I asked my supervisor about the ethics of accepting that Amazon gift card. He took it on up to our department boss (who's known me forever and likes me, yay), who was equally surprised as my supervisor at a customer sending a $50 gift card. So now they're all wondering if it's phishing attack and are very pleased with me for asking about this.

The email doesn't require me to click on anything, it has a code I can type into my Amazon account. So the bosses will run it by HR to make sure it's all OK, and the gratitude I inspire in my customers will become a department story.

I drink my iced coffee black. I enjoy cold brew, as long as it is correctly mixed with water - it shouldn't really take twice as many beans for the same amount of liquid if properly mixed; that proportion gives you a concentrate that should be watered down. But since cold brew is less acidic than normal coffee, many people do drink it stronger than they drink hot coffee. I'm weird in that I like my hot coffee extra strong but actually like my cold brew a little weaker, so for me cold brew is probably fewer beans per oz of liquid.

Black, at least, cold brew DEFINITELY tastes different from chilled hot coffee (or coffee brewed directly over ice). I personally prefer the chilled hot coffee most of the time. Cold brew is naturally sweeter and much less acidic, and with more caffeine even at equal bean concentrations. Caffeine is water soluble at any temperature, so it essentially ALL comes out in cold brew, but the compounds that make coffee really acidic only dissolve at high temp. This is amplified even further if you drink your cold brew strong as mentioned above. This also means that leftover coffee grounds from cold brew are significantly more acidic than ones from hot coffee, which can make a difference if you compost with your grounds a lot - put your cold brew grounds on your blueberries.

I don't think either of them taste anything like coffee ice cream, which I also do not like at all. Give me that french dessert with espresso poured over vanilla all day though.

In RI and parts of MA people drink iced coffee all year long.

So annoying to have to specify "hot" coffee at Dunkies. Grump.

OTOH, coffee milk is da bomb. When I taught there back in the '70s, CCRI's cafeteria had a coffee milk dispenser right next to the chocolate milk dispenser. Instant mocha milk.

The thing I don't get is the fetishization of "cold brew". Like...it's not that fancy (why are you charging so much extra??), and also I don't really care if it's cold brew or just regular brew that you stuck in the fridge?

I'm lazy as hell, so I just brew it in the evening and stick it in the fridge. I drink my coffee (hot and cold) with half and half, so I'm guessing cold brew isn't worth the effort.

DD's iced Americano is shockingly good.

Yeah, I can totally see if I was drinking it black I might care.

And the one time I tried coffee milk (while my brother in law was living in Rhode Island I insisted we try) it was...odd. Not my jam, but I was like "if I'd grown up with this I could see how I'd want it and have a hard time getting that specific taste anywhere else"

I'm lazy as hell, so I just brew it in the evening and stick it in the fridge.

I use one of these and the only hard part is remembering to fill it up the morning before. (That, and remembering to go to the coffee shop to buy the right beans, because I am a grade-A snob when it comes to coffee and use separate beans for espresso, cold brew, and French press.)

I really want a home nitro cold brew keg but I can't justify the cost or the counter-space. I have, at last count, either 4 or 9 ways to make coffee at home depending on whether you count the French presses or cone filters grouped or individually. (But I really really really want it. I looooove nitro coffee.)

I mean....maybe you could keep it at your office, Jessica? If you love nitro cold brew....:)

the gratitude I inspire in my customers will become a department story.

You will become a legend!

I keep wondering if cold brew will be easier on my stomach. I haven't been able to drink coffee since I had my gallbladder surgery.