The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Wild Card => Topic started by: FlipConstantine on May 10, 2006, 03:26:49 am
-
Because of a problem (http://touamb.com/index.php/topic,2785.msg65522.html#msg65522), this thread has become neccessary. So, it is officially, irrevocably ON.
Let's get to it.
-
I am quite fond of coffee, however, I have been told I have some-what high blood pressure and must become less fond of coffee, I am told. Also, I'm supposed to not eat salt straight out of the shaker anymore. It'll be an empty life.
-
Well I'm not addicted to caffeine so I'm rolling with the Taco crowd. I see an underdogg (http://www.classicmedia.tv/assets/circles/underdog.gif) win the in the works people. Stick me me and you'll go far, I guarantee.
-
I drink both.
Not at the same time, mind you...
-
I'll pick benzedrine as my preferred morning stimulant. I drink coffee if I feel like coming down.
-
I'll pick benzedrine as my preferred morning stimulant. I drink coffee if I feel like coming down.
This reminds me.. I think I saw your heart just barreling all to hell down the 405 this morning. It was beating out a WRX who looked all pissed about it.
Thought you'd like to know where you could find it.
-
I need to finally pick one of these beverages to take up. My mother is an old-school coffee person, and my dad is similar with tea; I figure at this point, now that I am so nearly an Adult, I need to pick one and stop sitting on the fence of "cola and/or don't eat breakfast."
-
Tea. Coffee in emergencies. It works better if you don't have a tolerance built up.
As for the choice: If I had it to do over, now, I would be a coffee drinker. You can get good coffee on almost every streetcorner nowadays. You can get good tea almost nowhere, unless you think lukewarm water with a stale bag floating in it, looking like a dead penis,(especially if it has a string) is a tasty beverage.
-
You can get good tea almost nowhere, unless you think lukewarm water with a stale bag floating in it, looking like a dead penis,(especially if it has a string) is a tasty beverage.
Well there's Teaism. And Teavanna if you can get all the way to Tyson's. I'm also told Lebanese Taverna does tea right. Personally I think they all taste like wet monkey ass.
cola and/or don't eat breakfast.
The correct option. I am in fact sitting here with my morning Dew as we speak.
-
C-A-W-F-E-E, coffee is my friend.
-
Well there's Teaism. And Teavanna if you can get all the way to Tyson's. I'm also told Lebanese Taverna does tea right.
My point exactly. Not exactly a convenient option every day on your way to work. I think these days in most places you can think of two or three places in a whole metropolitan area that take tea seriously - not a lot of exceptions to the general Floating Drowned penis rule.
-
I like tea okay but since tacos were on the list I had to vote for them. I like tacos way better than coffee or tea.
-
Coffee all the way. I like tea, but not nearly as much as coffee. I used to drink a pot a day plus obscene quantities of diet coke, but then problems with the pipes made me cut way back. Now I drink about a cup and a half of delish coffee from the roasters up the street, prepared in our totally awesome french press. Major improvements over our old drip coffee maker.
And in the afternoons/evenings, caffeine-free diet coke. It's really depressing if I think about it too hard.
How do you take your coffee/tea? I usually have black coffee (though the french press has made me enjoy a little half & half), but my tea has to have honey in it.
Anyone who posts a "I like my coffee like I like my women..." line that I haven't heard before wins tiny cans! My personal favorite is "...with a spoon in 'em."
-
I'm a coffee drinker. I drink about half a pot per day.
I don't really like tea, although I drink instant iced-tea mix (Four C Diet Tea, with Splenda which tastes more sugary than their sugary mix tastes) when I'm not drinking coffee.
I never got the hot tea thing. I'll have a cup of shitty Lipton over at my grandmother's, and when we visit some old family friends we'll have a cup because they're connoisseurs and can provide a GOOD cup of tea, which is nice to have every now and again.
But you keep me from my coffee and I'm out on the street offering my services to rich widows in exchange for a shot of espresso. I'm definitely an addict. I tried to quit once but the come-down was too painful. I was back off the wagon by that same afternoon.
-
Anyone who posts a "I like my coffee like I like my women..." line that I haven't heard before wins tiny cans! My personal favorite is "...with a spoon in 'em."
In little pods (http://www.senseo.com/content/locales/us.html) so I can have them fresh, one at a time.
-
Oh hey you know what I found out lately? That New Orleans coffee with chicory in it is the coffee I have been looking for all my life. Even though it comes ground in a can, which is anathema to the modern coffee mind. And then you get those nice useful empty coffee cans too.
-
I like my coffee like I like my men... dressed up in enough whipped cream and flavoring that you don't realize the bitterness until after the initial neurochemical rush has subsided and tolerance has already begun to take root.
-
I like my coffee like I like my men... dressed up in enough whipped cream and flavoring that you don't realize the bitterness until after the initial neurochemical rush has subsided and tolerance has already begun to take root.
V gets with the guys but in the end she does not like them.
-
if i stated that i drank coffee, would anyone be surprised?
really would you be surprised that i drank coffee, and in large volumes, because i've been told that i don't seem to be the type of person who would drink coffee and i've also been told that i seem to be the type of person who would drink coffee so i really think the answer to my question could easily go either way and i'm just not sure what the consensus opinion on it would be, but i still really like coffee as it is a very good and tasty beverage that never leads me astray unlike that one guy i knew but then he drank coffee too so i'm not entirely sure what theta means except in the end i am a devoted coffee drinker, so much so in fact that i really don't care what type of coffee i'm drinking, folgers, maxwell house, gas station brew, aw hell i'll even drink starbucks' coffee even though it isn't good, but then that's the great thing about coffee in that even the bad coffee is way better than no coffee?
