I Love My Coffee

I am certainly more a morning person than a night person. Yet, I have a horrible time getting up in the morning some days. I really really need my cup of coffee.  My dad always brought my mother her first cup while she was still in bed, and it was a gesture that really meant a lot to her. I've long had a joke that the problem sometimes is having to make coffee before you've had you first cup of coffee.  But I like good coffee, and that means freshly ground beans.

It's not that hard. But I'm so very stupid in the morning. It doesn't have to be complex to be nearly impossible. My most amusing screw up was years ago when I poured whole beans directly into the pot and stared at it for over a minute trying to figure out what I did wrong. After a series of those problems, I found myself first heating up yesterdays' coffee, then going instant, rather than deal with a coffee grinder in the morning. When I lived in Chicago, I would roll out of bed and find myself all dressed and in my car pointed at Starbucks before I knew what was happening. (There was a joke that it ought to be illegal for me to drive to get coffee before I have any coffee.) Now, I have a coffee pot that automatically grinds the beans immediately before brewing the coffee (which makes the coffee incredibly good) but it does add a small level of complexity to the process.  My pot has a reservoir for beans, and grinds the amount for the number of cups you dial in. Sadly, the pot is not plumbed into the wall, so I still have to pour in water, in a quantity to match the number of cups for the beans. I also have to put in the filter, close it up, position the basket under the grinder, place the pot on the ring, and push the button.

I know I am still tired or stressed when I make a mistake in making coffee, as I did yesterday. I failed to execute that sequence of steps not once but twice yesterday, each time resulting in a big mess but no coffee. I had been awake for some hours in the middle of the night (stressing about teens) and then slept later than I have in months. Finally I moved myself to the kitchen, with bad results. Both times, I set it up wrong (left the filter out the first time - left the pot off the second) and then left the kitchen to stare blankly into space while coffee and grounds dripped all over my counters. By the time I had the messes cleaned up and the third pot brewed and was finally able to have some, it was pushing noon and I was having a major caffeine withdrawal headache.

I did a little bit of reading about this, from that authoritative voice, The Internet. While the amount of coffee I drink daily (eight cups on the machine dial = three mugs) is not considered excessive, the fact that it is constant does indeed mean I should expect the caffeine headache if I don't have any.  It only takes one small cup to make the headache go away (Tylenol didn't seem to help while I was waiting) though it took nearly an hour. I am a little concerned about being dependent on a substance and so thrown for a loop when its not available. Apparently the headache comes from low blood pressure in the brain, which in my case could be exacerbated by the Atkins low blood pressure.  It could also account for my stupidity.

But I love love love that coffee.  I love what it does for me. I love the way I can feel my body waking up and coming alive during the first half hour the caffeine takes effect.  On my mornings with early gym call, I set up the pot the night before and my first move is from the bed to the pot. I really try to suck in that first cup at least twenty minutes before getting to the gym because it will make a big difference to my performance. I can especially feel it in my balance. It also comes across in my taciturnity. Only at the end of the gym session am I able to talk and joke with the trainers.

Chemex pot

As I said, I really like freshly ground beans. I first started with this right after college, when my house-mates were already in that habit. They had a Braun coffee mill and a Chemex pot, and we had to stand there and pour in the water.It seemed the height of sophistication to me, and the results were incredible. Mr Coffee first hit the market around then, the first counter-top drip brewer for the home. Before then people had stove-top percolators. We had to make a pilgrimage to a gourmet food and liquor store on the edge of Ann Arbor to get whole beans in those days - the late seventies. In a pinch, the old A&P had whole beans though they expected you to want it ground.

Now, I like a variety of different types of beans. This is good, because there certainly are a lot of choices out there. Besides the variety and roast of the beans, there are organic, fair trade, shade grown, options all to consider. I experiment around with different types, but mostly I buy big barrels of fair trade beans in blends from Trader Joe's. My taste has recently migrated to preferring a medium to dark roast, from years of going for the darkest roasts available. I get nervous if the quantity of beans in the house gets too low, and I do keep an emergency stash of coffee bags in the house.

Both my stove and my coffee maker are electric, and we have power outages at irregular but frequent intervals.  I keep a coleman propane stove just for these occurrences, though unless its a widespread disaster like a hurricaine, it's generally quicker to head to Starbucks or even 7-11.  Anything to keep the headache away. Gotta have that cuppa Joe.