Coffee, tea or cola in sleepers?
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jis
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Tea is a sore spot all across the US, not just Amtrak. Americans mostly have no idea how to make good tea of the black kind at least. They mostly dish out dishwater with some tea flavor sprinkled in.
Mystic River Dragon
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My mother was British, so every day was a ritual with the tea leaves and teapot and hot water to warm the pot and the tea cozy and the elegant china.
And all I wanted was a nice strong cup of coffee!
I will drink tea to be polite if at someone’s home and that is what is offered, but I never did care for it.
And all I wanted was a nice strong cup of coffee!
I will drink tea to be polite if at someone’s home and that is what is offered, but I never did care for it.
jis
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In India, unless one is part of the foo-foo Anglicized lot, making tea is an entirely different thing. What you do is bring a suitable combination of milk and watrer to boil in a pan. Then put a ridiculous amount of sugar and CTC tea in it and let it boil a bit. Then take it off the stove and pour the tea through a strainer into mugs or glasses or even earthenware cups (I like the last bit the most - fully green and recyclable - earth to earth and all that). The tea is strong enough to raise the dead 
Mostly found at truck stops and such. At the Railway Canteens a similar thing was done but in Aluminum Kettles, and the product is less strong, not quite capable of raising the dead. 
At home I use the more Anglicized technique with tea pot, boiling water and a combination of leaf and CTC tea (Brooke Bond Supreme, Brooke Bond Red Label and Lopchu Estate). Of course I do take it with Milk and Sugar.
Mostly found at truck stops and such. At the Railway Canteens a similar thing was done but in Aluminum Kettles, and the product is less strong, not quite capable of raising the dead. At home I use the more Anglicized technique with tea pot, boiling water and a combination of leaf and CTC tea (Brooke Bond Supreme, Brooke Bond Red Label and Lopchu Estate). Of course I do take it with Milk and Sugar.
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With regard to caffeine, I go a different route. I chew caffeinated chewing gum. A lot less trouble preparing, small, comes in different flavors, and less bladder action. Available on the internet, often from candy companies.
I drink decaf, (no-sugar-added) juices, and water (bottled or not). AU Discussion Forum needs more civility, however.
I agree with you on this. I need at least one cup of coffee in the morning just get my eyes open enough to take my meds. Also I am unsteady on my feet on the train. I fell once when it bounced around going to the dinning car and I almost landed on a little girl. Having to go get a cup of hot coffee or waiting on the car steward to bring me one is not what I pay for with the roomette purchase. So I want to see that '' pot '' up/working and smelling good first thing in the A.M.I need one cup of black coffee first thing in the morning, before encountering a lot of lights, people, or noise, to avoid a caffeine headache.
So having the coffee pot in the sleeper was ideal for me because I would get a headache if I had to get it from the cafe or diner.
Without a coffee pot in the sleeper, I would be “forced” to carry intense dark chocolate with me (for the caffeine, of course) and eat a few pieces first thing in the morning before I face the world.
On a more serious note, I love the Keurig coffee, but do any of the pods get recycled? I remember reading that the man who invented it was upset when he realized the amount of trash his invention had unleashed in the world. Has there been a solution found to this?
Tea is a sore spot all across the US, not just Amtrak. Americans mostly have no idea how to make good tea of the black kind at least. They mostly dish out dishwater with some tea flavor sprinkled in.
I love good tea. The tea served in the dining car is minimally acceptable, if I am there already. Mid morning, I want a nice cup of REAL tea, and not in a paper cup carried back from the cafe car, either. I found this little tea kettle that only uses 500 Watts (not going to blow any fuses), and boils enough water for my thermal mug in just a few minutes. I made a little tote bag to carry my tea set, from recycled fabric. I bring my own organic tea bags, and get to enjoy sipping as the view rolls by.
FYI, Jis, I really like sweet strong chai with milk and sugar, but I'm perfectly happy with the taste and aroma of plain, good quality tea.
That is a really nice set-up you have there. Now that is the way to travel in luxury and enjoy the scenery
I freely admit I am fond of the Keurig system. There are others which work well.
If you want to make chocolate after coffee has been made or vice versa it is a simple matter to rinse
the brewing chamber in several ways... run a cup of water through the cycle, pour some water directly through the chamber, or pop it out and rinse it.
