A few days ago, Gordon said, “Look at these pretty cups.” I came to look, and indeed the cups were very pretty. That’s where it ended except that said cups now arrived in the mail and were presented to me by my husband as a surprise.
I’m drinking Zhang Autumn Oolong from Verdant Tea, brewed at 180 degrees out of my new fancy cup, and it is delicious and light. Oolongs are an acquired taste, like grapefruit, but right now they are hitting the spot. I really like the roasted varieties.
Gordon doesn’t drink tea, but he drinks coffee, the normal variety in the morning, and we both drink decaff at night. We go through a lot of HEB coffee. Mmm, Bavarian Hazelnut…
It’s become a little ritual. I know the workday is over when I get a cup of decaff at night and sip it, while playing computers games.
We usually buy whole bean, and we’ve been using the simple coffee grinders to grind it, like this Mr. Coffee one.
Gordon decided he wanted to upgrade, so we bought this.
We hate it. It is incredibly loud, like a jet taking off, it takes forever, and it doesn’t seem to actually grind enough coffee. Even when set to maximum capacity of 18 cups, it makes less than 1/4 cup of ground coffee. I have to grind repeatedly and the noise level is insane. This morning, I got up first and reached right for the old grinder, because the entire point of making coffee before your spouse gets up is to surprise them with hot coffee, not jolt them out of their sleep with a sawmill in your kitchen.
The grinder was expensive at $60, and I would return it, except that there is nothing technically wrong with it. It just sucks. Loudly. Maybe it’s defective and we just don’t know? Anyhow, do not recommend. We’ll have to find an alternative.
What are your hot drink preferences?
Breakfast in Paris and Double Bergamot Earl Gray from Stash Tea! I drink pots every day!
love stash tea
We have the same grinder, and it is really loud. But the HEB beans just don’t work in it because they are so oily that they get stuck in the grinder. We love Ruta Maya beans but they don’t have the fancy flavors.
Stash tea is the best!
Yes to both
Return anyway, as you Really Dislike it. That is a good enough reason. Tell them the reason why or find someone hard of hearing who likes fresh ground coffee and give it to them.
If you bought it and disliked it when you first opened the box you would return it. Well Return It Now!
Yes! do so.
If you have Prime and it’s not been 30 days it shouldn’t be a problem. You can’t tell if you like an appliance until you use it.
Or give it to your favorite young cafe-nista. I went through the exact same process. HATED the fancy grinder. My hubby hated it more as such racket would be verboten in his perfect morning world. AND it made a coffee dust mess.
Gave the machine to my nephew. He LOVES it and I am now the favorite aunt. And every morning I happily reach for my ancient Krups grinder and blitz my beans.
Cups are very pretty!
I prefer tea too.
Have a great weekend.
Coffee. Have the same Cuisinart grinder and yes is loud, but seems to work fine when we use it. We use 8 cup setting with our french press. However, have recently switched to the Tchibo single-serve, Bean-To-Brew coffee & espresso machine. Makes a max 8oz of coffee at a time… but we love the quality of what we get in that 8oz… Only real complaint of it is that the water container is a pain to get to if you keep the machine on counter with cabinets above it.
I use a similar grinder. Noisy and makes too much powdered coffee.
I wish I could get one of those grinders that were in stores about twenty years ago for grinding the whole bean coffee that you bought right then. They have a large grinder that rotates much slower and gives an even grind. They were very tall, but it would be worth it to get the perfect grind, ( and relatively quiet too)
I’m a tea and lemon drinker. I start at 4 AM when I get up and just drink tea all day.
Depends on my mood and the levels of caffeine required but I stay in the realm of tea: earl gray, English breakfast, masala chai, honey bush pumpkin spice, green tea with lemon grass and a bit of mint…etc.
Love the smell of coffee but could never get used to the taste.
Deathly allergic to chocolate so cocoa is a no go.
So tea, tea, and more tea. 🙂
Coffee smells good, but never tastes as good as it smells. (Although with sugar and cream, it’s good when you’re camping.)
Salt it. Not “make it salty”, you don’t want to taste the salt, but a little salt smoothes out the rough edges of the flavor, makes it less bitter. Salt your grapefruit, too (do it the night before to let osmosis move the salt throughout the fruit)- delicious
We have the Breville Smart Grinder Pro. It’s loud too. I think all burr grinders are, but we like it!
Right now, I’m drinking Rishi Chai, a Yirgacheffe (my husband roasts our beans) for hot coffee and Stok cold brew in the afternoon.
I have that one, though mine is probably 10 years old. I agree, it is loud. I actually usually get a lot of bean from it, so not sure where all of yours went. I think I usually twist the top to grind between medium and coarse, if that helps.
I think grinding is essential to good tasting coffee.
As someone who likes to buy things for life I recommend the Baratza brand. I have the entry model (Encore), it is much louder than the Virtuoso, the model my noise sensitive BIL bought.
If you ever want to fall down a coffee research rabbit hole, check out James Hoffmann’s YouTube channel.
https://baratza.com/choosing-your-grinder/
Second the James Hoffman recommendation, just make sure you watch James and not Hames Joffman (unless you want the giggles.)
We have a Baratza, it is loud. The KitchenAid is quieter and is good enough for French Press and drip. I should try it in the Moka but I still have Bustelo left.
The problem with James Hoffman is that he can come across as a pretentious snob. He’s not. He’s English, so there’s the accent. He’s smart, witty and extremely passionate about coffee. He’s completely aware that a lot of the tools he plays with are outside the budgets of most people.It’s more a matter of him testing gadgets and techniques out, giving you his honest pros and cons. If you have any questions about coffee, you’ll probably find your answers there.
And , proof that I’m a plebe, the fancy machine I had was a Baratza. After I gave it to the ecstatic nephew and went back to my Krups, I couldn’t tell much difference. Maybe because I drink very strong French roast from my French press? With cream. I know, I know, dark roast loses much of the fruitiness of the beans. What can I say? I’m old. I like what I like. ????????♀️
Me too – my Krups is older than my marriage is and I’m French roast all day, lol.
I’m addicted to James Hoffmann on YouTube, and I have minimal coffee equipment!
Agreed — Definitely the Baratza Encore! We don’t have an issue with the noise, and it’s really quick!
We have that coffee grinder at work…. it is extremely loud and if you are on a teams call everyone is like “what was that?!?”.
Lately I have been enjoying a hot chocolate with caramel creamer and a splash of coffee to cut the sweetness.
Jasmine Green Tea. I also like coffee with cinnamon and french vanilla and chocolate. I don’t like the taste of coffee usually. Only once have I had coffee that was good black. I wish I knew what kind. it was not bitter at all and tasted just like that wonderful coffee smell that promises so much but lies.
You can still return it. Amazon has no problem with that. As long as you’re still in your 30 days.
Also, if it’s not grinding enough for the setting it’s on it definitely counts as defective or not as described.
Siobhan is right that the 30 days is the important bit, so don’t prevaricate if you’re within that still.
I drink a small pot of coffee every day. Usually in the morning, though sometimes I finish it in early afternoon. I also drink a lot of water and keep several teas (Earl Grey and whatever the hell else I feel like getting when I decide to buy some tea). Then there’s Crio Bru brewed cacao, which I have developed quite a fondness for.
I make my own hot chocolate mix and the first coffee of the day is usually mocha. I also keep Tang around because sometimes nothing except hot Tang will do – I haven’t drunk the stuff cold since I was a kid.
On a good productive day my tea of choice is Black Spiral from the Tao of Tea: “Black Spiral tea is a malty, gold leaf black tea from Guangxi Province, one of the main tea-growing regions of China. Representing some of the smoothest black teas from Guangxi, Black Spiral is notable for its prominent gold tips. Only certain tea plant cultivars have the characteristic to transition into a golden color during leaf processing. Golden-colored leaves generally provide a more honey-like texture to the brew.”
On a bad day that still needs to be productive, it’s hot cocoa made mainly with 70-85% dark chocolate and oat milk. If I need it to be sweeter, I add mini marshmallows.
If I don’t need to be productive, hot spiced apple cider.
I drink cold brewed Lipton tea. I have to filter my water since taking it from the tap is not a very good idea these days.
Oolong tea is very good when it’s brewed right. I’ve had oolong tea that wasn’t brewed right and it tasted like wet tree bark. Yuck! 🙁
You might want to consider looking at America’s Test Kitchen or Cook’s Country to find out what they found was the best coffee grinder. I think it was a burr grinder, but I am not sure what brand it is off the top of my head since I don’t drink coffee.
here are the burr & blade recommendations
KRUPS CCMF 1500813231 Electric Spice and Coffee Grinder with Stainless Steel Blades, 3 oz / 85 g, Black
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004SPEU/?tag=ciosearchresult-20
Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder (Black
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007F183LK/?tag=ciosearchresult-20
I start off the day with coffee (New Mexico Piñon Coffee — Adobe Morning is my fav). We just got an HEB here, so I’ll try the Hazelnut. For science!
Later I move to tea. I like a number of black teas from Rakkasan tea. I’ve gotten some from Adagio as well. If I’m in the mood for green, I like Casablanca and Zenish from NM tea co. A few places have a vanilla green blend that is nice. Adagio has a lemon cloud rooibos for the decaf crowd. I like to have a mint tea on hand as well.
I was given a Puerh blend with cinnamon and vanilla that makes me happy.
I’m kind of a tea and coffee fiend. I plan on stalking the discussion for ideas.
Even though I cam up as a vampire in the Innkeeper poll, I’d like to point out I can TOTALLY hold my coffee.
Hehehe 😀
if you don’t want to use it, return it and give it a review about why. they can’t fix things like “too noisy for no good reason, also doesn’t grind the coffee beans, we get 1/4 cup!” if buyers don’t tell them. plus, it’s not as of Amazon is a small business that it will affect their bottom line. life is too short to put up with extraneous noise IMO.
I mean, it’s all about your energy levels, but sounds like this is a send it back situation. you didn’t mention one thing you Like about it.
Also I mostly enjoy herbals and I’m really into roasted dandelion right now. I did try a Sage and Wild Mint combo recently that was So Strong on the Sage. I may have give it away.
I do drink caffeinated when partaking of Afternoon Tea. Generally Earl Grey or Genmai Cha.
I’m a huge coffee geek. HUGE. I have my own commercial espresso set up at home, among many other coffee-making things.
It sounds like you guys want to elevate your coffee experience a bit, but you want simple, fits into your current routine, and not super loud. Honestly, when it comes to grinders, you get what you pay for. And $60 may seem expensive compared to a $15 whirly-blade grinder, but for a burr grinder, it’s cheap junk. Plastic parts that will break down in a year or two and require buying a new grinder. The uber-cheap whirly-blade grinders most households use chop the beans into uneven chunks and dust that end up extracting a more bitter tasting brew. Burr grinders, by contrast, produce an even grind that allows for a far superior extraction that is smoother and allows for more flavor profile. GOOD burr grinders are made of high end metal or ceramic parts that will last for years and years and years.
My go-to grinder rec for people doing any kind of coffee brewing OTHER than espresso, is the Baratza Encore, but it’s $160-ish investment. This is the grinder I bought for my Mom and her drip machine.
If that’s just too much money, you can go with a Capresso Infinity. Not as high quality as the Baratza, but a solid entry level grinder that will last at least a few years.
I can’t speak to how loud either of these are. I have a Baratza Sette, which is a few steps up. I will say, burr grinders in general are far louder than the rinky dink whirly blade grinders. It kind of is what it is, to an extent.
I can talk about coffee all day, so if anyone has any questions, you can feel free to shoot me an email!
*Note to self*: no burr grinders. I have misophonia, the grinding/revving engine noise is my worst nightmare. A motorcycle starting 2 houses away can ruin my day, let alone that in my kitchen first thing in the morning! No thank you please. I’ll stick with ready ground and forever be known as a coffee dilettante.
Don’t worry about that, Mod R. I don’t like coffee so I stay far, far, far away from it. If anyone asks me about coffee, I just tell them, ” I wouldn’t know, I don’t drink coffee”, and watch as their faces go from a sour lemon look to surprise. 😀
We won’t take away your BDH card.
Try saying you don’t drink coffee when everyone knows you are from Seattle – really interesting looks. I like for a while in WI and don’t drink beer. Go figure.
If I feel the need for a hot drink its black tea – English breakfast.
I completely understand! I live in Napa Valley, California, and don’t drink wine. Given that, I’m always the designated driver, which works for me.
Ha ha ha! I mean, I am a self-admitted coffee snob! But I totally get that not everyone is. Some burr grinders are quieter – and faster – than others, but yeah, if you have misophonia, might not be for you. EXCEPT, hand burr grinders are actually really easy to use, cheap, and they have high quality burrs and do an excellent job! And they are QUIET. Hario is a good brand.
If you can’t stand the sound of an electric burr grinder, get a hand-crank grinder. It’s significantly slower than an electric, but for one or two people it’s perfectly acceptable. And it does NOT sound like a dental drill!
Just say no to blade grinders. Never ever snever. Blade grinders CANNOT give you an even grind, so you will always get a mix of overbrewed and underbrewed coffee in the same cup.
If you want to experiment at little to no cost, check out javapresse.com. They have a hand crank grinder that does a pretty good job at low cost since they tend to use it as a loss leader. It’s not suitable for an espresso grind, but for drip/press/pourover, it’s great.
