Bad Coffee
Bad Coffee
(OP)
OK, a bit of a stretch for a serious "Obstacle Getting My Work Done Forum" but what is with the bad coffee? I'm here late trying to get stuff done and the coffee aint helping.
The coffee itself is supposedly a fairly reputable brand, Peets.
However, whenever I get a cup it tastes awful. 5 little containers of half & half and it's barely paletable. I had about the best cup I've had in months today, I got through almost half of it before I couldn't take the taste anymore.
Only good thing about the coffee is it's free.
I'll admit I'm not much of a Coffee drinker, much prefer hot tea with cow juice being a Brit originally (I know a lot of Brits like coffee & it's a stereotype but work with me here). In fact I'd be drinking tea but my milk went off. However, I've heard other mutterings about the issue.
So anyone else have this problem, anyone fixed it?
The coffee itself is supposedly a fairly reputable brand, Peets.
However, whenever I get a cup it tastes awful. 5 little containers of half & half and it's barely paletable. I had about the best cup I've had in months today, I got through almost half of it before I couldn't take the taste anymore.
Only good thing about the coffee is it's free.
I'll admit I'm not much of a Coffee drinker, much prefer hot tea with cow juice being a Brit originally (I know a lot of Brits like coffee & it's a stereotype but work with me here). In fact I'd be drinking tea but my milk went off. However, I've heard other mutterings about the issue.
So anyone else have this problem, anyone fixed it?
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...





RE: Bad Coffee
RE: Bad Coffee
I have found a solution though - a small hand operated burr grinder and french press. It gets a lot of comments, and it takes some time, but it makes all the difference on the cold winter mornings before dawn. And it can be a nice little ritual at that.
Another solution, largely dependent on your office personnel and setup, is to start a coffee pool. Take turns bringing in a pound of something decent. Eventually failed here though, lots of drinkers with just a few coffee bringers. People also have greatly varied ideas about what good coffee is. I can hardly drink some of the artificially flavored schtuff.
RE: Bad Coffee
The equipment (yes it should be cleaned and maintained once in a while) and the skill of the individual making the coffee has a significant effect. We do the coffee pool thing here and the unwritten rule is if you finish the carafe (pot) you make the next one. Some people use a level scoop of coffee, some a heaping scoop, and some not even a full scoop based upon their particular taste.
I also keep a reserve of tea or instant coffee at my desk. If the "bulk" stuff is unpalatable at the moment, time to hit the reserve.
One thing I have noticed is that the younger generation of engineers seems to prefer their caffeine in with a carbonated solution of corn syrup and water with various flavorings. Some around here have never used a coffee machine.
Regards,
RE: Bad Coffee
RE: Bad Coffee
I actually double vote for my long time friend Irene and a double long black... but not many offices can afford their own professional coffee bar. (Actually at 3 bucks a pop option A looks far more sensible).
Anyway, few things in life can be modified so easily
Cheers
Greg Locock
SIG:Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: Bad Coffee
I think it has to do with the environment.
RE: Bad Coffee
One memorably good pot was found in a 1950's vintage steam turbine generating station. When I commented on it, the old operator revealed that his secret was to brew with water drawn from the turbine's condensate sample port.
Of late, I buy specialty beans, roast them myself, and brew a thermal travel mug full before I leave for work every morning. I have spoilt myself to good coffee this way.
old field guy
RE: Bad Coffee
"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."
Have you read FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies to make the be
RE: Bad Coffee
Never, but never question engineer's judgement
RE: Bad Coffee
Anyway, bring in your own coffee & some kind of press. AND drink your coffee black. The half & half just dilutes it.
RE: Bad Coffee
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. - Thomas Jefferson
RE: Bad Coffee
(Just 'cause I've turned the notification off don't mean I'm not interested in any more responses, just don't want my inbox clogged for coffee.)
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: Bad Coffee
RE: Bad Coffee
French press and bring your own ground coffee. Personally, I don't like Peets, no matter how fresh or carefully made. I think it tastes like liquid cow dung.
BTW, if you need a coffee creamer that can make the best of the old rot gut in the office, I highly recommend this one
http://ww
"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
RE: Bad Coffee
Clean brewing equipment and container, but if you use a detergent, rinse the bejebus out of it when you are done. A little vinegar or lemon juice and a second rinse helps cut any soap scum too. Nothing worse than soapy coffee.
