In the DS9 episode "Whispers" - O'Brien orders coffee "double strong, double sweet". The double sweet is relatively obvious. In-universe, what does 'double strong' mean? Is this coffee brewed/replicated with an extra dose of caffeine, or extra tannins, 50% less water, or double shots of espresso, other alien stimulants, etc...?
asked Jun 11, 2017 at 23:07
-
8The replicator is simulating a coffee brewed with twice the normal amount of coffee grounds and twice the normal amount of sugar; wikihow.com/Make-Strong-Coffee– ValorumCommented Jun 11, 2017 at 23:25
-
2I hesitate to call this real-world science, but it is about real-world cooking, and given the answer and the discussion around the answer, I have to question whether this is in scope for this site.– ThePopMachineCommented Jun 12, 2017 at 17:52
-
1@NKCampbell: Yeah, just for the record, I don't really care that much; I guess I'm just feeling argumentative. I agree the answer would be acceptable if it just added, "There's no special meaning", like you said.– ThePopMachineCommented Jun 12, 2017 at 18:07
-
1@NKCampbell: Are you so sure about the double sweet? Maybe it means it's made with Risan Omega-6 Disaccharonium Cloyanide ?– ThePopMachineCommented Jun 12, 2017 at 18:16
-
1Related: scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/40026/…– ThePopMachineCommented Jun 12, 2017 at 22:47
|
Show 9 more comments
3 Answers
"Double strong" means it's been brewed twice (emphasis mine)
Like a strong-tasting cup of joe, but want more caffeine out of it? Start double brewing your coffee.
Though it sounds both simple and complex, double brewing your morning coffee doesn't require much beyond its name: just send your coffee through another brew cycle for a double-strong cup of joe.
It means a stronger taste and more caffeine, generally. There's nothing to suggest that O'Brien was ordering something different than this.
answered Jun 12, 2017 at 0:29
-
6As if regular strength replicator coffee wasn't bad enough.– StephenCommented Jun 12, 2017 at 4:15
-
6Unnecessary scientific note: doing this almost certainly won't make coffee that is literally double the strength, since the dissolved and suspended coffee compounds from the first brew will partly hinder the dissolving and suspending of an equal amount of those compounds the second time through. Although a replicator could merely fabricate an equal quantity of water with double the compounds, limited by saturation of any solutes. Commented Jun 12, 2017 at 6:21
-
6I'm struggling to imagine what "send your coffee through another brew cycle" could mean. If I'm using a coffee machine (electric or stove top) or an espresso machine that would leave residue in the water reservoir while achieving nothing. If I'm using a French press or aeropress I could wash it out, put in fresh grounds, heat my coffee in a pan and put it back in, but I can't imagine that doing much that wouldn't be achieved more easily by just putting in more grounds in the first place. Is there a way to make coffee that I've missed, where it would make sense to brew it twice?– N. VirgoCommented Jun 12, 2017 at 9:06
-
1
-
1@Nathaniel: Before there were coffee machines, you'd pour hot water into one of these (at least where I grew up). (Some[who? -- my grandma, for one] consider it superior even now, as you'd pour a gush at a time, not continuously as a coffee machine does, giving a "better" taste.) (Cannot comment, I don't drink coffee.) It should be obvious how "another brew cycle" would work for one of them. And I am a bit shocked that, apparently, people no longer know what the "coffee machine" actually automated...– DevSolarCommented Jun 12, 2017 at 13:09
From a practical standpoint, this is more likely to be (replicated) "red-eye" than actually brewed a second time (by drip, press, or other method).
What's a "red-eye"? According to my local barista, it's a cup of coffee with a shot of espresso added. No reheating to damage the original coffee, but approximately double the caffeine, and roughly double the other dissolved/suspended "coffee stuff".
answered Jun 12, 2017 at 11:20
-
1I never came across "red-eye" but when I worked as a barista, we could produce one (enough for one regular cup) or two (two regular cups or one large cup) shots of expresso, to become a latte, cappuccino etc. A "Double" would be two shots instead of the one in a regular cup. Formalised in the menu as an "extra shot". So yes, twice as much coffee in the cup, and "double" was indeed used to refer to this, informally, by both customers and staff. Commented Jun 12, 2017 at 16:43
-
1Yep, my home machine does this, too -- I have inserts for the filter that hold enough grounds for a single or a double shot, and a larger drink calls for more espresso (I rarely did extra shots at home, but I could trick my machine into Americano if needed). Commented Jun 12, 2017 at 17:23
This seems to be a very strong reference (or pun) to the novel 1984, where the antagonist is also called O'Brien, a high-ranking member of the ruling totalitarian party, which has among its goals a simplification of the English language, in order to make expressing emotions more difficult. Among these reforms is the changing of the adjectives "good, better, the best" into things like "good, plusgood, doubleplusgood". So "double-something" in that context is nothing more than expressing a superlative adjective (the strongest coffee, or, at least, an extremely strong coffee).
