IMO, it's the coffee-chocolate food group. Two great tastes that taste great together.

I ride past 2 Starbucks every morning and think the same thing. How do I ride and drink one of those delicious hot beverages at the same time??? I end up waiting until I get to work and drink the mud waiting for me there.

You've just hit upon the one *$-related thing that is guaranteed to send any coffee connoisseur into paroxysms of rage: *$'s insistence on using the term macchiato--which everywhere else on the planet refers to a shot of espresso "marked" (hence the name) with a tiny bit of foamed milk--as the name of one of their goopy milkshakes. It also causes no end of aggravation to baristas in real coffeehouses who now have to go through this ritual when an unknown customer walks in and orders a "macchiato"...

"You want a macchiato? Let me show you...[*picks up little espresso-sized cup*]...a shot of espresso in a cup this size, with a little foam at the top? And nothing else? Is that what you'd like?"

I'm not making that up, by the way; I've actually witnessed this.

I am in the boonies now so I have to buy Starbucks at the small local store and it is preground as drip. Real bummer When I lived in Monterey I could get a 5 or 10 pound bag of Espresso beans at SmartNFinal dirt cheap made by Nestles. Shipping kills me if I order on line here{ unless you'all know of a good place } and I don't wander to the big towns often. So I buy a bag of French roast and a bag of Espresso, mix them, and brew them normally because of the grind then mix in the water. ( Sorry I did not clarify the previous reference to just Espresso although I used to drink it that way and brewed in a proper machine when I could get better stuff ).

Oh yeah. I have such a hard time getting a proper cappuccino, in a proper cappuccino cup. The "cappuccino" at most places is an extra-foamy latte in a tall glass. Savages.

[b]dunn Bros. Coffee & Cycling

-coffee has more caffeine in it than espresso, because the water isn't forced through the ground up coffee beans so fast, it has more time to soak up the "stuff" espresso is more based on a flavor thing. A large coffee with a couple of shots of espesso is the ultimate-

If you read my other posts on the subject, you'll see that a 6 oz coffee has roughly the same amount of caffeine as a shot of espresso. Perhaps in the days when Robusta was the primary source for drip coffee you got more caffeine, but those days are long gone. Caffeine can be extracted from coffee in a very short time given a good pump espresso machine and proper technique. If the wrong beans are used, and the technique is lousy, then yes espresso will have very little caffeine content. The extra "stuff" you refer to is bitterness which happens with drip extraction. The bitter flavor has little to do with caffeine and more to do with other byproducts which are produced by overextraction.

The ultimate for me is a double ristretto with a cube of cane sugar and perhaps just a drop or two of half-n-half if it's early in the day.

You don't have to have an espresso machine to get good coffee. The key to good coffee regardless of extraction technique is freshly roasted beans. If you don't have beans that have been roasted within 1 month, quality suffers tremendously. Beans roasted between 1 and 2 weeks are at their optimum. Vacuum packing and freezing doesn't preserve freshness. You'd be suprised at how many sources you can find for fresh roast these days. Some doughnut shops are good places to check. Krispy Kreme actually is a good source for beans. If you can't find a local source, you can actually buy them in bulk and roast them yourself. Unroasted coffee will keep for up to 2 years.

The next step is to have a good grinder. The Solis Maestro classic conical burr grinder is a very good one. You can get one for about $80 or so if you look around.

Extraction is actually the simplest and cheapest part. All you need is an electric kettle and a french press. Grind to a fine setting, use 1 Tbs of coffee per 8 oz of water (or up to 1.5 Tbs if you like it stronger). After the water boils in the kettle, let sit for 30 secs to cool, pour it in, stir and let sit for 4-6 minutes. Press and pour into a vacuum carafe. You'll get coffee better than *$ and way cheaper.

-sometimes the coffee I drink is brewed the same day in the same place the beans are roasted. I don't drink bitter coffee and I don't add things to my coffee to alter the taste. I really like coffee, so I drink it black. If you really need caffeine content, it is available in anhydrous form. I think coffee is like a "comfort food", hot coffee is on my top ten list!-

Hi,
this is a pain in the butt. And you need to a garage or something because coffee roasting stinks up the place like crazy. But you can buy green coffee from Sweet Marias and roast it yourself. Green coffee is half the cost, and if you buy a 6 moths to a year's supply, the shipping is not a large factor in the cost. And you get a better choice of coffee than you'd get almost anywhere and roasted exactly
the way you want. But once a week you have to baby the coffee roaster, and don't even think of roasting inside the house.

But... when it all get going properly, the results are exquisite.

I love this thread! I've been known to go on long runs with an insulated hydration bag, full of freshly-brewed goodness - I plan on doing the same on a bike (^_^).

I haven't been near a Starbucks since I started roasting at home - even oven-roasted, blade-ground, off-temperature brews are a revelation after a lifetime of bad coffee!