Fresh beans. The foil pouches delivered here at work are nice.
I prefer drip, thru a paper filter. The foil filters are ok, but leave a sludgy grounds residue. French press coffee, again, can be ok, but to me typically tastes weak. But, I was raised on percolator coffee, and in hunting camp, boiled coffee with the grounds settled with crushed eggshells.
Don't leave coffee in the pot on the heating element, you are just boiling the coffee down to an oily sludge. At home and here at work we have the brewers that drip straight into thermos flasks. Buy an airpot if your coffeemaker is the type with a glass carafe, and pour the freshly made coffee into the thermos, rinse the carafe, turn off the coffee maker, and clean/rinse the grounds container immediately.
RE: Bad Coffee
For the first year or so I was here I managed to drink it more as I didn't have a good way of storing milk but for the last 18 mths or so we've had a little fridge in our area and I've mainly been drinking tea. Maybe that's the problem, my tolerance to bad coffee has gone down
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: Bad Coffee
Never, but never question engineer's judgement
RE: Bad Coffee
But don't trust me; I hate coffee. I bought an electric kettle for the tea and cocoa drinkers in the office. (Also good for non-nukable imported ramen soup.)
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Bad Coffee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak
RE: Bad Coffee
Never, but never question engineer's judgement
RE: Bad Coffee
<<A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend
will be sitting beside you saying " Damn that was fun!" - Unknown>>
RE: Bad Coffee
Tastes foul.
I wonder if I'd get away with straight Powers or Tullamor Dew though, hmm...
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: Bad Coffee
You could also try distilled water or filtered water. The more pure the water the more likely it is to draw more flavour out of the grounds.
I can't remember ever having a good coffee in the US (not even in any one of the 420 Starbucks in Boston).
Best coffee is Germany, Holland or Italy.... no doubt the best sound in the world is when someone needs an espresso fix in an Italian office and you hear the beans being ground.
Now the coffee in France is pretty good but the French engineers I was visiting with liked to stop off at a little bar at around 8 am for a double espresso and an Absynth.
At a refinery near Milan at every break everyone would spill out of the main gate and into the bar for espresso and brandy.
Thanks, but not for me, just keep the coffee coming.
I hate coffee mate.
Nothing makes bad coffee worse than coffee mate powder and how I hate that in most of the crummy hotels in the US the always provide coffee mate with little red stirrers that just cannot dissolve the stuff. I end up sneaking creamers from the breakfast bar upto my room. But who thought up those Half and half things anyway? half what and what?
Pretty soon I'll end up like the archetypical Brit abroad with a suitcase full of soft toilet paper, cream, tea bags, and marmalade.
(But I do love my bacon the US way though it is getting harder to find these days).
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Bad Coffee
I think I'll stick to tea.
RE: Bad Coffee
RE: Bad Coffee
Best coffee ever though was in a little coffee bar outside a certain car plant in Maranello.
- Steve
RE: Bad Coffee
http://www.howtobrewcoffee.com/Vietnamese.htm
Never, but never question engineer's judgement
RE: Bad Coffee
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Bad Coffee
The best way to test something is to squeeze it, slowly, until it breaks!
RE: Bad Coffee
At least your coffee is free... At this site, all the "non-corporate people" have to pay for it in the cafeteria. What a crock...
The only thing that I've found to make bad coffee bearable, is French Vanilla creamer. Good coffee is good coffee with, or without, milk.
V
RE: Bad Coffee
At a Boston Starbucks (sorry, my earlier post should have said "420 Starbucks in Seattle"; I get confused as to which city I am in sometimes.... Holiday Inn syndrome .... but this time I mean Boston) they had cinnamon for the cappuccino but not chocolate sprinkles. Ughhh!
Sadly, I can't comment on the coffee in Buenos Aires. I was altogether much to pre-occupied with how to travel by taxi and still stay alive and sane. The only flavour I really noted was the very best steak I have ever tasted which was in a fast food place in the Occeana(?) Shopping arcade where I was hiding out from the street beggars. Oh yes, now I remember, I was in a Holiday Inn again... so the coffee was yuk! (Am I allowed to say "Yuk"? I understand that because of the popularity of Pirates of the Caribean the skull and crossbones, as a warning label on poisons and, presumably minefields, is to be replaced by a "Mr. Yuk" symbol....)