A GOOD cup of tea is hard to find. Your solution is great. Tea doesn't mean a Lipton's bag in warm water. You need scalding water, a warmed cup or mug, and your favorite brand. Loose teas in a proper brewer - no tasting the toilet paper bag.
The outlets in the rooms are generally 15 amp. So a single brewer is not likely to pop the breaker.
The commercial brewers with the plumbed in water supply are rugged and dependable. The automatic disposal of the used K-Cup is a great feature. You can purge coffee, chocolate or tea with a small portion of hot water in moments.
We have three of them in the office and they just keep going and going.
I have one at the house, and of course, nowhere near the volume, but it works great. Used cups drop through the bottom through a hole in the countertop right into the trash bin.
And the coffee from a Keurig, or any of the other machines is no doubt not the BEST cup in the world, but it beats that moose pee from concentrate that AMTRAK is using now. I'd almost rather have Nescafe'. Yuk.
The GFCI outlets in the Superliners are 15 amp breakers. A single serve coffee maker, hotpot or instant heater won't pop the breaker (It is under the sink in the bedrooms).
I'm not sure I would want an open container boiling merrily away while rocking down the tracks. When we use the sandwich maker, the mini microwave oven or the coffee maker, we do it one at a time. You can dependably pull 10 amps without fear. And the cooler stays running, only draws 2.1 amps at 110v. Haven't popped a breaker yet!
If that is JIS with his hotpot and tea making goodies, that's a nice setup, as long as the tracks are reasonably smooth.
The very same feature that is a positive in an office environment would be a drawback on a train. I have a commercial machine in the instructors lounge at the EITC, with a variety of blends, and some teas stacked in the cabinets. The K cups can be used in almost every machine in the lineup, and the cups would get stolen left and right. It's where I get the cups for the small machine in my classroom.
Qapla
Engineer
While it should be simple to purge the coffee flavor from the K-cup machine - would the person bringing you the cup of Hot Chocolate actually do that? Somehow, I doubt it.
I'm with you (although not a gal
). Even most places in Canada, where we should know better, they drop a wrapped tea bag of varying quality on the table with a cup of warm tap water. (The exception is regional coffee chain Tim Horton's, where a premade "steeped tea" is served from a carafe.) Milk-first is overrated though - many British places, especially those with younger servers, don't do that anymore. Yorkshire Gold is my go-to, but has been harder to find and more expensive during the pandemic. Both the Yorkshire blends were formulated to overcome shortcomings with local water supplies, making them ideal for any place with those issues.
jis
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Not me. I seldom have tea outside home in the US
Those "icky" machines are no longer used. They were removed 3-4 years ago after one ( or two) spontaneously caught on fire...
deBASHmode
Train Attendant
Well, with the limited number of outlets in the older sleepers ... we may have to be careful with what we "plug" or we won't be able to keep our Samsung® phone or iPhone® charged have a place to plug in our Windows® laptop so we can watch our Marvel® movies or check our Facebook® account ... but then, who worries about brand names
I'm packing a SuperDanny® surge protecter with 4 AC outlets and 4 USB ports, so I can plug in my iPhone®, iPad®, Samsung A50® , Pokemon® Go-Tcha® and Go-Tcha Evolve® auto-catch devices, Nikon® Coolpix® L820 camera and my Koolatron® electric-powered soft-sided cooler, which I'll fill with Go Girl® energy drinks (coffee sux!) and La Croix® tangerine water.
Bash,
currently attending Trademarkapalooza®
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Some of the best tea I have ever had was served in the California Grill at Disney World's Contemporary Resort. It was an apple spice tea, served in a real teapot. It was full-bodied and flavorful. It didn't even need sweetener.
That should guarantee the circuit breaker tripping...I'm packing a SuperDanny® surge protecter with 4 AC outlets and 4 USB ports, so I can plug in my iPhone®, iPad®, Samsung A50® , Pokemon® Go-Tcha® and Go-Tcha Evolve® auto-catch devices, Nikon® Coolpix® L820 camera and my Koolatron® electric-powered soft-sided cooler, which I'll fill with Go Girl® energy drinks (coffee sux!) and La Croix® tangerine water.
Bash,
currently attending Trademarkapalooza®
None of them are particularly high current draw items
deBASHmode
Train Attendant
I love loose teas and have a steel infuser stick that makes them easy to brew anywhere (if you can find piping hot water). I'll wait to have tea at my destination.
deBASHmode
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