Coffee Substitutes

[digitS']

No, Mary. I've tried it twice now. Maybe once more but ... no.

The cirinnammunamrum rolls have brown sugar but that still doesn't seem like such a great flavor for my coffee.

The agave syrup would be a new experience. I'm assuming that it won't taste like molasses. Sorghum molasses used to be okay for my tea but I'm also inclined to have tea, neat. This home always seems to have a lot of honey on-hand because of our hot cereal use. It would likely be best if I cut down on my sugar intake, no matter the source.

Steve

 

[Nyboy]

The supermarkets here sell agave, it is VERY sweet.

 

[digitS']

I've been happy with this Kava!

Pre-occuping myself with this post because I'm tempted to cheat on the 4 hour coffee wait. Yeah, I'm not sure I notice any coffee problems .

I take advantage of the opportunity to use soymilk. It dilutes brewed coffee so much that I'm very disinclined to use soymilk. With instant, I tried it at 100%, yesterday. That's a little too much. It reminded me of the times I've had coffee-flavored ice cream! DD suggests that I can try it iced ... a little too cold for iced coffee but she may be right.

Steve
Oops! It's after 8!!

 

[digitS']

Funny how having instant coffee around has changed my tea drinking.

I think I've already said that I doubt that I have ever bought an instant coffee and that I like milk or non-dairy creamers but seldom use them.

Instant coffee is good in hot soymilk diluted with about 25% water. It's the sweetened soymilk, with vanilla. Anyway, I use the same recipe for tea, only the process is different.

I was putting 2 tea bags in my hot soymilk! Still couldn't taste the tea . So, I tried 1 teabag in my quarter cup of hot water. After steeping, tossed the tea bag, filled the mug with soymilk and nuked it for a minute.

Perfect!

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

Glad you've found a drink you like. Being able to enjoy something 'special' in quiet moments is one of the bigger little joys of life and I know how hard and long you've been seeking the perfect drink.

 

[so lucky]

Hey Steve, I assume the Kava is easier on your stomach than brewed coffee? It's not the taste of good strong brewed coffee, but it's better than nothing.
I started trying Stevia in my coffee, and finally I have gotten used to it, to the point of not feeling deprived when I drink it. It is a fluffy granular stevia, the same as sugar in bulk, but not weight. No calories, no chemicals. Yea for me!
I made some "muddy buddies"(aka Puppy chow) the other day, as we had some kids coming by, and used stevia instead of powdered sugar. The recipe called for 1 and a half cups of powdered sugar, to coat the chocolate covered Chex cereal combo. I used one half cup of stevia instead, and it is just right, not too sweet.

 

[digitS']

I like the Kava.

However, DS is supposed to be here for Christmas. So, I ordered some whole bean Puroast Columbian. I hope it's good.

Right now, I'm having another cup of tea. This is not the best tea in the world. Since when does that come in a teabag? I have yet to try a nice Oolong in a tea ball this way. Still, I think I can now say that I like tea with milk better than without ... and I have always liked tea .

Now, I could try it with unsweetened soymilk and honey, a real vanilla bean ... search out some of those tea varieties @Pulsegleaner talks about ... oh, I'll be spoiled! Better just allow myself one treat at a time.

Hey! DW made cookies today. i've already eaten a half dozen, at least ...

stevie

 

[Pulsegleaner]

The description explains the origin

http://www.teahabitat.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=10&products_id=213

Though I admit that this has caused a little problem. With the expense of the tea, I originally had a plan to see if there was any of either available at any of the many shops that sell tea in Chinatown, in the hope that I could get a tiny amount to try first (or since this is pretty common practice, to get a tasting in store) But the name means that conversation (the one time I tried it) got a little awkward (the real problem is that the listing does not include the teas name in the original ideographs, which I could pinto out and show. And the tonal nature of Chinese means that any attempt I might make to say the phonetic name and have it be intelligible is more or less doomed to failure.)

Just an note in case anyone was curious. I got some of this tea as a subsidized present over the holiday (as in I selected it, they paid for it) and tonight finally got around to tasting it.

The good news, it does not in fact, taste like poop (as opposed to pur-eh tea which I think tastes of spoiled mushrooms). The bad news it's doesn't really taste of much of anything else either. Considering I used the WHOLE of my Oz. in today's bowl (so about 50% more tea than I have used in any of the others from this place I have sued) the stuff is ridiculously weak (the phrase "love in a canoe" comes to mind) I think it also may be really bitter in that I added my normal 4 packets of stevia, and I STILL can't taste any sweetness.

Actually the whole package has been a bit of a disappointment. Of the six teas in the annual sampler. I have so far gone through five of them. Two of them (the night Jasmine and Magnolia fragrance) are awful. The other three (apple aroma, Cinnamon aroma, and Old Immortal Man) were OK, but marginal at best (and in all cases I needed both packets to make the brew strong enough, so only one shot each) Of them I suppose the Old Immortal Man was best, and wouldn't you know, that's the one of those three that is not available individually anymore. So unless the last one (the Song Dynasty Royal tree) really knocks my socks off, I don't think I'll be re-ordering anytime soon. (actually since that one is totally sold out now as well, it really doesn't make any difference, even if it does wow me, there's nothing I can DO about it!)

 

[digitS']

... I have sued. . . it really doesn't make any difference, even if it does wow me, there's nothing I can DO about it!)

I had to read to the final line to realize that "sued" = "used" ..! I thought at first you were really taking some drastic action in the courts, Pulsegleaner!

Well, I'm sorry it turned out that way. It's great when we are afforded our little pleasures. I'm disappointed in myself that I'm not happier with water. I will be thirsty, decide that it's really too late for me to drink something caffeinated and not really desire something sweet. I get a glass of water, take one sip or none, and find it the next morning forgotten, sitting beside my chair. Again and again and again.

Tonight, I have just heated some soymilk and I will drink that.

Steve

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Well, at least this means I won't have to pony up another $156 (if I HAD liked this one, I was planning to go back onto the site on Saturday (the people who run the site are off in China until then) and buy up the balance while there still was one (with this tea being from the 2007 harvest, it's not like they can get more in later).

Someday I may go back and try the 2003 Honey Orchid, since they describe it in such glowing terms, but I will have to be a MUCH richer man to drink that one on a regular basis; $130 an ounce tea is not a habit to cultivate otherwise! (especially if it has the same strength problem, as that means I'd need to plan to use 3-4 oz per session.)

I do the same thing with water (I take some medicine before going to bed, so I need to bring SOMETHNG up with me to swallow it. One sip and the rest usually stays there, to be knocked over on the floor when I wake up (and to mean I eventually need to go rooting around my room because I've managed to leave every last drinking cup up there and have to assemble them to return them to the dishwasher and circulation.) During the appropriate season the leftover contents can go in one pot or another on the radiator, but it will probably be nearly spring before I start anything again, so at the moment it's all redundant (well until I start some citrus or something else that houseplant-y enough that it doesn't really matter WHEN I plant it.)

I actually was working at one time on a soybean strain specifically for use in making soymilk. At some time I may pick the project up again (it was having some problems with getting a crop ripened in time for the end of season up here.) I seem to recall the taste results were pretty good (only other problem was that they soybeans, and therefore the milk was green.)