I remember being told what my grandparents did for coffee, or tea when they got a chance to have some, back in war torn Europe during the second world war. A year ago I tried a few variations out of curiosity because I was watching a documentary and I remembered the conversations we had all those years ago. Though I will admit for a faux tea, which doesn't even qualify as a tisan, barley tea is quite nice.
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Is there any reason you can't reuse coffee grounds?
- Thread starter Zombie Acorn
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I have heard of acorn coffee which was used during WW2 in Europe, (and was offered some at one stage; it is absolutely dire stuff).
Guess I'll scratch trying it off of my bucket list.
[doublepost=1514614995][/doublepost]I have some really awful memories of drinking chicory when I was a young lad.
Yes, agreed; chicory (as a coffee substitute) is pretty grim, too.
I often have two cups of tea and I reuse the bag from the first cup. The tea is generally weaker but I find it to taste ok.
Grandparents in the Second World War didn't use tea-bags, though. They used - and sometimes re-used - tea leaves.
How prevalent were tea bags during WW2 ?
In the movie Stalag 17, the prisoners had a used tea bag that they kept using.
A movie as a source of history? Tsk, tsk.
I suspect the use of teabags came about (in POW camps) because they were convenient to use, not because they tasted well. And, in a prison camp, or a POW camp, ingenious solutions to everyday problems are usual, because needs must, and needs give rise to unorthodox and often every clever solutions.
I don't know whether POWs used teabags during WW2; firstly, it wouldn't surprise me, secondly, I would never use a movie as a source of historical knowledge, and thirdly, I'd bet my savings on the fact that when those chaps returned home, or were repatriated after the war, they most certainly didn't use teabags. In those days, tea mattered, and good tea was recognised.
In any case, my grandparents - on both sides - never used tea bags; family lore suggests that one grandfather, on my mother's side, who worked in the agriculture ministry and was a shrewd, prudent man, concluding, (correctly) that war was coming, and recognising that rationing would be an inevitable consequence of this, managed to procure a tea chest (of tea) shortly before the war which had the effect of ensuring that his family were well supplied with tea for much of the duration.
Neither did my uncles and aunts (use teabags), nor the parents of my friends.
Instant coffee (ugh) yes, but teabags never; they were considered an affront to good taste, if highly convenient.
When I was a child, we didn't either, we used a teapot, and a strainer; indeed, I don't recall seeing teabags used until I became a student, and my mother had a promotion at work which meant that she became a lot busier, and time mattered more; this was the 80s, a mere 40 years after world war two.
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Ugh ... remember my folks using that stuff to ruin perfectly good coffee . I , however , proudly reuse coffee grounds . Put 'em around my blueberry bushes to acidify the soil .
Oh, for gardens, and plants, the re-use of coffee grounds is brilliant. Plants love them.
That’s what I do for my acid loving plants, such as hydrangeas!
Used coffee grounds for making coffee offer diminishing returns, so maybe if you were a pauper, maybe.
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While I was in the Army we sometimes had to re-use coffee grinds, unfortunately you have to make do with what you have. Fortunately after retiring, have not had to do that.
To compound the rate at which disapproval of my brewing habits will accelerate: I have been known on a very sleepy morning to brew my heart-starter Keurig cuppa's pod twice in rapid succession, just in case it's going to take a little more than the largest brew size hit's worth of caffeine to help me find the pieces of my French press to make some real coffee. I hit start on the large brew, watch it happen, flip the pod around a quarter turn and brew a small one into the same extra-large mug immediately. That second brew looks a lot lighter, yep. But mixed with the initial one and hot milk, anyone who thinks I'd notice the difference versus one go at whatever's in that little pod hasn't seen its contents anyway, or seen me at 5am either.
hasn't seen its contents anyway, or seen me at 5am either. 
Jumper cables don't need to look nice. They just need to work.To compound the rate at which disapproval of my brewing habits will accelerate: I have been known on a very sleepy morning to brew my heart-starter Keurig cuppa's pod twice in rapid succession, just in case it's going to take a little more than the largest brew size hit's worth of caffeine to help me find the pieces of my French press to make some real coffee. I hit start on the large brew, watch it happen, flip the pod around a quarter turn and brew a small one into the same extra-large mug immediately. That second brew looks a lot lighter, yep. But mixed with the initial one and hot milk, anyone who thinks I'd notice the difference versus one go at whatever's in that little pod