-
Oh hey you know what I found out lately? That New Orleans coffee with chicory in it is the coffee I have been looking for all my life. Even though it comes ground in a can, which is anathema to the modern coffee mind. And then you get those nice useful empty coffee cans too.
I have my own secret CDM connection as well, for the rare times I drink coffee.
-
I'm not gonna lie.
I cannot tell the difference between good coffee and bad coffee.
both sides of my family only drink tea.
-
if i stated that i drank coffee, would anyone be surprised?
I think the 500 word run-on sentence pretty much confirms it.
-
I hate coffee. While I can occassionally find it tolerable, I can promise you a GOOD cup of tea wins hands down, everytime. Sure, sometimes it turns into milky, sugary boiled water, but that's all part of the fun of making it.
Tacos are infinitely preferable to either, but you can't drink tacos. They are food.
-
I cannot tell the difference between good coffee and bad coffee.
It is pretty much the same in my case. I have tried what I have been told is good coffee and it tastes like the bad coffee to me. The smell is totally delicious but I can't really enjoy the taste of coffee except as a trace flavoring in various pastries, ice creams, etc.
-
I take my morning cup of Earl Grey with a bit of soymilk and sugar. I find honey is only preferrable in green tea and chai.
Jough, what you are drinking is not tea. What you are drinking is the UN-TEA. Never, ever mistake iced tea for real tea; it is just plain wrong.
-
The smell is totally delicious but I can't really enjoy the taste of coffee except as a trace flavoring in various pastries, ice creams, etc.
This effect has always baffled me. Why does coffee always smell so great even if you dislike the taste? It's not like it smells any different from its flavor, but the smell is about a billion times more delicious. Maybe I should just start wafting myself coffee.
-
Maybe I should just start wafting myself coffee.
That's still illegal in some states.
-
I think it has to do with the majority of people not really knowing how to brew coffee. You can't just throw some grounds into a filter and pour in an arbitrary amount of water. Only about the first half(?) of the flavor that can be extracted from coffee doesn't taste like bitter crap. This is just truth.
-
I think that's the thing about the coffee with chicory, that it tastes to me more the way coffee smells.
-
This effect has always baffled me. Why does coffee always smell so great even if you dislike the taste? It's not like it smells any different from its flavor, but the smell is about a billion times more delicious. Maybe I should just start wafting myself coffee.
Are you high? Coffee, beer, and kraut fall into the category of Food That Smells So Horrific I Can't Figure Out How People Even Get It Near Their Mouths.
-
No joke, coffee makes me flip out. I actually have what you would call "a reaction" - I become aggressive, paranoid, jittery and jumpy, and can basically not function as a human being. It's something that's happened to me over the past two years, which is strange, because I used to drink so much coffee. I used to drink it, and then just, take a nap, or whatever.
I drink teas, but not herbal tea.
I have a puffergiraffe tea pot. It is awesome.
-
Nothing beats the Bunn-O-Matic drip. It makes the water VERY hot (this is important) and also brews the pot in about 3 minutes (the faster the water passes through the coffee, the better.
I like about six scoops (of beans) of coffee for 10-12 cups. Those bags from the coffee services are pretty well measured out, although grinding your own beans is really the only way to go.
Also, even shitty Maxwell House coffee tastes pretty good when made in one of those huge urns that brews 3-4 gallons at a time (the urns tend to be percolators too).
-
It's something that's happened to me over the past two years, which is strange, because I used to drink so much coffee. I used to drink it, and then just, take a nap, or whatever.
Yeah, my mother is like this -- she'll have a cup of coffee before going to bed. (How that works neurochemically, I have no idea.) The SO apparently used to drink soda to help him go to sleep, which troubles me to no end, because that implies you've managed to fuck up those receptors but good.
Cort, I think you're totally off-base on coffee but exactly right on sauerkraut, which I have not been able to eat since a lazy afternoon in my youth when I was subjected to the smell of it cooking. Holy CRAP nothing has ever smelled worse. I imagine that, when death comes, it will smell like cooking sauerkraut.
-
I like all three, but the coffee is the essential one. I will often have tea a few hours after the necessary morning cup of coffee. Tacos are taken much more infrequently.
I have tried going without coffee for two weeks, and I survived, but then I gave in again and realized that I was just much happier in the mornings if they involved coffee. I know this is sort of a problem.
I really enjoy the coffee black (I would drink a lot of it if I could tolerate that much caffeine anymore), but I also love sauerkraut, ripe belgian beers, straight gin, and 99% chocolate. Not dirt, though. I don't like eating dirt.
-
Not dirt, though. I don't like eating dirt.
Sadly, I have known exceptions to this rule, most infamously in the "someone leaves a bunch of those gimmick Harry Potter jellybeans out in the common room, Sean eats an earthworm one, realizes that it tastes like earthworms, and eats the rest" incident.
-
Sadly, I have known exceptions to this rule, most infamously in the "someone leaves a bunch of those gimmick Harry Potter jellybeans out in the common room, Sean eats an earthworm one, realizes that it tastes like earthworms, and eats the rest" incident.
Now I have eaten sandwiches made from sauerkraut, sriracha, and cheez whiz, but that is disgusting.
-
I imagine that, when death comes, it will smell like cooking sauerkraut.
Wow. That means that death smells exactly like New Year's Day. That's oddly poetic.
-
I like coffee. Black. The key to discerning good coffee from bad coffee is to drink it black. Putting milk into coffee is crazy, the taste goes away.
The best is expresso, I have this (http://www.espressovero.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/newdamaredlarge.jpg.w180h198.jpg) stovetop expresso maker which is a ton of fun. If it comes out too strong, throw in a few drops of sambucca and salut!
Tea is alright with some honey.
