Commuter Coffee - cure the ride-in blues.

Many moons ago, I worked over sixty miles from home, through heavy urban traffic. Before we moved closer to work, I only saw daylight in my home town on a Sunday.

This recipe brought the world back into focus very quickly once I got to my desk.

(Confession - I didn't think you would want to see photos of my car's footwell - the images I have used are just stock photos).

Step 1: Ingredients and equipment.

You need a decent ground coffee - I liked a dark-roasted arabica bean - a nutmeg, a fine grater and a decent "Thermos" type flask. I use a stainless-steel flask as it is much more likely to survive an hour or two rolling around the footwell of my car.

You can buy ground nutmeg if you want, but it loses its flavour a lot more quickly than a whole nutmeg.

I would use whole beans and grind my own, but there isn't a decent whole bean available within thirty miles of me. I blame Starbucks.

Comments

[ilpug]

perhaps one could put all this in a coffee filter, clip it shut with something, then add it to the thermos with the water. it would allow the coffee to make itself in the thermos while you drove. assuming you used very hot water, it would be up to full potency in only several minutes, and you wouldn't have to bother with picking the coffee grounds out of your teeth.

[SpiroExDeus]

Hm. 'Pollute' isn't the word I'd use. Just an idea - just in case the grounds/nutmeg get stirred up somehow simply using a coffee strainer at the point of stirring would save you drinking your coffee turkish style. One of these days I'm going to stop just making comments and publish my own instructable.

[Kiteman]

Do it!

[adome]

Drinking the joe with the grinds floating around will make one poop.

[Kiteman]

By the time you drink it, the grounds have become water-logged and sink. Just be careful pouring the coffee out.

[threecheersfornick]

Nutmeg is hallucinogenic? Cool!

[Yerboogieman]

Its not a "good" hallucinogen.

[Rmg12]

http://www.truthtree.com/Nutmeg.shtml

[pyro13]

Yet another great instructable Kiteman. Where will I be able to buy whole nutmeg? The powdered stuff still causes a nice "wooohoooo" feeling, but i need more! I personally don't like the taste of coffee, so i mixed up the recipe using your ideas.
1. I made a "Nutmeg tea" out of boiled water with lots of nutmeg in it.
2. i added the tea to hot chocolate powder.
3. I added crushed up NoDoz pills to the mix to give it a buzz. i used 200mg.

Needless to say, i was stumbling around the room for a little while. =D

[The Stig]

Anybody have any idea where I can get NoDoz or similar pills in the UK?

[Yerboogieman]

My brother left a bottle in his old car when i got it, wanna buy em'?

[kitsuken]

Pro Plus is pretty common, I think you can even get packs in Poundland, but asking for caffine pills in boots or other chemists will make them pretty easy to find

[pyro13]

Is there a Wallgreens in the UK? I live in the US so i don't know the stores you guys have. A fairly good deal online here

[altaria1993]

i once mixed whiskey and energy drink, pretty stunning too >:D

[Kiteman]

That sort of mixture has led to several deaths in the UK, with people too wired to notice that they're drunk and doing stupid stuff.

[Yerboogieman]

Those beer energy drinks i hear are good. Just don't want to over do it on them.

[altaria1993]

it was about 50 ml of whiskey and about a can of energy drink (33 centilitre) so i don't think it would be very bad, and even if it would be, i'm still alive :P

[icanryme2002]

what the hell is a centi-litre

[Bartboy]

Cent= hundred
centi= hundredth
Litre=1 kg of liquid
Mill=Thousand
milli= thousandth
Milli litre = thousandth of a litre
Centi Litre= Hundreth of a litre.

Get it?

[altaria1993]

Link i know it redirects to litre, but you'll most likely find out what it is there :) also, where are you from? never hearing about a centilitre? unless yuor under age of 12 thats pretty unusual IMO

[Kiteman]

About the only people I know of who use centilitres are wine-makers. It's not an ISO unit, and not generally taught in schools.

[altaria1993]

i use it quite a lot :/ and i did get it teached at my school..

[Kiteman]

200mg of NoDoz?? That's about 2-3 cups of coffee! No wonder you were stumbling!

[pyro13]

Yea i probably won't put in quite that much caffeine next time. =D. So where can i find whole nutmeg? I checked at SuperWalmart, but all they had was ground stuff.

[Bartboy]

Walmart, WALMART??? How could you think they would have it!

[Kiteman]

I got mine from the local supermarket. Other than that, try health-food shops or online. Her is one US supplier, but that's just one I found on a google. I haven't tried them.

Another advantage of whole nutmeg is its shelf-life, literally years.

[pyro13]

Thanks, i found one at my supermarket. The previously ground nutmeg loses its hallucinogenic effects after about a month or so, where whole nutmeg only wears out after it is ground. The Super Cocoa has a much better effect with the freshly ground stuff! I think I'm going to right an instructable on "Super Cocoa"

[Kiteman]

Slaps hand to forehead.

What have I started??

[pyro13]

Kiteman, you have started the beginning of the end of the world. Our society will now be Super Cocoa fueled, doing anything to get its hands on nutmeg and caffeine pills! Muahahahahaha! *caffeine induced ranting*

[austinburke.]

Can nutmeg really cause hallucinations?

[Kiteman]

Yes, but not "usefully";

A user will not experience a peak until approximately six hours after ingestion, and effects can linger for up to three days afterwards.

[Yerboogieman]

Whoh, i didnt even notice this was your instructable, yet i was picturing you in a car with a thermos. lol

[someguy1234]

You don't like starbuck's beans?

[Lithium Rain]

Four *desert* spoons...?

[Kiteman]

I don't know what you mean...

_{Gosh - it took eight months for anybody to spot that!}

[seanrquinn]

The amount of nutmeg needed to cause hallucinations/get "high" ranges from 1-2 tablespoons depending on body weight, 4 teaspoons can cause minor problems however.

[Vendigroth]

So it's a geology trip tomorrow, to sunny Derbyshire. In the middle of winter, we'll be up a hill somewhere, looking for evidence of prehistoric mining or enriched minerals. So, anticipating bad bad weather, i'm making some of this. And i'll let it stew for a hour or 2 before trying it. Just the thing to make the others hate me for being so lively while on a blasted heath in the middle of nowhere.

[Kiteman]

I'll watch the news for the headline -

"Walker with broken leg jogs back to base"

[Vendigroth]

I'm still slightly jittery from it. A flask of this stuff was enough to keep me running up and down the hills surrounding Castleton all day. Then there was the coffee in the village...

[Kiteman]

Castleton! I think the only cavern we haven't done is the one with the boats. We used to live in Furness Vale, on the A6. I worked in Disley, Kitewife worked in New Mills, at the Swizzels factory. What was the pub called, just below the castle? That was nice, decent beer.