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Bad Coffee
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: Bad Coffee
Mine's a cheap cuisinart 4-cup job that I bought in college, with the additional gold tone filter so my coffee doesn't taste like bleach from paper filters. At home we have a Cuisinart grind and brew, which will be the subject of a nasty custody dispute if my girlfriend and I ever split up.
I'm lucky enough to work in an office where my coffee maker and beans in the freezer are generally respected as off limits.
RE: Bad Coffee
freezing coffee beans is a BIG NO NO.
h
RE: Bad Coffee
As far as cinnamon in coffee, no thanks. I prefer it on my sweet rolls.
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. - Thomas Jefferson
RE: Bad Coffee
If your employeer offers hot chocolate packets, and has bad coffee, you could always combine the two.
Or if there is hot water go ahead and buy yourself some teabags.
RE: Bad Coffee
This situation is now corrected, at least for a couple of days.
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: Bad Coffee
RE: Bad Coffee
I just stick with instant expresso, probably not much of a step up. but it sure gets me running.
RE: Bad Coffee
I've been through the "free" coffee experience too in one of our US offices and while I've never sampled "poop water", I get the drift. Doubling the strength made it a bit better (although the locals complained).
Oddly enough after a few months of abstinence I quite like the synthetic stuff that comes out of our machine here now.
- Steve
RE: Bad Coffee
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Bad Coffee
RE: Bad Coffee
RE: Bad Coffee
http://
Some people substitute hot cider for coffee.
Of course some people can't have the apple option because of the sugar intake.
Interesting.
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Jul 13, 2008)
RE: Bad Coffee
Is this US cider (apple juice) or West Country Scrumpy (Rocket fuel)?
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Bad Coffee
- Steve
RE: Bad Coffee
Either...I'll take the US cider.
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Jul 13, 2008)
RE: Bad Coffee
RE: Bad Coffee
'Spose I could vote with my feet if it offends too much and find somewhere with a tea person.
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: Bad Coffee
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. - Thomas Jefferson
RE: Bad Coffee
Also, the boss' secretary wanted in our action shortly after we started, and brought in her own pot and "gourmet" coffee (the kind with vanilla or chocolate flavoring in it, gag). She charged $.25 a cup, but nobody would drink it. She then had the boss "ask" (it was an order at first) us to either charge more money or stop "selling" coffee. But, all the lads getting their coffee from our pot raised a stink...so he dropped the matter...but the pecking order in our dept. started to form around whose coffee you drank. If you were a suck-up management wannabe, you drank the high-priced stuff, and the secretary made sure your name got on the bosses' calendar for your meeting. If you were a knuckle-dragging grunt, well...
Then facilities got involved, and no un-approved appliances were allowed, so all of it came to an end. Then they took my stapler again...
RE: Bad Coffee
- Steve
RE: Bad Coffee
You should probably start packing your boxes for the move to the basement... and don't forget those TPS reports.
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. - Thomas Jefferson
RE: Bad Coffee
Waiter, I asked for no salt on my margarita, and this has salt on it, I specifically requested no salt...
RE: Bad Coffee
the other solution is to cut out the brewing completely and just munch chocolate covered espresso beans. (by the way I have an Expresso, it was a special model of the Plymouth neon in 96 that later became a clone of the dodge sport model.)
Luck is a difficult thing to verify and therefore should be tested often. - Me
RE: Bad Coffee
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. - Thomas Jefferson
RE: Bad Coffee
The only problem was my desire for the chocolate overcame my realization that each one of those things pack a mean caffeine punch.
I got a lot of work done that day and didn't get to sleep anytime soon.
RE: Bad Coffee
So does it make a pretty good cuppa?
RE: Bad Coffee
- Steve
RE: Bad Coffee
RE: Bad Coffee
Anyhoo. The coffee in such places always had a film of dust on the top. Most of the hardened employees simply skimmed the dust off with their fingers and gulped to their hearts content. I never could figure out which was worse, dusted coffee or chewing on the grounds.