-
ok, I lied.
because once I had coffee that was so good that I wanted to die.
it was in italy.
I later remembered that they had told us never to drink italian coffee, unless we had a high tolerance for caffeine-- italian "coffee" is espresso.
well, I drank a big ol' mug. it was amazing.
-
ok, I lied.
because once I had coffee that was so good that I wanted to die.
it was in italy.
I later remembered that they had told us never to drink italian coffee, unless we had a high tolerance for caffeine-- italian "coffee" is espresso.
well, I drank a big ol' mug. it was amazing.
Espresso is served in little tiny cups. You probably had coffee. (A big mug of espresso would probably give you a heart attack). The better Italian restaurants serve really good Italian coffee here, and stupid people get it and won't drink it because the oil from the really good beans rises to the top.
-
The best coffee I've ever had was at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Full of flavor without being the tiniest bit bitter.
-
Ooh, who's had the Ethiopian coffee ceremony from the restaurant? Of course Ethopian beans made the regular way are quite good, but this is something else. While you're eating, they roast the beans so that they are very dark, and bring them out for you to smell. Then after dinner's over, they bring it out in a weird pot. It's made sort of like turkish coffee, with the grounds very fine and left in the pot. It's very dark, but surprisingly mellow and smooth. Even if you don't normally like black coffee, you may enjoy this black. They often bring out a little brazier with some frankincense and some popcorn or something too.
-
yeah, actually, hm. I was aware that espresso was normally served in tiny cups... but... I don't know.
maybe it was just coffee that was so much better than the coffee I'd had that it tasted like an entirely different substance.
the other great story: they had one of those coffee vending machines. and I hit the button for "1 cup", then "con chocolate", 2 sugars, etc.
I said "this is the best coffee I've ever had! good lord!"
it was hot chocolate.
they mocked me. mercilessly.
-
If I remember my Italian teacher correctly, it would pretty common to be served an entire cup of expresso in Italy. Also, if you order coffee, you get expresso by default.
I'm 80% sure about that, but I could be wrong. I have forgotten all the Italian I learned in those three years, so I suppose that info could be skewed as well.
-
I got the impression that most european coffee was made more 'americano' style, as in fresh but dilute espresso. Practically everywhere I got it it was made this way, even at the norwegian 7-11. It was also very good.
-
If I remember my Italian teacher correctly, it would pretty common to be served an entire cup of expresso in Italy. Also, if you order coffee, you get expresso by default.
THERE IS NO X IN ESPRESSO
-
THERE IS NO X IN ESPRESSO
RED PENN'D!
-
:hangs head:
The shame...
-
Cafe' Americano is, according to Starbucks, equal portions of espresso and boiling water, which sounds reasonable in terms of what you are describing because I'm sure that would still be stronger than regular brewed coffee. They even refer to it as "American drip coffee -- Italian style" which is definitely an Americentric way to look at it.
Wikipedia says the strength between drip coffee and cafe americano is similar but the flavor different. Guess I'll walk down to Starbucks and try one.
-
For extra thrills, try to get an iced Americano. This would be made with a shot of fresh espresso, ice cubes, and cold water. It is basically impossible to get this made properly.
-
Well, I'm drinking the hot Americano and it needs nothing. I don't usually drink black coffee, but this stuff smelled so different from drip - richer, and the smell gave me more different kinds of flavor notes than drip - that I thought I'd try it black. And it's pretty good.
-
I like coffee, and if it's good, I like it black. But too much gives me serious heartburn.
Shitty coffee is still ok, as long as it is sweetened and milkened/creamed. Less heartburn that way, too.
I also like tea, but, I don't know, coffee just so much easier to find.
-
TEA UPDATE: Not surprisingly, Dunkin' Donuts has atrocious tea. No flavours or anything, just "plain tea." It was probably Lipton's. This made the nine-hour drive down the East Coast all the more unpleasant.
Shudder!
-
TEA UPDATE: Not surprisingly, Dunkin' Donuts has atrocious tea. No flavours or anything, just "plain tea." It was probably Lipton's. This made the nine-hour drive down the East Coast all the more unpleasant.
Shudder!
I've gotten decent tea there. They have a real good chai spice.
-
TEA UPDATE: Not surprisingly, Dunkin' Donuts has atrocious tea. No flavours or anything, just "plain tea." It was probably Lipton's. This made the nine-hour drive down the East Coast all the more unpleasant.
Shudder!
Did you manage to go into the only one that doesn't have Indians or Pakistanis running the place? I've gotten OK tea there before.
-
I think that although both coffee and tea are good, I vote tea as the clear winner. My favorite is Thai Iced Tea. I've been into the whole boba thing, but I can't get it where I live in Alaska. I plan to spend all my money (Ray in Germany style (http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=03252004)) on boba tea while I'm here.
-
I think that although both coffee and tea are good, I vote tea as the clear winner. My favorite is Thai Iced Tea. I've been into the whole boba thing, but I can't get it where I live in Alaska. I plan to spend all my money (Ray in Germany style (http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=03252004)) on boba tea while I'm here.
Can't you just go somewhere like Teavanna and buy a bag of the tapioca pearls to take home? As I understand it they're vacuum sealed and stay good just about forever.
-
Can't you just go somewhere like Teavanna and buy a bag of the tapioca pearls to take home? As I understand it they're vacuum sealed and stay good just about forever.
That is a very good idea. Tomorrow I'll bust out the yellow pages and figure out the location of the closest Asian market. From what I understand, you only have to soak/cook the dried pearls for about 40 minutes total. I could probably use my rice cooker to make them. And once they're cooked, they keep for a couple of days. Capital idea, CJ!
