Tuesday, September 29, 2015

My story with coffee on National Coffee Day ... I'll try your ideas!


Coffee... its everywhere... & it seems that everyone drinks it.

It's pretty much known here & on my Instagram that I've turned into an iced coffee addict myself.

But would you believe that just a few short years ago, probably 2-3 years ago, I had never drank coffee in my life.

It's true.

We used to have Bible study or friends over at our house & some of them were coffee drinkers.  When you came to my house, you were just out of luck if you wanted coffee.  We didn't even OWN a coffee maker.

Then when Julie would come to visit, she is a coffee PRO!  I guess when you work hard to get a PhD, I'm sure coffee helps with long nights of studying.... girlfriend loves her coffee & knows all about it.  So we invested in the world's smallest coffee maker in the world for her visits.



That makes about 1 - 1 & a half cups of coffee.... it was really cute though... & did the job for Julie.

& then for some reason, I wanted to get a Keurig.  I had seen that they had hot chocolate drinks & teas for it, so Julie could use it while she was here for coffee & I could use it for tea.  Win Win.

I was in the big league.

Singing the theme from The Jeffersons right now
... moving on up....

& then life changed... I don't know how, I don't know why... but one day, I thought I would try an iced coffee from McDonalds.  It may have been one of those weeks where they have a free coffee... I'm not sure.  But I ordered it...

& fell in love.


But then I found out that not all coffee tastes the same.

I started doing what every one does when they want to learn something - go to Pinterest - & started looking up coffee things.  & then I started looking into how to make iced coffee like McDonalds at home.

I can never get it exact - mainly because I think McDonalds pumps something illegal in it to make you crave it & want to come back - but I am pretty good at making coffee that I like.

I use Vanilla syrup to sweeten it & I use the Natural Bliss Vanilla creamer & this is now my morning jam...

I can't live without these.
Have you ever read the ingredients in regular creamers? YIKES!!

but then I also started going into coffee shops & seeing how other stores make their coffee. 

It's so confusing because some places just hand you the cup of coffee & send you on your way to a bar full of sugar packets & containers of cream or milk & stir sticks... & I'm still a little confused by it all.

I like Starbucks because I can just walk up & say I want a Grande Vanilla Iced Coffee with cream & I don't have to do anything else but drink up.


I'm definitely finding out that not all coffee tastes the same too. 

Let's not forget my post yesterday on how bad the coffee tasted at 2 different coffee shops I went to this past weekend.... UGH!

I used to buy a whole great big box of Donut Shop K-Cups at Sam's Club... but am now turning into a snob where I prefer the Breakfast Blend Starbucks K-Cups.  I don't want to - those are more expensive - but I've said it before & I'll say it again, Ricky assures me I have expensive taste.

Life now has at least one coffee in it a day - if not two... & on weekends, watch out.



But guess what, I'm still learning what I like, what tastes good to me, what I have to ask for in coffee shops.

Because one thing I have learned - coffee people get REALLY offended if you don't know what you're talking about - or look at you like you have 3 heads if you ask any questions about it.

Barista's scare me....

So tell me - how do you like your coffee... is there something amazing I'm missing out on?  Help me out with my next order....

Tell me how you like your coffee....
 
I may just take all your ideas & try them one at a time :)
... except black... I cant handle plain black coffee...
 

HAPPY NATIONAL COFFEE DAY!

22 comments:

  1. coffee is my life. i need it otherwise no one talk to me for your own safety!

    i have a great coffee shop just around the corner from my house and their coffee recos are always ON POINT. i only take a bit of cream and sugar in my coffee but i think it's the coffee itself (not what you put in it) that makes the coffee good or bad. so far, my fav are Kona and Balzac roasters.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wish I could learn to like coffee. But I just don't care for sweet drinks nor hot drinks and I am trying to cut back empty calories and artificial ingredients. Just give me my boring unsweet iced tea.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just love coffee! I know i'm not alone on this! I have a regular drip coffee pot and a Keurig. Truth be known, if I could afford buying K-cups all the time, I'd only drink Green Mountain Coffee K-cups in Dark Magic. You should give them a try! it's a rich coffee taste. with the right amount of cream and sugar, it's heaven!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Seriously makes me giggle EVERY time I think about you drinking coffee. I remember when you thought it was THE most GROSS drink known to man!!!!! Oh, the other day I finally tried a Pumpkin Spice Cappuccino.... and I'm pretty sure it is just pure fall in a cup. :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love coffee (especially the smell of coffee), but just can't handle the caffeine - even in decaf! I usually stick to my chai's or in the winter I'll do 1/4 coffee, 3/4 creamer, haha! I just try not to look at the ingredients label ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have one cup of coffee every single morning no matter what! Love it!!!! The keurig is the best thing we ever bought for our house! My favorite creamer is that natural sweet cream one! Delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  7. hahaha i don't drink coffee! My mum doesn't drink it so we never had a coffee maker in the house either! KC does though, so we have one now, but I can't stand the taste or the smell, and caffeine does nothing to me so there is no point lol

