As you get older, do you find that your taste in coffee drinks changes?

i’ve never lacked overly done up coffee drinks, and i’ve been drinking coffee since i was 9. half and half, no sugar. the only exception is iced coffee, when i add one sugar in the raw.

i’m nearly 30, btw.

hopefully, this doesn’t mean as i get older i’ll like more fru fru drinks…they’re expensive.

Ever since I started drinking coffee, I’ve taken it black. Just plain old coffee.

I do prefer coffee at home to be black with sugar. I used to take it with lots of cream and sugar. I do still love “fru fru” drinks when I go to starbucks though.

It’s been the same since I started drinking coffee (16 and now I’m thirty – **mumbles** years old). Add some half and half until the desired color is reached.

Not really. Tasted bad then. Tastes bad now. Even with tons of cream/milk and sugar, it’s still far too bitter. So I don’t bother anymore.

@Piper_Brianmind, do you drink tea at all?

@evegrimm I drink Arizona brand sweet tea. I’ll probably start making some pretty decent homemade stuff too, now that I know to add baking soda.

@Piper_Brianmind, baking soda?? Really? Why? (as in, what’s the reasoning behind that?)

Since a lot of people (not just Flutherites, but family members and friends as well) seem to be saying the same thing—“I’ve always drank stuff the same way”, maybe, then it’s more a result of re-sensitizing (?) my tastebuds to sugar.

Any thoughts?

(50 something here) I take it with real cream and real sugar, and rarely order a fru-fru drink. I prefer fresh ground, locally roasted coffee, on the strong side, and still drink about 4–6 cups a day.

@evegrimm http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Smooth-Sweet-Tea/Detail.aspx
It gets rid of the bitter aftertaste, apparently. 5 out of 5 stars based on 240 reviews? Must be doing SOMETHING right.

I’ve never drank coffee and even hate the smell. I’m probably the only person in the world that hates the smell.

@chyna Maybe you have bad associations with coffee altogether, including the smell. I hate coffee as far as taste is concerned, but I do enjoy the smell.

@chyna, no, you’re not alone. My mom also dislikes the smell of (some) coffee—specifically Starbucks House Blend, which is (in my opinion) the worst coffee ever, excepting maybe Starbucks Breakfast Blend.

@Piper_Brianmind, that looks interesting. (When I don’t want a bitter aftertaste, I cold-brew my tea instead of using boiling water—works every time, even if the flavor isn’t quite as strong.) If baking soda really works, though, I might be back to making regular ol’ iced tea!

my mom is 50+, and she gave up the real stuff for Nescafe Instant Coffee. She claims it tastes the same, but only the Nescafe stuff. Granted, many Europeans drink it, but i can’t get into it. She won’t drink real coffee at home – only out at restaurants or Starbucks.

@eponymoushipster, I found that some instant coffee tastes better than others…my local Fresh & Easy carries a very large jar of coffee crystals that’s tasty.

As far as I know, coffee crystals are different than instant coffee, because the crystals don’t need hot water to dissolve and make yummy coffee—could this also be part of what’s affecting the taste? (i.e., different chemical makeup or a different chemical rxn?)

@evegrimm I once had a hot chocolate at Starbucks (because that’s one drink I DO love). I was waiting on someone and I figured you can’t go wrong with hot chocolate. Somehow they screwed THAT up. How the hell can you screw up hot chocolate?? I couldn’t drink it.

@Piper_Brianmind Several years ago one winter morning, I thought I’d stop at Starbucks to get a hot chocolate on my way to work. I really didn’t pay any attention to them making it. When I got it to work, it was 90% whipped cream. And for the price I paid, I could have bought a whole box of it at the grocery store!!! Never again.

@Piper_Brianmind You are very wise. Yes, that is the case.

@evegrimm have you tried Starbucks new Via instant coffee? it’s a different, secret process – it’s actually microground coffee. coffee dust, as it were.

There is a difference between a west coast roast, and what you get at local shops in the midwest (a little mellower).

I use Lipton Cold Brew tea bags, and it makes awesome sweet tea. Two bags make two quarts, and I add ½ cup sugar and keep it in the fridge. No bitter aftertaste.

@PandoraBoxx My mom makes it with 7 bags, 1 cup of sugar for a quart of tea. I call it syrup.

@chyna, I would too! That’s awfully sweet!

@chyna holy crap – a cup of sugar??

As you get older, you find your taste in almost everything changes.

We’re always looking for better coffee. I found the best at Philz Coffee at various locations in the Bay Area. It’s a 15-mile drive, so I drink less coffee but burn more gas.

@eponymoushipster, no, I haven’t tried the Via coffee. (I don’t really see any reason to—I’m happy with my tasty stovetop espresso.)

@eponymoushipster Oh yes, a whole cup. I can’t drink it. I tell her to just eat spoonfuls of sugar, same result.

No, my taste in coffee has not changed It is exactly the same as when I was younger. Can’t stand the stuff. It tastes like someone what trying to make something good, like chocolate, and burned it.

@chyna tell her the name of that recipe is “Diabetes Juice”.

