[–] Tinker_Bell ago
I absolutely can't drink diner coffee, gas station coffee, or even coffee from most legit coffee shops. It's all cheap and/or too burnt. The coffee shops I frequent tend to do better with espresso based drinks, so I typically order a mocha. My favorite local places make it just right, meaning I can still taste the espresso and not just chocolate. I've found that if I tell Starbucks to halve the amount of chocolate they put, it's much more palatable.
[–] SteelKidney ago
Depends on how sub-par. Which, I suppose, could mean "depends on where par is".
I can still stand Starbucks, but I won't go there outside a real caffeine emergency. I can't drink Folgers/Maxwell House style, but then, I never could. In fact, crappy office coffee is why I started learning how to brew better coffee. I have a style that I like. Double espresso with about 2oz of foamed milk. Or, if I have more time, a french press. I tend to like coffee that passes the "horseshoe test". Drop a horseshoe in. If it floats, the coffee's ready. That's why I rarely go for coffee from coffee houses- it's just not strong enough.
[–] SteelKidney ago
Good grief. I'm no snob that insists that if it isn't kopi luwak it isn't "real" coffee, but if they're just using robusta then that explains a lot.
[–] bb69fd 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
I've always enjoyed the flavors/smell/experience of a quality cup-o-joe. But first thing in the morning, especially when I was in the Army, even shit coffee will fulfill the basic requirements. Now that I'm out of the Army and enjoy a few more options shit coffee requires a little splash of creamer to mask the bitter cheap flavor.
[–] Jack_on_Fire [S] ago
I get the feeling that a lot of the reasons a shit cup of coffee gets such a pass is because the flavor is usually masked by people's habits of using creamer or sugar. Certain preparations of coffee, roasts, or whatever drunk black can be pretty intense in a bad way. Starbucks is consistently one of the worst offenders for me. I'll drink it but it really doesn't taste like it was meant to be drunk black. I don't have a problem with Denny's or regular coffee shop coffee that just tastes like plain old coffee. But starbucks is like a burnt kind of bitter.