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Lifeblood of the industry (coffee of course)

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Posted by Firelock76 on Thursday, January 21, 2016 4:58 PM

Well Rule G wouldn't apply here, this is more like "pass the paper bag that holds the bottle" around the depot stove while we solve the world's problems.

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Posted by Wizlish on Saturday, January 23, 2016 10:26 AM

schlimm
I've only ever had Ziegler Himmelbeere Likör. Good, but not very strong.

Meinst du 'himbeere', wahrscheinlich nicht?

Yes, that's roughly 151 proof lower than the stuff my father was describing.  My guess is that they were exaggerating a bit for his benefit (he was younger then than I am now, and he didn't have any experience with overproof 'ethereals' then.)  If I had to guess, I'd say around 145-150 proof, about the same as that aptly described in two languages 'witblits'...

The sad thing, getting back around to topic, is that few if any of these things will work to improve coffee.  Except in a circumstantial and/or roundabout way...

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Posted by schlimm on Saturday, January 23, 2016 11:04 AM

Wizlish
Meinst du 'himbeere', wahrscheinlich nicht?

Wahrscheinlich ja!  Es tut mir leid. Du hast recht.  Himbeere Likör, natürlich.  

Jägermeister and Goldwasser are 70 proof. Most Schnaps are in that range.

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Posted by Firelock76 on Saturday, January 23, 2016 2:24 PM

Considering the direction we're drifting, let's all stand up und zing...

Vor der kaserne, vor dem grossen tor,

Stante ein laterne, und steht sie noch davor.

Da wollen wir uns wiedersehn, bei der laterne wollen wir stehn,

Wie einst Lilli Marleen?  Wie einst, Lilli Marleen?

 


 

 

 

 

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Posted by schlimm on Saturday, January 23, 2016 4:20 PM

Killjoy.   Just having a little fun with wizlish on what has been a non-railroad thread from the beginning.   Take a look at the General Forum.  Not many posts because few threads other thean the CP one have much interest.  Some of the best recently have ended up being non-rail, such as the aircraft tangent one took.

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Posted by Firelock76 on Saturday, January 23, 2016 5:11 PM

Me a killjoy?  Nah, just being silly! 

You're right about there not being many posts lately.  We'll see what happens if the nasty weather up the Eastern Seaboard this weekend traps a lot of Trains Forum people inside.  Dammit I'M trapped, darn near 18 inches of snow on the ground and I can't get to the Chugger Barn and my O gauge layout!

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Posted by schlimm on Saturday, January 23, 2016 5:22 PM

It's a great song, going back to WWI, and played on both sides in WWII because it had'universal' appeal.  No snow worth mentioning in Chicago.  I forgot where you live.   KS?

Note for Wizlish: Rumple Minze is 100 proof and a sweet, peppermint flavor, now mostly sold here.  Also unrepeatable slang.

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Posted by Firelock76 on Saturday, January 23, 2016 7:11 PM

Great song indeed, translated into more languages than you can shake a stick at.  "Lili Marleen" started as a poem written during World War One with the title, roughly translated from the German, of "The Young Soldier And His Girl In The Lamplight."   It was set to music in 1938 by Norbert Schultze. 

First time I heard it was Al Martino's revival of it in 1968, in my humble opinion the best version, easily found on You Tube.  I was in high school at the time and although I knew about "Lili Marleen" being a student of military history it was the first time I'd heard it sung.  One of the 20th Century's great songs.

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Posted by Mookie on Saturday, January 23, 2016 8:12 PM

I rather liked Blazing Saddles - "I'm so tired" - Madelyn Kahn....

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Posted by ouibejamn on Saturday, January 23, 2016 8:46 PM

"Remember" , Harry Nilsson. A good song for this site.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Saturday, January 23, 2016 9:33 PM

Mookie

I rather liked Blazing Saddles - "I'm so tired" - Madelyn Kahn....

 

 You sure that wasn't Lili von Shtupp and not Lilli Marleen?Stick out tongue

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Posted by Wizlish on Sunday, January 24, 2016 1:02 AM

Here's how it works around here for normal coffee:

Choose the 'right' type and mix of beans, grind to about coarse sugar size.  If you grind too fine, the water doesn't penetrate right.  Use a burr grinder, not something that 'slices'.

Ratio of coffee to water about 1:14 to 1:16 by mass.

Water should be about 207 degrees F to start.  Pour on just enough to get all the grounds soaked, then add a bit more if  needed, while the grounds soak and 'bloom', about 30 seconds.  Only a little should drip out the bottom until this happens.

