Coffee Question

[lizrocks]

I drink 2 kinds of coffee during the week- $tarbucks (specifically a grande marble mocha) and home brewed (the brand/grind changes- sometimes Sbucks whole bean we grind ourselves, sometimes Folgers pre-ground, sometimes something random. but always with powdered cream and lots of sugar

Comments

[bonanzajelybean]

Well, dark brews have less caffeine than light brews, because the caffeine burns off/deteriorates the longer the coffee brews. Deceiving, isn't it? So, your issue *could* be that your home coffee has more caffeine than the Sbucks.

[bonanzajelybean]

Also, you might want to try an organic bean just in case there is some kind of processing agent or something that you are sensitive to.

[layovers]

A mocha drink would be made with espresso, not coffee. Espresso has somewhat less caffeine than brewed coffee.

[anowyn]

^ This exactly.

[lizrocks]

Well crap. I dunno why but I thought Espresso had more caffeine. Shows how much I know!

[spaceprostitute]

By volume, yes. By beverage, no. A standard 8oz. cup of drip coffee can have between 75-200mg of caffeine (let's say average is 125mg). If you're drinking 3 of those 6 cups, you're likely getting in at least 375mg of caffeine, compared to the 40-60mg in 1oz. of espresso (so 80-120 if they put in 2 oz.). For reference, my 12oz. can of Coke Zero sitting in front of me only has 34mg

[hugh_mannity]

What's in the powdered cream? Try changing brands, or going to real cream or 1/2 & 1/2

[gezellig_girl]

Could it be the powdered cream you use at home that's making you feel gross?

[mschaos]

I was going to say this - it is mostly chemicals. have you tried using dairy or if you can't have dairy, then a nut milk?

[belladonna]

Haha, this was going to be my response as well. I've used powdered creamer maybe 3 times in my life and have felt sick every time.

[celtic_catgirl]

Also the quality of the beans you use will have a big impact on the coffee, a lot of coffee, especially folgers, contains lower quality beans mixed with higher quality beans and they often use chemicals in processing the coffee.

I would go for a high, quality organic coffee and see how you feel.

Also to reduce the strength of coffee at home mix regular beans with decaf beans, but if you're doing that make sure to get organic because the chemicals used to decaffeinate coffee are super nasty and can make you feel like crap if you are sensitive to them.

Also take a look at the ingredients list of that package of powdered cream. It could be something you are consuming with the coffee and not the coffee itself.

[lizrocks]

Oooh this was very, very helpful. I'll def look into a good decaf to mix in and check out my creamer more thoroughly.

Thank you!

[celtic_catgirl]

No problem. I take my coffee fairly seriously and I'm slowly on my way to becoming a full-blown coffee snob and it's something where a little bit of knowledge about what to look for can make a big difference and really the difference in cost between crappy coffee and good coffee at home is usually less than the cost of going to Starbucks once a week.

[happy_just_2_be]

Although if the processing is a concern decaf goes through way more processing to remove the caffeine!