When good coffee goes bad...

[Deleted User]

Waggle_Dancer wrote: »

Just like Camp coffee! Does anyone still drink that?

No, but I use it in baking as its nice when making a coffee flavoured cake. I found it quite bitter to use as a drink but years ago it was virtually alll there was to buy.As a tiny girl in the late 1940s I used to go into our local shop for my Mum and buy a 1d packet of Nescafe coffee (she was too embarassed to ask for such a small amount herself ). It was in a small square foil type packet. We would then go home and she would make enough coffee with milk in a saucepan for the both of us to have a drink.It was always on a Tuesday, as that was Family Allowance day and it was her one treat to herself as she adored coffee but couldn't justify buying it as it was expensive and considered a luxury after the war.When I left school with my first wages I bought her a packet of 'proper coffee' from a shop in the Strand ( it nearly cleared me out)She was so pleased and she made her self some on the stove with her coffee pot and strainer.She worked so hard bringing up her three children during the bad times of rationing and the war I thought this was the one thing that she had really missed the most .To this day over 50 years later I can see her face as she sat down to drink her first decent cup for over 20 years.She loved real coffee as it reminded her of better times before the war as her parents were coffee drinkers.Funny how the talk of coffee has reminded me of this after all these years.

Nomoneymummy_2

[QUOTE=JackieO;25793169_.When_I_left_school_with_my_first_wages_I_bought_her_a_packet_of_'proper_coffee'_from_a_shop_in_the_Strand_(_it_nearly_cleared_me_out)She_was_so_pleased_and_she_made_her_self_some_on_the_stove_with_her_coffee_pot_and_strainer._.[/QUOTE]

Thats so nice, I still remember my brother buying my mum a paper red rose with his paperround money the year my mum and dad seperated... made her year! She still has it in a cabinet, that must be 15 or so years ago!....

Mums are brilliant!!

Nomoneymummy_2

Gremlins are inside my comp again... grrr

terra_ferma

spectacles wrote: »

I have this recurring problem with coffee. It shrivels up and eventually becomes a solid lump.

I just can't afford to keep throwing it away.

1) What can I do to stop it happening?
2) What can I do with the lump of coffee?

Thank you.:rotfl:

I had exactly the same problem, maybe because my flat is damp.
I have tried different types of jars and I never get to finish my instact coffee, it gets all dark and then hardens.

The good news is that all I've had to do was to stop using my own containers, and just keep the instant coffee in it's original jars.

Hope this tip helps you, failing that I don't know what could work.

newmrslockwood

I keep my coffee in the fridge. It also keeps the freshly opened jar smell! I buy the huge 200g jars when they are on offer and theres only me drinking it but necer had a problem since keeping it in the fridge.

baby_fuzz

spectacles wrote: »

I have this recurring problem with coffee. It shrivels up and eventually becomes a solid lump.

I just can't afford to keep throwing it away.

1) What can I do to stop it happening?
2) What can I do with the lump of coffee?

Thank you.:rotfl:

we buy the smallest pack of coffee available - whilst we do not get economies of scale, we save money on stuff that we don't throw away!
And as for alternative uses - I'd probably chip a bit off and make into a very strong coffee mixture to add to recipes any time I'm making dark chocolate anything - it should make it taste that little bit richer and aromatic.