-
That is a very good idea. Tomorrow I'll bust out the yellow pages and figure out the location of the closest Asian market. From what I understand, you only have to soak/cook the dried pearls for about 40 minutes total. I could probably use my rice cooker to make them. And once they're cooked, they keep for a couple of days. Capital idea, CJ!
I was inspired, and did this very thing (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nohobotic/156705500/) yesterday.
-
you think you're better than us?
wait... nevermind.
you're better than us!
fixed.
-
Neither.
I'll take a bump of adderall.
-
The tapioca pearls are about the only part of bubble tea that I don't like. I remember being on a grassy knoll with some friends, and we were all shootin out our tapioca pearls through those big-ol straws like pea-shooters. It's true, I was the second shooter on the grassy knoll.
Also, I love Chai. I want to drink Chai lattes every day from now on! My espresso/cappuccino/coffee maker has a milk-steamer function that I have yet to figure out. Lost instruction manuals and curiosity will surely lead to horrific burns! Off I go!
-
Are you high? Coffee, beer, and kraut fall into the category of Food That Smells So Horrific I Can't Figure Out How People Even Get It Near Their Mouths.
Oh. My. God. Have you NO LOVE for our microbial friends who make our lives golden and delicious?
I [heart] beeer [yeah homebrew!] and kraut . . . not to mention some of those other delicious microbes, such as _P. roquefortii_ in many aged cheeses, the 10+ bacteria in the delicious fermented dairy bevvy known as kefir, and tons of other delicious microbes that vastly improve our human existence.
Re: the coffee vs tea vs tacos debate. I love coffee, but I also have an unbelievable love for yerba mate; the delicious, vitamin and electrolyte laced South American tea. So delicious!
-
Neither.
I'll take a bump of adderall.
Add cigarettes and a bowl for the best wake up routine ever. And water.
-
I [heart] beeer [yeah homebrew!]...
We've got 5 gallons of wheat beer ready to bottle today. Best hobby ever.
Yerba Mahte is pretty gross, though. My friend spent a lot of time in South America and she loves the stuff, but the rest of us gag from the mere smell.
-
I [heart] beeer [yeah homebrew!] and kraut
Ach du lieber!
and tons of other delicious microbes that vastly improve our human existence.
Like gonorrhea!
Re: the coffee vs tea vs tacos debate. I love coffee, but I also have an unbelievable love for yerba mate; the delicious, vitamin and electrolyte laced South American tea. So delicious!
But what about the tacos?
WHAT ABOUT THE TACOS PEOPLE
-
So my recent diagnosis with osteoarthritis has spurred me to more aggressively force myself to consume milk, though I don't like milk all that much. And so I decided to do the potentially dangerous thing and try to used our espresson/ cappuccino/ coffee maker/ steamer - in spite of the lost instruction manual - to steam me up a chia latte with pretty foam. It was quite a site to see, me cringing with oven mitts on struggling with knobs and leavers, when magically and exactly as I hoped, our happy little steamer burbled into action, and viola, but first foamy chai latte, sans third degree burns. I am proud of myself. Also, I used a coffee machine to make a tea-based beverage - do I get bonus points for bringing the two worlds together?
-
So my recent diagnosis with osteoarthritis has spurred me to more aggressively force myself to consume milk, though I don't like milk all that much. And so I decided to do the potentially dangerous thing and try to used our espresson/ cappuccino/ coffee maker/ steamer - in spite of the lost instruction manual - to steam me up a chia latte with pretty foam. It was quite a site to see, me cringing with oven mitts on struggling with knobs and leavers, when magically and exactly as I hoped, our happy little steamer burbled into action, and viola, but first foamy chai latte, sans third degree burns. I am proud of myself. Also, I used a coffee machine to make a tea-based beverage - do I get bonus points for bringing the two worlds together?
If you don't like milk, you can always take calcium supplements. Technically I'm supposed to be doing this because of my veganism and a long and glorious history of osteopenia and osteoporosis in my family, but I am lazy and I take enough damn pills as it is.
-
If you don't like milk, you can always take calcium supplements. Technically I'm supposed to be doing this because of my veganism and a long and glorious history of osteopenia and osteoporosis in my family, but I am lazy and I take enough damn pills as it is.
Sounds like somebody needs the Femeboost at the Whole Foods Smoothie bar.
-
Actually in a catch 22, I am not supposed to take calcium supplements because they counter act other medication I take for my underactive thyroid. I've been trying to figure out if I take my medication in the morning and my calcium tablet at bedtime, if there is enough time between for both to be absorbed without canceling each other out. It's hard to say. They drug warning on my thyroxine simply warn to not take calcium supplements.
-
Actually in a catch 22
So they keep raising the number of flights you have to do just as you're about to do them? and if you refuse they say you're sane and capable of flying?
Are you buying eggs in Malta?
I certainly hope so...
-
Actually in a catch 22, I am not supposed to take calcium supplements because they counter act other medication I take for my underactive thyroid. I've been trying to figure out if I take my medication in the morning and my calcium tablet at bedtime, if there is enough time between for both to be absorbed without canceling each other out. It's hard to say. They drug warning on my thyroxine simply warn to not take calcium supplements.
Since it's an absorption issue, taking the drugs with enough time in between will not impede the absorption. The most ideal time would be to take the calcium 12 hours after the synthroid, but 6-8 hours would probably be fine.
-
We've got 5 gallons of wheat beer ready to bottle today. Best hobby ever.
Homebrewing IS the best hobby ever. Right now the boyfriend and I "have to" finish off a 5 gal keg of stout to make room for our newest golden ale with lime--you know, because there isn't enough room in our 2 tap kegerator. Oh, and we're both teachers, so we're enjoying our summer plenty!
