Today I am thankful for coffee. I drink mostly coffee and I won't apologize, (well except for creamer and sugar for that I apologize)

[Raylan 5,666]

I have a checkered history of drinking, it started with teas. First with my English/Welsh grandmother who would take loose leaf green tea and throw it in a screwtop metal ball and then fill the teapot with boiling water. She would pour a ton of sugar into her cup but never stir it just pour the tea on top and repeat until eventually it was used up. Then there was my mother who would boil the crap out of a few bags of black tea on the stove in a pan then let it set and cool then if you wanted ice tea you got ice poured the concentrated tea in your glass and then cut it with water. Lastly I started drinking hot tea - "constant comment" as a teenager cause it was what we had and after the parents switched to decaf coffee I couldn't drink the decaf as it hurt my stomach - I think it was the chemicals they used then to decaffinate it.

 

Then as a young man I dropped all the coffee and tea for beer and whiskey. After getting up to more than a quart of whiskey a day (ah there was something about scotch and being irish), prudence suggested that I consider other beverages. Back to strong black regular coffee, the kind you can stand a spoon up in. Age has mellowed my desire for the strength of my coffee and work has dictated a simple and efficient brewing method so I now use a Bunn coffee maker with Duncan or McDonalds coffee (add placement here). On rare occassions that I do drink tea it is mostly sweet tea or occassionally an earl grey with some sugar. But normally or with tobacco pipes I must confess that I prefer my coffee. Typically drink about 2 to 2 1/2 pots a day, usually with a touch of sugar and splash of creamer in my dotage.

 

"It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shakes, the shakes become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion."

 

Happy Thanksgiving.

[Pat Riot, SASS #13748 20,963]

I have never been much of a hot tea drinker. I just never really enjoyed it unless it was sweet and sweetened by sugar. I do not like honey. It makes my teeth tingle and affects my breathing. No exaggeration. 
 

For many years I have drank black coffee in the mornings and beer and whiskey in the afternoon. Never been much for drinking soda or fruity flavored drinks. I quit drinking alcohol a few years ago. Now my mainstay is water, ice water to be exact. If I have ice, I am happy to drink water. I still drink strong black coffee in the mornings and water the rest of the time. I do have a Pepsi every week or so. Cannot stand Coke or any other sodas. 
Coffee and ice water...thrills and chills. 
 

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving. 

Edited November 26, 2020 by Pat Riot, SASS #13748

[DeaconKC 1,316]

Edited November 26, 2020 by DeaconKC

[Dantankerous 4,249]

Love coffee! Love whisky! Together they work miracles.

 

Tennessee sweet tea however is heaven on Earth.

[Michigan Slim 5,069]

All day, every day. 

[Pat Riot, SASS #13748 20,963]

2 hours ago, Dantankerous said:

Love coffee! Love whisky! Together they work miracles.

 

Tennessee sweet tea however is heaven on Earth.

I somehow overlooked Sweet Tea. I used to also drink a lot of that off and on through periods of my life. About 10 years ago I got Gout. I thought I had figured out what caused my flare ups and all was well. Then a few years ago Gout came back with a vengeance. One of my mainstay drinks was Sweet Tea. I stopped drinking because I thought it was a Gout contributor and I was trying to lose weight. I don’t think the tea had anything to do with the Gout but I never went back to drinking it. 
 

I may have to rethink my drink selections again. 

[DocWard 5,259]

"But even a bad cup of coffee is better than no coffee at all." ~David Lynch.  

 

I've had plenty of bad coffee, I've had plenty of amazingly good coffee. I will say that no coffee has tasted so good as that perked over a camp stove until black and strong and had while bleary eyed on a cool morning camping with family and friends, unless it is the flavor of hot bitter coffee tinged with the metallic taste of a canteen cup, shared with brothers in arms after stand-to while the fog lifts and the Army slowly rumbles to life.

 

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Edited November 26, 2020 by DocWard

[Smokin Gator SASS #29736 410]

I like coffee hot or iced. I don't use any sugar but occasionally put some Bailys in. Sometimes it just doesn't sound good and I'll make tea. But with tea I like just a little sweetness. I use the liquid stevia sweetener.  I don't drink much anymore but like some good bourbon. Just picked up a four roses small batch and Wild Turkey cask strength. I'll probably open one of them today.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Smokin Gator SASS #29736
Spelling

[Michigan Slim 5,069]

Put a splash of Jim Beam Vanilla in it. Good way to start the day.

[LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L 1,957]

The worst coffee I ever had was wonderful.  