No issues with noisy grinders here, just honestly too lazy so I’ll join you Mod R as a coffee dilettante. I upgraded recently to an Nespresso and am now totally spoiled with that version of ready ground coffee.????
My friend got a burr grinder and it took a very good coffee to excellent! As an occasional coffee drinker, my question is how important is the timing of the grinding of the beans? Could you grind them the day before during a noisy part of the day without losing quality?
Beans start losing flavor profile within minutes of grinding (some say as soon as 30 seconds). I ALWAYS grind right before brewing. I also store freshly roasted beans in the freezer (after the initial 2 to 3 days of degassing). This maintains peak freshness, and ensures the best coffee result every time.
I like Purity Coffee. I have real health issues when I drink mold tainted coffee, which is most coffee in the USA. This country is one of the few that has no mold testing requirements for coffee. As a result, when a grower has a batch of coffee that fails the mold tests in another country, they just take it to the USA and sell it here!
Here’s my preferred grinder: TIMEMORE Chestnut C2 MAX Manual Coffee Grinder. It’s a manual grinder but super easy to use. Trust me, I have no hand strength whatsoever so if I can use it anyone can.
Green tea is my fav, especially Clouds and Mist from The Tea Spot.
Love my C2! Only one I can afford lol but happy with the grind.
Your cups and kitchen are lovely! I drink coffee once or twice a day and rooibos tea otherwise. Last Christmas I discovered that mixing brewed hazelnut coffee with Arctic White hot chocolate mix is really yummy. Regular hot chocolate mix works too. We use coffee pods so I just put in the cup and stir while it fills.
I’m a tea drinker. As long as the tea isn’t Earl Grey or similar, I’ll like it. My preferences do run to jasmine, crysanthemum, oolong, and darjeeling.
Cawfee… never ever ever. I don’t like the smell or taste of any type. It’s a running joke among my friends, family, and coworkers.
Glad to know I am not alone.
I love tea. I even bought a tea maker and use it daily. I make about a liter and drink most of in the 1 hour window as the machine keeps it warm. I use loose leaf tea, a decent quality one, but no fancy flavors.
No coffee. No Earl Gray. (Actually none of the bergamot heavy teas – bergamot is a lovely perfume, but I don’t care for the taste.) Also for me – no mint teas.
They smell nice, but I don’t drink them.
I was the despair of my mother, who lived on coffee and cigarettes (don’t smoke either). However, the main reason for “no coffee” was her coffee maker. My father bought her a 30 cup coffee urn when I was a teen and she filled it up every night and plugged it in at 5:30 the next morning. They drank coffee all day and poured out any left overs about midnight so Mama could set it up again. The only time it got more than a quick rinse was when I offered to clean it for her.
This was 60 years ago and I still can’t face coffee.
Espresso with steamed milk, the Morning ritual became a ritual when our 3 children were small, the first person up will start the machine, shower, brew coffe for the other and take it upstairs to enjoy together before the day begins .
When this started it was the only quiet time together -we still do it and love it, even though as i write this our eldest is in the air somewhere over asia on her way to a trimester in an australian university ????. Thats almost as far away as possible -no hugs from her until august, i will need my morning ritual…
Nanna
If your daughter likes the same coffee as you, she’ll be happy in Australia, and if she’s heading to Melbourne, she’ll be in heaven. Most coffees you buy in Australia are espresso with steamed milk. Even our McDonalds have a McCafe where you buy espresso coffees. She’ll just have to study up on what type of coffee she wants— Latte, Flat White, Long or Short Machiato, Ristretto, etc.
A local tea house that I often go to when I want to splurge on an afternoon tea makes a custom blend of peach oolong tea that I absolutely love. When it was closed during Covid and I ran out, I was miserable. Now I stock up, just in case.
Ooooo! Peach Oolong sounds wonderful! What’s the name of the company? Maybe they have a website or online presence? ????
Hi Breann. Unfortunately, it’s a local tea house in a converted historic home in Mississauga, Ontario. They don’t ship international or online. It’s only sold in their retail shop on premises.
Thank you for your reply! Maybe you could encourage them to sell on Etsy to broaden their sales base? ????????
Now I have to check out this tea. They are closed today, but later in the week, after the snow. I haven’t been in ages. Still sad the European pastry cafe closed years ago. And now to hunt up cups as pretty as Ilona’s new cups.
I love Oolong tea and Earl Grey. The cups are very pretty also!
I received the exact same coffee grinder as a gift, (a backhanded one at that, lots of hemming and hawing about how much better it is than the one I already owned) and feel exactly the same way! Loud and obnoxious, and not a good as my $13 one.
I agree with you – I received a burr grinder as a gift and I have to put on ear muffs when I turn it on! but I love the evenness of the grind. Le sigh…
Coffee in the morning, although I need to up my game, if the delightful James Hoffman is anyone to go by (he certainly has things to say about grinders… and everything else). In the early afternoon there might be tea. Trader Joe’s chai makes me happy and I just got some cardamom tea from Ahmad Tea that is delish. Yup, gonna make some now….
Tea — usually the white teas (a little less acid – stomach not what it was)
… found a loose-leaf white chai that is lovely, once you get used to it
… also Jasmine – dragon/pheonix pearl by preference
And hot cocoa at night if I am not sleeping or have to sit upright for a while.
I keep a very dusty coffee grinder and french press in the upper cupboard for guests.
My spouse also can’t handle black teas in the morning due to stomach acid. He switched to roiboos teas, mostly from Adagio, and has been very happy. He likes their Tumeric Bliss, and for a sweet tea the Honey nut Banana.
Perhaps one of your kids will like the fancy coffee grinder — “look, happy early mothers day … get this out of my kitchen!!!”
I tried the Stash brand tea at a health resort. I am not a tea person but they didn’t serve coffee. I liked their chai tea.
The coffee purists will look at me all aghast! First thing in the morning, I stagger to my Keurig, plunk my hazelnut coffee pod in, grab a mug – sugar & cream, hit start…then stare at the keurig until the provides my life sustaining liquid.
I have tried drinking tea, hot and iced, and have yet to find anything that I can tolerate. *shudders* I must be preparing it all wrong because – ugh, bleh.
On the weekends and some evenings, when the work day is over, I will treat myself to a Coke. Otherwise, coffee in the morning then water for the rest of the day.
We have a Keurig! Again, try putting white chocolate cocoa mix in the mug before it fills, stir or whisk while it fills and add milk to taste or to cool it down.
Brit here, give me a decent English breakfast any day! Except it has to be decaf because caffeine and I don’t get along. But that’s fine, I like decaf just as much. Occasionally I dip in to other teas, but nothing ever sticks.
The only hot drinks I like are spiced tea (which tastes less like tea and more like hot cinder) and (if my husband makes his deluxe version) hot chocolate.
I love chocolate milk, but I was never that big a fan of hot chocolate. It was never creamy enough, always too hot, and just generally unsatisfying. But then I had some my husband made. He uses expensive hot chocolate mix with milk, never water, lots of mini marshmallows added, a few Hershey’s kisses dissolved in the bottom, and served with a peppermint stick for stirring. Delicious!
That type of hot chocolate is called Snowman Soup at Casa R 😀 . Sometimes we go crazy and straight up melt our favourite chocolate bar in milk, which ends up more like a chocolate sauce- that’s a Christmas day type of treat tho hehe.
If you’re ever in San Francisco, go to the Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop in Ghirardelli Square and get the “Decadent Drinking Chocolate”. It’s the most intense hot chocolate you will ever experience; its perfection is only marred by it being too thick to run through an IV.
On the other side of the country, Hershey’s Chocolate world in Hershey, PA will offer a flight of 6 different chocolates served as drinking chocolate. Really interesting to taste single origin chocolate with tasting notes.
My number one drink preference is chai. Although I sound redundant ordering out loud since I say I want a chai tea latte. I’ve left the tea word out before and ended up with a regular coffee latte, yuck. When I drink coffee, it tends to be highly adulterated coffee, full of “cream” and sugar. I tried to find chestnut praline syrup in January and discovered I should have looked for that earlier.
Bubble tea at home kits have been more available lately, and I’ve tried a few of those. They’re not bad, but I do not like the taste of paper straws. I need to buy some reusable Boba straws.
Let’s put it this way, my local starbucks employees recognize me, when I run in before I head to work.
Oooh, the bubble tea kits are dangerous! I went hard on them during the pandemic, like a crazy scientist. Dr Bobba ???? Especially with the toppings, our fridge was full of jellies and popping bubbles in all the fruit flavours and crystal pearls.
Maybe you are part Tuann ? 😉
I love Chai tea latte, too, but I add a lindor chocolate truffle to the cup while the keurig is brewing. Chocolate Chai! Yum!
Try a hot chai tea latte with pumpkin foam. You practically have to make them make buts it’s wonderful.
Dragon-eye oolong by Revolution Tea is my favorite oolong.
Earl Gray, hot, is my favorite black (and makes me feel like Picard, lol).
Lately I’ve been brewing Turkish coffee in the traditional manner (well, if butane burners are trad :-), and like it a lot.
BTW, my hand-crank coffee grinder is very quiet, lol.
Because of caffeine sensitivity, even having to watch intake of chocolate(like around 82%, best) and sodas/pop that contain it, mostly white teas with a tablespoon of hibiscus petals soaked-zapped-strained, most often, with floras and/or non-citric fruits, sometimes adding cocoa in tiny amounts. To help reduce my appetite, assist with the HBP that came on in 2019, add in a tablespoon of brown sesame, black chia,and flax seeds, each. My favorites, that I have interchangeably, rose, cherry-berry), sometimes various berry flavors, apple, peach, and plum. though not the ‘zingers’, personally.
I drink both tea and coffee. For tea, I like white tea in the late morning and Harney Vanilla comoro (decaf) for the afternoon. Both are very mild. This is because, in the early morning, I drink coffee. My two favorites are Death wish and Dead man’s reach (https://www.deathwishcoffee.com, https://ravensbrewcoffee.com). I use a Hamilton Beach grinder that is hands-free and does a lovely, very fine grind (https://hamiltonbeach.com/custom-grind-coffee-grinder-80393f). A word of caution about these coffees, they are high in caffeine, and the addiction factor is a problem. If you make sure that you never run out, they are wonderful coffees.
The husband and I do coffee in the morning and tea throughout the rest of the day. For coffee, we buy a light-medium roast and a dark roast from local coffee roaster. ????
The husband drinks whatever tea is available at his job, and I bought loose-leaf from Harney & Sons. I cannot express how much I LOVE their herbal tea –their Herbal Hot Cinnamon Spice is like drinking Fall all year long. My English friend went to Salzburg while visiting her family, and she brought me back berry and winter seasonal herbal teas from the Christkindlmarkt just to make my tea consumption more diverse. ????
We drink tea, coffee and hot cocoa in this house. I tend to be an iced coffee, hot tea person but the husband is opposite. (I think there’s a song about that) Favorite hot beverage toy is the breville frother, gifted to us by friends. It’s easy to get thing to individualized temperatures and easy enough the kiddo can do cocoa or flavored milk (we call them moo steamers) without help.
I enjoy mint tea if I don’t want honey, or I love lemon or raspberry with honey. I tend towards herbal teas over green/black teas.
Being too loud and not grinding the amount it says it will IS something wrong with it. I would return it.
Regular tea doesn’t have enough flavor for me, so I make my own chai and other mixes using instant tea as a base.
I love tea. My tea stash is very unreasonable. Not gonna lie. ???????? Oolong, mint, white, peach, cardamom, and basically anything not super green (I can do blends, but not straight grassy green) are all contenders. It really depends on my mood. Unfortunately, I also go through a lot of headache-type teas. The Verdant Oolongs are really lovely and I was amazed how you can get so many different flavors from just a plain tea. ????
Also, well done to Gordon for such a pretty gift of cups! ????????????
I have the that grinder. It’s loud, but not as loud as my children and I’m not having the output problem. That’s interesting. Next time I need one, I’m going to look for a somewhat quieter one, but that one suffices for now.
I like most all hot drinks though. Tea, coffee, cocoa. I’m fond of Irish Breakfast Tea, so my mother got me a big bag for Christmas and I’ve been enjoying that as well as black tea with lemon and honey because everyone has been sick lately.
Hot chocolate with different types of extract like lemon or orange or raspberry or mint. It’s fun. I like a couple of teas and no coffee.
I’ve been on a milk tea craze. Hong Kong milk tea, chai, anything with a decent amount of milk+ strong black tea. The ritual of making it in the stove is soothing.
We’ve also been drinking lots of Harney and Sons Roasted Buckwheat soba tea at night – no caffeine, but a lovely robust nutty flavor.
Oooh, I lurve the taste of buckwheat, I have to try that!
Right now I’m loving Starbucks Honey and Madagascar Vanilla coffee. But it’s a limited edition flavor. ???? So I bought up all that my local store had left and I’m good until fall.
Totally depends. Tea is always a good choice. If I’m drinking coffee, it has to be practically white. I’ve tried black coffee and…no.
My all-around favorite though is always hot chocolate, the more marshmallows, the better. Like, I wanna be scooping them out.
Harney and Sons Black Currant loose leaf tea with sweetener and half and half.
Yeah Baby!
Coffee 90% of the time with herbal tea in the evening now and then. I love coffee, plain old Kirkland brand coffee is fine for me.
oh, and diet Dr Pepper once a day
Lol sounds like your hunny did good with the pretty tea cups.
