rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Dec 30, 2020 9:25:44 GMT -8
For mochas, or other instant uses, Trader Joe’s instant, IIRC (been a while since I got it) is an above-average instant. When/if I ever use up all the Starbucks Via packs that seem to have multiplied in my gear, I’m going to start carrying bulk instant. A small weight hit for the container (I’m looking for the perfect very light mini-jar) but less trash.
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TrailElder
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Post by TrailElder on Dec 30, 2020 20:07:25 GMT -8
I do love me some TJ's. Thanks rebeccad And I'm intrigued with the idea of trying cold instant on a hot afternoon, ErnieW . Or generally for an emergency shot.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Dec 30, 2020 20:53:26 GMT -8
And I'm intrigued with the idea of trying cold instant on a hot afternoon, ErnieW . Or generally for an emergency shot. In my rather limited experience, most instant doesn’t dissolve right in cold water. Which is too bad, because an “iced” coffee would hit the spot some hot afternoons.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Dec 31, 2020 8:39:16 GMT -8
In my rather limited experience, most instant doesn’t dissolve right in cold water. Make it in the morning, with hot water, and carry it all day to drink in the afternoon? Or would the temptation be to drink it before lunch?
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Post by cweston on Dec 31, 2020 8:52:57 GMT -8
And I'm intrigued with the idea of trying cold instant on a hot afternoon, ErnieW . Or generally for an emergency shot. In my rather limited experience, most instant doesn’t dissolve right in cold water. Which is too bad, because an “iced” coffee would hit the spot some hot afternoons. If one were willing to pay the weight penalty, one could carry some very concentrated cold brew (to be diluted with water) for that purpose. But that would probably only work on short trips or for the first few days of a longer trip.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Dec 31, 2020 10:06:10 GMT -8
I think if I really wanted it, it would be the concentrate. But the reality is that iced coffee without milk-like stuff in it is just cold coffee, and I don’t think Nido would cut it there. I’ll pass. Chocolate espresso beans can cover the problem if needed.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Dec 31, 2020 10:32:18 GMT -8
rebeccad So, tell me about the effects of coffee, other than the need to visit the bushes. If Espresso beans give a jolt, what does the result feel like? More energy? A lift? Could the same effects be felt if one swallowed the bean whole?
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Dec 31, 2020 15:02:01 GMT -8
I am a coffee addict.
I have to have caffeine on the trail or I get headaches. Actually this was a problem when I used to winter hike a lot. Caffeine is also vasodilator. A cup of coffee with everything involved would leave me freezing if I tried in the morning. So I started bring No-Doz caffeine pills. Once on the trail and with some body heat up I would pop a 1/2 one.
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Post by cweston on Dec 31, 2020 15:23:34 GMT -8
Also, I'm just flabbergasted that a thread about coffee managed to go 5 years and 13 pages before I posted in it. Inconceivable!
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Dec 31, 2020 16:59:01 GMT -8
W-w-w-welcome (<-coffee jitters)
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Dec 31, 2020 18:16:06 GMT -8
rebeccad So, tell me about the effects of coffee, other than the need to visit the bushes. If Espresso beans give a jolt, what does the result feel like? More energy? A lift? Could the same effects be felt if one swallowed the bean whole? Way too easy to get the jitters with espresso beans (and they are gritty when chewed). I don’t think you’d get anything from them if swallowed whole—i’m pretty sure they’d just pass right through. Used carefully, a couple of those chocolate espresso beans can give me a good afternoon boost. As for the effects of coffee in general, besides the need to pee, I sometimes think they are all about mitigating the effects of withdrawal: helps headaches (withdrawal symptom), ditto general malaise. I am pretty sure I’d do just as well with a cup of tea in the a.m., once I get past the withdrawal. But dammit, I LIKE coffee!
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TrailElder
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Post by TrailElder on Jan 1, 2021 5:23:05 GMT -8
TJ's has great chocolate covered coffee beans. I tried them on the trail for the first time on a cool spring trip and I thought I had found glory for an on-the-trail shot. The next trip was hotter, though, and I was just left with a chocolate bean cookie blob. Less appealing... I love zeke 's question...ha! "It's complicated" isn't it? Addiction, habit, comfort item, passion, staple (I'd include it in my base weight) :-) I too get headaches without it, particularly at high altitudes, so definitely an addiction to a drug. It has energizing and mentally clarifying effects for me. There is also a comforting habit there. I go to bed looking forward to my first cup of coffee in the morning while I read, check the weather, and muse about coffee on some obscure blog. I enjoy the process of making the coffee. Though it would be easier if I had a cup of coffee first.... Like tea, it has a rich history and process to it, so that one can go down rabbit holes as one likes to pursue their passions. You could spend a lifetime learning about coffee and the world. But rebeccad pretty well summed it up for me: "Dammit, I LIKE coffee!"
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Post by cweston on Jan 1, 2021 6:00:02 GMT -8
I go to bed looking forward to my first cup of coffee in the morning... Glad to know I'm not the only one who does this. Good summary, too. Everything you listed (and then some) are the reasons I must have coffee, whether at home or in the backcountry (especially at elevation). I was off coffee entirely for a few years for a chronic condition I no longer have problems with. It sucked in 1,000,000 ways, but it did make travel and especially hiking a little easier, with no need for a cup of coffee in the morning.
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Post by bikehikefish on Jan 1, 2021 6:07:32 GMT -8
Could the same effects be felt if one swallowed the bean whole? No need to swallow them whole. I've never found them anywhere else, but in Ely Minnesota I came across a 25 cent candy machine that dispensed chocolate covered coffee beans. Chewable and delicious, seems like they could become a backpacking staple.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Jan 1, 2021 6:11:16 GMT -8
No need to swallow them whole. I don't drink coffee because I don't drink hot fluids mostly. I never acquired a taste for coffee, in any form. Not coffee flavored ice cream, candy, beer, or anything else. So, my question about swallowing them whole is based on a dislike of the flavor. In my advanced years, I am always looking for a shortcut to increase my hiking abilities, a boost up the hill, so to speak.
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