Depending on your roasting method, the smell can be handled pretty well: roasting below the stove fan, beside an open window, or on a BBQ.

This reminds me of how I got hooked on room temp coffee. In Marine boot camp the drill instructors put me on the duty of gathering all of the coffee in the c-rats from all of the boots. We were not allowed to have it ( and the drill instructors got as much as they wanted ). I took a good many packets and hid them and mixed it with my water for our marches. It was awesome, when everyone was dead from the march I was having a great time with a caffeine buzz. I even started voluntarily singing the cadence songs when the drill instructor got too tired and stopped singing them.

Hi,
I have both blade and burr grinders. The burr grinder is a worthwhile investment. Mine is an old Krups they don't make anymore, but it wasn't expensive, and I am sure the other reaonably priced ones do a good job.

i know just how you feel, but i don't stop myself. not being a coffee connoisseur, i'll drink just about anything except the stuff that turns grey when you put the cream in it, so sometimes gas stations and so forth tempt me. but i think i'm afraid that if i get off the bike i'll never get on again. coffee is a leisure kind of thing to me. it has a very very definite kicking-back place in my life.

what i do love to do is give myself a buffer period between getting off the bike and going in there to work. never do that in a car; in a car i just park the creature and go straight through the doors clutching my coffee mug. but biking is such a different experience from driving to work, i find that i often arrive there feeling like i've been on a different planet. so if i've got all my ducks in a row that morning, i sure love to go find a coffee place and have one between shower and work. it's actually one of my motivators. if the ride goes well, then i have time to do it, so i tend to push myself with that in mind.

Hi,
I have a couple thermos' that fit in a bottle holder. One for commuting that can keep coffee hot for an hour or two. And other
that is more like a mug but is made like a thermos. It's tricky, but you can sip and ride. I usually stop tho, I am not that graceful.
If I had a long commute, I think I'd want to find a nice little place
and have somebody else make me one.

Alright, here's the score.
Decent espresso machine: $1500 (Expobar Brewtus)
Decent burr grinder: $450 (Mazzer Mini)
Decent roasting machine: $300 (Alpenrost Rotary Drum)
Accessories: $200
Coffee beans: $$$/year

Coffee bliss: *priceless*

Ditto - if you are talking real coffee

You are one hardcore coffee lovin mofo! Next time I'm in Hawaii -- be sure you put the coffee on!

OK, Ill admit, I have a sweet tooth and Starbucks double tall hazelnut latte is pretty damn addicting. Still, I've never had the urge to drink coffee while biking. If I did that then i'd have to smoke too. I suppose if i were really good at no handed track stands i could totally pull it off. I better start practicing.

I thought Carribou Coffee was better than Starbucks, but I like Dunn Bros. roasted in their San Franciscan roasters. And I won't even quote how much their "made in Italy" espresso machine cost, but the truth about caffeine and biking is: Caffeine in anhydrous form works better, but if you were biking for competition or even just to ride harder than your last ride, coffee is a poor nutritional supliment to consume while bicycling. It's actually a diuretic, which is the oposite of hydration. Coffee is a gourmet food and caffeine is way better than alcoholic beverages, but for biking it would be better to restore glycogen. Get out the sugar!

1) Dosage is not terribly impotant with caffeine.
2) It's not a powerful diuretic.
3) Both are good. After 2 or 3 hours in the saddle I love something cold and preferably mocha. A mocha Starbucks Frappucino is good. But something richer is tastier. ANyway, the point is, coffee is great stuff, cyclists take to it as naturally as babies to mother's milk. Always have.

It's like watching Alton freaking Brown on this thread! Burr vs. blade coffee grinders, off temperature roasting? This is great!

BTW, I drink reglah cawfee after I lock up my bike.

hey late or whatever your name is, your slightly misinformed. I hope you don't think "two or three hours in the saddle" is a big day of riding. How 'bout I buy everyone in this thread a latte?

Around here many of the local, non-chain coffeehouses are regular cyclist hangouts.

"You want a macchiato? Let me show you...[*picks up little espresso-sized cup*]...a shot of espresso in a cup this size, with a little foam at the top? And nothing else? Is that what you'd like?"

I'm not making that up, by the way; I've actually witnessed this.

---

Oh yeah. I have such a hard time getting a proper cappuccino, in a proper cappuccino cup. The "cappuccino" at most places is an extra-foamy latte in a tall glass. Savages"

I find this terribly annoying, too. My drink of choice used to be called, as I came to learn after numerous tedious exchanges at *$, a "double short cap". You order a double cappuccino in these places and you either get a huge glass of milk and two shots, or a small glass of milk with one extra strong shot.

I now order a double macchiato, but I don't go to *$, I go to some local places. I get the macchiato in a bigger cup and fill it up the rest of the way with drip coffee.

It's hard to drink coffee on a bicycle, but I've done it, using the cup it comes in and no holder. I guess that's why it was hard.