Either way, I have long decided that any free coffee in am office environment far removed from the 'dust factory' is just fine with me.
Just a perspective.
Q
Regards,
![[pipe] pipe](https://www.tipmaster.com/images/pipe.gif)
Qshake
Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.
RE: Bad Coffee
So, I'm new at this place and doesn't know much about how things work. I used to have a good cup of coffee + cocoa (own, made-up brew) in my old workplace to wake me up in the morning. Yesterday I saw a coffee machine near the reception... very happy to see some decent coffee beans and used it to brew some for myself.
Today I was told by my co-workers that the coffee machine is strictly for boss & guests, because, you know, it's a really expensive machine & the beans are imported etc... not for the likes of us drones who doesn't know how to drink good coffee. Funny, because I just came back from their overseas facilities for induction training where everyone gets to drink whatever coffee there is regardless of rank.
Well, well... I'm sleepy, trying to understand the piping documentations for which I have zero experience, it's cold & I got rained on my bike on the way to work, and I'm really hankering for a hot cup of bitter dark roast columbian with cocoa flecks, topped with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cocoa powder...
tasteless drone,
jo
RE: Bad Coffee
Cheers
Greg Locock
SIG:Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: Bad Coffee
The downside is a (the) significant other convinced that:
- coffee is bad for you
- you drink too much of it
- tea would be better because tea has no caffeine (wrong, more but how to explain this to someone who selectively accepts only supporting facts)
- working from home means you can do housework, go shopping, do odd jobs, listen to the latest gossip etc.
All of which gives me an even greater craving for coffee, good coffee.Qshake raises a very good point.
I can recall some very bad cups of coffee that tasted remarkably good in the circumstances and some good coffees that didn't.
My Grandfather told me that out of the trenches on patrol (in The Great War) one night they camped by an old farmhouse.
A dark night and no lights allowed they conducted their camp chores by touch. They enjoyed a very good brew up and made onion soup which all enjoyed, except that the next morning the tea pot was found to be full of dead tadpoles and the onions (shallots?) proved to be tulip bulbs.
Many years in an office environment inured me to machine coffee. Later on I discovered the joys of self-brewed coffee till the H&S people banned kettles but some of the best coffee (even though actually pretty awefull in other circs) was that delivered up in a seaming cup in the freezing cold of a siberian refinery or pon board a fuel barge in bad weather.
Mizzjoey, I'm sure that coffee tasted all the better for being illegally drunk!
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Bad Coffee
Get yourself a French press (Bodum's on sale right now at Cost Plus World Market for $29.95).
Find a decent coffee roastery in your area and buy a small quantity just for yourself. I've got one within walking distance to my office. Have them course grind the beans so you don't clog the filter on your press.
I'm assuming you can find some way to boil water in that place. Just make sure you make a batch where the boss and his henchmen can smell it. Offer NONE to them, telling them that it's for your use only since the machine is not available to you.
And if you really want to go all out, bring in a decent thin ceramic mug or better yet, a proper bone china cup and saucer.
"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
RE: Bad Coffee
KENAT,
Have you reminded yourself of FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies recently, or taken a look at http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?
RE: Bad Coffee
Give Mizzjoey a chance!
She's only just joined the company and you are already starting her out on the guerilla warfare route back out of the door!
I suppose we can only add, to those seeking advise on applying for new jobs, to be sure to discuss coffee as part of their Ts & Cs.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Bad Coffee
OK. Mizzjoey, still go and get the French press and fancy beans.
And when the big boss comments, tell him in your sweetest voice possible (think Marilyn Monroe's Mr. president...) that Mable over there at the reception desk said you weren't allowed to drink the 'good' stuff from the machine near her desk, (bat eyelashes here) so you found some spare change under your sofa (sniff, sniff here) and got your self you own pitiful little pot, but you weren't sure what you'd do when your coffee beans run out. (sad face here and maybe even a little sideways glance at Mable)
meow, hiss, spit
"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
RE: Bad Coffee
If ever given the opportunity to meet Cassiopeia, speak softly, no sudden moves, and do not look straight into the eyes.
RE: Bad Coffee
RE: Bad Coffee
Was he that altruistic?
KENAT,
Have you reminded yourself of FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies recently, or taken a look at http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?
