Coffee shops, baristas and ever stronger coffee

[Ianc2]

I usually drink weak (count the grains) Decaff coffee. I recently had a black coffee (americano) bought for me and didn't inform the purchaser of my tastes. Is it me or has the average coffee got an awful lot stronger?

[BobD Volunteer]

Barista coffee is always strong. Grinding fresh beans and forcing hot water through the resulting powder will always be stronger that instant. If you must go to that sort of establishement then you could always ask then to pour half away and top up with hot water? Alternatively, latte is an expresso topped up with steamed milk abnd only about a third is coffee, .

Whatever happened to simple "May I have a coffe please?"

[WendyWu20 in reply to BobD]

...'if you must go that sort of establishment'... hehe - making it sound like a real den of iniquity!!! :o)

[CDreamer]

So variable - I like my coffee strong so my usual complaint is that it isn’t strong enough.

It is often the type/blend which influences me, I tend to stick to Arabica beans/blends at home as I think they have a more rounded flavour and tend to have less caffeine content than Robusta beans.

[jonjub]

I have found that in most of the high st chain coffee shops (Costa, Starbucks etc) that they do offer a decaf version across the menu and Nespresso also sell a range of decaf capsules. Not the real thing but a reasonable alternative that at least provides a pretty close ‘aroma’!!!

[heartmatters1]

I always ask for 1 shot of coffee in a latte - that’s the perfect fix for me 😋

[Shoshov in reply to heartmatters1]

i’m always told i have tinted milk. my tipple is a half shot latte🤣

[Paulbounce]

Have to say I do enjoy my coffee in the morning. I try and stick to a single (one tea spoon) to kick start my morning.

Interesting link here

cardiosmart.org/News-and-Ev...

Moderation seems to be key.

When I`m working in Bulgaria I drink the machine coffee. It`s like a culture thing over there. 40 stotinki for a small measure (about 16p) and it is strong. One is enough believe me 2 or 3 and you would be buzzing for the rest of the day !

Best,

Paul

[Ianc2]

I did ask for a 'british rail special' and got a very blank look...

[Ianc2]

Thanks - you learn something new every day.

[Jjda]

I always loved my coffee, 3 or 4 cups a day, until.....Afib. After my ablation, it started to put my heart into extra beats. It wasn't afib, but it wasn't comfortable, so I found a local coffee shop that has a decaf I like and I grind my own beans and mix it with full caf beans, about 1/2 and 1/2, and add a good shot of almond milk. I watched a cooking show years ago that said the darker the roast, the less the caffeine, so that is why the "Breakfast Blends" are usually a light to medium roast, to kickstart your day! I find Starbucks coffee to be both strong and bitter, so I don't go there, and most coffee shops are expensive and take forever to serve you. Also, I agree with Bob, whatever happened to just a plain old cup of coffee at these places?

[Hidden]

“No matter what historians claim, BC really stood for "Before Coffee.” As an expat who occasionaly finds himself back in the UK, my question is why are the measures so huge? Who needs all that hot water? Oh, the perfect coffee is strong with just a little hot water to taste no milk no sugar, the perfect Americano.

[Morzine]

We live in France and my hubby drinks coffee it’s very variable........but tea! Well there’s a thing.....France doesn’t sell decaf tea at all.......and although I drink it st home via visitors bringing me boxes.....when I’m out I’m hard pushedgo get a normal cup of tea! Well some place do.....but I invariably get only a choice of green or mint...yuk!...sometimes an array of fruity.......I often don’t get milk......one cafe in morzinehasntgot milk for tea at all....and I’ve given up asking for cold milk I now have my tea with hot milk...or whatever.......I often getgiven a lovely box of teas to choose my bag from....and there’s not one bog standard black tea.......I always keep a few tea bags in m handbag to swop the mint,.,,.so I’m paying 2.50 for hot water really.......im not complaining as I still enjoy a walk and a cup of wishy washy tea or nice tea....!