I really hate when I invest in a fancy appliance that doesn’t do the job the old one did… There may be a “shelf of shame” in my pantry that it sits on until I can bring myself to give it away or junk it lol
Republic of Tea’s Get Relaxed brings my blood pressure down nicely. If I want caffeine I go for their extra caffeine Black, called Get Buzzed with a splash of milk.
Cafe Bustelo for coffee
Harney and Sons Paris for tea or any black tea from them.
I’m a tea drinker. Currently drinking Chocolate Hazelnut from Stash that my mom gave me for Christmas. Feels like a guilt free treat. My morning go to is a nice Earl Grey.
Earl Grey. Has been my tea of choice for decades. I might switch to a green tea from time to time, but to properly start my day, I need my huge pot full of Earl Grey. ^^
It sounds to me like the one you have is defective–probably worth doing a return. There’s no way something that says it’s grinding for 18 cups is working correctly if it makes that little!
I’m a tea person, too, but I can’t handle caffeine, so I guess more accurately I’m a tisane person :-). I can do white teas, but I have only found a couple I actually like. I tend to like spicier flavor profiles, but sweet is nice sometimes, as is fruity. Depends on mood!
My brother got me hooked on a ritual of my own: an Italian Bialetti Moka pot to brew a fresh cup of espresso in, and a double-mesh-screen frother for the oatmilk. I adore the taste of it! And I am now the proud owner of 2 different Bialetti Moka pots, one small and one enormous, and a third one medium sized, from Luxhaus. I actually use regularly ground coffee often, so I don’t destroy my innards, and I, too, have a jet-powered grinder from the Zon, although a different model! It’s such an treat for me to go through the ritual of making the Moka pot and frothing the milk (I’ve managed to give up half and half entirely—yay!)… I even do a decaf one sometimes in the evening! Sidenote: interesting history behind the word Moka and the city, and trade history of coffee! ????????
English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast for caffeine in the morning. Celestial Seasoning herbal tea in the evening. Hot Chocolate as a special treat. Hot cider as a general indulging.
Regular coffee until about 2pm, then bone broth or decaf. I like the idea of having a specific hot drink to end the workday–particularly now that I’m working from home some days.
I also grind my own beans. I love my grinder. (SHARDOR Coffee Grinder Electric,… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FPDJ1FK?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share)
Tea all the way. The only time I like anything about coffee is when roasted beans are being ground, and then it’s the aroma, NOT the noise. I used to work down the road from a coffee company, and roasting was lots of fun unless it was French Ground, which always smelled burnt to me. Hell, I hate to vacuum due to the noise factor!
I have a teeny Braun coffee grinder, which is not ever used for coffee. It’s hella loud. It gets spices, dried chilies, and sometimes nuts.
My most common morning tea is a blend of Irish Breakfast and Celestial Seasons Lemon Zinger, and evening tea (because I have sleep issues) is a valerian root with Tazo Wild Sweet Orange. But I like most teas, as long as there isn’t any floral, which always tastes like soap to me.
My husband bought a coffee maker a few months ago and has been making noises about getting a grinder for the beans. I get ill from loud noises, so it sounds like that little one from Target might be the way to go.
I grew up in the Caribbean where it is hot and beautiful year round. But a side effect of our country once being a British Colony was that tea drinking and tea time were part of the daily ritual. In the morning with breakfast hot tea. Hot Tea and biscuits as a snack around 10am and the tea with supper before bed.
I hated it, because the tea was hot and I was hot and we had no air conditioning back in those days.
Now I only drink tea if Im sick and its really a concoction that my dad made. Orange peels, brewed with sticks of cinnamon and a dash honey. For some reason it made me feel better and still does.
I drink coffee now around lunch time for a kick of energy but its so loaded with creamer and sugar I dont really think it counts.
We use this Cuisinart. Grinds a week’s worth of coffee for is (now wonders how strong you drink your coffee in Texas?) But the grinder is loud. We use it as an extra alarm clock for the layabeds.
I am French so in the morning, I drink a large mug of coffee with milk while eating slices of frrnch bread, butter and jam.
During the day it’s black coffee without sugar, like Roman.
I order my coffee from a Parisian roaster Cafés Pfaff. So delicious.
I drink way too much coffee…
I do not drink caffeine, really. I drink a lot of tea. I am a big fan of a decaff earl gray. Right now, my favorites are Harney and Sons’ Wonderful Things–it’s earl grayish but more. I also love Stash’s Christmas in Paris (Chocolate, Lavender, and Mint) because it is tea but also a treat.
1. Can Gordon find me a similar sugar bowl? Pretty pink glass with a lid. Not quite the pattern you have. Something abit more flowery. (Lol – I am kidding, my search continues.)
2. I’ve had my first and only coffee grinder for 20+ years. Quisinart. Everyone nags me to get a new one “the blades have to be dull!” No, they are not. They work great. I’ve never had a problem. Fairly quiet and fast.
Etsy has some pretty reproduction vintage glassware. A quick search threw up this offering:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1259760666/
Your grinder is defective. My sister has one, and while it’s definitely loud, it also grinds the amount you ask for.
red vanilla tea in the mornings and hot chocolate at night. my daughter and I curl up with books and hot cocoa in the evenings and it’s fantastic ????
Hot Cocoa! Additionally, for tea, I prefer Jasmine Tea.
Irish breakfast tea and Darjeeling tea are my personal favorites.
We also grind our coffee with a burr grinder. We have had two Bodums and love them – the first lasted for 10 years (we got it as a wedding present). Went with a replacement Oxo that is loud and screechy, hated it, and bought another Bodum which is quieter and delightful. We kept both to have separate grinders for decaf and caf but would highly recommend the Bodum.
I love lemonade in the summer and a cup of chamomile in the winter with a hint of raw honey in the bottom. I also like real tea when I need the caffeine and also prefer that with a bit of honey.
Harney and Sons Earl Grey Supreme tea first thing in the morning. My togo mug for work is HEB Texas Pecan or San Antonio coffee with Natural Bliss sweet cream creamer.
Mmm the pecan! (the blue bag, right?) I can just stand in the kitchen smelling that one.
I don’t like coffee and my mom drinks instant, so that is the type I know how to make best. If I have to run the Mr. Coffee at work, I have to ask how to make it or follow the directions on the back of the coffee can. I like Black or Breakfast teas best in the morning. Tazo, Biglow Coconut Almond Bark, or Twinings Ginger Joy. I also enjoy a variety of Chai blends especially Pumpkin Spice during the fall. Pepsi at lunch and then decaf or hibiscus tea in the afternoon. I’m getting old too much caffeine will keep me up at night now.
I have that same grinder and it is loud, my husband hates it, but I grind a bag at a time which I store in a steel airtight canister so I only grind every 10 days to 2 weeks. I grind mine halfway between medium and fine but I do pour over to make my coffee. The Cuisinart is a bur grinder, a low end one but best way to grind coffee for maximum flavor.
Coffee & tea….I have a Nespresso b/c I’m the only coffee drinker….but now I what to try your oolong…..I love oolongs and orange pekoe…..
Hot coffee. Really hot. With flavored creamer. Absolutely loved International Delight White Chocolate Raspberry ❤️❤️
Coffee, and then More coffee!
Burr grinders are simply loud. Some folks prefer them and SWEAR the coffee is better from that grinder but America’s Test Kitchen testing showed that there’s no difference in the resulting flavor of your brew in blind taste testing – so stick with the old stand by if that’s your preference. Also – return (or re-gift) the expensive grinder!
I love both tea and coffee. That said, I start my day with coffee and many times don’t “deal” with making tea later in the day. One day I will get a nice Zojirushi “too expensive” hot pot to keep water at the perfect tea making temp and THEN I won’t have any excuse not to take the time to enjoy afternoon and evening tea!
I alternate between spiced apple cider, herbal teas (I love all the mints!! I found a chocolate nibs and mint that is delicious) CrióBru with Lairds functional mushroom creamer and my mushroom coffee.
I drink the mushroom coffee every morning. It’s from Everyday Dose. It tastes exactly like coffee with like 10% of the actual caffeine that’s in coffee. Caffeine exacerbates some of my medical conditions but I like my coffee sooo. It’s got a bunch of functional mushrooms in it and I pair it with Lairds coconut and mushroom creamer and a couple drops of liquid stevia. Sooooooo creamy and I can make it sweet or not depending on my mood. I love it. It’s really an obsession!
Ahmad English No. 1 or English breakfast tea. So good.
Your cup is lovely.
I have an odd morning ritual, but I’m not a morning person and I have to get a toddler and a 10 month old ready for daycare and out the door by 7:15. The minute I wake up a down a mountain dew for the hit of sugar and caffeine. Then I get everyone out the door and have time to make a cup of hot tea before I have to log into work. I’ve been in love with Harney and Sons All India Blend. It’s not complicated but it’s a good strong tea for the morning. For the evenings I love Meditative Mind, a white tea and rose blend to relax after the kids go to bed.
I have the same exact grinder and I love it. I would return yours. it definitely sounds defective
I have that grinder as well and while it is extremely loud, we do get the correct amount of coffee. When I was looking at reviews before we bought it. It mentioned sometimes the grinder deposits the ground coffee inside the casing, instead of it getting to the hopper (Something about the design).
We brew our coffee strong enough to slap you in the morning, and my favorite thing is our Bunn coffee maker. 3 mins to coffee is heaven when you need coffee to make your coffee!
Tea is English Breakfast, very strong with honey and milk. 🙂 We also do Russian Caravan, Chai tea from Wegmans and I’m trying to learn how to brew London Fog.
After having that same model cuisinart grinder die for a second time, we decided to splurge and got the OXO conical burr grinder. The very first thing I noticed was how quiet it was. Strongly recommend.
I’m big into any of the Yunnan teas right now . Good strong flavor to get me going but very forgiving of over steeping as I have a very distracted attention span. Yunnan gold from harney and sons is in my cup right now.
Jasmine silver needle tea. TeaSource sells a great one. It’s the single best jasmine tea I’ve ever had.
I love Upton Tea’s Organic Columbian Oolong! Smokey, smooth and unctuous (never thought I’d find a use for THAT word!). They also have a honey oolng that is so fragrant, it’s a lovely way to start the day.
Afternoons I’ve been treating myself to a London Fog. Upton’s Organic Earl Grey, steamed milk and vanilla syrup! Yum.
We went through a very similar coffee grinder journey. My husband solved the problem of the big, unwieldy, annoying grinder, by getting the idea that it would be a quick way to grind roast hazelnuts for some recipe, and heck, if the coffee tasted like hazelnut for a few brews, who cares? Well, guess what? coffee grinders spin MUCH faster than food processors, and hazelnuts turn to nut butter instead of ground nuts at that speed, and the grinder isn’t built for nut butter, and it will bind up pretty rapidly, and RIP grinder no matter how he tried to clean it out. ???????? Back to the little grinder, somewhat chastened.
I use a AeroPress. I’m the only coffee drinker in the house and typically do one cup in the A.M. It takes up less space than a Keurig and I like the taste.
I often have tea in the afternoon. Although I have a real diffuser and pot, I don’t know what I’m doing with the loose leaf. I typically just use bags. Do you have to get an electric kettle to get the ideal temps some teas require?
Oh yes, House Andrews are fans of the kettle the brews different temperatures – and they spread the love as Jeaniene Frost tells us https://www.jeanienefrost.com/2022/07/the-tea-lady/
Thanks!!
I have never liked the taste of coffee though I love the smell. I am a tea drinker – thank you for the kettle recommendation that does it by temp – game changer!! Unfortunately my blood work came back and said I react to both black tea and caffeine. So except for the special occasional breakfast tea (with cream) I’m living with decaf herbals. I am currently in love with Taylors of Harrogate Blackberry & Raspberry Herbal. I miss my black tea but after doing the elimination, I found I do have pretty epic gastric reactions if I splurge. It makes me sad.
Amazon will take it back if it doesn’t meet your expectations. they have a small check list of reasons. You pick the one closest to the reason and bring it to Kohl’s to return it.
Right now I’m on a jasmine green tea kick. It’s really picky about brew time (they mean it when they say 2 minutes) bc if you go over it gets this gosh awful aftertaste. But brewed right, it’s delightful and it soothes me while picking me up mid afternoon so I can finish dealing w my teenagers (I teach 11th grade English).
I actually am a full on fruit smoothie person. With warm Apple cider in the fall. I’ve tried tea and it’s not to my taste, and don’t like the smell of coffee. My BF loves hot chocolate, but it always tastes too watery for me, so smoothies and apple cider are the thing!
My Irish grandmother made “Tay” at 5am in a brown tea pot with loose leaves. At 3pm, when we arrived after school, you got Graham crackers if you drink tay, which was strong enough to take paint off. So I drink tea in a coffee country. I live about 1 1/2 hours from Harney & Sons in Millerton NY. I get their tea as a treat. The store smells incredible.
I’ve been doing a rotation of fruity herbal tea and iced sweet tea. Lately it’s been a black cherry herbal tea. Sweet tea is sweet tea 😀
peppermint tea hot and blood orange tea cold with soda water
I used to live near Celestial Seasonings, and they make some really excellent teas. Peppermint Peak is one of my favorite black teas.
My favorite warm beverage? Coffee. Black and thick, the way I got used to drinking it during 3:00 am debugging sessions in the days of my long ago youth.
I love both tea and coffee. Coffee is the am drink and tea , usually herbal varieties of Harneys , is the drink of an evening or cold afternoon. I also like Harney’s Paris and London FOg, and Tiramasu teas. We use the Breville bean grinder for coffee and it was way too expensive, but a gift from hubby and we have had it about 9 years now. Looking for lower acid coffee with whole beans-no HEB near me. My SIL swears by HEB.
