are Bohemian. I don't know what that means, but it sounds

I agree that instant has it's place, but not in the taste stakes. It's important for a quick hit. That being said, a decent brand makes a bit of a difference!
Maccona anyone?

I think the last time I drank instant coffee was back in the 80s. And it was for the quick hit principle.

Being plagued by lack of sleep for a week due to having all my final exams at University in the same week and having a large project paper due the same week, I needed something to remain conscious while I met with my study team to finish the paper. I thought the solution was to drink a solution of about 50% Nescafe in water in a coffee cup. I gulped this down and felt rather strange for the rest of the afternoon. I'm not sure if being simply tired would have left me in a more coherent state of mind than the effects of the coffee solution. I never tried this again.

Perhaps there's room here for an entry on the devil's own coffee - the kind you get from machines at work, that costs some arbitrary sum like 13pence for a small plastic cup, and consists mostly of the wonderfully-named "edible bleach" used to clean the machines. Mmmm mm mm, sure tastes swell.

B52 mocha all the way... I tried to post today but the internet was down so I will post the message monday when I get to work and can get it off the word processor there...

Last time I heard of a word processor was about the same time I last drank instant coffee - before everyone used PCs that can also do word processing. You might have a valuable antique there.

All instant coffee tastes almost, but not entirely, unlike coffee. The freeze dried stuff is probably best of a bad bunch but powdered coffee is about as similar to actual coffee as lunar dust.

G.

Instant coffee is an oxymoron!

I have been carting a Melitta filter (sits on top of cup) and a jar of fine ground coffee with me to all my workplaces for the past five years or so. To be honest, if I purchased all the coffee I drink at the cafe/coffee-shop prices I'd need a second job to cover the cost

There is only ONE TYPE of coffee: freshly made from a grind of coffee. Anything else is discoloured water. The saving grace of importing so many Europeans was that espresso was introduced to this wide, brown land of Australia and a nation chronically addicted to tea and fortified wines finally had something to wake up to in the morning!!

-Falls to ground frothing at the mouth, to amusement of fellow staffers who take opportunity to hurl law reports at head - in all an ordinary day at work...

Oh no I was referring to the program on the computer... also called a word processor... I dont use those things... I use Typewriters...



Here is the previous unposted message...

I was brought up to love the French Press (or Plunger-pot) It truely makes good coffee... I flush the grounds down the toilet to get them out of the way without clogging a drain. I believe in buying the beans fresh also and grinding them at home while possible, however, you can store them in a bag (Ground) in the fridge for longer freshness... or store whole beans in the freezer... just be sure to move them to the fridge before you grind them for about 5hrs, this reduces wear on your grinder's blades.

I get free coffee at this one coffee house because my dad installed their roaster... Take My word... Get air-roasted beans where possable... Drum roasting is ok (I built drum roasters) but tend to scorch the beans. For the most plesant taste get a nice medium roast from an air roaster and use your french press...

All a computer is to most people is a glorified typewriter that can do email, ad now browse the web. It also has to have the power to run Windows whatever (bloatware).

Plunger works great I think too. It is a more elaborate way than the rough and ready stick it in hot water then strain method.

You shouldn't flush yopur grouts down the lavvy because they will clog up the trickling biological filers in the treatement works.

Instead you should have a compost heap.

The oh-so-sustainable Dr Trout

>>trickling biological filers

What'll we file this under, then, Bob!

Looks like a heap of s**t to me, Joe.

No, it's coffee grounds!

I have a vague recollection that you can use coffee grounds to discourage slugs. Can anyone confirm or deny that one?

I've taken to brewing coffee Greek style in one of those little pots (a briki). I've got myself a little hotplate, and an extremely slow but efficient hand-grinder - the electric one doesn't grind it fine enough.

And I take it black as midnight and hot as hell, which is a quote off somebody but I don't remember who.