My morning coffee fix...

[winesonoma]

Fresh ground Peets coffe. Electric drip. 2 cups. Baileys Irish cream on the weekends.

[LBNoble]

I use beans, ground fresh (Millstone, dark roast, except for the scary time when the commissary was EMPTY, because the Millstone warehouses are in NO) about every other day-I have a Capresso thermal pot, per cup, half a packet of Splenda & a dash of half& half, I usually have about 3 cups, if I have time....pedestrian, maybe, but it keeps me going....

[LBNoble]

I forgot, of course,-how I let the dog & cats in & out of the yard, feed them, & fill the water bowls, check for cat/dog barf, scoop kitty litter-it's all part of the morning routine...(goes with the coffee)

[Mayhaw Man]

I use beans, ground fresh (Millstone, dark roast, except for the scary time when the commissary was EMPTY, because the Millstone warehouses are in NO) about every other day-I have a Capresso thermal pot, per cup, half a packet of Splenda & a dash of half& half, I usually have about 3 cups, if I have time....pedestrian, maybe, but it keeps me going....

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Roughly 1/3 of the coffee that comes into this country comes through The Port of New Orleans and much more arrives here by rail from Mobile and Houston to be roasted. Coffee is a big big part of the port economy and it has taken a huge blow as most of the processing was near the Industrial Canal and that didn't work out too good for them in the storm.

I would love to pull up a bunch of interesting New Orleans coffee articles, but the Times Picayune insists on using this joke of a website (several other papers around the country do too-it's stupid, not user friendly and it sucks-so there) and I can't do any kind of meaningful search.

But I did find this well written piece by Daniel Rogov, which contains a truly great quote at the bottom by one of the nicest guys to ever come from New Orleans (really, he is, no joke). It's really funny.

[LBNoble]

Oh, I know, the commissary had a very nicely worded note reminding us about NO & telling us to be patient. also, I went into the Home & Garden center about a month ago, looking for a fan, for air circulation for my orchids, & I was told, 'We shipped all our fans to the Natl. Armory for the Katrina evacuees', well, I felt pretty bad, obviously they needed the fans more than my plants, we're all still pulling for you & trying to do as much as we can for that area, it's amazing that the hurricanes have just not stopped this year. I grew up on the coast of NC & have lived through several hurricanes & the devastation & disruption of normal living is just not imaginable by people who live outside these areas....

[bainesy]

Well, I wake up in the morning with no way to hold my head that doesn't hurt, then stumble to the kitchen and switch the Gaggia on (needs a bit of water through the boiler to prime it). Take the LOML some cranberry juice (she rises SLOWLY) and leave it by her bedside . Have a bath and shave and back to the kitchen, by which stage the Gaggia is properly warmed. Grind Bourbon Espresso blend from local roaster HillandValley in the Rancilio Rocky. Get a capuccino cup and run it to two-thirds full with hot water then pull a double shot onto the water to make an Americano. Pull another double shot into a cappa cup, flick the Gaggia to 'steam', half fill a small pitcher with soya milk and try to microfoam it. Vainly attempt to make a latte heart with the results. Present to newly arrived LOML. Drink my Americano.

If we have time we roll it out a bit, with an extra doppio for me, and a pain au chocolat each.

Oh yes...by the way - I wish I had a dog.

Bainesy

[jayt90]

Like Susan, I have the Cuisinart Grind'nBrew, but I have relieved it of its grinding duties, as it was too coarse, and very noisy. I use a cheap burr grinder, but I'll move up to something like the KitchenAid if it will eliminate most of the dust. I like two mugs of brown roast coffee, every morning, while I read the Globe and wait for the B.M. Last March, I found JBM at $6./lb in the big box store, liked it, and put 30lb. in the freezer. It has been exceptionally good, each and every morning. I can't replace it, because, as the Big Box manager says, they can't buy it at that price now, and have moved on to other things. I'm looking for a small roaster nearby, but I think I'll have to travel a few kilometers, once a week, to satisfy my morning ritual with a new supply of beans.