Also now trying a french press with cacao grounds of different flavors-sometimes you just want chocolate.
I had to laugh, when I was in my 60’s it was expensive grinders and pots, no, not pots but coffee brewers. Now it’s the lowest cost Mr. Coffee grinder and a @ $22.00 Mr. Coffee, 12 cup pot. With that low-cost pot, you can do pour-overs with fine grind, that’s the best flavor to me, drip with regular grind, and near French Press with course grind. I use cold filtered water because the metals are removed which makes the coffee taste bad. We do not have an HEB in El Paso and I buy my beans at Sprouts. I blend medium roast Columbian and light roast French Vanilla in equal amounts of beans.
The best coffee I have drank, was made with a Doughy Egbert concentrate, and filtered water, brewed in a commercial machine at the Sunland Park Racetrack in, Sunland Park, NM. That coffee tasted just like the smell as you pass a working coffee grinder in the coffee, tea and chocolate aisle in the grocery store. I didn’t have to add sugar or cream to smooth the taste.
I tend to drink hot chocolate in the morning (I make my own mix) and have tea or Mtn Dew in the afternoon. I like Celestial Seasonings for herbal and Harney & Sons for black and green teas.
That Cuisinart Coffee Grinder really IS the pits, isn’t it? Same issue here: We like to grind our own beans and got that as a wonderful way not to have to continually (avoid spilling) add coffee beans to a little grinder.
The only time I willingly drink coffee instead of green tea is when I am in New Orleans. Not sure why but I will happily sit there with beignets and coffee, cream and sugar thank you. Or waffles and coffee, or dessert and coffee or just after dinner coffee and be perfectly happy. Nowhere else, not even on that trip to Seattle. weirdness I guess.
It might be the chicory in the coffee that you like.
I switched to tea a few years ago, but I still have the occasional coffee. sometimes I’m just in a coffee mood.
I do an Irish or Scottish breakfast tea in the morning, and afternoons I have a little fun. You turned me on to Harney and Sons, and I Loooove their Paris, and London Fog teas. I have a few others, but those have been reigning champions of late.
I do a Tension Tamer tea from Celestial Seasonings at night when I want to relax. Mostly because of the dragon on the box…and a little because it works, lol.
I drink shade grown coffee (it is lower acid and better for the birds) and drip brew. I have an in line grinder but it is loud and a pain to clean so I just use ground. I am again the only coffee drinker in the house (firstborn is at uni)
Thanks for the info on the grinder! I hate grinding one pot at a time so I generally just buy already ground. But I get whole bean goodies from friends who travel, so I had been looking at that very grinder. No thanks! No horrible noises allowed.
Hope you had a lovely productive week. Enjoy your weekend!
Over the years I’ve gone back & forth between coffee and black tea. Coffee must be freshly ground each morning. Now I mostly drink English breakfast tea in the morning and Smith’s Meadow tea after two-not overly flowery or chamomile. I’ve enjoyed Scottish Breakfast tea in the past & this post reminded me to order some. Thanks
I wonder if you got a defective grinder. I have the same cuisinart one. It’s loud but I usually set up for 6 cups and it’s perfect. When I do 12 cups it’s also perfect.
I buy my coffee from Batdorf and Bronson. Alton Brown uses them and they have great small batch coffee’s. As for the grinder, Baratza is one of the best brand out there. I use the Encore and it works beautifully and not too loud. Amazon sells Baratza brand coffee grinders. Sorry you had a bad experience!
In the morning, decaffeinated Yorkshire Tea. It has the same strength without turning me into a monster Energizer Bunny!
I’m a coffee in the morning tea in the afternoon. Coffee is Folgers Black Gold because it’s a caffeine vector and as long as it doesn’t taste bad I don’t care if it has nuance. I don’t have brain power before coffee. Scoop and pour is all I can manage.
I like black tea. Darjarleen or Oolong, usually oolong. Or herbals, either Tazo or Celestial Seasonings or something else.
In the summer it’s black tea or herbals or a blend iced.
Indian chai made Right! And that means boiling water with a generous amount of grated ginger, adding teaspoons of black tea leaves (2 per each chai mug serving) and some chai masala (cardomom and the like). Let it boil until well steeped and then add milk. Strain into mug (no delicate cups to be found here!) and then add sugar/sweetener or choice. I like my chair strong, spicy and sweet.
I feel just as strongly about good coffee. South Indian Filter coffee is glorious. As are cappuccinos!
One thing for sure, whatever the hot beverage, if it’s not capable of burning my tongue, it’s not hot enough.
no reason needed for return, return it.
Earl Grey iced tea or Diet Coke
I have a small grinder too. Love the scent of freshly ground coffee in the morning. In the evening I have a fruit decaf tea with lots of tapioca pearls.
Today’s pleasure, sugar free HEB hot chocolate, slug of half & half, slug of Baileys, topping shot of maple whipped cream from Aldi.
Return the grinder. Being too loud is a good enough reason.
Shocking because the new grinders are definitely quieter like my new Jura!
Cuisinart DGB-400 Automatic Grind and Brew 12 Cup Coffemaker Black/Stainless We’ve had 4 of these in a row (over a 14 year period). We are about replace and for some odd reason, hubby wants to try something else…
I drink hot beverages all. the. time. In all kinds of weather. I grew up drinking black teas, and switched over to coffee when I firs went away to college, working 2 jobs to pay for it (picture a dining hall tray with 6 cups of coffee and no food, because I was too tired to make multiple trips to refill). This was reinforced by 3 years in the army. By mid-20s, missing a cup was one of my migraine triggers..I actually missed a family trip to Disney because of a debilitating migraine.
After that, I realized that SOME of my coffee drinking was really about being cold, so then next 30 years have been coffee in the morning, the occasional after dinner dessert coffee for special occasion dinners out.
The REST of the day is all tea, all the time, every kind of caffeine free tea. Love Tazos, was a Teavana fan, Twinings blends, Stash blends) and the extended family is constantly gifting me with loose tea. (thank you!). my loose tea steepers include a guy hot-tubbing in my cup, a dolphin, a dinosaur, a squirrel, an old-fashioned diver, and a sloth.
My favorite coffee is sumatra mandehling, and my favorite teas are tied between assam and darjeeling for black tea, and rooibos for herbal.
My favorite tea is hojicha. It is a roasted tea with a smooth somewhat toasty flavor. It is also low in caffeine.
I drink herbal teas and really like Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer.
Very pretty cups!
we like our Bodum burr grinder. Not too loud, grinds fast and as much as we want. https://www.bodum.com/us/en/10903-04us-3-bistro.
We have, to our wonderment and amazement, actually given up caffeine for the most part. So decaf coffee beans for us. I like Matcha latte mixes, (yes, with caffeine i know )and keep looking for herbal teas but no luck yet.
I love tea – english bfast and chai’s mostly (Twinnings, Tazo and a local company called Silk Road https://silkroadteastore.com/). Only in the AM – no caffeine after 12:00 or no sleep for me.
Suggest looking for a grinder here https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-coffee-grinder/
Hot chocolate
I would recommend going old school. Find an older hand crank coffee grinder at a resale or estate sale.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it works for a lot of stuff. Including coffee.
Love,
A Coffee Snob
I love your tea recommendations. You are the reason I buy from verdant tea. Love them! Oolong teas are my favorite, love Tieguanyin teas. Been drinking that since I was a child.
You could possibly still return the loud grinder to Amazon. My husband hates anything loud, that would have been an instant return.
In the morning and midday I drink really good locally roasted coffee, ground at home in a medium level grinder. We got tired of the hand grinder even though it makes better coffee. I occasionally drink oolong and really enjoy it. At night I drink decaf black tea or coffee.
Hot tea or hot chocolate. I love the smell of coffee but cannot and will not drink it. My beloved husband also will not let me make his morning coffee. *sigh*
I’m in the market for a grinder so your timing is perfect.Thanks
I had a very old Krups grinder which worked perfectly for many years. When I had to replace it I bought what appeared to be the same model. It was loud. It was so loud I was sure OSHA would have complained if it were in a factory. I returned it and bought a different Krups grinder advertised on the box as being their quietest grinder. Quiet costs extra now.
I was planning to have a cup of coffee & Kahlua for my after-dinner drink tonight and before I made it I sat down and read this blog post (and all the comments).
I have drunk coffee since before I can remember – my mom used to make a mug of coffee milk for me in the morning so I could drink coffee with Mom & Dad. When I was still living at home, my mom and I would often have a cup of coffee together before going to bed, and I was so habituated that it didn’t keep me awake.
A year or two ago I splurged and bought myself a Technivorm drip coffee maker and later a Baratza Virtuoso+ burr mill grinder. I had a Breville drip coffee maker with a built in burr grinder and really liked it for a while, but the grinder became unreliable. I wasn’t willing to grind my coffee in the morning (which everyone says you should) until I got the Virtuoso+ grinder – I make a full pot of coffee in the Technivorm using 40 seconds of grinding whole bean coffee that’s locally roasted. Both gadgets were pricey, but since coffee is my drink of choice I decided it was worth it. In the morning I can toddle into the kitchen half-asleep, punch the button on the grinder (which is already set for 40 seconds) and dump the ground coffee in the basket. Six minutes later it’s coffee.
I will occasionally drink lemon-ginger tea or mulled cider, but it’s usually coffee or water
I had a Rancilio Rocky grinder for several years – way expensive and weighed a ton. But when it stopped bringing I got a Baratza grinder It works for me. I like Kicking Horse coffee beans. Lately Grizzly Claw , although I sometimes get Hoodoo Jo or Pacific Pipeline if I want a medium for a change.
The tea I am drinking lately is Vahdam Masala Chai or High Mountain something.
we have that same grinder and the husband has it in the garage. :-/ it is crazy loud.
Hot drink preference – instant coffee powder in whole milk with enough suger to make the spoon stand!
Very much enjoy the Shou Mei Cake pu’er tea from Verdant Tea when I want something smooth and mineralish (not a word, I know). Then when I bought a new canister of Irish Breakfast from Harney I decided to try a new Maté they have since I was out called American Buzz. It’s great. Then on decaf time I drink Hibiscus or the Numi turmeric teas.
I hated my Cuisinart coffee grinder too. It produced a lot of static. I sold it on Craigslist and bought a Shardor coffee grinder from Amazon. Much better.
My friends who drink the stuff all have this one.
http://www.bodum.com/ca/en/11750-01us-bistro
I’ve had five different brands of grinders, and they’re all loud. The one of mine that has the least high-pitched, fingernails on a blackboard sound is the Capresso Infinity; it’s loud, but not so grating. But if you want to grind coffee for a press, you have to turn the hopper to the coarsest setting or even a little beyond.
Tulsi tea from Cherry Valley Organics. They use the Kapoor Sacred Basil, which is so lovely.
Working my way through my annual stockpile of Trader Joe’s Wintry Blend coffee, whole spices are ground with the coffee, no “flavorings” added. Electricity out due to an ice storm, so I made cold brew in my French press. I need my caffeine in the morning, it was good, but cold coffee will never be high on my list. ( My sister brought me hot coffee, and brought me and my 2 little birds back to her house. Family.)
I’m a coffee drinker in the morning, and the specific coffee varies based on my mood. A good French roast is nice, but so is a light breakfast blend… I have a Kurig, so I can get a number of varieties and pick what sounds good in the morning. I don’t drink coffee at night, but may have an herbal tea, or Lady Grey. Usually my evening beverage is a glass of wine.
We’ve been drinking Peet’s French Roast since the ‘70’s. Recently switched from whole bean to a #7 grind due to the purchase of a bougee new coffee maker recommended by Son the Elder. He was right, it makes excellent coffee. We buy 3 lbs at a time and go through it at an embarrassingly rapid rate. I have one LARGE cup in the morning then switch to Sadaf cardamom tea around noon then no caffeine after 3. Love a cup of decaf coffee in the evening.
Happy weekend to everyone here!
We have the same one. It is loud and ours has the opposite issue, we only want it to grind 1/4 cup for the Americano, but it won’t stop until all the beans are ground. We now brind the beans in the evening to cut down on the noise in the morning.
Ceylon and India tea (also known as orange pekoe) that I get from Harley. The can8ster from Harley is better than Lipton’s orange pekoe tea bags but Liptons is close enough when I’m at my dive bagel shop and want my orange pekoe and skim milk with my poppy seed bagel.
PG Tips. Round, malty, deeply comforting, like a rich blanket of mellow—which I need because I do not Morning well. At all. I add milk and sugar for the perfect milk tea, and sip while curled somewhere where no one will talk to me. Also Scottish breakfast by Taylor and Harrogate (has more bright notes but still comforting).
I had silver needle white in San Francisco’s Chinatown once, and it was as complex and nuanced as wine. The importer is gone now but I made the small bag I purchased last as long as I could. I brewed it in a blue and white teapot I Bought there, thinking of one of my favorite trips ever while sipping a favorite thing.
16 oz mug of mocha coffee at midday, and decaff tea at night. I love most teas, but these days I usually drink it at night so decaff it must be. If I am feeling fancy I will have scones and a pot of looseleaf darjeeling or pu-erh in the midafternoon instead of coffee. My favorite night drink is a 40oz mixup of 2 bags decaff green tea, 1-2 bags of Prince of Peace lemon ginger honey crystals, a bag of lemongrass tea, and about half a lemon squeezed. Plus sugar or non-sugar depending on evil me vs good me. I also like a mix of decaff green tea, lemongrass, and chamomile. Or decaff green, mint, and strand of saffron. Or decaff black with a couple of rose petals and a cardamom pod.