[DeaconKC 1,316]

My Grandpa said it doesn't take nearly  as much water to make coffee as some people think.

Edited November 26, 2020 by DeaconKC

[Dantankerous 4,249]

55 minutes ago, DocWard said:

"

I've had plenty of bad coffee, I've had plenty of amazingly good coffee. I will say that no coffee has tasted so good as that perked over a camp stove until black and strong and had while bleary eyed on a cool morning camping with family and friends, unless it is the flavor of hot bitter coffee tinged with the metallic taste of a canteen cup, shared with brothers in arms after stand-to while the fog lifts and the Army slowly rumbles to life.

 

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

 

No personal experience with your second description but I will take your word for it. However the poetry that is your first description is exactly perfect.

[Tascosa, SASS# 24838 913]

I started using cream and sugar when I got in the military. Didn't even know that was an option growing up. But the habit held and I still use cream and sugar in my coffee. Tea? Sweet tea is the only tea I drink.

[Joke 'um 915]

1959.  LaGrande, Oregon.  5 years old.  I woke sometime in the night.  The house was dark and quiet except for the living room, where Grandma was watching TV.  She made me a little cup of coffee with sugar and milk.  Oooooooh!  Secret TV watching with Grandma and coffee.  Heaven.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Joke 'um

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 6,327]

2 hours ago, Michigan Slim said:

All day, every day. 

 

I like a nice "still life."

 

I keep trying to drink tea. I just don't like it anymore. If it is hot, I can get it down with milk/cream/half-and-half. No iced tea with any additives.

 

I used to "subsidize" the coffee group at work by drinking so much. Now, I have one cup a day with Café d' Vita in it. 

[DeaconKC 1,316]

Slightly off topic, but sugar goes in the iced tea, not cornbread!

[Chili Ron 883]

Howdy,

Try Lipton tea with two cubes of sugar and vanilla wafers on the side.

That was what the lovely wife of my teacher/brittish car mechanic followed

my 'lessons' with.

My folks drank coffee with a drop of cream so this was the first tea I remember.

My MG broke often and I was always short on cash.

This factory trained bmc mechanic was brought over from England and

had hardly any local friends.  He fixed it at his house and I watched and learned.

After all car mechanics were getting 12 dollars an hour.....

But remember those dollars were silver.

Best

CR

 

[Blackwater 53393 5,501]

I haven’t had coffee since 1969!! I developed an allergy while working on an election campaign.

 

Coffee breaks me out in hives!!

 

For many years, I drank Coca Cola or Royal Crown.  My mother was a Pepsi drinker, but I couldn’t handle the extra sweetness and the weak carbonization. I had to threaten not to visit to get her to stock a few Cokes for me.

 

Nowadays, I still have a Coke or an RC from time to time, but mostly, I drink sweet iced tea or water and break that up with Welch’s grape juices or spicy V8.

 

I don’t miss coffee and generally don’t care for the smell of it unless there is the aroma of some great baked goods to help defuse the coffee smell a bunch!!

[Dawg Hair, SASS #29557 494]

Can only drink tea if iced, unsweetened with lemon.  Coffee, hot, black with very little sweetener, unless it's espresso which has to be black, sweet and hot as hell.

Can't stand milk or creamers of any kind.

[DeaconKC 1,316]

There is an old Turkish saying

"Coffee should be black as Satan's soul,

hot as the flames of Hell

and sweet as a stolen kiss."

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 1,952]

The Navy runs on coffee, and so do I!

I do like Raylan's penetrating dictum, and I quote:

"It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shakes, the shakes become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion."

[Dantankerous 4,249]

Coffee cup now empty. A very sad thing. I'd better remedy this and quick!

 

[bgavin 1,471]

My bride and I go through two pots daily.
Neither of us can stand the caffeine, so I mix 1 scoop plus 5 scoops of decaf.
This is Starbucks strength for taste.

No sugar for either of us.
I'm diabetic so I put whipping cream in mine... no carbs.

I have to avoid all coffee before a shooting event.
 

[watab kid 981]

ive never warmed to tea , always seemed too bland - i like my coffee strong and black , i do prefer good coffee and will turn down bad , why drink it if its not good ? 

[MizPete 1,260]

I'm from South Carolina.  I make a half gallon of sweet tea every day.  I was weaned on it, but now use non-sugar sweeteners (no aspartame).  Coffee black.  As previously stated,  will put Scotch in coke but will not f/u a good cup of coffee.