[Marlene]

I also have the Grind and Brew, and I don't mind the coarse grind. It does however, sound like an airplane taking off in the morning. What I really like is the thermal carafe that keeps coffee nice and hot for several hours.

Jay, I also grabbed 7 or 8 of those JBM bags at Costco and I think I still have two left. It was pretty decent coffee!

[Susan in FL]

LOL, thus those of you unfamiliar with the sound of the Grind & Brew understand why it is one of our alarm clocks!

[Mayhaw Man]

Well, I wake up in the morning with no way to hold my head that doesn't hurt, then stumble to the kitchen and switch the Gaggia on

Bainesy

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But you only do this on Sunday morning, I think.

[bergerka]

Ordinarily I get it from the Rancilio Silvia, a nice, freshly ground cappuccino.

Sometimes I get it from the coffee cart at 41st and Park. They make such delicious coffee at that one cart!

I might just add that I have to hide under the bed in shame now. I walked into Starbucks and ordered one "grande skim one-pump pumpkin spice latte, no whip."

I've become one of...THOSE PEOPLE.

[phaelon56]

I walked into Starbucks and ordered one "grande skim one-pump pumpkin spice latte, no whip."

I've become one of...THOSE PEOPLE.       

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That is just SO wrong. But I look both ways to ensure I'm not spotted by any coffee cognoscenti when I pop into Starbucks for a frappuccino affrogato on those really hot summer days. So who am I to talk?

[Rebecca263]

But I look both ways to ensure I'm not spotted by any coffee cognoscenti when I pop into Starbucks for a frappuccino affrogato on those really hot summer days. 

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Mr.O! And I've been thinking you might be stuffy. Silly me. Now I think you're perfect!

[cakewalk]

Well, as soon as I open my eyes I thank God I don't have a dog or a cat to take care of, since I'm already more than I can handle. Then I grind whichever beans I have this time (from Intelligentsia, which, I've discovered from experience, makes much better coffee than Peet's or that place on Bleecker in NY and a couple of others that I've tried along the way) and make a cup in the French press. Then, a block away from where I work there's an Oren's, bless their big beautiful hearts, and I usually get a medium regular cafe au lait. (Unless I don't, in which case I have the coffee at work.) And at Oren's they also have these wonderful pistachio bars that I always try not to buy but usually fail miserably. But together with the coffee, they make me a very happy morning camper.

[scubadoo97]

My current ritual is to wake up and brew a pot of fresh roasted beans that I roast myself. Currently I am drinking Yemen Sanani and PNG Agoga. Next week? Roasting coffee is a blast and the coffee is fantastic.

[bergerka]

I walked into Starbucks and ordered one "grande skim one-pump pumpkin spice latte, no whip."

I've become one of...THOSE PEOPLE.        

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That is just SO wrong. But I look both ways to ensure I'm not spotted by any coffee cognoscenti when I pop into Starbucks for a frappuccino affrogato on those really hot summer days. So who am I to talk?

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I swear to you the pumpkin spice and gingerbread syrups have crack in them. BTW, the one-pump thing is so they aren't too sweet - this way, they're just sweet enough and have all the spicy flavor.

Rancilio is heating now and it's a good thing, because I'm going to need a lot of caffeine to get through this day.

K

[Megan Blocker]

Steve, this one's for you: a picture of a coffee cart on my way to the subway (though not of MY usual coffee cart - I was running late this morning, and didn't end up hitting it).

[Rebecca263]

Dear Megan, you are such a bright spot here on eGullet, I really enjoy your posts and I want to thank you by sharing my morning coffee fix with you.

You never know what the future may hold, unless you make your coffee in an ibrik! That's what I do, when I'm alone.

I usually get up around 5:30 or so. In Miami Beach it would be sunrise on the shore, but here in New Jersey it's dark in the parking lot. I get out my little ibrik, (Ibrahim/Abrahim depending on my mood, but I always talk to him) and I grind myself some coffee, very fine, almost a paste, it's so fine. I turn on my lovely NJ gas stove and put my ground beans and some raw sugar in the ibrik, and then fill it up to the collar with cold water(not hard to find in NJ!). Sometimes I crush a cardamom seed in as well.