I love STRONG black tea. I put 2 bags of Tetly British black tea in whatever cup I have regardless of size. I have a small hot pot ( have worn one out!) that is faster than the microwave. Also great for things that need boiling water ie instant mashed potatoes (I’m only cooking for 1).
Jasmine tea is also tasty, I use loose leaf. I bought (empty) tea bags to fill, no mess!
Have you ever tried hot lemonade? It is the bomb when you have a cold! I use lemonade mix.
Return the coffee grinder if it’s been less than 30 days. ‘Defective, makes unusual very loud noise’
Mostly tea. Coffee is for special occasions (caffeine and migraines, no no no) or using up the last of the pot before I make a fresh one for Husband Person. Occasional hot cocoa, but again, sugar is an issue. I do make alot of London Fogs at home though (even make my own vanilla syrup, out of our own honey!). Otherwise, tea. Just got some hibiscus, which is yummy. Also have a jar of the ginger/lemon/citrus jelly teas you find at Asian groceries in the fridge. Awesome for colds and sore throats, although I do doctor it with more lemon juice, because it is sweet.
This is what you want. https://www.bodum.com/us/en/10903-01us-3-bistro. We’ve had ours for over ten years. I mean, grinders are loud, but this thing is great.
Detox blend herbal tisane from Simpson & Vail. Might be the most perfect blend. https://svtea.com/products/detox-herbal?_pos=1&_sid=217dc01d3&_ss=r
I like two cups of coffee (with cream) first thing in the morning. After that, all coffee tastes horrible (especially all coffee shop coffee in this city) so I switch to tea (with milk) if we have breakfast out. Then a cup of black or green in the afternoon, and decaf black and herbal after dinner. A hot toddy is in the mix of a cold is coming on.
I am a coffee drinker and absolutely love HEB coffee. I live in MI but have family who live in TX so whenever I visit, I stock up! Cafe Ole Houston blend and Rio Grande blends are my favorite. I also drink tea at night and, because I live in cold country hot chocolate.
I love my Aeropress coffee in the morning and an Earl Grey tea with milk and sugar in the evening. 🙂 Our Baratza Virtuoso grinder is my favorite.
We love coffee so much here that we started roasting our own a few years ago as Olilu Coffee. My husband does the roasting, I do the drawing/designs, and we smushed our kids’ names together to create the name, hehe.
Tea, baby, tea! Mostly black, but also a few oolongs and greens. Every time I drink Golden Monkey I snicker a little bit.
I would return the grinder as it is not working as specified. We have a simple one that allows you to select the grind and will grind for 30 seconds. That is enough for about 10 cups.
Strong brewed Coffee with French vanilla cream. Tea Lipton black with French Vanilla creamer at night.
Tall narrow mug or cup. Keeps the heat and cup must be microwave safe. Since I sometimes set down cup and forget where and it gets cold.
Twinings Earl Grey, Japanese brand green tea, I especially love the loose leaf ones. Most importantly i need my Pu-Er tea – the aged ones are very good but like wines, are more expensive the older they get. Been buying them in the “cakes” or “biscuit” and using my clay teapots for them. Mmmm. Tea. I’m gonna go brew me some right now.
Equal opportunity hot beverage drinker ????????♀️. Coffee and tea both feed my soul.
One tea I love and haven’t seen listed in the comments is genmaicha. It’s a Japanese green tea with toasted brown rice. Very nutty/toasty but still mellow and overall a light tea. Very different form anything else I have tried to date. Would recommend if you haven’t had it.
https://www.harney.com/products/genmaicha?variant=35000774598&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=SalesX-PerformanceMaxAllProducts&gclid=Cj0KCQiA3eGfBhCeARIsACpJNU-bRf2rCOQkadQwwulVHNsgDny2igxy2IxJS0K8e6JU8qdGXSDj4FEaAkvLEALw_wcB
I agree that you have two completely valid reasons to return it to Amazon: it’s too loud, and it doesn’t grind enough coffee. It’s useless to you.
That stuff on your island is real life. Social media influencers aren’t about living real life.
Because of you, members of the BDH have, among other things, (re)discovered knitting, explored various mythologies, tried to craft wire and gem tress, and, perhaps most importantly, learned how to make a good cup of tea. You influence plenty.
Coffee in the morning. Have the same Cuisinart grinder and I swear it’s temperamental on how much it will grind irrespective of setting. Rest of day green tea or a ginger tea. On weekends I might make spiced tea (black tea leaves, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves) with milk.
I have that grinder and I love it. But, it was a gift. I set mine on 4 (and between fine and medium, but closer to medium) and it grinds at least enough for my 12-Cup coffee maker (I still measure the grounds as I scoop them out). I do have hearing loss, and I still think it’s loud (not nearly as loud as a an electric wheat grinder I used to have, though). I live in an apartment, so I try not to grind my coffee too early or too late. That works for me, because I also love my programmable coffee maker. I don’t pay any attention to how long it takes to grind, because it is hands free. I’m always doing other things while the coffee is grinding. The grinder did stop working at one point, because it had become clogged. I just had to clean it out.
Use Nespresso machine with Chiaroscuro pod and their Aeroncino to make two lattes in morning.
I drink hot chocolate every morning 🙂
Sleepy Time teas, since college. Most favorite – the peppermint one. Love the bear in the nightshirt and cap!!
Return it. I returned a cooler pad for laptop once fir exact same reason : too loud. It was impossible to use, because of the noise level.
Rooibos from Ground Works upon rising, Peets light roasts with breakfast and chai, black currant or PG tips teas through out the work day. I’m constantly trying different brands of chai and bc loose and in bags. On the weekends it’s Peets French Roast in press pot or local independent coffee house mornings and afternoons green teas from Ground Works. From May through October I give up coffee and caffeinated teas and drink a ton of Hibiscus tea coolers and fruit infused tea. I get a huge bag of Hibiscus from Amazon that lasts forever. I have Peets grind the coffee cause the grinder noise is very irritating to me, but I do have an old Krupps which is messy and a hand grinder which we use mostly for spices.
not defective, I did the same thing and mine is incredibly loud too and takes forever … and it sucks to clean.
Try the Baratza. They have different models. I have the Encore and I don’t find it any louder than my spice grinder. I use an aeropress and the coffee is so much better tasting than using a spice grinder. Expensive but worth it.
I start everyday with an espresso. It’s simply delicious. I make it with the fancy coffemachine we bought, despite said machine being a bit to expensive. We figuered we’ve earned perfect coffee being parents to teenagers and approaching our fifties. when I feel like indulging I make it serve me a cappuccino, it steams the milk and everything. we’ve tried many different beans and settled for one kind of dark roasted. ah, how I do love my coffee.
You turned me onto Harney Teas which really got me more into tea drinking. I love, love their chocolate mint. I even like it if it gets cold because of the smell!
I’ve stopped drinking coffee, mostly, because I have to have sugar with it and I have to cut back on sugar. Now I save mochas or vanilla lattes for special occasions.
I start the day with either chocolate mint, Earl Grey and licorice tea, or Victorian London Fog and chocolate tea and a splash of vanilla, hot milk, and a tsp of sugar.
By 1 pm I have to switch to decaf so I’m not up all night. I like decaf Earl Grey with licorice tea, lemon ginger, or decaf chocolate orange. I wish Harneys had decaf chocolate mint. That would be perfect at the end of a long day.
I’m a coffee with a melted spoonful of chocolate spread in the day mmm! Double caffeine.
Night time drink is hot Vimto.
Black tea with milk. Chai masala. Hot chocolate. (But, not the watery kind. Oh no. It must be the good kind, the one that is basically just melted chocolate, and warms you up from the bottom of the stomach.)
Thank you for this blog.
I like a cup of coffee now and then but generally prefer tea, so I never developed much taste for coffee. I use the cold brew concentrate that I buy in the supermarket (Gevalia or Chameleon brand). Mix half and half with water, microwave for 2 minutes, add a dash of cinnamon, cream and sugar. Call it a day.
At the moment, I really like Lychee black tea from China Sail.
My morning brew is now Harney and Sons chocolate tea, thanks to your recommendation many months ago. It truly does not need sugar or honey to be delicious. The current afternoon tea is their wedding tea (smells just like a cupcake) or Paris. I have way too many varieties of tea, so I’m trying to cut down and standardize. I just finished a chocolate strawberry puer tea from Lupicia that technically had its best by date six months ago, so….
Hubby and I take turns making the first coffee of the day, and bringing it to bed before we get up for the day. We’ve done this since I had surgery 15+years ago. This is the only caffeinated drink that I have in the day. The rest of the day I drink decaffeinated coffee.
Harney and sons Paris decaf is an evening ritual for me. But I am well known for my coffee addiction. I am now only allowed 2 cups of caffeinated coffee per day. But I have a good bean grinder, a big metal French press and an electric kettle for mid day decaf.
I also have a cute pour over set up, a Keurig and a nespresso for a quick first cup in the morning. I love hot beverages (let’s don’t look in the fridge to see how I do the cold brew, okay?)
I’m a coffee person. Also like whole bean and have a little coffee grinder similar to your Target one.
And yes, you can return anything to Amazon within 30 days of purchase, even if there’s nothing wrong with it. So go ahead and return it. Don’t keep anything you don’t like.
I started drinking tea in the afternoon too. I prefer the black ones. Harney and Sons Irish Breakfast or Scottish Morn. With milk.
In the evening, a ginger-turmeric or a Sleepy time bear is the best.
I’m currently freezing my toes off at my kids’ ice skating lesson, BUT I brought with me a tea latte I made with hazelnut cookie tea (from a local tea specialty shop).
I brewed the tea double strength at 190 degrees for 3 minutes, then added a little bit of burbon walnut turbinado sugar (also from the specialty shop). Then I steamed the milk by microwaving it for 30 seconds in a mason jar and shaking it really hard. Super high tech, I know. ????
I poured both the tea and the milk into my favorite travel mug. It’s Ello brand, from Target, and I LOVE it. It’s completely leak proof (toss in your purse leak proof!) and it will keep my tea at the exact right temperature for hours. ???? I use it at home, too, because I was tired of coming back to cold tea every time I needed to help a kid with something (I have 3 young kids).
Starbucks Verona. A big cup in the morning sets me up for the rest of the day. Yum.
Caffeine can be a problem for me, so I stick to a cup of decaf espresso from my 10-yr-old Nespresso in the morning. Espresso is easier on my stomach than regular coffee, for some reason. Because I can’t do dairy or sugar (or any of the other artificial sweeteners), I use coconut milk and/or Nutpods as my coffee “whitener” – and I like my coffee with a lot of whitener. In the afternoon or evening, if I drink a hot beverage, it’s usually a rooibos chai, like Numi or Spice Dragon from Stash.
Coffee drinker all the way. There is nothing better than to sit with fellow coffee lovers and prepare a fresh batch. I’m using manual grinder. It takes longer, but it is something as a ritual for us. And I love the smell of freshly ground coffee. We are maybe little bit crazy with our love for coffee as we love trying beans from different roasteries and we bring all the neccessary things for coffee making even when on hiking trips…but it’s the small things in life, right? 🙂
Tea. The office stocks Tazo bags, so generally their orange-and-lemongrass tisane and their mint-green tea. If I’m at home, with access to my own stash of tea (and dairy), masala chai- with my own masala!, english breakfast, or a generic black tea I stock for iced, cooking, and “just give me something hot” applications. Also inexpensive oolong and honeybush/rooibos.
For indulgence, however, a liqueur-laced hot chocolate made with frothed milk (itself laced with half and half) is king. I impose a strict limit: max of one per week.
I owned that exacted grinder for 10+ years and I would walk to the other side of the house, close the door, then grind the coffee with only a 50% success rate on not waking up the rest of the household.
It was so loud!
I was gifted a new coffee grinder for Christmas (breville $$$) and it’s a miracle how quiet it is in comparison!
Yeah, noisy as all get out. But the results are good.
I am a hyperactive person. I do not use any stimulants for mine and everyone else who knows me’s sake. I would never sleep. Chocolate upsets my system so warm milk is my calming beverage at night. I wake up and go through my day with 4-5 bottles of cold water.
Still I have no problem with people who need more to get up and go. To each his own.
Coffee in the morning. Mexican hot chocolate at night (with chili powder, not tequila). We use a hand-crank burr grinder for our beans. It’s brilliant, and we can use it when camping too!
When I’m on coffee? Dark, freshly ground in an Aeropress.
When I’m off the holy bean (it’s an acid thing not a caffeine thing) it’s PG Tips in the morning then any number of brands and flavors of decaf all day.
And I take it all like a serial killer, no sugar.
cracking up,,,,”holy bean”
There’s a local organic grocery that carries all kinds of good stuff, so we’re spoiled for choice here. It has senior hours on Wednesdays, when anyone over 60 gets a discount between 10am-2pm. I plan my weekly errands around this.
For everyday morning coffee, Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company Bird Friendly (origin Guatemala): local wildflower honey for sweetener, oat milk for creaminess, half a teaspoon Equal Exchange baking cocoa for flavor. Lots of coffee drinkers seem mildly appalled at the idea of honey as sweetener. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. It adds a nice depth of flavor IMO.
