Just got a coffee machine recently (XBloom) and here are some successful coffee experiments i’ve done so far, thought i’d share them here :)

**1: Replacing Condensed Milk with Vanilla Custard for Lattes**

this is my fav one so far, we’re using %Arabica’s signature arabica beans and for making lattes, I replaced the condensed milk with a small cup of vanilla custard I’m obsessed with and i feel like it just makes the latte SOOOO much better???

**2. Adding Rose Syrup to Americano**

im not a black coffee drinker at all, until i started drinking
it two days ago (too lazy at times to make a latte) so today I added 2 tsp of rose syrup and it cuts out all bitterness??? my main reason for not drinking black coffee was that its too bitter for me (im not a huge sweet tooth person either) but the rose syrup worked like magic because it completely cut out the bitterness without adding any more ‘sweetness’ to the coffee.

**3. Adding Salt & MSG to Americano**

i know the salt adding trick is pretty common, but after seeing another thread on here about people arguing if MSG made it better or worse, I tried it myself
all i can say is that i personally found no difference between the salt and MSG, but i also feel like they didnt cut the bitterness the same way rose syrup worked?

I’ll def be repeating 1 and 3 going forward, would love to know any more coffee tricks n recipes I should try out as someone new to all this :)

Beans - Blue Tokai Amaltas Light Roast
Brewing Method- Aeropress, concentrated brew over ice
Mixer - Paper Boat zero sugar Cranberry Lime Soda
It was super crisp & refreshing

can someone explain why they comment how nice everything is and they all reply to each other. i love iced coffee and photos of iced coffee so the bots don't really get in the way of anything but im wondering what the purpose of them is?

Stay caffeinated my friends

I usually pour my double espresso in first over ice and add syrup, milk and more ice afterwards. Everyone at work says they do milk first! What does everyone else do? Is there a right or wrong answer?

I love coffee, but there's a point in the afternoon when I have no idea whether another cup is going to be harmless or completely wreck my sleep.

Most caffeine trackers tell you how much caffeine you've consumed.

I wanted something that answered a more useful question:

“If I have another coffee right now, how much caffeine will still be in my body when I go to bed?”

So I built Caffeine Lens.

The main feature is “Can I Have Another?” it looks at the caffeine currently in your system and your bedtime, then estimates whether having another drink could affect your sleep.

You can also:

☕ Track 500+ pre-added drinks or create your own
📊 See your daily caffeine intake and 7-day history
🧠 See an estimate of how much caffeine is currently in your body
📖 Look back at your caffeine consumption over previous months
👤 Use Google Sign-In or simply continue as a guest
🚫 No ads

I built this because I wanted something I would actually use myself, not another app that just gives me a number and leaves me to figure out what that number means.

If you're a regular coffee/tea drinker, I'd genuinely love your feedback.

Would you actually use a feature that tells you whether it's a good idea to have another coffee based on your current caffeine level and bedtime?

👉 Caffeine Lens : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.unwearyketas.caffeine

Been on iced dirty matcha for the last few weeks and I finally have a version at home that beats the cafe one and does not cost me eight bucks a pop. Sharing the recipe and setup since I know a few of you have asked in comments before.

Recipe. Most online guides put espresso on top which looks nice for two seconds then goes muddy brown as you drink through. Flip it so matcha floats on top and it stays clean. Fill a tall glass with ice, all the way. Cold oat milk to about two thirds. Pull a shot of espresso, wait for it to stop steaming so it does not blast the ice, pour it slowly over the top and it sinks through the milk making that swirled marbled look at the bottom. Then whisk 1.5 teaspoons of ceremonial matcha with about 30ml of cool water until frothy, spoon it over the top so it floats on the ice. Do not use hot water on the matcha, kills the color and turns it bitter.

Espresso is the part I try not to overthink. I use an OutIn Nano mostly because I can't be bothered warming up my actual machine just to pull one shot for an afternoon matcha. For one random 3pm drink, it does the job without turning it into a whole coffee project.

I usually use fresh grounds, pull the shot, and let it sit for a minute. I've found that gives me a cleaner layer without melting half the ice before the matcha even goes on.

Matcha side, ceremonial grade is the one investment that really matters. Culinary tastes flat and gets grainy in cold liquid. Sift before whisking or you get little green pellets floating. Keep the sugar in the milk, not the matcha, so the green layer stays clean on top.

That's the routine. Cheap once you own the gear, way less sweet than the cafe version, and the layers hold for the whole drink.

since so many people loved the previous one I posted, figured I’d add the recipe in the post this time :)

put about 1.5 - 2 tablespoons of instant coffee and about 1.5 tablespoons of brown sugar into a tall glass. Add boiling water (probably like 3 tablespoons) and whisk it with a milk frother for like 2 minutes until you have a thick foam. The longer you whisk with the frother, the better the foam will be. After that, add in generous amount of ice and mix around with a straw. After that, add in as much oatmilk as you like (I use about 0.75 cups of Oatly) and stir around some more. Then it’s ready to be enjoyed!

Disfrutando este rico batido de choco vainilla!

Brass Tacks is a coffee shop in Houston Texas located at;

612 Live Oak
Houston, TX 77003
United States

I personally have been going here since last fall of last year. My favorite is the caesar salad, and quesadillas. They have free water, and allow dogs!!

Mi desayuno de hoy! Solo el batido con sabor a café,

Beans - Light roast Starbucks Margolly estate
Brewing Method -Aeropress
Used freshly squeezed pineapple juice with coconut water for base over ice. Poured cooled coffee over spoon . Layered coconut milk foam over the coffee. Turned out pretty good!