-
We want to start kegging, but we don't really have the capital right now. Kegerators are pricey!
-
Pegging is cheaper - maybe you could start with that.
-
Ah, but the human cost is much much higher.
-
We want to start kegging, but we don't really have the capital right now. Kegerators are pricey!
As I've reported here before, it was when I comptemplated buying a kegerator as you call it, that I began to seriously reconsider my priorities. However, maybe they have gotten more pricey, but back then I was looking at one to hold a full size keg gently used for $75.
~Paul
-
Oh. My. God. Have you NO LOVE for our microbial friends who make our lives golden and delicious?
I love 'em so much I got me some dolls of S. pyogenes as well as Shigella.
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/913/dcp00491ne.jpg (http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/913/dcp00491ne.jpg)
-
Nice PKD and Chinua (SP??) Achebe. You just earned some cans.
-
As I've reported here before, it was when I comptemplated buying a kegerator as you call it, that I began to seriously reconsider my priorities. However, maybe they have gotten more pricey, but back then I was looking at one to hold a full size keg gently used for $75.
We bought a conversion kit for about $170 (including fancy tap handles, all the tubing and connectors, plus the CO2 tank and regulator), and a secondhand fridge for $100, and did the drilling and fitting ourselves. Ours can hold a 1/2 barrel (15.5 gal) keg and a 5 gal Cornelius ("Corny") keg, plus the CO2 tank (we wanted to do a minimum of drilling; hence the CO2 tank is inside the fridge, we don't mind not being able to utilize every last cm3 of gas). There are two lines and two outside taps, complete with beautiful stainless steel drip trays. I [heart] our local homebrew supply shop.
We decided on this DIY approach because most commercially available kegerators were $300-500. Plus we've painted our fridge a sweet dark burgundy color.
Priorities? Like having fresh beer on draught as opposed to what? <grin>
-
Nice PKD and Chinua (SP??) Achebe. You just earned some cans.
Everyone seems to love Things Fall Apart here, but we were forced to study it for GCSE and I hated it. And it's not just because we were made to work on it; we also did Journey's End, which I absolutely loved. I prefer Achebe's short stories, which I actually really enjoy.
-
I took was also taught Things Fall Apart in school, as part of my final year of high school English. I liked it back then, but I'd love to read it again and see what I think of it now.
-
joughytrousers, you oughta post some of your Awesomeo coffee machine pictures here. I am soooo tempted to get one.
-
Coffee. Hands down.
I have been drinking coffee every day since I was 11. My parents never drank it, but we always kept some around for company. One morning I just felt like trying it, so I made some and liked it. End of story. I am so addicted that I can't function without it. I am, however, back down to 24 oz per day. It's weird, I've been drinking it for so long and become so dependent, that I've kind of gone the other way: one travel mug's worth is enough, and I just don't want any more after that. It's very strange.
That said, if by some chance I have more, I don't really feel a reaction. Coffee no longer gives me a "buzz." I just enjoy the taste and as long as I have a certain amount of caffeine in my system, I'm good to go. Strangely, delivering the caffeine via soda or tea or something else doesn't do it. It HAS to be coffee, which leads me to believe that my dependence is to a certain degree psychological.
While I prefer good coffee, and I prefer it strong (I can enjoy it black but IMO if you can drink it without milk it's not strong enough), I will say (shamefully) that if desperate I will drink whatever kind of coffee I can get; even if from the gas station, or re-microwaved leftovers from yesterday's pot (sometimes in my desperation, the microwaving is an extra step that takes too long, and I just drink it cold). I'm none too happy about it when it happens, but shitty coffee is better than no coffee. In general, however, I find I go to great lengths to ensure that I maintain a high level of quality for my coffee consumption: picking my beans with care, grinding them fresh, measuring carefully, using spring water, etc.
And dark roast? Bah. The darker the roast, the less caffeine it has. There is a cafe near here that has a drink called the "White Tiger" which I have had ONCE. It scared me to death, I felt like I'd done a line of coke. Honestly I didn't feel like I had a good handle on my reality after drinking it. It's basically barely-roasted coffee beans, so the caffeine concentration is *extremely* high, and then they brew them espresso style (a double shot) and top it off with steamed milk. It's quite tasty, but very frightening.
I drink tea to relax. So in general when I do tea it's of the herbal variety (chamomile or rooibos) to make me sleepy before bed. I used to do formal tea parties with my girlfriends every spring, with high-quality bulk teas from a local purveyor, little sandwiches, hats and gloves, the whole bit, but recent Circumstances have thrown a wrench in that in recent years.
As to the microbes that make our life better... cheese, beer, kraut, wine... these things are delicious affirmations of life, and should not be judged because of their smell or their association with bacteria. Bravo, yogurt! Bravo, kefir! Hallelujah mead!
I'm a little nervous about trying kim chee though.
And I absolutely draw the line at that crazy Corsican maggot cheese.
-
I reiterate:
There is nothing I love more than telling people how I've been drinking coffee since I was ten and that it "stunted my growth" as I am a very large person. I love getting those stares. It's almost as good as when someone asks me for a light and I go:
"Oh, sorry, I don't smoke... TOBACCO" and then stare at them REAL intently.
I'm like a character in a Vonnegut novel, I have these five or ten lines always at the ready to unnerve people I wouldn't like and identify people I would. I just wait for the way to work them in.
Also, I am a sucker for hella overpaying at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for Jamaican Blue Mountain beans for special occasions. My brother/one-of-my-roommates has one of those coffee makers with the grinder in it and it grinds seconds before the brew...
Get some spring water, clean that sucker out with some wine vinegar first....
Man, it spoils you.