RE: Bad Coffee
RE: Bad Coffee
I realize many companies have a pecking order that extends towards, well, pecking time/allowance. Greg's comment reminded me of a situation in a previous company, also an automotive manufacturer.. Except that the ones who get the fancy dining room were HR, corporate comm & marketing execs at the beautiful front building (Of course, good coffee comes with it). Grease-covered engineers, technicians and line workers have our own grubby cafe where we get to dine in stylish styrofoam plates & cups, while we try to get over that sticky feeling when our safety boots are lifted off of the floor or when our elbows touch the plastic covered dining tables.
Yeah, I plan to bring my own press, beans, cocoa & whipped cream to work next week. Will keep them in my little corner & call the pot "Precioussssss..." each time someone walks by. Or maybe not yet...
jo
RE: Bad Coffee
Oh well, if you're gonna listen to Cass, buy coffee beans and the loudest grinder you can find and grind up batches at odd times during the day.
Be ready to go work for an Italian company (you'd best get your CV out there now; Cass will be the death of you via her proxy Mable).
I recall visiting our Agents in Milan and the best noises and aromas originated from the cappuccino machine which, being Italy, did the whole thing in style.
High strength heart fibrillating Cappuccino fixes were a feature of the day, along with long wine soaked lunches at the nearby restaurants, with pleasant conversation accompanied by lots of arm waving.
Inside of a couple of days I exceeded my whole life maximum dose or Caffeine.
And wine.
And white-knuckle Autostrada journeys driven by a caffeine and wine fuelled Italian in a 3 litre red rocket (Lancia?).
Ah! Milano, where some Romanian lady and her kid tried to steal my wallet. "Excuse me!" Said I pulling lose from her kid (who was hanging onto my arm) and protecting my wallet from her searching hand reaching out from under the map she was waving under my nose.
She wandered off looking for new victims while passing Italians smiled gently and murmured "Inglese" to themselves with a good natured shrug.
Damned good coffee.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Bad Coffee
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. - Thomas Jefferson
RE: Bad Coffee
You may want to clean it first though, if you're like me with colored pencils for marking up then I'm guessing grains of 'red' 'blue' designer 'green' or engineer 'brown' wont improve matters.
KENAT,
Have you reminded yourself of FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies recently, or taken a look at http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?
RE: Bad Coffee
Where did "French Press" come from?
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Bad Coffee
Our Engineers here put hot cocoa mix or tea bags in their coffee sometimes.
RE: Bad Coffee
Part 1 is the Saeco Superautomatica bean-to-cup device in my kitchen that brews me a nice double shot of espresso into a travel mug and top up with water for an Americano that's ready for when I arrive at the office. Incidentally this was a good send when I arrived last Friday to closed office due to a substation blowup and I was the only person freezing outside with a hot drink
Part 2 is the espresso machine brought in by a colleague. A nice tin of Illy ground is sat on my desk and brewing a proper espresso is a nice way of getting one over break-wise on the smokers - why should they have all the fun!
Ben
RE: Bad Coffee
The coffee seems popular. My American colleagues have figured out that one Americano mixed with one espresso makes for a pretty good cup of coffee by their standards. I stick to the hot chocolate, which in Italy is not just a kiddie drink. Italians don't seem to understand tea.
Hg
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RE: Bad Coffee
KENAT,
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RE: Bad Coffee
RE: Bad Coffee
Neither way appeals to me, hot, milk no sugar thank you.
KENAT,
Have you reminded yourself of FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies recently, or taken a look at posting policies: http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?
RE: Bad Coffee
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Bad Coffee
RE: Bad Coffee
Those machine are an example of the worst type of product engineering - tying youself to a product by making some engineered component that you have to buy to run it as opposed in this case to just buying coffee.
Ben
RE: Bad Coffee
V
RE: Bad Coffee
They couldnt' make a plain coffee pot that could compete with the low cost, lack of consideration for IP etc. products coming out of places like China.
So instead they made one with specialized cartridges so they could make the money that way.
I can't remember what was to stop someone else making compatible machines/cartridges though. Maybe it's just that that type of IP is easier to defend.
KENAT,
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RE: Bad Coffee
RE: Bad Coffee
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Bad Coffee