Later in the day, P.G. Tips tea with honey if I need an extra boost of caffeine. A UK friend introduced me to that one. If caffeine is not the goal, whatever herbal tea would hit the spot. For the sweetener, usually honey or a couple ounces of whatever juice seems like a match; maple syrup for a splurge, but only for certain teas (typically ginger, blueberry, or peach).
I use the little basic grinder with a blade, as it’s only me for the most part. When the previous grinder gave up the ghost, the only mortar and pestle I had was a green bottle-glass set suitable for herbs. I had to grind the blasted beans with a marble rolling pin until I could get to the store the next day.
That took a ridiculous amount of time and I was incredibly sore later, in spite of being in fairly decent shape. So I also picked up a marble mortar and pestle, in the hope that having it on hand means I never have to use it for coffee beans.
Love “saw mill in the kitchen.” I’m a dark roast coffee in the morning/herbal tea afternoon drinker. I have an old Krups grinder that’s not too loud but is low capacity. Coffee is always on my gratitude list. Along with books. ????
I love a powdered matcha or earl grey. I know it is sacrilege, but I enjoy a decaf Earl Grey at night, it’s so soothing.
It used to be hot chocolate made by dropping a piece of tablea into hot water and adding milk.
I’m trying to switch to chamomile at night and Ashitaba or an Oolong in the morning, but it’s been tough.
Beautiful cups. I also use that old style coffee grinder, despite being given several upgrades from my kids.
My husband and I are fanatics about coffee. We like to have freshly ground coffee as well. After trying the coffee grinders you just mentioned, we ended up with a coffee maker with a built in burr grinder. It’s a bit more expensive but it grinds well and the coffee is great! We currently have a semi automatic espresso machine with built in grinder and we hope to upgrade to a fully automatic espresso machine in the future. Mostly because my husband refuses to learn how to tamp down and wakes me up to do it!
You can return the grinder just because you don’t like it. I love your blog. We could be friends, I also knit, drink tea (have you tried Divinitea?), like to cook and play computer games. My island also would look like yours (my counter certainly does). I like your books, so I assume we have some similar tastes there too. I also live in central Texas. Thanks for your blogs, they brighten my day.
When I’m feeling under the weather, hot tea made of fresh lemon, fresh ginger and honey. Is that technically tea if it doesn’t have leaves? Doesn’t matter – it’s delicious and soothing.
My favorite is Harney Teas Paris blend.
My handy dandy keurig with Folgers pods!
Mmmm, coffee in the morning, hot chocolate at night. Both with homemade whipped cream and Ghiradelli Sea Salt Caramel drizzle. So good. Not good for anyone who has diabetes in the family like mine, but SO good.
When I drink coffee I like 8 O’Clock original whole bean ground in a quiet, inexpensive grinder and dripped thru a single serve funnel that sits on my cup.
When I drink tea lately I’m drinking Aztec Spice during the day and Tea for Her at night (both from the Art of Tea). I put honey in my tea as a sweetener.
Tea- Harney and Sons Chocolate Chai Supreme
I’m a cold drink person, even in our cold northern winters. Occasionally, I enjoy a hot cup of tea, chai or a good black tea are my favorite, or hot chocolate.
Your new cups are very pretty. So nice of Gordon!
I agree that it should be returned for being too loud!! I love my litter coffee grinder too! small, compact, quiet…
Let’s discuss things we wish we never upgraded. When I was young and poor I bought cheap blender called a Magic Bullet – $30 at Walmart. It made great smoothies, thick hummus, and chopped veggies with ease. When it died after 12 years of constant use, I upgraded to a $600 Vitamix. It’s awful. It’s so loud it scares our dog, it doesn’t chop, and it has to be really full and have plenty of liquid to do a good job blending (think cups of runny hummus). I also haven’t returned the Vitamix because it technically works, however, every time I use it I long for my cheap little blender.
My reason for getting out of bed is Celestial Seasonings Fast Lane. It’s such a good blend of black tea and spices. Not available in stores but you can order it online or stop by the tasting room to pick it up if you live in CO (which I do). Beyond that I love Twinnings Irish Breakfast Tea, Traditional Medicinals Warming Vanilla (stress buster that doesn’t make you tired), and my favorite loose leaf is Rare Tea Co. I still need my bags for convenience, but any loose is from there. I love all that Rare Tea Co honors.
I like Kirkland dark roast Columbian coffee, black. That’s my go-to drink, morning, noon and after dinner. I drink it out of a Clara Bone China mug. On rare occasions, I like a cup of Earl Grey tea with a teaspoon of honey and a tablespoon of Jameson Irish Whisky or Pendleton Midnight Whiskey, also out of one of my china mugs.
I always smell my husband’s coffee but I hate the taste! I’m a tea drinker. PG tips is my default when I don’t have time to steep fancier tea. if I have time I like Earl grey and English breakfast.
then if I really have time I make a Chai … sooo good.
We have one of each kind of grinder (like you). The burr grinder has some fiddly settings that required trial and error but we finally got them down and it makes a pretty good grind. It’s still super loud and messy, so we grind the night before. Not as fresh but more peaceful.
Baratza encore grinder. if you want excellent decaf, all medium roast Talking Crow Coffee Roasters. they also have caffeinated.
I buy my coffee as I run out, then grind the entire bag at the store, and then store it in the freezer. Works out fine, and I don’t have to be awake to make a new pot of coffee.
I had that second grinder — yes. clogs, loud, annoying , stupid. Now have a nice little one, resembles your first.
And yes! Harney and Sons- mmmmm. I need to clean out my tea cupboard before I indulge in new tea. But some Oolong sounds nice. Also Pu Erh
Happy drinking, Cups make all the difference
ginger, cardamom, black pepper, cinnamon spiced chai in the evening when I feel like spending 15 minutes brewing the spices and milk. Basic instant nescafe in the morning because I have a toddler and an infant ( the waking up three times in the night kind) and am running for my life, half asleep at that time.
Ha! We have that as well! SO LOUD and SO MESSY. I hate (HATE) it. Please RETURN it and let us know what you get that’s better! Maybe you would enjoy Jim Hoffman on instagram and youtube has a bunch of options… he’s quite eruidte(sp?) as opposed to me.
Hot Cinnamon Spice by Harney’s…. Sooooo good!
I’m a tea person. I like black tea. Earl Grey, Irish or English Breakfast. I love the Paris tea. I also love Jasmine tea. When I’m at Starbucks, I might order a London Fog, which is Earl Grey with some vanilla syrup and steamed milk. Mmmm. I like milk and sweet in my tea. It’s almost like a dessert.
I do drink some herbal tea as iced tea. I drink most my teas iced with no sweet. And lots of ice. Mmmmm. Ice.
My dad hated the cuisinart burr grinder too – said it was so messy – but he loves the Baratza we got him for xmas. I bit the bullet and paid $160 for their basic analog model (encore), but I appreciate that the metal parts are replaceable/repairable. Return the cuisinart if you still can! Who cares if it’s not broken – if you hate it, better to use another Mr. Coffee for now.
I really love my Baratza Encore Burr Grinder. It’s a little loud, but not bad.
I like Uncommon Coffee Grinder’s Brazil Cerrado beans.
Tea. Almost any variety/flavor as long as it’s loose leaf.
I was on a cruise with a girlfriend last month. Everyone getting off the ship in Cozumel was going to the jewelry shops or souvenir shops. I found a tea and spice shop. So yummy.
OMG yes on the Cuisinart coffee grinder! We have a Cuisinart Grind & Brew coffee pot and it sounds like planes are taking off in our house every time we run the grind function. It’s terrible. We don’t run it if anyone in the house is sleeping because as you said, it would be a very rude way to wake up. I think Cuisinart just has a bad design for their grinder, which is really a shame because the machine makes good coffee.
My favourite Chinese teas are Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe), Long Jing (Dragon well) and Pu-Er. Teh tarik (Pulled tea) and teh halia (Ginger tea) are perfect on lazy Sunday mornings when paired with roti prata (Flatbread). Occasionally when I want a change in taste, 3 in 1 Ipoh white coffee and hot chocolate are my standbys. 🙂
Harney & Sons Earl Grey Supreme is my jam. My husband prefers coffee – I love coffee but only drink it rarely. We actually use a hand grinder for our beans… Doesn’t take as long as you’d think, and it tastes SO GOOD if you’re using a French press.
tropicana’s cocoa mint, it has no sugary ingredients as it’s a brand that promotes diabetes-friendly snacks and beverages. still tastes delicious with warm/hot water.
Tea, tea, tea! I loooove trying them from places we travel. The Amana Olonies in Iowa have great tea and so does Red Dragon Herbs and Tea. Red dragon even has a rootbeer flavor which really does taste like rootbeer. Also Adiago has amazing samplers of yummy goodness. I like to buy a new tea to try on your book day releases to enjoy with my books!
Coffee made with my fancy Italian espresso machine. I have a sage grinder, noisy, but because I drink espresso I’m only grinding 20g of beans at a time. I have a coffee subscription, so I get beans delivered every month from different roasters! It’s my one indulgence drinks-wise. I also worked out how much a daily Starbucks would cost and realised the machine would pay for itself in year!
My favorite tea is this stuff. https://www.fridaytea.com/products/scorpio So-far nobody I’ve made it for has liked it. It has peppers in. It’s true if you accidentally get it down the wrong pipe, you’re in for a bad time. But I think it’s so delicious.
I grew up in an old farm house. It had a cast iron hand-cranked coffee grinder bolted to the wall in the kitchen. I was a kid so I can’t speak to the quality of the coffee it produced. But it was still going strong after 30 years…
I’m so basic: Folgers Instant Coffee crystals. LOL
Mint chocolate chip hot chocolate w/a level spoon of Tasters Choice (house blend or french roast) depending and peppermint mocha creamer
Vroom vroom 🙂
I am a big tea drinker and I love it. One thing I am not good at is getting the water to the right temperature. I would be really interested in what you use/ how
Ilona kitted out Jeaniene Frost with tea paraphernalia, including this programmable kettle with different tea brewing settings: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cuisinart-CPK17BPU-Multi-Temp-Kettle-Stainless/dp/B07NDTH8ZN/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?c=ts&keywords=Electric+Kettles&qid=1677353465&refinements=p_4%3ACuisinart&s=kitchen-appliances&sr=1-1&ts_id=3538311031
Here is Jeaniene blog post ???? https://www.jeanienefrost.com/2022/07/the-tea-lady/
Beautiful cups (and what a lovely surprise it must have been….good husbanding Gordon!) ????
Morning in our house calls for Nescafé Classico coffee (not fancy, but easy and very tasty) with lots of milk and a tiny bit of Sugar in the Raw. If brewing coffee, I love using Dunkin’ Donuts whole beans that I grind with a cheap-o grinder. I’m just not a fancy person! ????
We also drink a lot of tea (especially at night) and love so many different kinds (both herbal/decaf and ‘regular’.) Some of our favorites are from Tea Source (love all of their tea but Irish Breakfast and English Rose teas are favorites), Stash(Breakfast in Paris, Christmas in Paris, Elderflower Citrus), Celestial Seasonings (Sleepy Time, Bengal Spice, I Love Lemon), Twinings (French Vanilla Chai), Bigelow (English Breakfast, Earl Grey), etc. We usually have at least 20 or 30 kinds of tea going at once. All depends what mood I’m in!
And if I am feeling very fancy at night, I make hot chocolate from scratch and add Amaretto! ????
Dragon eye oolong, blackberry jasmine oolong or earl gray lavender, all from Revolution teas.
Hot cocoa, (which my grandchildren insist on calling Snowman Soup) at any time of the day
Any Darjeeling and the Himalayan Imperial Black from Happy Earth Tea in Rochester, NY. https://happyearthtea.com/ Both have that gentleness of oolong but with a more subtle flavor that makes a happy dance on your tongue. The shop is owned by a husband-wife team. I’ve been buying their teas online for two decades and finally got to visit the shop a couple of years ago.
Rooibos. There’s a herbal tea brand called Pukka of which I’m very fond. Sadly these days I have to avoid anything containing liquorice, but two of their non-licquorice flavours of which I am very fond are Three Fennel and Three Mint. Also (and this will sound bizarre) 2 heaped tsp of Fair Trade Cocoa powder with about 1.25ml powdered cinnamon and a couple of drops of peppermint oil mixed with hot water. No sugar, no milk – it’s not cocoa, just a hot drink I enjoy. Takes all sorts to make a world, including sorts like me!! 🙂
I love the whole beans by red brick roasting. The butter pecan coffee beans are my favorite. I have created my own flavored iced coffee better than that big coffee chain. Also I use a Krups bean grinder. About $20 in walmart. Its a little loud and only grinds a 1/4cup at a time but it was a wedding gift so its 23 years old and still works fantastic.
Hey, BDH: I have a question. Has anybody tried using date syrup instead of honey in their tea?
I bought some Soom Date Syrup from my CSA last summer. It’s great on hot oatmeal or in certain recipes (for example, to replacing maple syrup.) This post has started me wondering how it might taste in tea and what kind (chai?) Maybe I will just try it…
Of course just try it. I just try stuff like that all the time, if it’s just me – I don’t experiment on others. Worst case scenario, you lose a cup of tea, but most people can probably choke it down for one time.