    ReplyDelete
  8. I do not like coffee, and I haven't even ever tried any of the other kinds--cappuccino, frappe, or iced. I know I should just try it because I might like it like that, but I can't make myself do it. I remember how much I disliked the coffee I tried and I don't want to waste $$. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am not a fan of Starbucks coffee but I do love coffee. I usually make it at home, either a Caramel or French Vanilla coffee with sugar free creamer and Truvia.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My favorite way to have coffee is french-pressed with real cream and sugar in the raw. SO GOOD. Something about french press is just so much better than any other way to me! Also, at starbucks I like to get iced skinny caramel macchiatos with half the syrup. So tastyyyy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll have to write down that Starbucks order & give it a try.

      My step daughter does the whole French press thing... that's over my head - but I want to learn all about it - it may become my favorite :)

      Delete
  11. I like my coffee super sweet. I say I like my coffee the same color as my skin (so wrong...but so true) or I'll say I like a little coffee in my milk. I like French Vanilla coffee with just cream from Dunkin Donuts (hot or cold). I also love Toffee Nut Lattes (with whipped cream) from Starbucks. and lastly the iced coffee at 7/11 are really good. Trish - tales from trish

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love the Java chip from Starbucks, I'm not much of a fan of hot coffee until it's winter and I more drink it out of habit than anything.

    I feel like coffee is one of the types where you either love it or hate it. But I feel like everyone should give coffee a fair chance first. Definitely checking out those creamers, never looked into the normal creamers...probably putting arsenic in myself without realizing it.

    liz jo @ sundays with sophie

    ReplyDelete
  13. I have to put creamer in my hot coffee or buy a 'fancy' drink like a latte or white chocolate mocha or something. I know creamer is horrible but I always use nonfat hazelnut...not the natural kind. Oops.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Total coffee snob here. I won't drink the nasty stuff they make at work but I do bring a ginormous travel keg from home with what we make there. I grind our beans even. For home-brewed coffee, I just add a splash of creamer. We also have a French-press and make it that way occasionally. It's not for rushed mornings though. When I'm at a coffee place (usually Starbucks or Kolkin), I just get a latte with either vanilla or caramel syrup. I do like iced coffees in the summer but once I saw them make it with whole milk, I just couldn't do it anymore. I'll make it in the summer with sugar, either a splash of vanilla syrup or a couple drops of vanilla extract, and half-n-half, if I have any on hand ... because that's SO much better than whole milk. Sure. Whatever ... I do like my coffee though. :) Happy Coffee Day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh see - you get the whole coffee thing. I need you to go with me on my next trip & have you order for me :)
      So whole milk is a no no for iced coffee? See - I didn't even realize that.

      Delete
    2. I just wasn't expecting WHOLE milk. Cream? Sure! 2%? Why not? Whole milk ... ick. It didn't change the fact that I inhaled the first dozen or however many iced coffees I had purchased there - but now I need to remember to ask for cream instead of milk. Yeah for cooler weather and warm drinks again though! :)

      Delete
  15. I'm so a coffee girl. Since dieting I gave up the cream .. but I so miss it!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Iced or frozen is the way to go. With LOTS of sweet stuff added in! :D

    ReplyDelete
  17. I usually drink one cup of coffee and it's at night while I'm at work. For the most part it's black, with nothing added. Believe it or not, I've never stepped inside a Starbucks.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Our daughter is an iced coffee addict. I'm not a coffee or tea drinker, I just one occasionally.

    ReplyDelete
  19. So, I just recently started drinking coffee. Like the first week of September. I used to only drink the Tazo Chai Tea but that stuff is expensive and I could never find it at our grocery store. While Cory was gone, I decided I was gonna take over his small coffee pot and try it out. Now, we need a bigger one because it helps me get through the day! Except, I have no idea what I'm doing! While in Rwanda, the missionaries "house boy" made our coffee every morning and it was so good! Just the right amount of cream and sugar. I need to ask him his ratio!

    ReplyDelete

I am thankful for each comment & like to respond to every one of them....
If you noticed I do not respond to your comments, it is because you are a "no reply" blogger and I am unable too!
How to enable your e-mail: BLOGGER ACCOUNTS: To do this, click on your Dashboard, click on EDIT PROFILE and place a check mark next to SHOW MY EMAIL ADDRESS, and finally scroll to the bottom and click SAVE PROFILE.**

Social Media World

Come Follow Me