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TheGildedGoose
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Post by TheGildedGoose » 2 years ago

RxPhantom wrote:
2 years ago
Coffee is gross, but I find coffee-flavored things to be good. Like ice cream.
Try cold brew. I was the same way until I was introduced to it. As it turns out, I just don't like hot and bitter liquids.

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Post by vandertroll » 2 years ago

Iced espresso with no sugar is the best!
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Post by DirkGently » 2 years ago

RxPhantom wrote:
2 years ago
Coffee is gross, but I find coffee-flavored things to be good. Like ice cream.
One of the things I miss from the states is this Haagen Dazs ice cream with layers of coffee, vanilla, and hard chocolate shell. That stuff was amazing.

But that's about the only time I've liked coffee flavour. I guess Starbucks milkshakes are okay but pretty overpriced.
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Post by SocorroTortoise » 2 years ago

I'm trying to come up with a way to contribute to the coffee flavor conversation without coming off as even more of a coffee snob than I already have or writing a treatise on the topic and I don't think I have it in me. I'll say that some people still have an idea that good coffee is as dark, caffeinated, and hot as you can make it, and that the things you focus on to make those things true of a cup are not the same ways you make the drink taste good without a bunch of additives. Nothing against the people who are fans of charcoal flavored water but it's not really for me.
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Post by Crazy Monkey » 2 years ago

I've been a caffeine addict all of my adult life, and I begrudgingly drank coffee for years for the chemical instead of the taste. It was always bitter or 'charred' flavors until I had a coworker introduce me to small batch roasts. He'd gotten into a specialized roasting business and was using our department as a testing ground. I found out that I really preferred medium roasts where the more fruit-type flavor was retained through the roasting/brewing process. I don't know the specifics of how he achieved that beyond a roast size that is much smaller than industrial scale roast, so the heat distribution into the beans is more uniform and the total roast level of each bean can be lower.

I guess my take away is that there are coffee options that, even when brewed extremely strong, don't have the stereotypically rough taste. The light roasts were more comparable to strong tea flavors. The idea that strong coffee always tastes like a campfire has miffed me ever since. And cold brew becoming more commonly available is, frankly, wonderful.
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Post by lyonhaert » 2 years ago

something tannins something bitter something binds something fats something
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Post by Rumpy5897 » 2 years ago

A lot of these substances tend to have very broad borders. I crossed paths with a coffee snob a couple years back, and his favoured brew was a blood-curdling french press robusta. Crazy strong (I want to say sour, but it's been quite a while since I had one), crazy caffeinated, a small cup of that stuff would have me pacing the hallway outside the office for the rest of the day. By contrast, my mom's espresso-like coffee made from delicate arabica was made out to be mainstream tripe. It's worth having someone well-versed in the thing help you find your footing. It's quite likely some variant of the thing will appeal to you.

I have a similar story with regards to beer actually - I grew up with skunky lagers being the stuff referred to as "beer". Polish mainstream lagers in the mid 00's were a rancid, metallic affair that took all the wrong cues from pilsners, and I hated them. I only realised that there's more to it when a friend persuaded me to give a wheat beer a go, and it was lovely. Absolutely nothing like what I previously associated with the drink, a mellow, yeasty experience with more notes of banana and cloves than bitterness. This got me exploring other styles, and with time I became opinionated enough to have a favoured IPA (for some reason the craft scene is really saturated with those). Arguably my favourite is oude gueuze though, an oddball affair that has very little to do with beer. That's how I tend to roll though, I tend to land in weird fringe areas which are quite far removed from the conventional traits.

Since there seem to be some knowledgeable coffee folk here, maybe I can get my setup fine-tuned by folks with more expertise. It's quite simple, really - I grind a medium roast Guatemalan large bean coffee to medium coarseness, fill up the moka pot with boiling water from the kettle, chuck the thing onto a low flame until the coffee sputters out (takes barely any time), pour into cup. Anything that could be sauced up for improved performance?
Last edited by Rumpy5897 2 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
 
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Post by Hermes_ » 2 years ago

I just made a batch of nuka-cola from the fallout cook book and was wondering what would a MTG themed cook book look like and what recipes would be in it?
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Post by BeneTleilax » 2 years ago

Coffee is good.

