Your version of a perfect cup of...

A nice smooth dark blend of coffee, my fav is Second Cup Paradiso dark with a double normal amount of Half and Half.

Tim Horton's Café Moca= half dark roast coffee, half hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate syrup

My hot chocolate= a heaped tablespoon of baking cocoa, slightly less than a tablespoon of sugar and a heaping 1/4 cup of skim milk powder (heart attack, low fat diet) (real milk if you can) in a huge mug (probably 2 cups, 12 oz), nuke for 1 min 15 sec.

I can't do coffee, as it kills my stomach, but I'll drink tea all day long. Hot, iced and sweetened, loose leaves, or bagged - it all depends on what I feel like futzing with at the time. In the mornings, I prefer something herbal - such as Jasmine, Peppermint, or Lemon Ginger. In the evenings, I want something more along the lines of an Earl Grey or a Chai.

For hot chocolate, I like milk and Mexican Chocolate. No real need to add anything else, as the chocolate is already perfectly spiced.

Up thread, someone asked about adding alcohol to any of these beverages. On the 1 or 2 days a year it gets cool here, I might add some Rumplemintz to my chocolate for a peppermint patty effect.

I have to say, I prefer my chocolate cold. I had a great recipe down for a while. One 32-ounce glass of milk, that I would add 2 tablespoons of Ovaltine to. Then I would drink about half of that to make sure the mixture was right. Then I'd refill it and add more Ovaltine depending on how strong the first half was. Then I'd eat my meal with another full cup. So that's about 76 ounces of milk per meal. Fills me right up

MysticalSwan said:

What are everyone's opinions on which type of alcohol goes in which drink?

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Whatever doesn't nauseate you.

Tequila, whisky, rum, some liqueurs, work well with coffees, mochas, hot cocoa, etc. Gin kinda sucks everywhere hot, and IMHO ginger tea and other teas don't handle booze well. I usually avoid vodka in hot drinks too -- save it for tangy cold fruit and vegetable drinks.

erotica_n_s said:

It's called a "Flat White", and I definitely recommend it if you haven't tried it already.


I wonder if there's a vegan equivalent? Y'know, considering vegans are supposed to avoid milk... (no, I'm not a vegan myself).


Caffe Nero do a good one.

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I don't do Starbucks, and Caffe Nero seems to be absent from California, so I'm not sure how to evaluate those. I often use non-dairy whipped 'topping' (they can't call it whipped cream because no cream) in hot drinks.

A favorite trick: fill a cup mostly with whipped topping, Sprinkle sweetener atop it and a heaping teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder. Put that under the spout of my little Krups espresso maker. Voila! Instant creamy mocha. Stir well.

A similar trick: a cup with some whipped topping, and sweetener or maybe a spoon of honey, then a heaping teaspoon of powdered ginger, and a splash of lemon extract. Slowly stir boiling water into the cup. Yum.

As for vegans: such only consume animals they can't see, like the bacteria in beer and bread. It's a vanity sustainable by inexpensive foodstuffs. Humans evolved to eat anything and everything. Denying our biology is not useful.

http://www.booksatoz.com/witsend/tea/orwell.htm

I concur with most of this.

La damnee elle la licorne said:

No one perfect cup or drink.....depends on the mood, the weather, the time of day, the day or occasion.

I'm drink flexible.

However, I have preferred vessels for different drinks.

Simon, while I do agree loose leaf is better, some blends I can only get bagged and are delicious. A

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I must admit my drink flexibility, as well.
Freeze-dried coffee is vile, tea bags can be cut open (love the individual spoon strainers!), & quality vanilla ice cream is fabulous in most hot drinks.
I'm also fond of hot Dr Pepper with lemon as well as 'Adult coffee': cold brewed dark roast, coffee vodka (Van Gogh's Double Espresso & Death Wish are excellent) plus cream to taste. Nommy!

Coffee mixed with hot cocoa, French vanilla creamer and a shot of Tequila

I love mocha, coffee mixed with a certain brand of chocolate mix...In a thick mug.

Yum!

Green Tea

TheSilverLining said:

Tea - white with one.
Coffee - strong, white, sugar.
Hot chocolate - don't really drink the stuff.

(sugar if necessary, none if i'm pretending to be healthy)
I'm really not overly fussy.
Warm drinks tend to be a work thing for me. If I'm getting 5 minutes to sit and have a cuppa, it's something of a luxury - so long as it's warm and wet I'll drink it.

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God, how did I miss this gem back in the day?

The latest trend round these parts is Bulletproof Coffee, which is basically a cup of good strong coffee with some coconut oil and clarified butter whizzed into it.
You can add some additional flavour with cardamom, vanilla, chocolate, or cinnamon, if you'd like.

The buzz about it is that it is supposed to jumpstart your brain and metabolism, when consumed first thing in the morning.

Although butter added to things generally makes magic happen, not the case here.

Bacon coffee never took off either.


I enjoy coffee hot and black, and my current preferences are Central American beans, from Costa Rica mostly, but beans from Panama and Nicaragua have gone through the grinder.

If out and about and not feeling like coffee, I'll grab a London Fog.

I have also served guests a wee cup of strong espresso with a splash of Sambuca following a meal, which is quite delicious.

I do love a well made Irish coffee, with decent Irish whisky. Most places don't have a clue how to make it ... the last place I had a decent one was, of all places, Shannon Airport.

And Constant Comment tea with a splash of Amaretto.

I make half caff coffee, because full caf makes my heart gallop unpleasantly. Each cup should be about 1/3 flavored creamer and 2/3 coffee. If the creamer is an extra strong type I'll instead do 1/4 creamer then water to raise it to 1/3. Mint and caramel are some of my favorite creamer flavors, though a traditional flavor like Extra Extra can also be excellent, it's just problematic that the real dairy creamer spoils so fast.

I like coffee, tea and hot cocoa, but the last one is the best. ^_^
I get my favorite mug (big mug!), put in a big spoon full of cocoa, fill it up with hot milk and add as much sugar as I want to. Then I stir it, get some whipped cream on top and: Perfection. And I like it very sweet.

Coffee........Black and hot. Free is best !

Tea.......over ice with out sugar!!!