Tag: coffee

Decaf

It was almost a running joke among my coworkers that I’d sooner than later die of a heart attack due to a caffeine overdose. Apparently my body needs at least 8 hours of sleep to function properly, if not more – at least so I thought. Since getting 8 hours of sleep would require me to either cut down on working out or go to bed right after eating, and neither of those sound like very good options.

As it always is with substances, resistance builds up, so on bad days I’d need 3 cans of energy drinks just to remain functional (and still far from optimal). I got fed up with that eventually (and judging from the signals, my body too), and I decided to go no-caffeine on my birthday. I didn’t decide how long I’d keep it up, but the bare minimum is a month.


El Salvador Pacamara

The other day I noticed that Starbucks rolled out another coffee, so of course I gave it a try. El Salvador Pacamara (as the name suggests) comes from Central America, where its grown “on the slopes of a volcano”, on the Montecarlos coffee estate. I tend to expect full-bodied and dark roasted, aromatic coffees from the Americas, and Pacamara was no letdown.


コーヒーに関する考察

何年か前に、多分今のアパートに引っ越してきた2回生のとき、コーヒー機買った。ドリップでは100g前後の挽いた豆で4日分のコーヒーができる。

当然のところ、4日おいとくだけあるし、最初のできたてのときは心臓がやばいくらいに強いコーヒーが飲めるに対して、そのあとは対したことないと言える。だから試験期間とかの間、普通に一日で10杯くらいは飲んだこともある。

ただ最後の一杯、やかんの下に多分カフェイン全部沈殿してるからかはわからないけど、その最後はまた「いいね、これはコーヒーの本当の力」って感が出る。今ちょうどそんな一杯を飲んで、血圧が現在天文学的な高さに上昇中。


Coffee

Just now I found this nice infographic about the average coffee consumption around the world on facebook, and I just had to check how I’m faring.

Current Worldwide Annual Coffee Consumption per capita


Starbucks Christmas

Today i went to grab my dose of coffee for the coming ~10 days at the local Starbucks, and the whole place’s already in full Christmas mood. I got a sample of their Christmas blend and some “cranberry bliss bar” cookie, with encouraging introduction from the barista girl saying they match really well because of their cinnamon spiciness.

I was a bit confused at first about the “spicy” part when i actually put the samples to the test, since the coffee had a really nice, sweet berry-like aroma, supplemented by a warm and smooth (and indeed with a tint of cinnamon) taste. However, the real wonder came when i munched down the cookie bit too: the two together turned into the all-so-familiar (and all-so-missed) taste of mince pie.

I even considered actually buying a bigger dose of the duo then and there, but alas, i’m not well-off enough to pay 300 yen for a single slice of cookie (and i was buying the beans anyway, though of the espresso Christmas roast).


Starbucks Brazil

I was a bit surprised the other day when i went to the local Starbucks and saw that they have a new special coffee out-it’s been i-don’t-even-know-how-long since they last had one. The Brazil roast or blend or whatever you want to call it is supposedly a mild blend, so i didn’t really have high expectations for it.

I prefer dark, full bodied roasts. Brazil is definitely not one of those, but it smells sweet, almost like honey, and freshly brewed it doesn’t even feel all too mild. Of course it’s not a stinging harsh thing like the French roast, but there’s a however quickly fading touch that i consider the real face of every coffee, that moment when you can feel its aroma all at once.


Különbség a kávé és a tea között

Kávét bírok teljesen önmagában inni, sőt, csak úgy szeretem. Ezzel ellentétben a fekete teával vannak gondok. (Zöldet meg nem iszok annyit, hogy bármi feltűnhetne.) Ha tejjel és mézzel iszom, ahogy egyébként mindig, ha van itthon tej és méz (és mostanában egyszerűen nem volt pénzem mézet venni), akkor nincs semmi gond, ellenben ha magában iszom, akkor a következő dolgok történnek.

Először is, felébredek tőle. Ha rakok bele valamit, akkor is mindig felserkent a tea, bár teljesen máshogy, mint a kávé. A kávé robbanásszerűen és úgy, hogy alig bírok magammal, ezzel szemben a tea csendesen és úgy, hogy mindenképpen alkotni akarok valamit. Lehet az programkód, blogbejegyzés (hoppá), vagy akár novella vagy vers is (mint az gimis koromban igen sokszor előfordult, hiszen akkor nem kávéztam még). Ha viszont magában iszom a teát, akkor ugyan egy kicsit vadabbul ébreszt fel, cserébe viszont halványan megfájdul tőle a fejem, rázni kezd a hideg és furcsán émelygek tőle.

Az is jelentős különbség, hogy kávém nincs itthon (pontosabban eszpresszóba való van, csak az eszpresszófőzőben eldugult valami, úgyhogy az kiesik), ellenben teám annyi, mint a tenger. Persze mézem sincs.


Starbucks House blend

After the mild Breakfast blend, even the medium House blend feels bold. It’s as typical a Starbucks coffee as can be.

The steam is sweet and has something in it that reminds me of the warmth of an maple. The coffee itself is nicely sharp and crispy, but at the same time has the same warm taste to it, which turns out to be more like cocoa than maple. It’s more sweet and way bolder than i expected it to be, and that surprise is one of the few good things that happened to me today. I’ll enjoy drinking this coffee for a week (until it runs out).


Starbucks Breakfast blend

I was not a bit hesitant to give the Breakfast blend a try (the same goes for the House blend). Why? Because i like bold coffee, and the Breakfast blend is labelled as “mild”. My first impression is that though it smells and looks like coffee and gives the impression of a coffee when tasted, i at first had trouble identifying what taste it is exactly. It has a fresh, sweet aroma, but that as well feels so… familiar? humble? quiet? that i got used to it in the matter of moments. The taste is likewise quiet, the usual “coffee punch” is more like a “coffee fondle”–it’s soft and clean. A bit of citrusy freshness, and the rest is just the coffee. I’m surprised though how long the taste lingers after a good cup, it’s so mild i expected it to vanish right away. I don’t yet know how well this blend will be able to wake me up. It’ll be tested tonight.


Starbucks Autumn blend

It’s getting cold outside, and more and more i start to favor hot coffee instead of cold again. Now the local Starbucks has this new blend i haven’t seen before in the past two years, an autumn special called, very imaginatively, Autumn blend.

The fresh brew has this slightly burnt, well roasted, thick (or rather, as the packaging puts it, syrupy) warm aroma. It’s actually a bit darker than i thought it’d be, but there is also a sweet but crisp touch to it that softens it.

At first i was surprised how familiar it tastes. If you search the blog archives for “Starbucks” you’ll see that i already tried most if not all of the bold (and bolder) coffees, so there’s plenty to compare it with. Looking at the packaging though it says that it’s a blend of Guatemala Antigua and Sumatra produced beans, both of which i already wrote about. As the scent suggested, it’s indeed quite a dark roast, though nowhere as much as the French roast. What’s surprising is that unlike the Guatemala Antigua, the aftertaste is rather smooth and sweet. Much smoother and sweeter than I’d expect.

This blend is nothing unusual, i’d have expected something more special for a special blend, but it’s good and warms well on chilly autumn evenings.