[DocWard 5,259]

On 11/26/2020 at 10:19 AM, Dantankerous said:

 

No personal experience with your second description but I will take your word for it. However the poetry that is your first description is exactly perfect.

 

The new thread on how to make coffee made me think of this thread. I had previously posted my quote on Facebook, as I knew friends would appreciate it there. I thought a couple of responses were appropriate and worth sharing here .

 

Quote

I can't remember anymore exactly where we were but I remember being cold, out in the field, and Roger (me) walks over with a cup of coffee for me. I remember thinking, how the hell did he get hot water for instant MRE coffee? As casual and calm as you get he said something along the lines of "Kenya AA blend" (maybe???) and hands me a hot cup of REALLY good coffee. I took a sip and a few years later I had 5 different styles of coffee makers.

 

Quote

Ken and I woke up before the sun came up and I’m peeking out of our tent: Roger, you had our old camp stove completely tore apart because it wouldn’t start up to make coffee and clearly you Needed coffee! You got ‘ER going and she still works.

 

The interesting thing about that whole thing is that I had the conversion kit to be able use those little LP tanks with that stove. But since you fixed it. Haven’t needed it

 

[Wyoma 63]

Back in the day, boiler room coffee on a Navy destroyer!  Son, you will not fall asleep on this watch.

[Capt. James H. Callahan 1,277]

On 11/26/2020 at 7:09 AM, Michigan Slim said:

All day, every day. 

I had one of those for decades. Pre heat with boiling water and you could drink it the next day. Then out of the blue it got where it wouldn't keep hot 2 hours. Nothing visibly wrong inside or out. I guess it lost its vacuum somehow. Sure chapped my hide.

JHC

[Utah Bob #35998 15,440]

On 11/30/2020 at 11:24 PM, watab kid said:

ive never warmed to tea , always seemed too bland - i like my coffee strong and black , i do prefer good coffee and will turn down bad , why drink it if its not good ? 

About 20 years ago one of my officers gave me a tin of tea he had received for Christmas because he didn’t like tea. There was only Chinese writing on the tin of loose leaves. I got one of those tea infuser things and whipped up a boiling pot of water poured it in the cup and waited a few minutes. I was thinking, this is a lot of trouble when I coulda just used the coffee maker. I took out the infuser, put a smidge of sugar and a few drops of cream and tasted it.

 

Whammy!! I think it must have been the original energy drink! I’m not normally sensitive to caffeine at all but one cup of that was a major wake up call. Two cups would make me jittery. I never got up the nerve to have 3. It made a cup of black mess hall Coffee seem like lemonade. I never found out the name of it.

[Utah Bob #35998 15,440]

I do have fond memories of sitting in my sleeping bag with a steaming canteen cup of coffee, brewed as the sun came up in the snow covered mountains of southern Germany. I was usually the first one on the team to get up. The smell of my coffee eventually roused the grumbling snake eaters out of their sacks. 

 

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 3,139]

  COFFEE;  THE LUBRICATION OF INDUSTRY AND LIFE!

 

Ah yes, mess hall coffee. After the Mess Officer took theboot out of the coffee pot, quality went down hill. 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172

[Michigan Slim 5,069]

2 hours ago, Capt. James H. Callahan said:

I had one of those for decades. Pre heat with boiling water and you could drink it the next day. Then out of the blue it got where it wouldn't keep hot 2 hours. Nothing visibly wrong inside or out. I guess it lost its vacuum somehow. Sure chapped my hide.

JHC

Got two sizes of these at Menards. Hot chocolate in the small one and lots of coffee in the large one! Then Kaya drinks the last of my coffee when her hot cocoa is gone.

[Capt. James H. Callahan 1,277]

2 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

About 20 years ago one of my officers gave me a tin of tea he had received for Christmas because he didn’t like tea. There was only Chinese writing on the tin of loose leaves. I got one of those tea infuser things and whipped up a boiling pot of water poured it in the cup and waited a few minutes. I was thinking, this is a lot of trouble when I coulda just used the coffee maker. I took out the infuser, put a smidge of sugar and a few drops of cream and tasted it.

 

Whammy!! I think it must have been the original energy drink! I’m not normally sensitive to caffeine at all but one cup of that was a major wake up call. Two cups would make me jittery. I never got up the nerve to have 3. It made a cup of black mess hall Coffee seem like lemonade. I never found out the name of it.

Ma huang?

JHC

[Raylan 5,666]

Woke up, saw this thread and thought of Yogi Berra - "It's Deja Vu all over again." Can't help but smile when you think of Yogi, especially when it's with a cup of joe. 

[DeaconKC 1,316]