-
I think maybe the reason I don't "get" coffee is that I'm really oblivious to the effects of caffeine. I probably -do- get a buzz, but I can never tell. I only notice if I start shaking or something. I'm pretty over-energetic in general, so.
I noticed this yesterday, when I drank a cherry coke at like 3 AM. I thought I wasn't getting any benefit from it, but then I couldn't fall asleep for a long time.
Also: I have a similar problem with other Drinking. Luckily, in that case I am closer to knowing exactly how much of the Thing I have had. I know what 2 drinks does to me-- I do not know what a standard amount of caffeine does to me, if there is such a unit.
to conclude, the problem is that I normally talk too much, jump around, and get over-excited. I do not normally trip over things easily, slur words, or dance without feeling Awkward and stopping.
lfm-- that reminds me. It occurs to me that part of the reason "marijuana cigarettes" do not give you Cancer is that they don't have hell of tar/ammonia/etc.
So... do people who smoke a pipe, or "roll their own" have less of a chance of getting cancer?
To clarify, I am not planning on smoking. The smell bothers me too much.
-
Actually, as far as I understood it, marijuana smoke has MANY of the carcinogens of tobacco smoking... but the difference is two-fold.
One, assuming you're smoking unadulterated weed, there aren't at least all of the additives that are added to commerical tobacco (including pipe tobacco and so on) to up the addictive properties, to make the stuff keep, to make it look uniform and palatable to the public, etc.
And two and... probably more significantly... tobacco smokers will sometimes smoke forty cigarettes a day for years on end.
As generally pro-marijuana as I am, if you are smoking forty joints a day, every day, for years on end, you are probably gonna have problems that take you down before the big C.
-
yeah, I meant the additives.
Also: I read somewhere that since you hold the marijuana smokez in your lungs longer, it just straight-up kills the lung cells instead of making them all fucked up.
-
An anti-drug PSA on the radio says that people claim that weed makes you smarter because it makes your brain bigger.
I have to believe that the people who make those things are secretly pro-drug and push their agenda by making purposely cheesy anti-drug ads that Suits will think are hip... but kids will know is actually winking reverse-psychology.
Good ol' winking reverse-psychology.
The ancient "Tobacco Is Wacko If You're A Teen" trick.
-
The ancient "Tobacco Is Wacko If You're A Teen" trick.
I have a distant memory of these commercials, is that actually what it said?
Also, smoking anything is bad. Smoking weed is better, and you don't do it as much, as already mentioned. I smoke Natural American Spirits though, and although they have no additives they are still harsh. Probably the harshest... well, I hand roll also, so there is no filter. I have no beliefs that this will kill me slower, I just like them better. Basically, I can feel cigs more than weed. You can feel these things, which is why the generations before me "we didn't know it was bad" policy is complete bullshit. I understand that they may have been lied to, but they were also lying to themselves. I have been smoking cigarettes for at least 6 years now and smoke about 1 1/2 packs worth a day, basically this is the amount I have to smoke when I go to my parents (where handrolling pisses off my mom) to feel normal (not like shit). I have tried to talk many young smokers that I know to never start (as they are starting). I have been smoking weed for at least 5 years and would recommend it to everyone. I have introduced many, many people to weed. Also coke, but me and the very select group of people I introduced to it all hate it now, which is very good. With all this said, I really, really love smoking cigarettes. This may just be the addiction talking, but they are amazing and I have never even considered stopping. I just don't want to stop. Please don't make me. But you don't start now kids.
Marijuana has like some ridiculous amount more tar than a regular cigarette (government propaganda health class taught me 16x, I think). Also, that whole holding weed smoke in thing is a myth. Something like 95% of possible absorption takes place instantly. Which doesn't mean that people don't do it, just that it doesn't matter. The reason it gets you higher is because you are getting less oxygen, just like hot boxing your car (getting high with all windows up, a.c./heat off or very low).
-
I'm a little nervous about trying kim chee though.
Kim chee is delicious. I heartily endorse kim chee.
-
Don't fear kim chee. Its just like pickles, except peppery.
-
Well, perhaps. I do like sauerkraut a lot, and kim chee is just spicy sauerkraut, basically, right? I'm a little wussy about spicy food though. Sometimes I love it and other times it's like torture. There's a Thai place here I love, and even though I request the same level of "heat" on my noodles (two stars on a 0-4 scale), sometimes it's too hot for me. Other times it's divine. I suppose it depends on which cook they've got on that night.
Still, their Thai iced tea is spectacularly delicious and cooling, so when the food is too hot, I just enjoy more tea.
Et voila! Back on topic. *bows*
-
My family is English and I was raised in the American South, which I believe are the two premier tea-drinking cultures on the planet, and yet I never touch the stuff. I have had jasmine tea from China before, which was lovely, but I'm not sure if that qualified as actual tea with tea leaves or if it is in fact just a teaesque plant infusion of some kind. In either case, it still doesn't make sense to me as a beverage. It tasted good, but I didn't really feel refreshed. You couldn't wash down a meal with something like that.
I am also completely incapable of drinking coffee. I don't really mind the taste, but I get so little caffeine I can get a buzz from eating Hershey's Special Dark, so coffee is just plain dangerous. I've never had a whole cup before, but I did once take a single No-Doz during an all-nighter (supposedly the equivalent of one cup of coffee). I felt like I was on speed for the next thirty-odd hours. It was horrifying. I'm sure if I started drinking it regularly I could build up a tolerance, but that seems to defeat the purpose.
-
Interesting.
I once ate a half a bottle of No-Doze and... all that really happened was I got REALLY mad during a screening of "Something About Mary". I have a younger cousin with Down's and so, like, I was just not having any of the jokes about the mentally impaired.
I left in a big jittery huff and then walked off the high by doing a circle of my college campus.