Tea drinker – and am obsessed with the coconut pouchung from Encore tea. I love how light it is!
https://www.encoreteas.com/product-page/coconut-pouchong
Best of luck with finding a decent grinder; as a tea drinker the field of such items is Terra Incognito to me. I go with quantity, having made six cups of Harney & Sons ‘Queen Catherine’ this morning. Yesterday it was a nice Lapsang Souchang.
Hello Ilona and Gordon, first the best coffee grinder if still made was made by Brevelle, (mine has been going strong for over 10 years now) believe German, that is the one I use and if you fill up the container to the brim with beans, you can get 4 reservoirs (ground coffee plastic container on unit) full to pour into another big stainless-steel coffee can (Walmart). At the coffee pot (keurig pot-which can make a pot or a K-cup-used to sell at Costco). I mix Eight O’clock French Vanilla with my ground coffee. If you have ever used Amway products and still have the laundry scoop, which is the perfect size for this measure. 3/4 scoop of the Eight o’clock FV and 1-1/4 scoop of the ground coffee you choose in pot (I use a paper filter along with the fixed filter) and that makes a wonderful pot of coffee, which I drink all day. The BH likes cold coffee, so periodically I make an extra pot, and fill up her quart jar (glass) which she then puts in the refrigerator to get cold. One pot usually lasts me till dinner time. FWIW-Grinding coffee is a loud noisy operation, but the results are worth it. Our Brevelle is not quiet but won’t run me out of the room. They are expensive. One of the best coffee makers around is the BUNN which might be still made. My first one still going strong is 25 years old, and we found another one as backup for 4 dollars at a thrift store. They actually make the best coffee; the carafe is just not large and end up making two pots a day. The keurig pot is ok, but it does not have a warmer, instead uses a thermo carafe, which does not keep it hot enough all day. I like the BUNN better, waiting for the Keurig to die. We keep our ground coffee in the refrigerator when being used. Some people say not to do that. In the South, Humidity gets to things, so keeping in fridge keeps it fresher for us. Happy coffee drinking.
Amazon is very good about returns, especially if it’s a product that does not work as it was advertised. You said it states in the product description that it’s supposed to make a certain amount of ground coffee but it makes much less than that. So that means it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to and it’s eligible for return and you should not be penalized. I would call but not go online to initiate a return. Amazon has started this crap where they want to charge seven or $8 to return items now and I always give them a hard time so that they’ll waive that charge. To my way of thinking if I went to the store and purchased it out of brick and mortar they wouldn’t charge me to return it if it didn’t work right so why should Amazon?! I would also make sure that you leave a review on the Amazon website so people know exactly why you don’t like it.
Give it to somebody, that’s what I do with regrettable purchases.
I love both tea and coffee! I have had to cut back on the coffee, so we rely on the Keurig more these days. I’m currently stuck on Tim Horton’s original blend for Keurig. For real coffee, I love the selection from Coffee AM, and I prefer the thick, syrupy Indonesian coffees. I like Sumatran coffee-usually Sumatra Mandehling, and love the organic Bali Blue Moon coffee. They make awesome cold brew coffee-if you like cold brew, my favorite cold brew maker is the Toddy Maker-Amazon has it. I worked in a coffee shop years ago, and we made tons of cold brew with it.
I have not had the best of luck with grinders, but that is my fault for buying cheap. Usually, you do get what you pay for. My current version is a Krups burr grinder that I picked up on clearance, and when it dies I will be looking for something else. It does a passable job, but like all the rest, it’s noisy.
For tea, I like Rishi tea-any of their chai blends is fabulous-and their regular strength Earl Grey. I also adore the Chocolate Pu’erh and aged Earl Grey from Numi tea.
Love hot chocolate, but limit it to once a week during winter, but I make it luscious. I love Fortunato hot chocolate, and for cheaper chocolates, adding Irish cream, Kahlua, or Frangelico really enhances the flavor. Other than that, I drink lots and lots of water-between a gallon and half a gallon a day.
The cups are important, it makes everything taste better. I have special China cups and mugs for my tea, cocoa and decaf. Earl Grey decaf tea with honey and half & half most of the time. A good peppermint hot cocoa made with milk. Occasionally, in the evenings, herbal Blueberry Lavender Tea which is a lovely blue-purple color and supposed to be good for your skin. Occasionally, in the morning, I’ll make a mocha with snickerdoodle decaf coffee from the local grocery store.
I love many teas, but my favorite type is a milk or silky oolong. The first infusion has yummy caramel notes, and the next ones have more milk aftertaste :
https://winghopfung.com/collections/loose-oolong-tea/products/premium-silky-green-tea-1367?variant=32524047155285
Wing Hop Fung has a high quality tea selection and the tea counter in the Arcadia location is a wonderland.
I have tried to become a coffee snob, but I like my family’s coffee the best: Milk with Yuban from a drip machine 😛
My mom has a coffee grinder that sounds like a jet engine. I wonder if it is a cuisinart. I just use the magic bullet I bought 20 years ago. It’s not good for much else, but it will grind coffee very finely. Good for espresso. I get extra fancy swiss water process decaf from Mayorga. Lovely coffee, it’s hard to find a decent tasting decaf, and they have very big bags if you’re so inclined. I find 12 oz lasts me quite a while at one cup a day.
But I also love brewing chocolate from Chocolate Alchemy (they sell beans and equipment to make your own chocolate! I wish I had the time to do that). And genmaicha with some cream, though I have to take it easy with it since it’s so hard to find the good stuff for a reasonable price anymore.
I have returned things to amazon that I just didn’t like when they got to me. I just check no longer needed and write in at the bottom the reasons I didn’t like it. They have never refused to let me return anything. It sounds like it doesn’t work well either so you could also check item wasn’t as described. BTW I have been rereading the Kate and Curren series and still enjoy it as much as the first time I read it. Actually maybe more. Thanks for all your wonderful books!!
Community Coffee w/cream, 1850 coffee, hot cider..
Most of my tea is unsweetened iced tea…
Love Community Coffee. They serve it on SouthWest flights, it’s great.
I just laughed. Loudly.
Thanks!!
Believe it or not, Aldi Instant is as good as fresh ground, fresh brewed coffee.
We used to grind, but a taste test proved, for us, us we were wasting our time.
We now do decaf, exclusively. The real thrill is that I can mix it in just a little water to dissolve it, then add more (filtered) water and almond milk and ice in an instant for iced coffee. It’s 86* in Florida, today, hence the iced coffee.
We have a Keurig coffee maker, and I love that it’s simple and I can drop a pod in and presto! I have coffee. It can do ice coffee too, but I prefer my bodum cold brew.
I’d return the cuisinart grinder regardless. I can do both hot tea—usually black tea—and hot coffee and will go through spells for either or and both. I really enjoyed the Hong Kong milk tea I got from a local Chinese restaurant. I would love to recreate that in the near future at home. ????
If I have time, turmeric golden milk, spice cider, ginger tea, chai tea
Strongly recommend Baratza Encore – Normally it’s around $150, but Amazon has it for about $110 right now. I went from an old version of the mr.coffee grinder to th is, and it’s made such a big difference in my morning coffee.
not the same old grind. this first pic is the Cuisinart combined grinder and coffee maker. my wife got it for me at Home Goods a few years ago, so somewhat discounted from usual retail for this brand. Also, the grinder is the “”BURR GRINDER”” kind which is guaranteed to be the noisiest on the market. Can’t speak for you unit but this will grind just the right amount of coffee for whatever number of cups I set. If yours doesn’t – contact MFG as they have always been responsive and replaced what needed to be replaced. one more thing next pic.
Hamilton Beach sells this blade type coffee and spice etc. grinder. I was surprised and amazed at how quiet this particular grinder turned out to be. Much quieter than most blade or burr grinders. cup can be removed, washed, used for nuts or spices, you get the picture. did I mention pretty quiet? and very inexpensive at around 25 or 30 dollars at Walmart or other fine stores, maybe.
no way this actually holds 14 cups of grind, but it is very quiet
I am a hot chocolate drinker, but I like the dark hot chocolate that only certain brands make at certain times of the year. I have way too much trouble sleeping to drink coffee. I can drink tea but usually stick to herbal teas with local honey if I can get it.
I’m from Australia and have a breville barista express. I generally make two double shots of espresso in the morning and make one into a latte and take the other one to work for later (I either nuke some milk in the microwave or have an iced latte). In the evening I have decaf tea; chai; or hot chocolate.
I love the ritual of making tea and have beautiful tea pots and cups. Yours are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
English Breakfast or Irish Breakfast tea in the morning, and cocoa on the stovetop weekends and evenings, with 3 large marshmallows in my oversized mug.
In 1988 we got a Krups. It was loud!!!! but it was free/gift and it worked well and lasted until 2020. I agree, the best part of waking up is not a buzz saw on the counter. In the 30 years since, we discovered that buying ground coffee is not horrible. Then from Amazon I bought a Krups grinder billed as quieter but not silent. Very happy with this one!
Darjeeling tea ahhh to relax with a cup & a book. Before bed a decaf Earl Grey. But if it’s a bleek, cold rainy/snowy day a good home made dark chocolate is perfect.
I drink both coffee and tea, but more coffee lately bc thanks to the coordinated efforts of a couple of friends to send coffee from TX to AL I have a fresh stash of the HEB Cafe Ole Houston blend (whole bean). I haven’t upgraded to a electric grinder bc it’s only me that drinks coffee and I limit it to 2 cups a day in the morning so I have a hand grinder I use to grind a few days worth at a time.
Beautiful cups! I’m an herbal tea drinker myself since I’m really sensitive to caffeine and dislike the smell of coffee. (It smells like burned dirt! Blech!) And at the risk of sounding like a total tea snob, I grow my own mint and then dehydrate the leaves to make a super fresh cup of mint tea. (I like a mix of spearmint, peppermint and a dash of chocolate mint.) It’s super easy to grow and tastes amazing. I drink a pot a day. The only downside is having a baggie of crushed green herbs in your desk can earn you some side-eye from your coworkers!
Tien Guan Yin is like the more fragrant version of oolong, so delicious!
Queen of White Peony is my daily drink. 1/2 gallon, I use loose leaf, make it in the morning and drink all day.
In the early afternoon, I will indulge in espresso. To me, if it isn’t strong, it isn’t coffee….
Yorkshire Gold for that really strong black tea lift. Then Twinings Irish Breakfast. Yum. Occasionally mix in a bag of Bigelow Cranberry Sensation.
I’m a fan of hot chocolate, steamed milk, and herbal teas. We don’t drink tea or coffee in our house.
Tea drinker here! love Bigelow English Breakfast or Harney Scottish Breakfast in the morning and Harney Scottish Afternoon in the early evening. My husband loves Harney’s Victorian London Fog.
Every now and then, I’ll get a craving for a coffee that we used to drink as teens. Any black coffee brewed with cardamom seeds and finished with generous amounts of evaporated milk and sugar. So comforting!
My husband had that grinder, and yes, it is extremely loud.
Jane
I’ve become addicted to instant coffee. I know it sounds terrible but the great thing about it is you can make it anyway you like. Super strong espresso or decaf or l like half regular & half decaf. if it’s not coffee the I make my own hot chocolate mix and spiced tea, my grandmother’s recipe.
Smiles, that was a fun post! My current morning and afternoon tea is brewed in a see-thru glass teapot, 4 bags of Constant Comment green tea and 2 bags of Celestial Seasonings Roastaroma, which gives the tea a delicious, cocoa-y rich fragrant blend.
Sometimes in the afternoon, I’ll find myself yearning for a cup of Bigelow Matcha Green Tea with Turmeric. It has a very interesting, unusual, lovely, friendly flavor that makes me think of springtime.
My evening tea is caff-free, and made in another glass teapot, 2 bags of Roastaroma and 1 bag of Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice… a lovely perky blend with cardamom and nutmeg, which is a fine after dinner cuppa.
I love that Gordon bought you those beautiful cups. One of my friends is a potter, and lets me pick out cups and glaze them in colors of my choice. He makes the best handles .. they fit my hands perfectly.
There’s just nothing as satisfying as a cup of tea … whatever you need to get energized, or to calm down, there’s a tea that will do that for you at the same time as tasting really great. I love it when you talk about tea in your posts.
The husband loves pourover coffee. We have have a burr grinder as well. I don’t think our Capresso is that loud. It might be a Cuisinart thing? I have a Cuisinart mini food processor and it’s horribly loud. I don’t use it unless I make pesto in the summer ????????♀️
Capresso for life! I do have to say though, that when I first shifted from a bladed puny coffee/spice grinder, the Capresso seemed horribly loud. Not as loud as my Magic Mill stone wheel flour grinder, but still very loud.
I’m thinking of upgrading to a Baratza for a future present for my husband, but the Capresso has been going strong for years!
I love Stash tea, also – their tea is wonderful! I buy their Lapsang Souchong tea in leaf form and am seriously addicted to it. I drink it with milk and love that comforting smoky flavor. I usually buy 3-4 bags at a time since I go through it a lot.
I also love coffee in the morning – I buy whole bean Costa Rican coffee and grind it with my OXO burr coffee grinder. I make it with my Aeropress, which is the best thing since sliced bread. It makes the perfect cup of coffee with a thin layer of crema on top (if the beans are fresh).
Other than that, I drink water and the occasional glass of wine.
I have a Capresso Infinity that I bought off eBay between 10-15 years ago. It has faithfully functioned without a single hitch. Burr grinders ARE loud, but my family says they use it as an indicator of when it’s safe to come out to the kitchen for breakfast. Everybody knows mom requires 20 uninterrupted minutes of human elixir before mere mortals are allowed in the kitchen.
