"I'm Mike, and I have an issue."
"Hi Mike."
Perhaps I should backtrack a bit. For the last 40 plus years, I've needed a bit of assistance in getting going in the morning. Now retired, it's not as much a hindrance as during my productive years, but I recognize it's still lurking.
Coffee.
I know what your thinking; yeah, yeah, I like coffee in the morning too. No. I am non compos mentis until the first large cup is circulating through my system. By large, I don't mean the puny 12 or 16 ounce size. At home my cup is a large old German pottery stein, probably 40 years old. And the first cup is finished in 10 minutes, when I get up and totter into the kitchen again. Two cups, that's all. Ok, it's larger than what most people down, but it is all I need for the day.
Which brings me to the point......this thing.
I found it 4 years ago here in a small coffee roasting business. It works somewhat like a french press, and can make one large cup at a time. A small round filter is put into the bottom, three heaping teaspoons of Italian or French roast ground the night before (I'm incapable of doing it in the morning first thing), 2 cups water is nuked till boiling, poured into the container, stirred for a minute then pressed into a cup. Voila! Then in the German mug 2 inches of milk is heated in said microwave, the coffee poured in, and there is a large cafe au lait. 5 minutes total time, though it seems much longer in my foggy state.
So, in keeping with the only applicable step of the 12, #9, I'd like to apologize to those colleagues and people who in hotels at conventions I've looked at blankly on my way to the coffee dispenser, wondering who in god's name they could possibly be, and why the hell they were trying to talk to me.
Who knows, I might even try to make amends, just don't expect it before the first cup.
HA! This was great. I don't have a cup as large as yours, but there have been times I've given serious thought to adding some milk to the 80-ounce carafe and upending its contents down my gullet...MANY times!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this chuckle - no, chortle - make that guffaw - over an addiction I fully recognize and own.
No apologies coming from me, though.
I probably need the karma......
Deletehahaha! I just got a new mug. It's huge. I love it so much, I want to gay-marry it and have its little demitasse babies.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna tell Drew.........shocked I am, shocked.
DeleteI've just finished grinding my own coffee (in my case, Colombian medium roast) so my very kind husband can pour boiling water over it through the Melitta filter for my two cups before I get out of bed. The method used may be old fashioned, but it does make a very strong brew for someone else who's incapable of converse before imbibing.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a one-up! That settles it, I gotta get me a live-in maid.
DeleteAt least coffee has loads of health benefits! Every morning, without fail, I grind some coffee beans and make a pot of coffee. If my younger son is here, he has a cup or two as well. And I don't feel a tiny bit bad about it.
ReplyDeleteI'll reserve a seat for you at the next meeting, but first you gotta realize that you have a problem.
DeleteNever gonna happen, my friend. I am comfortable in my addiction.
DeleteI can definitely relate on the coffee thing. And now retired on daylight saving time as well....:)
ReplyDeleteSo the coffee grounds are steeped and then pressed? Did you experiment to discover the ideal grounds:water ratio? I start my day with a couple of cups, and as the semester progresses (and hours of sleep decline) I have more c. 10 and then again at 2... I'm not much of a gourmet about it, though--we have a German filter drip rig for morning, but I'm happy with French press or percolated. Favorite is probably cowboy coffee--I'll blog my secret recipe one of these days.
ReplyDeleteHey Pat, how've you been? I got the press at that coffee roaster in the basement of the bike shop uptown, her coffee is pretty good too.
DeleteI use three heaping teaspoons, pour the boiling water over, stir for nearly a minute then press. Usually after the stirring I add a bit more water.
Cowboy coffee....put the coffee into the boiling water, stir, put a little cold water in and let it settle, right? An uncle used to add egg shells for some damn reason.
Your coffee sounds delicious but I'm concerned by your microwaving your antique stein. Is it microwave safe?
ReplyDeleteHuh, damned if I know. I assume so, I've been doing it for 3-4 years, cup shows no signs of cracks or anything. It's not exactly antique, It was made sometime in the 50's, it's stamped 'Made in West Germany', so it's prior to unification.
ReplyDelete