-
Ah, yes, those kind of walks can be quite fun.
When my doctor first prescribed Adderall for me he gave a recommended dosage of anywhere from half a tablet to two whole tablets. I was supposed to adjust the dosage to "feel out" what the ideal amount was for me. I took two tablets the very next night.
Finding myself unable to think in complete sentences, I decided to step outside and walk around the block "to clear my head." I left my house at about 9 o'clock in the evening and returned at half past midnight, having meandered two miles north to the local shopping mall and back. It had closed before I even set out, but I didn't care. I felt like Magellan.
-
man. You have hell of sensitivity. I once took twice my dosage by mistake for like a week, and all that happened is I got a headache and had trouble sleeping.
-
I just got a ritalin prescription a week or two ago, and when I took it for the first time it felt like being assimilated by the borg. My thoughts were running around like happy free children in a field, and then the ritalin tractor beam came and picked them up and carried them, kicking and screaming, to their boxes. "No!" they clamored, "I was thinking about something! I'm not done!" To no avail. Once they were all boxed up in neat little rows they looked up at me, saying, "So Alternate, what do you want us to do now?" It was really creepy. I was like, "What? You guys want to obey me? But you never do that. Shouldn't you be out running in circles and breaking things, or something?"
The other weird thing is that the world looked different. Normally everything looks kind of trippy to me, everything looks like there's more to it than meets the eye, everything looks like it has potential. Normally when I walk down the hall I always stop and look at things and go, "Man! Have you seen the curve of this pipe! Look at how it cuuuurves... and oh man look at the shadows in that corner, they remind me of a cave in a rainforest or something. Like a place where ichthyosaurs would live, if they lived in caves. Hey, we should go to that museum with the ichthyosaur skeleton, that place is awesome..." But on ritalin I walked into my office, and it basically looked like a room with desks and chairs. It never looks that way. And when I was walking to class there were about five occasions when I thought something like, "Hmm, that pipe looks interesting- ah well. Better get to class."
-
I get hella issues when I drink coffee or strong tea now. I spent much of my teenage years doing questionable drugs, and now am left with a cup of coffee, similarly, making me feel like I've dropped a wrap of speed. My head feels that way, and I start to get hallucinations - flashes of light, and various images I take to be things in my peripheral vision. Therefore, when I have to drink it for the caffeine, if I need to stay awake, it doesn't exactly let me be particularly useful.
I did hear that by ditching the first cup of tea from a bag you wash like, 90% of the caffeine out of it, and since I drink most of the teas I drink very weak (all fancy teas or at least earl grey), that works for me. Coffee I can get away with drinking socially, when it tends to affect me less, but I still have to be wary, and make sure I don't drink it anywhere up to 6 to 12 hours before I want to go to sleep, depending on how tired or insomniac-riddled i'm likely to be.
-
I'm hell of bipolar and I get really, really irritable when I take any sort of caffeine. I can handle 2 cups of green tea per day, or some yerba mate', but I get really unpleasant when my system gets overloaded. I can't even really drink iced tea, it's too strong.
-
I'm up to about 12 12oz cups a day now. That's 144 oz. of strong coffee.
Is that like a Mega Big Gulp or something? By today's standards, that's probably a "medium."
-
Is that like a Mega Big Gulp or something? By today's standards, that's probably a "medium."
You mean 'Grande', surely?
I used to drink coffee like that. Back in my good ol' days of computing. Hence I drink infusiony type tea now, as if I can't smoke cigarettes, I need something that feels remotely like a vice. At least late on I can switch to scotch.
-
alternate-- just don't do what I did. DO NOT Slowly build up a tolerance and convince yourself you can go off of it. The next step is that you slowly fuck up almost all of your classes, and don't really realize this until the midterm rolls around.
-
That sounds like good advice. When I stop taking classes and start doing research it will probably be both possible and necessary for me to stop taking it, but for now it seems like a creepy but useful tool. And I have the kind that only lasts for a few hours, so I can take it when I'm doing homework and let it wear off when I want to socialize or daydream or something, so that's good.
-
yeah. I wish my parents hadn't been all "good for you, daniel!" when I told them I was off of it.
And it's just sitting there. Sitting in the cabinet...
is it illegal to take something which you used to have a prescription for? A friend needs to know.
-
yes.
-
damn, that's bull.
-
Check the date on the prescription, though. Sometimes they run for a surprisingly long time.
-
What? Is it ever illegal to take a prescription drug? As opposed to procuring it in an unauthorized fashion?
-
I just got a ritalin prescription a week or two ago, and when I took it for the first time it felt like being assimilated by the borg. My thoughts were running around like happy free children in a field, and then the ritalin tractor beam came and picked them up and carried them, kicking and screaming, to their boxes. "No!" they clamored, "I was thinking about something! I'm not done!" To no avail. Once they were all boxed up in neat little rows they looked up at me, saying, "So Alternate, what do you want us to do now?" It was really creepy. I was like, "What? You guys want to obey me? But you never do that. Shouldn't you be out running in circles and breaking things, or something?"
Whoa, I just now really read this post, and I need some of this stuff. At least some days.
-
How on earth would you ever get caught?
-
Well, sure, but there are plenty of things that are illegal that it's hard to get caught doing if you have, like, a decent lock on the bedroom door. It doesn't mean there aren't crazy laws against it.
-
well, I mean, yeah. I decided to break that law. It would have been kind of silly to feel bad about taking something which was given to my by a doctor... when... I mean... my doctor does not give me vodka, and yet I drink this substance.
edit: TI? more like... TMI! Suffice it to say the stuff I had previously posted here was unnecessary, basically trying to justify to myself what I could have summed up as... what I have now inserted above.