I’ve seen other burr grinders at other peoples houses, but none seem to last as long or function as well as the Capresso’s do. Several of my family members have bought one for themselves since witnessing the secondhand glory of mine. We’re a cheap crew so everybody got theirs off eBay too except one fancy uncle who bought one of the newer ones: his seems a little quieter but a little punier than the OG all metal Infinity. I really like that it’s easy to take apart and clean with a small makeup brush too, and even the newer ones still have that similar design.
My husband just bought an espresso machine so we are doing lattes. I love tea as well and have some chocolate pecan I bought in Peru which is good also love the oolongs
My favorite hot drink it Jasmine green tea. When I have company I will pull out the blooming flower tea! 🙂
put in for a refund anyway. if they don’t give you one, write the worst possible review of it. include the fact that they wont refund it.
Hot chocolate- it’s the only hot drink I actually like. I will have tea if I’m trying to soothe a sore throat. But give me hot chocolate in almost any weather except summer. And all kinds of flavors are welcome…except fruit ones.
Thank you for the recommendation of Harney and Sons teas. They are lovely.
English breakfast tea before a bridge game, the house tea at a Chinese restaurant, and chai when I eat Indian food.
my favorite tea is White tea or Scottish breakfast tea. sometimes I’ll have a cup of hazelnut coffee if I didn’t sleep well. My husband and I use the same grinder as the small one you’re using, it’s definitely a good one.
my old Braun grinds the perfect amount for a small 4 cup (so two actual cups/mugs). It coudld do more, but I have never tried to check max capacity. Your old one looks similar so if you like it, just keep using it and just grind when you guys want frash coffee throughout the day. If you still want an upgrade, Braun is overall a good brand and maybe you can find one that suits you that is made by them.
In 2020, when we realized covid was not going away anytime soon, my husband decided we should get our own espresso machine. It is the best thing ever! It is the Breville Bambino. He later ordered their grinder as he was on the quest for the perfect cup of espresso. Neither of these were inexpensive but we have had them for 3 years. Love both machines & it feels like such a treat everyday. I can only have one cup of decaf in the AM as I am now hypersensitive to caffeine since menopause, ugg. I get my decaf Ruta Maya online from Costco & grind it as I need it. In the past I was also a black, green, oolong, white tea drinker. I really miss good tea & decaf tea tastes like either dirt or nothing.
Like Gordon, I prefer coffee made with freshly ground beans. I love my little Hamilton Beach coffee grinder that I got off Amazon. It cheerfully ignores when I fill it well past the “maximum” and grinds enough coffee for six cups (that is, 6 X 8 oz.) in a countof 25, without waking the whole neighborhood.
The coffeemaker is just as important, and I’ve tried them all. I have a lovely 12-cup drip maker right now that is white, slightly used, and a Braun—so I named it Eva.
I am a recent SPINN converter. The machine is pricey but totally worth it. No grinders, no pods, no fuss. Can make coffee remotely, yay
Lately, Matcha green tea lattes instead of coffee in the morning.
My wonderful Husband buys me several pounds of Harney everyday Matcha every year and I love it.
Otherwise, big fan of their Hot Cinnamon Spice during the daytime up until around 2 in the afternoon, and now they have a Hot Cinnamon Spice Green I can drink at night. Yummm
I’m a tea drinker. I don’t think I’m particularly discerning in my tea choices, however. I just need it to be decaffeinated. I like Twinings Irish Breakfast decaf tea or decaf English Breakfast. With milk of course and some Stevia sweetener. And a good book.
Himself drinks high test coffee all day and sleeps easily. I don’t get it. If I drink a caffeinated beverage after 4pm my sleeping sucks. Grrr.
Twinings Australian Afternoon or Everyday Black teas. I do not like flavoured or weak teas at all. Although I don’t mind the smell of coffee I really do not like the taste at all.
Harney & Sons has a lovely little London Fog tea which is a particular favorite of my mine right now, Tea anything with Lavender in it is a go for me. Green teas are my favorite, but I’ve learned to love the earthy Rooibos if you are looking for decaf tea. Almost as good as a cup of coffee- Almost.
Coffee(highlander grogg) + Honey + Splash of Milk is pretty much the only way I look forward to getting out of bed. The best part is acquiring honey from different places within the US, as they honey all has different flavors based on the flowers that are grown there. I’ve gotten tobacco honey from NC-very interesting! and recently a friend brought me cactus flower honey from AZ. I am eye-balling it at the moment.
Tea, tea, tea. Tea has become my most recent coping mechanism for stress –Republic of Tea Golden Tumeric, August Uncommon Painted Desert, Harney & Sons Chocolate Chai, August Uncommon Breakfast Smoky Vanilla, Yorkshire Tea red tea. Waiting for summer to try Harney & Sons apricot tea iced.
Personally I like Adagio, Teasmith, and a few Republic of Tea teas – mostly oolong, black and white teas. Black Dragon Pearls from Adagio are a favorite right now. Also Earl Grey Moonlight is delightful.
But there are lots of good ones from other companies. Bigalow has Constant Comment, and Lemon Lift as faithful trust-worthies.
I LOVE a good red tea – Teasmith, rooibos lemon chiffon is a perfect end of the day tea because it has no caffeine.
And sometimes I just sip on hot water…
I have some writing questions that could be a potential blog post.
How do you write as a team?
I know you talk about things, but who does the actual writing? Do you sit at a computer together or work on writing scenes on your own? Does one of you write more than the other? Does the type of scene determine who writes it? For example, Author A writes more of the combat scenes and Author B writes more of the location descriptions. Or does it depend on the character? Or the series?
I’m asking in general terms. Of course I don’t expect an answer like “Author A writes 73.4% of the combat scenes.” Lol.
Also, how do you make decisions when you disagree about something? Do you ask for input from a third party? (such as your kids, Mod R, another author, your agent…)
Have you ever flipped a coin? Like over a small disagreement, such as if a character would be wearing sneakers or boots.
Scottish Morn from Harney and Sons with milk. And coffee from my Nespresso 2 times per week only. When I first got my Nespresso (Vertuo line), I was refilling pods with my own coffee. The KitchenAid bur grinder is a LOT quieter than the Cuisinart. I know because I have the Cuisinart and wanted a red grinder so I bought the KitchenAid one. Much quieter.
I’m a dark roast girl who likes her sprinkles of nutmeg and vanilla powder with a small side of honey…and 4-6 ounces of half and half????????. That’s the morning brew.
For tea, I usually drink Rooibus Chai, or Moroccan Mint, both by Numi. I drink them unsweetened, but steeped, when I have them. But I usually drink ice water through the day.
The hubs is a coffee snob. We can’t even set it the night before and wake up to coffee because you have to grind the beans fresh. If there is a next time on the grinder, Capresso is your best bet. We have the 560 Infinity. It’s a little pricey, but you can adjust the grind. It is loud and it does take a minute because it’s grinding not cutting. But I lost the lid once and they sent us a new one totally free of charge. No shipping or anything. I eventually found it in a box of Christmas ornaments. Have no idea how that happened. Anyhoo, we have a local coffee house here in Richmond – Blanchard’s. I swear they put heroin or something in there. We can’t got two days without it. My new favorite tea is Harvey and Sons Earl Grey. It’s so light and not at all bitter. Yums. I’m down to my last bag. Gotta go order some.
Opps Harney and Sons. With an “N”
I don’t drink coffee but recently I’ve been drinking Ecco which is a toasted barley drink. I used to drink it when I lived in Chile 20 years ago and never could find it in the US. I finally found a website that sold it recently and ordered 12 cans. I love the taste and it brings back so many memories.
Lately we’ve become accustomed to cold brew decaf. Hubby grinds a cup of decaf beans, and puts them in a jug with cold water for a day or a day and a half. He strains it into a glass tea jug, puts it in the fridge, and we drink it by diluting it with a half cup of hot water. A one gallon jug lasts us about a week, since we drink it primarily at the end of a work day.
If you’ve never tried cold brew coffee, I’d encourage you to. Full caf or decaf, it’s cold in the fridge, and all you need to do is heat it up. No noise, no fuss. The taste is just as good as fresh brewed.
We have a regular coffee grinder, and we use two french press pots (his and hers, since we each like different beans) He bought a Flyseago Electric Grinder a few years ago. It’s not super loud, but you know it’s being used.
I had to insist on a separate grinder for coffee after Hubby ground his masala spices in our coffee grinder. I like curry, but I don’t like it in my morning cup.
Our other go to beverage is white oolong tea. When it’s been a super hard week, we have a Japanese iron tea pot of it, outside if it’s nice, or in a quiet spot inside when it’s raining.
I have a whole cabinet of teas that I have to ride herd on to keep it from taking over. Most of them are herbal mixes I make myself, along with medicinal teas for cold and flu season.
???? love your story!
Masala tea/coffee,what a wake up! agree, not what I would desire ????
Okay, so this is really expensive, like more than 4 new tires for the car expensive($600-800), De’Longhi Magnifica is a wonderful coffee grinder/ maker. It sounds like a very small and compact jet taking off. Grinds the beans for you, has some easy to use attachments ect. When I was roasting my own beans and had a way to write it off as a business expense I bought one. It lasted me 3 years and then went up with the rest of the restaurant in a fire. There is a direct quote from me arguing with an insurance adjuster about how if it was a planned fire I would have saved the coffee maker. You can find them on eBay for cheaper than that sometimes. Good coffee needs good prep. So grinding size and water temp make a massive difference. For me personally I drink loads of coffee and as I’ve gotten older I’ve just recently started to like the nut flavors. San Antonio Roast is pretty good from HEB.
We have the Cuisinart grinder. You’re right it is very loud and a little slow. We like that you can adjust the fineness of the grind. We grind enough coffee to last a few days and keep it in a canister so there’s always some ready to use, but it doesn’t sit for very long and is relatively fresh. That also allows you to start the grinder and walk away while it does it’s thing – loudly/slowly. The cups are very pretty! What a nice gift.
On the upgraded coffee grinder, we used to keep one in the barn to grind horse pills. We had a horse on major gigantic antibiotics pills and a lot of pills a day and it was the only want to get them to at them. It was awful, loud and very inconsistent powder size.
LoL ???? we bought the same Cuisinart grinder and also regret it! I agree it’s terribly loud and the reported yield is never correct so I end up suffering through the noise again. Maybe if it produced the amount it says it does in one grind I wouldn’t hate it as much.
Oh well. I’ve been buying ground coffee to avoid the same noise issues. ???? I’m probably going to donate it soon.
In the meantime I’ve enjoyed adding loose Thai tea, served hot, to my winter drink rotation. I didn’t know the sweet and creamy orange cold Thia tea was the same stuff. I thought some magic chef hands made it at restaurants.
I buy it in bulk as a loose tea and share with friends cause it’s strong and a little goes a long way. Add cream (or non-dairy creamer etc) and sugar (or maple syrup etc) and it’s exactly the same just hot and awesome.
I’ve lately been into peppermint tea. This year I plan to plant some peppermint plants in a pot on my deck so I can grow my own tea.
Two alcoholic drinks to warm you up through and through. The first is mulled wine. You heat the wine adding spices and citrus to your choice. There are many recipes out there. Not a thing for overindulgence though, because it will give you a hangover.
My second choice is hot buttered rum. This is awesome when camping. Hot water, demarera sugar, real butter and dark rum. I like the butter salted. You have to be in the mood for it, but when you are it is amazing.
Oh, one more. Hot cranberry juice. Give it a try.
My favorite tea is Russian Caravan, a blend of Assam, Ceylon and Darjeeling.
For satisfying and beautiful herbal tea I mix rooibos, peppermint, lemon balm, chamomile and hibiscus.
My favourite tea right now is Maple Syrup Oolong from DavidsTea here in Canada. The maple syrup adds some nice sweetness to it.
What are our hot drink preferences? scene: quiet, country evening, peaceful living room… husband? (55 years now) coffee – freshly ground, dark roast in his favorite corner of the couch,.. me: Twinings Earl Gray, one sugar, tilted back with a new Ilona Andrews book… much loved son (brace yourselves) Pepsi no ice…
I once read that once the coffee is ground it begins to lose its flavor. I also get whole bean coffee so I can ground it as I need it. I only need 1/4 cup at a time, so I am very happy with the smaller version
Another shout-out for a Baratza Encore. It lets you to adjust the grind, which is great not only for coffee (e.g. press requires different grind than drip) but also for making very find grind coffee for my ancho chili+coffee+brown sugar rub.
I like to start my day with some variety of Peet’s coffee, a little half & half and some sweetener. In the afternoon usually have a cup of coffee or some hot tea.
I find all burr grinders incredibly loud. We had the model you show above and when it broke we got the digital version bc it was on super sale. It’s alright, but more often than not we just use the industrial grinder at Costco *gasp* (sorry purists). Hooked on Genmatcha and H & S Cinnamon tea lately. Really love the frother we got last year. Use it to make hot cocoa and chai or matcha lattés.
???? Trust your instincts. That grinder is kaput! I got mine to make proper espresso. Luckily I don’t grind the leaves. Happy easy grinding. ????
Only when I’m ill, as I don’t do hot beverages: colds? hot water w/ lemon. flu/stomach? warm ginger ale with lime or lemon or apple cider vinegar
There’s a great Masterclass on coffee which taught me a lot about grinder technology.
Coffee grinder
Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder (Black) https://a.co/d/3B3sOUV