Favourite way to have your coffee?

[ZaraRa]

In the United Kingdom, it's very common to have freeze-dried instant coffee every morning.. For the past two years, we've been drinking exclusively french-press ground coffee; we're still learning the ins and outs of it all (and we'd love to try a moka pot! My partner, my bear, is Spanish, so they've waxed lyrical, but also made me scared of the bloody thing!)
When I had still lived with my parents (moons ago now...) they had used to buy fresh beans and grind them themselves to put into the french-press... Delicious! Of course, this was so long ago, that it was my Secondary School's own brand of beans that we called 'fairer than fairtrade' - I went to a Business & Enterprise private school  it had a fox mascot, and all! But it was great.

I'm sipping a new blend I've bought called 'Hot Magma' (!!!) which is super-strong, and coats the mouth - but it's absolutely delicious.

My bear went to Greece on a business trip (swanky!) and came back telling me of this thing which they do with instant coffee, blending it until it is frothy... It's strong, but it's very good - I had been dragged right into a Greek coffee shop that exists here, to try it myself!  I absolutey recommend it if you like strong and bitter drinks with interesting textures - I'm sure you could find it at most Greek restaurants! I've seen it called 'Greek Coffee', 'Whipped Coffee', and 'Dalgona' -- but I'm sure if you asked, they'd point you to the right one 

So I want to know... What is your preferred way to prepare coffee? What tools do you use, do you have any suggestions for me to up my game, or do you want to fight in the corner of instant coffee? Let me know your thoughts~

[L1am]

I'm not the biggest coffee fan but my family buys Folgers and makes it in just a standard coffee maker. I do like coffee just not like, plain coffee, I need milk and sugar in it and I don't drink it that often. My mom is obsessed with it though so we always have a big tub of coffee grounds.

Most of the coffee I drink is like those Starbucks frappuccino bottles you get at gas stations, I also like the Karuba brand ones though. Karuba is cheaper than Starbucks and it actually tastes like coffee so I might actually prefer it a bit more, I like the salted caramel flavor in both though.

I also get caribou coffee when I can but there's not a lot of them in my area so its pretty infrequent, I like to get the caramel high rise cooler there but it can be kind of hard to drink. They give you a normal sized straw and bits of ice always block it, they really should give that drink a boba straw or something.


(By the way LOVE THE COOPER GIF)

[ZaraRa]

Most of the coffee I drink is like those Starbucks frappuccino bottles you get at gas stations, I also like the Karuba brand ones though. Karuba is cheaper than Starbucks and it actually tastes like coffee so I might actually prefer it a bit more, I like the salted caramel flavor in both though.

Oh, I do so love those sweet chilled coffees! For the longest time, I would get Califa Farms almond milk coffee, when I did my weekly shop; buy it on a Friday, and then spend the weekend drinking it . . . Of course, Eiichiro Oda's One Piece would update both manga and anime on Sundays here, so I'd have a wonderful breakfast to watch the episode to in the mornings 

I was very much enjoying getting all kinds of sugarry coffees from various coffee shops -- but COSTA has done me dirty! They put some barley malt in this years' coffees, and .. Well, I have coeliac disease, and it was partially on me for not specifying - but I never in my right mind would have thought that COFFEE could contain gluten!  so I suppose what I want to say is, if you or anybody have dietary restrictions, it'd be a lot better to get weird looks when you ask 'hey, does this mayonnaise have milk in it?' than to assume. . . . (It's happened to me... Heinz uses milk powder in their garlic mayonnaise!)

I also get caribou coffee when I can but there's not a lot of them in my area so its pretty infrequent, I like to get the caramel high rise cooler there but it can be kind of hard to drink. They give you a normal sized straw and bits of ice always block it, they really should give that drink a boba straw or something.

That sounds nice! Well, except from the straw  I had to look up what a caribou coffee is - looks absolutely delectable! Yes, our favourite coffee shop is actually an independant place... It's very lovely, we had some lovely Arabic coffee that one of our Arab friends had suggested we be on the look out for - oh, it's incredible stuff! It's nutty, and it's not like what you'd expect - they brew it with the green coffee beans, and cardamom. It's delicious! And it comes served with presereved dates, as well - it's very bitter, so you might not enjoy it, L1am - but oh, we sure did!

And...

(By the way LOVE THE COOPER GIF)

I just had to  I swear, every time I have a good sip of coffee.. 'DAMN fine!'  oh, Agent Cooper.

[Wuff-Wuff]

Oooh ZaraRa I must say, I don't have that much coffee knowledge; I'm more a of a tea doggo myself, but I did have this Turkish coffee once. It might be something you enjoy.

Actually reading your description of the Greek coffee, of them making it froth, does sound quite similar to the Turkish one >w< They use this little long handled pot called a cezve in Turkish it also has a Greek name: Briki. But it's not so much an instant coffee mix but just very very finely grounded beans.

At the end you're usually left with a layer of those ground beans at the bottom of your cup (so don't drink it in one go!)

[ZaraRa]

Ooh! I'll have to be on the look-out for Turkish coffee, that sounds right up my street - thanks Wuff! There's an awful lot of interesting independant coffee places around here - I'll have to ask around! Looking it up, it looks fantastic and foamy! 

I do like a good tea myself; there's a really good place we've been getting from based in the U.K, called Bird & Blend... I've got one on the go right now that is called 'Monkey Chops' - it's actually got freeze-dried banana in it! How fun is that?