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Post by Crazy Monkey » 2 years ago

Rumpy5897 wrote:
2 years ago
Since there seem to be some knowledgeable coffee folk here, maybe I can get my setup fine-tuned by folks with more expertise. It's quite simple, really - I grind a medium roast Guatemalan large bean coffee to medium coarseness, fill up the moka pot with boiling water from the kettle, chuck the thing onto a low flame until the coffee sputters out (takes barely any time), pour into cup. Anything that could be sauced up for improved performance?
Honestly, that's all I do as well. The only item I do that you didn't mention is how packed the grounds are. I personally prefer the 'overbrewed' (I think that the correct term?) taste from a tight pack on the grounds. This makes the brewing take a bit longer due to the higher pressure required to pass through the grounds. It makes my mocha pot brew closer in flavor to an espresso.

That said, my pallet for coffee is more discerning than my drive to improve the flavor. I still periodically drink drive through coffee (pre pandemic) despite complaining that it's less than great.

I can talk a lot more about roasting, roasting control systems, and system tolerances for the roaster than I can on actually brewing: because we were a couple of engineers talking about control systems as my coworker was customizing and upgrading his roast systems. I know the measurement probes (thermocouple locations, humidity probes) used in his control system and the thermal power equations he used to drive the roasting control curve more than I know about, for example, ideal grind for a given roast.
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Post by pokken » 2 years ago

Crazy Monkey wrote:
2 years ago
my pallet for coffee
that's a lot of coffee bro :grin:

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Post by SocorroTortoise » 2 years ago

Rumpy5897 wrote:
2 years ago
Since there seem to be some knowledgeable coffee folk here, maybe I can get my setup fine-tuned by folks with more expertise. It's quite simple, really - I grind a medium roast Guatemalan large bean coffee to medium coarseness, fill up the moka pot with boiling water from the kettle, chuck the thing onto a low flame until the coffee sputters out (takes barely any time), pour into cup. Anything that could be sauced up for improved performance?
Pretty much how a moka pot works. I also tend to like finer grinds for moka pot, mostly because I'll go for other methods if I want something that hits more light notes, but that's down to personal preference. You have to be a little careful about going too fine/compressed because at some point you're relying a lot on a little pressure release valve to not create a bomb but I've pushed it pretty far with no problems.

On beer, I'm a big fan of IPAs. The southern CA beer scene is kind of inundated with them. At least in San Diego I'm guessing a lot of that has to do with how successful Stone is.
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Post by Crazy Monkey » 2 years ago

pokken wrote:
2 years ago
Crazy Monkey wrote:
2 years ago
my pallet for coffee
that's a lot of coffee bro :grin:
To be fair, my coworker was buying beans by the pallet and having it delivered at the office because his home roast operation didn't have a loading dock. Meanwhile, I probably only drink a pallet worth per year.
Last edited by Crazy Monkey 2 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by EonAon » 2 years ago

Hermes_ wrote:
2 years ago
I just made a batch of nuka-cola from the fallout cook book and was wondering what would a MTG themed cook book look like and what recipes would be in it?
Well thats easy they just made the card The Underworld Cookbook

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Post by Sanity_Eclipse » 2 years ago

SocorroTortoise wrote:
2 years ago
On beer, I'm a big fan of IPAs. The southern CA beer scene is kind of inundated with them. At least in San Diego I'm guessing a lot of that has to do with how successful Stone is.
I am the opposite, basically anything that's not super hoppy is something I can get down with, or at least tolerate. IPAs, Pale/Golden Ales, etc are a big no from me. Tastes like microwaved orange peels.
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Post by pokken » 2 years ago

Oh damn is it beer time

I love wheat beers and especially Tripels (la fin du monde being my favorite, with victory golden monkey being the best easily available).

I've got a love-hate relationship with IPAs - I like that they are reliably drinkable but they do taste like pine needles and soap. Green Flash is my favorite that I can often find somewhere, but Founders' All day is also super good and often available.

I like reds, but they're often too rough on my stomach. Strauss's Red Trolley is my favorite, with Founders Dirty Bastard my second.

These days I have converted entirely off of beer pretty much because I discovered concord wine. Which is wine that tastes like from-concentrate grape juice. It's best mixed 50/50 with diet 7-up or ginger-ale.

