say what you will about starbucks and corporate america,...but they did pave the way for a more accessible coffee culture in america

Americans loved coffee way before Starbucks, they just didn't pay $5 a cup for it before Starbucks.

Does anyone here other than me think iced coffee is the most vile substance known to man?

It's good as hell, but not anywhere near being worth the price.

yes

my love affair with coffee started in the late 90s and i've pretty much had a cup a day everyday for the last decade. i normally make my own, with brown sugar and milk, too lazy to grind my own beans for now. a friend of mine is supposed to bring down some Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee over the Christmas holidays, it's apparently the 2nd best stuff out there. we're not crazy (or rich) enough to try Kopi Luwak beans (they get eaten and pooped out by a small animal before being used to make coffee).

having said that I ABSOLUTELY ABHOR STARBUCKS!!! i'm not a die hard Tim's fan either (other Canadians know exactly what i'm talking about), i don't mind gourmet coffee shop action for a change either. what i do hate is not being able to order a simple black coffee at a place that sells itself as the trendiest coffee shop out there. the last time i gave money to starbucks there were 4 people behind the counter, i could smell the coffee but i couldn't figure out what combination of random words the guy at the counter wanted to hear so that i could just get a plain cup of coffee. apparently only 1 of the 4 people on staff actually drank real coffee and recognized what i was talking about.

plus the sizing terms are absurd - tall, grande, venti.... uhhh tall, large, and twenty? that's supposed to make sense?

as for iced coffee, it's pretty tasty when done right, then again i also like the Rockstar 'coffee' drinks. whatever you do, don't let it warm up.

I drink a fair bit of coffee...you'll find most people in my trade do. Kinda gets into your routine...as for my preference, Im not all too picky. I drink it black, and as long as its strong I like it.

I gotta have coffee when I wake up. Usually even if I nap for some reason I will have another cup of coffee, it just works for me. Theres this market bout an hour from my house that sells coffee from all over the world :thumb: first thing outta my mouth when I found that place "F!@K YA! Anyway I am currently enjoying a bag of ground beans from Kenya, it is some really really good coffee. I also have a backup bag of Vanilla bean coffee, which is pretty amazing, but only with vanilla creamer. If you mix it with original creamer, you get some nasty after taste.

I also love tea! I like some Earl Greys but so far my favorite is Chamomile theres nothing like relaxing with a cup of Chamomile & throwing on some tunes!

this fits here but could also go in the recreational thread, but does anyone else make their own tea from stems? a little brown sugar and i find it makes one of the tastiest green teas i've ever enjoyed.

I'm having a cup of this right now, with milk and honey in it. Yummy.
http://www.celestialseasonings.com/i...-spice-med.jpg