Coffee and Other Breakfast Drink Discussion Thread

[Fatman X. Jones]

So recently I've begun the habit of drinking coffee in the morning when I wake up, because I've found that trying to rely on my natural adrenaline reserves as I used to in my youth just isn't possible anymore. I get more and more tired during the day when I don't start my morning off with a nice, hot cup of coffee. So I was going to post this in the Talk About Anything thread, but as I'd like to discuss this a bit more in-depth I thought I'd make a separate thread for it. So, guys, what do you prefer to wake up with when you need to get going? Coffee, tea, energy drinks? And what brands or flavors do you suggest of each?

Myself, I'm pretty comfortable now with this new McDonalds McCafe ground coffee they're selling in the stores. My mother works at the local McDonalds in Ringgold, and we've both tried the in-restaurant coffee and this ground blend, and reached an agreement that it tastes just like the coffee they sell in McDonalds.

[Dashe]

I like my coffee the way I like my men. Wimpy, full of additives, and completely uninterested in dating me. I'd like to be able to kick the habit entirely and wake up on my own, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.

[Chiz]

I believe, and so many people who know me likely agree, my tastes have never "grown up" with me. My chestnut-coloured caffeine conduit of choice is cocoa. I've got this 0.75 litre (25 fl.oz) flask that I fill with hot chocolate from a powdered mix. Nesquik is okay, but it's better with cold milk; the real winners in the hot chocolate powders are the Carnation brand mix, the Rolo-flavoured mix (both of which are Nestle brands), and the Tim Hortons-branded mix (which I strongly suspect is contracted to Nestle but can't prove it). Most hot chocolate sold in restaurants and fast food places are not half bad, although they tend to be a little weaker than I make it at home (those "suggested scoops" numbers are bogus), and I personally believe that Starbucks has somehow ruined a simple thing (and charged a fortune for it, to boot!)

[yui]

I love walking down to one of our local coffee houses, there's a Nutella mocha at Bonlife which is delicious. Iced chai latte's are another favorite, too.

Aside from local, though, Speedway's house blend with just the right amount of sugar and vanilla tastes like a toasted marshmallow. Spend the extra 30 cents to get a cup of ice for it.

Drink coffee every day! I'm going to get some now!

[Fatman X. Jones]

Rolo-flavored hot chocolate, eh, Chiz? That sounds absolutely fantastic. My mom and I love caramel in our coffee sometimes. And I agree on the scoops; sometimes you want a really chocolatey drink to warm you up, and that means CHOCOLATE.

[Avegodro]

I used to drink my coffee with sugar and milk but it's been a long time since I've done that. To quote a certain song's lyrics: "I like my coffee black just like my metal." 
I just drink my coffee plain and my tea to in the mornings.

[Dashe]

I take tea straight up, but only as a night or late afternoon thing.

[ZEROrevive]

I'm a Tea, Cappuccino, and straight up Iced Coffee kinda guy.

When I was young I always grabbed a Cappuccino before my morning bus to high school at a Wawa that was right down my street (A convenience store). That and a snack while on my long bus ride was my daily start.

These days...I just have a cup of Iced Coffee. I don't get it from any place, just the kind thats sold pre-made for home use and consumption. Have it with my morning healthy meal and i'm set.

I also have been visiting a Tea House recently. These they make fresh brewed teas. I usually take it to go and share with a friend while walking one of the many trails or sidewalks in town. Really great to have on a cold day, and tea's have so many varieties that they never get old for me.

As much as i've tried, I never could take a straight coffee. Maybe if I really added alot of milk...but then thats like iced almost.

[Buster Cannon]

I don't always drink caffeine, but when I do, it's some form of tea. Green Tea is nice because it's a small amount of caffeine. It won't wake me up out of a deep funk, but if I'm running on 85% it'll catch me up just fine. Black Tea, on the other hand, is for those times where I really need a heavy kick in the pants. I drink both straight, although the Tazo brand has some nice blends if you're looking for a little flavor.

[MegaTuga]

I couldn't agree more Chiz. And while I rather prefer nesquick, I tend to stick with the so called "generic brand". There is a supermarket chain here which has its own brand called "Dia". It is usually only around Portugal and Spain (You can probably get it anywhere else in Europe but I doubt it). And the best thing about their cocoa is that they sell it in plastic containers of half a kilogram. The only downside its that it takes a loooong time to dissolve with cold milk, so you are not going to put more than two or three teaspoons in a mug since a quarter of the powder is not going to dissolve. Although in this case, more powder usually ruins the taste.

But even though I say this, while I do love myself a mug of cocoa milk in the morning (cold in summer and spring and hot in winter and fall), I cannot say that there is a better drink than plain cold milk for the morning. And when I say plain I mean it. People often put sugar or whatever in their milk, but more often than not, I like my milk completely by itself. And, on top of that, even though my tastes rarely "grown up", the only thing that changed was going from half-fat milk to no-fat milk. Because as I got older I came to dislike the taste of half-fat milk, and don't even get me started on full-fat type... eugh.

P.S. - Not-so-off-topic, but I also like to eat toast with butter and dip it in the milk. And I still struggle in choosing between dipping it in plain milk or cocoa milk.

[ravenf6]

Having grown accustomed to work at my current job, I usually have cup of coffee, about 2-3 hours in, with a bit of cream and 3 sweet-n-lows. At lunch, assuming there's work after my primary duties, I take a cup of hot coccoa, with a little cream and sugar- makes a water-based cocoa taste more like one with milk.

Far as food goes, I usually have a peanut butter-&-jelly sandwich for break, and then take something for lunch- usually last night's leftovers.

[Kyle]

I take my tea with a small drop of milk and three teaspoons of sugar. There's just something about the right mixture of warmth and sweetness that really gets your day off to a good start.