I am working on the thing where I feel the urge to relate everything that pops into my head.
-
I don't see how it could be against the law to take something you have an old prescription for. I have two bottles of controlled substances in my medicine cabinet that I got when I had surgery (neither of which I took because I am terrified of drugs, but that is another story.) These prescriptions were written to be filled one time with no refills so basically they expired the moment I filled them the first time. Would it have been illegal for me to take them that day? Was I only permitted to take them for 7 days if I had seven pills, and if I skipped a day but then took one on the eighth day was that illegal? I don't see how that's possible. So how could it be illegal now?
-
They give expiration dates, refill limits, and symptom guidelines for a reason. ;)
That's why.
-
How on earth would you ever get caught?
A few years back some friends were helping me move, and one of them asked "You got any Tylenol or anything?" All I could readily find was Tylenol with codeine that I got via prescription when I pulled a muscle a few months earlier. "This is a prescription," I told her, "take it at your own risk." She did so.
A couple weeks later, she had to take a drug test for a new job. Zing! Positive for codeine, and when she couldn't produce a scrip they said "Too bad, no jobby job for you."
I felt awful about it, but she was cool, said it was her own fault.
-
I think the best way to judge the situation is this - if you went to your doctor today and asked him to re-write the prescription, would he? If so, it's sorta moot.
-
yeah. I did that. And it is mostly working out? it seems to be making me really nervous, though... my mouth is dry and I'm queasy all day. Weird.
-
A few years back some friends were helping me move, and one of them asked "You got any Tylenol or anything?" All I could readily find was Tylenol with codeine that I got via prescription when I pulled a muscle a few months earlier. "This is a prescription," I told her, "take it at your own risk." She did so.
A couple weeks later, she had to take a drug test for a new job. Zing! Positive for codeine, and when she couldn't produce a scrip they said "Too bad, no jobby job for you."
I felt awful about it, but she was cool, said it was her own fault.
But what if you took it? And the prescription was that old? No job for you either?
-
yeah. I did that. And it is mostly working out? it seems to be making me really nervous, though... my mouth is dry and I'm queasy all day. Weird.
Yeah, I think it might be doing that to me, too. Lately I've been like, "Oh god! I'm so stressed out! I mean... my homework is all done, I'm ahead of schedule on everything, socially and financially I'm doing fine, but... there must be something to be stressed out about! Give me a minute, I'll think of something..."
I am working on the thing where I feel the urge to relate everything that pops into my head.
See, for most people this would be a problem, but in your case the random crap that your brain says to you is actually interesting. I didn't see what you erased, though, so I can't really speak to this particular instance.
-
thanks! basically what I erased was a big paragraph of "oh shit, I took it! fuck! holy shit, I'm freaking out! My head hurts, is that a side effect? I can't do my work! I should be doing my work! Shit! Fuck! Holy shit, I am freaking out! Do you think this is from the pills!"
My problem is that this just seems to be magnifying my usual problem with work-- I get so overwhelmed just thinking about it that I get stressed before I even start. So then, once I actually -do- start, I immediately feel like I need a break.
Apparently I have a midterm friday? and one tomorrow? Damn.
So many flashcards to make. At least that doesn't really involve thought.
-
But what if you took it? And the prescription was that old? No job for you either?
At that point, the scrip was still valid (I think it was for a year), so that would be fine. If it had been expired, then no jobby job for me either under such circumstances.
-
My problem is that this just seems to be magnifying my usual problem with work-- I get so overwhelmed just thinking about it that I get stressed before I even start. So then, once I actually -do- start, I immediately feel like I need a break.
I used to have that problem a lot, back in the day. I also sometimes took ritalin back in the day, and yeah, it never helped with that. If I'm stuck on an assignment because it's just too damn boring and trying to keep my attention on it is like trying to keep a toddler from touching something shiny, then the drugs come in handy. But if I'm stuck on an assignment because for some reason I've decided that working on it would be terrifying and tragic, then ritalin doesn't change that. I also don't really find "will power" that helpful in that situation either, and by "will power" I mean "threats, yelling at myself, beating myself up, etc," because it only stresses me out more and makes the assignment seem more ominous. So when that happens to me, and it mostly happens with writing assignments, I try to think, "Okay Alternate, you've got two assignments for tonight. The second assignment is to write this paper. But the first assignment is to figure out why you're so scared of writing this paper, and figure out how to be less scared." That way it's kind of like a puzzle. And puzzles, I can do.
Basically, though, it usually comes down to talking an assignment down instead of talking it up, for me. Like, if I've got an important paper to write and I'm playing tetris instead of writing it, it's natural to try telling myself, "Stop playing tetris right now! You have to write your paper! If you don't write your paper you'll fail at everything, you'll never have friends or children, for the rest of your life strangers on the subway will glare at you as they silently mock your work ethic..." But when I say that the scared part of my brain just hides under the bed and covers its ears and goes, "La la la I can't hear you the tetris music is too loud!" So instead I tell myself, "You know what? This assignment is dumb. This assignment is no big deal. I'm just going to write some bullshit for it, who the hell cares what I write? Look at me, writing this random stream-of-consciousness bullshit, here I go! Ha!" And of course I can edit it later. But it usually turns out to be not-bullshit-after-all, because I actually do have thoughts I want to express and facts to back them up and a basic grasp of the english language, the hard part is just convincing myself that it's okay to start writing those thoughts down, and that god isn't reading over my shoulder, holding a lightning bolt, just waiting for an excuse to smite something.
-
I feel like a tiny can is a poor substitute for the internet hug I want you to have.
thanks. that makes a lot of sense.
-
Aw, thanks babe. A hypothetical hug to you, too.
Have some good sleep, and some good school.