Reduce temperature very slightly (to 200-205 degrees, keeping it there with little 'shots' of hotter or cooler water if necessary as you pour, like you do when keeping your potatoes at exactly 163 degrees for the first 20 minutes before you ice them.  Pour in a single stream but move that stream around the top of the grounds in the filter so everything stays hot as it goes through.

The caffeine goes through very quickly, so don't think you have to go really slowly or pass the coffee repeatedly through the filter.  The thing to watch here is keeping the water 'up to temperature' as the stuff goes through, and if any CO2 or bubbling comes up, adjust the flow slightly to keep the action going.  The dark roasts like Black Silk take a somewhat lower temperature (like around 197) but the overall time will be about the same - no more than about 4 min 10 sec as a guess; you can tinker with this a bit to taste.

Hold the result at 'drinking temperature' (it varies depending on what you want from the coffee, but never less than 120 degrees) as long as you can.  In my opinion this is best done via a controlled-temperature water bath like a 'bain-marie' and not in a carafe sitting on a hotplate...

... Now, having said this ... leave the result for days and microwave a cupful for about 1 minute 15 seconds (a bit more on a cold day) as you go running out the door.  That is standing operating procedure that probably won't defend you from being called a coffee snob, but it sure works.  My father always says he prefers 'wardroom coffee' to 'boardroom coffee' but he has a-fib bad and has to avoid drinking the stuff too strong -- so he quietly adds some hot water to the typical dispatcher/tower/Navy stuff when he heats it.  The microwave is something of a Godsend as it keeps you from heating and heating until you have a burned mess.

(In my opinion Starbucks doesn't roast their coffee, they burn it; I have never had a cup from them or used any of their beans without being upset.  De gustibus non disputandem est...)

 

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Posted by tree68 on Sunday, January 24, 2016 7:05 AM

Wizlish
...In my opinion Starbucks doesn't roast their coffee, they burn it;...

I'm not a coffee drinker, but I have heard that they burn it - and even that it's intentional.

An important factor in that "wardroom" coffee is the "coating" on the inside of one's coffee mug.  The ex was Navy.  She once carefully scoured all the coffee mugs clean where she worked, much to the disdain of the mugs' owners...

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Posted by Convicted One on Sunday, January 24, 2016 2:53 PM

WHELP, nothing left in this thread pertaining to trains. time to nuke it!!

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Posted by Firelock76 on Sunday, January 24, 2016 3:55 PM

OK, there's nuthin' here pertaining to trains, but no-ones MAKING you read it, is there?

But OK, here you go...

Quoting from the late, lamented "Locomotive And Railway Preservation" magazine, an article titled "To A Locomotive In Winter":

"There's three things that complement each other perfectly, a hot cup of coffee, a good cigar, and a steam locomotive."

 

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Posted by ricktrains4824 on Sunday, January 24, 2016 4:06 PM

Convicted One

WHELP, nothing left in this thread pertaining to trains. time to nuke it!!

 

So, just have someone post something that says "trains" and we are back on the subject of "trains".....

Convicted One

trains. 

 

Thanks. Laugh

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Sunday, January 24, 2016 4:10 PM

I disagree... Convicted One mentioned "Trains" and has a picture of one in his sig.  So we are still on track... so to speak.  Besides, I am compelled to read this thread because I posted to it early on and I want to see if anybody comments back about what I posted.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Sunday, January 24, 2016 4:30 PM

Convicted One

WHELP, nothing left in this thread pertaining to trains. time to nuke it!!

 

 Anybody know what kind of coffee they serve on Amtak? Mischief
You're welcome.

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Posted by Deggesty on Sunday, January 24, 2016 4:48 PM

Murphy Siding

 

 
Convicted One

WHELP, nothing left in this thread pertaining to trains. time to nuke it!!

 

 

 

 Anybody know what kind of coffee they serve on Amtak? Mischief
You're welcome.

 

 

I know nothing more than it tastes like coffee to me, whether it is in the diner or sleeper. It has a little better taste to it than what I am served here has.

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Posted by schlimm on Sunday, January 24, 2016 4:53 PM

Johnny, are you allowed to make your own coffee in the assisted living place?

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Posted by Deggesty on Sunday, January 24, 2016 4:59 PM

schlimm

Johnny, are you allowed to make your own coffee in the assisted living place?

 

I just looked in the regulations, and saw nothing against it.

Johnny

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Posted by Wizlish on Sunday, January 24, 2016 5:09 PM

Deggesty
Murphy Siding

Anybody know what kind of coffee they serve on Amtrak?

I know nothing more than it tastes like coffee to me, whether it is in the diner or sleeper. It has a little better taste to it than what I am served here has.

