Beverages

[johan]

We have a new coffee machine in the office, and it makes decent coffee. Still not as good as the manually brewed coffee I resorted to making for myself (simply nothing beats Zoégas skånerost) when I got tired of the previous machine, but it's much faster this way.

It's funny. Until I turned 25, the year I stopped pretending I was still a student and got meself a job, a poorly paid but wonderful job, I couldn't stand coffee. I was a tea drinker, period. But then I discovered that nothing beats a cup of coffee when you need to wake up properly at work, and it's been downhill ever since. Today I'd even say I think coffee tastes better than tea, all other things being equal. A cup of perfectly brewed darjeeling first flush is a wonderful thing, granted, but it doesn't beat a cup of strong Turkish cardamom coffee, or a double espresso.

This Saturday past we had some fellow sf fans over for Booze & Games; a very successful event if I may say so myself. There were eight of us and we managed to play backgammon, Hackers, RoboRally, and Industria while imbibing a fitting amount of gin & tonics, strawberry daiquiris, between the sheets, orgasms, alexanders, and what not. The weather gods were smiling, so we could bask in the sunshine, barbecuing and drinking. Have to repeat that. Soon.

And I've begun reading ianmcdonald's River of Gods, last of the five Hugo nominees in the novel category. I won't be able to finish it in time for the voting deadline, but I will hopefully be able to tell how I will rank it on the ballot. So far it's not bad at all. Not at all. It's at least one of the three novels I will choose from when picking my favourite.

Comments

[apel.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, that Ian McDonald! *friends*

My nutritionist has told me the famous "no caffeine, no sugar, no alcohol" line. Weep for me.

[jophan.livejournal.com]

Yes, Ian got an LJ a month or so back. He was a brilliant GoH at that first (or was it second?) Confuse, and so far I like this book as much as I loved his early 90s stuff.

I haven't asked my doctor exactly what I should eat and drink, but since my blood pressure is far too high (or would be, unmedicated) I should go easy on at least the booze and the coffee. But actually I don't drink more than a cup or two a day, and I try to drink alcohol moderately as well. (Whether I succeed or not is another question...)

I will shed a tear for you, I promise.

[apel.livejournal.com]

I don't seem to be reading much science fiction these days. Mostly mysteries. Mmm, Anne Perry. The last one I read was the Sunday Philosophy Club by

Oh, and I just found lingondricka at the health food shop! KRAV-märkt and all.

[apel.livejournal.com]

...by Alexander McCall Smith (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0349118698/qid=1120487614/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_11_1/026-9601604-0239609).

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

Yay for Zoegas Skånerost and here's something even better. Brew up at least 6 cups of the Zoegas, immediately turn off the heat once it is done, put in a clean glass jar and stick in the refrigerator. When you want some coffee and it is 24C outside, take out the coffee, fill a glass with some ice cubes, put a little vispgrädde, sugar if you take it, and the chilled coffee in a jar, shake it up well and then pour over the ice cubes. Caffeine rush without the added warmth.

[jophan.livejournal.com]

I've never tried iced coffee, because I'm not a coffee drinker, so what's the point? But I might try this one, now that I have come out of the coffee closet. I wonder whether I like sweet coffee or not. So far I've never tried, because I'm not a coffee drinker, you know, so why put more stuff in the cup? But I adore sweetened Arabic coffee, so...

Oh look, three o'clock. Fika!

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

Iced tea is equally nice, particularly some of the lighter teas. Rose congou and jasmine go very well in the summer months over ice, Earl Grey as well. Or if you don't like the flavored teas, try a nice lansang souchong.

[awahlbom.livejournal.com]

I'm told kukicha makes a good iced tea as well. I haven't tried it yet.

What I do know is that some green teas, particularly as iced tea, are yellow and slightly frothy in a way that looks just like — well, other liquids than tea, so I only drink them out of opaque cups.

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

Wow, what a wonderful site, I must add it. I've been buying teas from Upton Teas in the United States, and I usually have to wait until friends go back there for a visit and then have the teas sent to them. I must check these folks out and see if I can find some similar blends to the ones I particularly like. I drink a LOT of hot tea in the winter months.

Mmm, coffee...

[teroyks.livejournal.com]

I'm not picky about coffee - I go through something like 10 cups or so a day of the stuff from the office vending machine that some claim undrinkable. (Sometimes more - but hey, if my blood pressure ever starts to go, at least it will be easy to cut down from that) :)

But the coffee shop near the movie theatre in Turku sometimes (only occasionally) gets a batch of Jamaica Blue Mountain. It's expensive, but damn it's good.

I'm not much of a tea drinker, myself. I drink a cup if I'm offered, and sometimes it can be very good, but if there's also coffee, it's usually a very easy choice. I've only recently learned how to make a decent pot of tea myself, but I think I'll stick to my plain-green-with-a-touch-of-vanilla flavor for a while before starting to experiment.