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Post by Hermes_ » 2 years ago

pokken wrote:
2 years ago
Oh damn is it beer time
and time for the steam summer sale Image
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Post by pokken » 2 years ago

Hermes_ wrote:
2 years ago
and time for the steam summer sal
ah yes, time for everyone to stock up on games and not play them :)

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Post by SocorroTortoise » 2 years ago

Sanity_Eclipse wrote:
2 years ago
I am the opposite, basically anything that's not super hoppy is something I can get down with, or at least tolerate. IPAs, Pale/Golden Ales, etc are a big no from me. Tastes like microwaved orange peels.
Fun story, when I was in high school I was on a trip with a couple friends and we were sharing a hotel room. Around 2 am there was nothing on TV, so we decided the best way to fill the time was to microwave a tangerine. It was a truly terrible smell. We spent the next half hour sitting as close as we could to the open window so we could get some fresh air.

Being teenagers, our next step was to microwave it again.
pokken wrote:
2 years ago
ah yes, time for everyone to stock up on games and not play them :)
As is tradition.
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Post by Moonlighter » 2 years ago

EonAon wrote:
2 years ago
Hermes_ wrote:
2 years ago
I just made a batch of nuka-cola from the fallout cook book and was wondering what would a MTG themed cook book look like and what recipes would be in it?
Well thats easy they just made the card The Underworld Cookbook
TELL ME WHAT IS THE RECIPE FOR FOOD TOKEN PLEASE.

I'm a bit of a caffiend myself, but I primarily stick to the heavy duty teas like Guayusa or Yerba Maté. I generally prefer the caffeine high that occurs with them (as they've got more L-theanine and polyphenols), and the comedown is much less of a crash. I've cold-brewed coffee, and I'll drink whatever if I need my fix. Right now I'm teaching a lot, so I've been drinking Hi-Ball energy drinks because they're just carbonated water and 150mgs of caffeine, and I can pack them on the bike - the mason jar of tea is less conducive to travel with my setup. There was a brand that had an energy drink that had three ingredients: carbonated water, caffeine, natural flavors - but it looks like the pandemic drove them out of business, which sucks pretty bad, because they were also generally a dollar a can. Hi-Ball charges 3x as much because it's 'organic' and high-falutin' and whatnot.
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Post by TheAmericanSpirit » 2 years ago

People are so %$#% dumb when they panic. When you need help, the people who are going to help you need specific information to best provide that assistance. If your S.O.S. is all kinds of ambiguous, you're not helping them help you, you're actively gimping the rescue effort.

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Post by RxPhantom » 2 years ago

TheAmericanSpirit wrote:
2 years ago
People are so %$#% dumb when they panic. When you need help, the people who are going to help you need specific information to best provide that assistance. If your S.O.S. is all kinds of ambiguous, you're not helping them help you, you're actively gimping the rescue effort.

Jesus christ, the things I do for love...
Could you be more vague, please? :P

Anyway, I know this may be a hot take, but I'm not feeling this D&D set at all. I don't play D&D and only have a passing knowledge of it, but everything feels super dated and stodgy. I know D&D has had a massive influence on the fantasy genre, so a lot of these tropes may actually be from their IP, but nothing resonates for me at a flavor or design level.
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Post by Krishnath » 2 years ago

RxPhantom wrote:
2 years ago
Anyway, I know this may be a hot take, but I'm not feeling this D&D set at all. I don't play D&D and only have a passing knowledge of it, but everything feels super dated and stodgy. I know D&D has had a massive influence on the fantasy genre, so a lot of these tropes may actually be from their IP, but nothing resonates for me at a flavor or design level.
So far, the cards have been pretty accurate depictions of the tropes, spells, and other stuff from D&D they represent, with one *GLARING* exception: The Tarrasque.

For it to be accurate it needs to both be indestructible and have hexproof. It has neither. The thing is literally unkillable in D&D. Officially, the only way to stop it is to either let it eat its fill so it goes away (which generally depopulates even large kingdoms, completely.), or beat it down to -30 hit points and using a major wish to kill it, which is damn hard to do as the thing regenerates, is immune to level and ability drain, and can't be withered, at all. Oh, and even then, it only goes away for a few years before coming back. Did I mention that the only way to even harm the thing is to get up close and personal with a melee weapon that has an epic enhancement? Because arrows are literally deflected of its hide.
The card should also be legendary, as there is only one on each world, at the most.
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Post by cryogen » 2 years ago

I'm not either. I mean, I love the references and everything, but I'm not looking forward to seeing them in play. They're too busy and I feel like time is a valuable resource in Commander. I especially don't want to sit across from someone who built an entire themed deck and insists on role-playing it.
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Post by pokken » 2 years ago

I don't understand how a Tarrasque doesn't have trample either :P Goofy.

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