Seems to me that Tom (ACY) knows a great deal about both the materials and logistic involved in making the 'right' Amtrak coffee.  Didn't he have a post that said people would come from several cars around to have a cup of the stuff he made?

He would also know who the coffee suppliers to the commissaries were, although we might not get much insight into type of coffee or 'consumer equivalent' of it.  Seems to me he described how to make it in some detail, including some tips...

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Posted by schlimm on Sunday, January 24, 2016 5:12 PM

Deggesty

 

 
schlimm

Johnny, are you allowed to make your own coffee in the assisted living place?

 

 

 

I just looked in the regulations, and saw nothing against it.

 

 

I hope you can get a small brewer brought in along with your fav coffee, your mug and any needed accoutrements.  Really makes it more like home.

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Posted by Deggesty on Sunday, January 24, 2016 7:45 PM

I would not want to bring my little pot from home, for I cannot replace the carafe should I break it. Also, I do not have good facilites for washing it here. Thanks for the suggestion. I use the small cone filter in the pot, for I do not need to put much coffee in; the basket filters spread the coffee out, so it would take more than I use to get a decent depth of coffee.

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Posted by Wizlish on Sunday, January 24, 2016 8:30 PM

I wonder if what you need is one of the Keurig K-cup machines, along with a couple of those 'aftermarket' baskets that let you load your own coffee into a reusable filter 'cup'. 

Cost of those things is ridiculous new, but I see them cheap on eBay and I'm starting to find them in thrift stores. 

You brew a cup when you need it, directly into the cup with no carafe to break.  The alternative is to use one of the designs with the built-in reservoir, which are nice but you need to brew a minimum of about 6 cups to get best results out of their basket design (not a cone).

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Posted by SALfan on Sunday, January 24, 2016 10:33 PM

Wizlish

I wonder if what you need is one of the Keurig K-cup machines, along with a couple of those 'aftermarket' baskets that let you load your own coffee into a reusable filter 'cup'. 

Cost of those things is ridiculous new, but I see them cheap on eBay and I'm starting to find them in thrift stores. 

You brew a cup when you need it, directly into the cup with no carafe to break.  The alternative is to use one of the designs with the built-in reservoir, which are nice but you need to brew a minimum of about 6 cups to get best results out of their basket design (not a cone).

 

Wizlish

I wonder if what you need is one of the Keurig K-cup machines, along with a couple of those 'aftermarket' baskets that let you load your own coffee into a reusable filter 'cup'. 

Cost of those things is ridiculous new, but I see them cheap on eBay and I'm starting to find them in thrift stores. 

You brew a cup when you need it, directly into the cup with no carafe to break.  The alternative is to use one of the designs with the built-in reservoir, which are nice but you need to brew a minimum of about 6 cups to get best results out of their basket design (not a cone).

 

We have a Keurig and it is handy to brew one cup at a time when you need it, so the coffee doesn't get that scorched taste.  However, the "aftermarket" containers we have for using our own coffee hold the coffee in a wire mesh basket, and don't filter the brewed coffee thru any kind of paper filter.  This results in a good bit of sediment in the last half-inch of coffee in the cup.  It may be the coffee we use, or the grind, or there may be other types of aftermarket containers out there that would eliminate the problem.  Just mentioning my exlperience so people can be aware of a (possible) pitfall.

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Posted by Convicted One on Monday, January 25, 2016 12:29 PM

Firelock76
OK, there's nuthin' here pertaining to trains, but no-ones MAKING you read it, is there?

 

That's beside the point. My e-mail account was recently choked by PMs from several people including Angela, stating that threads not pertaining to trains would be locked or deleted.

 

And in order for any rule to hold legitimacy, it must be enforced uniformly. No one was forcing the dolts who reported the other threads to read them either, but that  didn't seem to curtail their control obsession(s).

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Posted by Convicted One on Monday, January 25, 2016 12:30 PM

Murphy Siding
Anybody know what kind of coffee they serve on Amtak? You're welcome.

 

A specious ploy any third grader should be able to see through. Gift

 

This thread has more references to Starbucks than it  does to railroadingSoapBox

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Posted by Convicted One on Monday, January 25, 2016 12:34 PM

ricktrains4824
Thanks.

 

We'll see how far that flys the next time the whiney types are whining. Pirate

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Monday, January 25, 2016 12:52 PM

Convicted One
 
Murphy Siding
Anybody know what kind of coffee they serve on Amtak? You're welcome.

 

 

A specious ploy any third grader should be able to see through. Gift

 

This thread has more references to Starbucks than it  does to railroadingSoapBox

 

  I'm glad you were able to see through it.  I guess the obvious question then- specious or not- is what railroad related topic would you like to talk about?  If you’ve got some ideas, I’m game.

 

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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