Sue

[Rosemaryb1349 in reply to Morzine]

I also carry decaff T bags in my handbag and if a cafe can't do a decaff tea I offer them a bag from my handbag and ask if they would mind making it with that. I have never been refused and nearly all have said "no charge" or reduced the price when I mention that it is a necessity for my health, even Easyjet said "no charge"!!!!

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Morzine]

Intrerestingly Sue, I have a friend who actually only drinks hot water. If he comes to me or we go out somewhere he asks for a cup/mug of plain hot water. In cafe's they often give him a tea pot with no tea!

Apparently he has a really bad reaction to caffiene in any form.

[Morzine in reply to BobD]

It’s document hot waters good for us isn’t it.....not sure I’d enjoy it though.....

Oh to be able to drink what we want eh....Large red wine please!....

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Morzine]

Chambertin '59 please.Oh forgot. haven't won the lottery yet.

[etheral in reply to BobD]

Preferred the 61 vintage, back in the days when it was affordable..

[BobD Volunteer in reply to etheral]

Can't recall which famous frenchman once said " There was a time. I can't remember when, there was a girl but I can't recall her name and there was a wine and it was Chambertin." In my case is was 1978 The Swan at Bucklow Hill (racing at Oulton Park) my future wife and a Gevre Chambertin. @£18 a bottle. In 1978!!!! Good old expense accounts. lol 😁

[Auriculaire in reply to Morzine]

I think the French think milk in tea is a perversion! I always drank coffee till afib struck but I was brought up to drink tea black as both my parents drank it like that. So I tend to agree with the French! I very rarely drink tea here though as I find the French t bags take forever to infuse.

[Morzine in reply to Auriculaire]

Yes the black tea bags take ages to get a color....I’ve thrown in the towel and drink whatever it tastes like!.....

[Becksagogo]

I'm so glad that somebody else has trouble with their decaf coffee. All I want is a black decaf with cold milk on the side. I have had so many quizzacle looks. DECAF? With COLD milk? Yet if I'd asked for a one shot skinny latte or some other modern alternative, I would get it no problem!

[Ppiman]

There’s been a link to a major study that showed coffee to be entirely safe to drink. I’d think that the strength of coffee is from the roast, not it’s caffeine content.

[Hidden]

A recent study showed that, contrary to what is often believed, coffee is not usually problematic for those with AF. If you want a good decaf, go for beans which have had caffeine extracted using the Swiss water process- usually quite tasty. For tea, I recommend white tea which has a third of the caffeine of black tea; even less if you discard the first infusion as the Chinese do. It’s a very healthy drink in its own right and a high quality white tea can be re-infused repeatedly.

Cafe Nero will adjust the strength of the coffee to your taste. And if you are lucky enough to live in Italy, a good barista will prepare the coffee to your specification.

[Thomas45]

I haven't had a cup of coffee or anything containing coffee for eleven years

Coffee, not caffeine, was definitely a trigger for my AF

[kathie659]

I was told dark roasts have less caffeine than light. That said, I can drink 12 oz of sumatran w/o issue. 16 or more? I feel fluttering all day

[johnkeithdowning]

Try Taylors Italian blend decaff at home,,,,,perfect

[Hugo40]

GOOD HEALTH report in Mail Health.

DRINK a coffee every morning: it may ward off dementia and Parkinson’s. Researchers at the Krembil Brain Institute in Canada found the benefits to be strongest for people who opt for darker roasted beans — even if it’s decaffeinated. Roasting triggers the release of phenylindanes, compounds that prevent the ‘clumping’ of toxic proteins in the brain, say the scientists.

The best Decaf Americano that we have found over the past 10 years is at NERO's. We love our Coffees, sipped with friends socially, we use the coffee outlets as we would have used pubs in earlier years.

We can't usually tell the difference in flavour between the standard Americano and the decaf Americano.

So far it seems that my AFib is not affected by Coffee, but early days I suppose, only diagnosed 4 months ago..

Hugo40

[BRHow]

I like my coffee like I like my women... Hot, Black, and strong!!