@eponymoushipster I have. She tells me she is 78, she can do what she wants. Shesh, moms…

@chyna, she must have one of those “privilege cards” that you get when you’re over 70. My Gramma (who came up with the term) use to use hers to get away with just about everything.

@jmah Love the term “privilege card.” I’ll be sure to pass it on to my mom because, although it hasn’t had a name up until now, she uses it frequently.

I put less milk and sugar in it than when I started drinking it.

When I started drinking coffee I used so much sugar. I now take my coffee with cream. I think taste’s change as you get older.

I dislike coffee. I’m much more of a juice person. If I want a hot beverage, then I’ll have hot chocolate or hot apple cider.

Sorry, I can’t help you there. I have always taken my coffee black. However, I do seem to make it stronger than I used to.

Dark roast, extra bold, half and half, raw sugar (about half the sugar I used when younger). See you…Gary aka wtf

When I drank coffee, the way I made it did change over time. I first used a lot of sugar and milk, and by the time I stopped, I just used some milk.

Btw, I stopped because I don’t get up in the mornings anymore. Nothing against drinking coffee…

i used to desire black coffee in the morning, but these days i just dont need coffee any more. weird.

@Piper_Brianmind: Starbucks also can’t make a decent cup of tea to save themselves, either.

@cwilbur: I totally agree 200%.

Unless it’s Sumatra + toffee nut syrup + cream (not whipped).

Then it’s okay.

Ha.

@evegrimm: Sumatra tea? I asked for Darjeeling the last time I tried—not even a specific estate or brand—and the person behind the counter had never heard of it. “We have Irish Breakfast and Earl Grey!”

@cwilbur: no, Sumatra coffee. It’s from the Sumatra region of Indonesia (or is it a country? I’m uncertain). I’ve found that I dislike most Latin American coffees, but I enjoy Asian and Indian origin coffees.

But…Starbucks burns their beans. So the Sumatra is best (and it’s really good) when it’s a medium roast (as opposed to the burnt dark roast that Starbucks offers).

LOL about the Darjeeling thing. (I just checked the TAZO website, and they do offer a Darjeeling—it’s got a turquoise blue label.) But, to be perfectly honest, I was never impressed with Tazo’s tea. (Although their Green Ginger is really good.) I always found their Chai over-spiced (and over-priced!), and their Awake is just an average English Breakfast. PG Tips is better + cheaper. I also really like Twinings Prince of Wales.

Oops…I talk too much. :)

I never used to drink coffee. I was always into hot chocolate. About ten years ago, the number of coffee shops bloomed, and I started drinking mochas. Usually in the afternoon, as a treat. I got my most recent job about six years ago. My employer is in a wasteland, as far as coffee shops go.

A few years back, a Starbucks joined us. What could I do? It’s not really coffee, but it’s what’s available. Over the last year something happened (besides me going crazy), and I started finding the mochas to be too sweet. I switched to lattes.

Now, I came down this weekend, and my wife had made some coffee. Usually I don’t drink coffee, but those barrista drinks. Anyway, I had some coffee, and I was like, “Whoa! This is good!” I’ve been buying her coffee and fancy coffee grinders and coffee makers, and she has definitely got something going, now! I may become a coffee drinker yet. And/or a caffeine addict.

@evegrimm: Ah, because there is a Sumatra tea, but it’s pretty obscure. I was prepared to be impressed if you could get a good varietal tea from Starbucks while I couldn’t even get them to acknowledge that there were other teas than Earl Grey.

If I wind up at a Starbucks, I’ll drink a latte or a mocha, because the milk, sugar, and sometimes cocoa are enough to cut the taste of the burned beans.

I drink Peets with just enough sugar to take the edge off the bitterness.

I’m not a coffee connoisseur the way I am a tea connoisseur, though. I like it strong, not burnt, and not too bitter, and as long as I get that I’m happy.

At home it’s black with a packet of splenda… at starbucks or deitrich’s it’s either espresso (it’s not meant to be sweetened.. leave it the fuck alone and enjoy the coffee), turkish coffee (makes espresso seem like watered down nestea), a good capuchino (hard to find lately).. or i;ll go for iced coffees or fraps (those come sweetened already for the most part so i don’t even bother).

@Dr_C….Isn’t turkish coffee marvelous? You can almost chew it and it is very flavorful. I’d love a demitasse right now! See ya…Gary aka wtf

@whatthefluther i read your quip and could not stop myself… went to the local coffee shop and asked the very flirtatious young blonde to serve me up some turkish. Great way to start the day.

@Dr_C…That does sound like a wonderful way to start the day. I settled for Timothy’s Rainforest Expresso dutifully served up by my rather mechanical K-cup coffee maker, tho that was nicely preceded by me ecstatically obeying @sccrowell’s orders given last night to awaken her at a specified time in a most exciting manner…also a great way to start the day. Enjoy your day, Doc, and have a nice evening, as well. See ya….Gary aka wtf

Used to like filter and instant – now only turkish.

@Zen….I could have predicted that, as you know. See ya…..Gary/wtf