Now my dance begins. When the coffee boils and bubbles to the top of the pot, I take the pot off of the fire at once, it calms, I repeat the journey of coffee coming past the collar, twice, thrice. We're ready! The smell of this strong brew is heady, intoxicating, really fetching and evocative of sensual intrigue. I kid you not.

Especially when I have well roasted Ethiopian beans, oh my.

I pour my darkly sweet brew into a rounded cup. I let it sit for a moment and the 'grinds' settle. I take my cup to the glass doors that open on my tiny back garden(here in NJ I have planted only evergreens so far, so that I will a green winter).

Kiddle will wake up soon, now. I'll be making breakfast, reminding kiddle of myriad mundane things to be done, "brush your teeth, where are your lab chem notes? wear a hat! bring your lunch bag home today. hug me or I'll chase you to the bus stop. call me if you're bringing more than 2 people home. brush-your-teeth." is usually how it goes. But right now, I'm still Rebecca, still the me who isn't Mommy of a thousand reminders, sister of a thousand smiles, Auntie of a thousand pocketfuls of surprises, nice girl who helps a thousand strangers.

I drink my dark coffee alone.

Standing at the doors of my tiny back garden, I feel solitary and peaceful.

The brew in my cup is aromatic, rich, highly caffeinated(long contact time of beans and water, you know) and delicious.

Finally, I take my grind filled cup over to a little plate I keep in the garden. I quickly turn my cup over onto the plate. 1-2-3, I count. I remove the cup. I look into the cup and stare into the patterns those fine grinds have made on the interior. I think about what they remind me of, what form they have taken. Sometimes I make up a story, like my father did for me when I was a child. Sometimes it is simply lovely imaginary things, like gazing at clouds. Sometimes I have a different kind of fun and make up fortunes, like the older women did with the grinds at family get togethers when I was younger.

So, that's it. Most people know me differently than this morning me, I'm known to be silly, light hearted(and -headed by some!), and giving. My friends think of me as soft hearted. Here on eGullet I'm a bit fluffy, I suppose, because I've only been here a short while and joined during a long convalescance, and few here know me in person. But this is me, almost every morning, and I think of Camus, Grass, Trillin, Joyce and Sartre, whoever I'm reading or rereading at the moment, as I drink a cup of coffee that is really a bit more to me than just that.

That said, I DO adore those Greek key patterned coffee cups, and I wonder if there is a common source for them? Wouldn't it be great fun if an artist produced a china cup in that form?

edited by me to add, just found out they're available in china at MOMA.

Edited December 2, 2005 by Rebecca263 (log)

[Lori in PA]

Thank you, Rebecca, for a lovely peak into your morning routine. I DO feel I know you a little better. I feel similarly about my first cup of coffee in the wee hours. I'm an early riser and I treasure my time alone in the quiet house. The rest of the day is filled with the delightful craziness of homeschooling our three children and being all those other things to the other people in my life, but that cup of coffee and the time that accompanies is MINE.

[racheld]

Rebecca, that was just lovely!!! Dreamy and luscious and sweet, like those first few sips before the octane kicks in.

What a wonderful thread. It was the key one on the libations topic, else I probably would have never seen it at all, since I seldom enter the realm of rums and scotches, malts and chais.

It also brought a lovely memory, of a young woman so fish-out-of-water in our small Southern town---she had grown up in Memphis, and had gone to Turin to live with a nice young Italian man, a scientist of great wisdom and research, and they had enjoyed a long and wonderful sojourn amongst the peaceful environs and antiquities.

She came back to visit her parents, who had retired to our hot sleepy little spot, and brought with her one of the tiny bottom-to-top pots, which miraculously defy gravity and pour forth that scrumptious elixir, the very essence of the coffeebean.

We were of an age, she and I, and she came over several afternoons after my work, enjoying the garden and my library, and the slow pace of our lives. She drank in my books of paintings and sculpture and borrowed several to take home for the drab, Wheel-of-Fortune evenings with her parents.

We made puttanesca, we drained the wine bottles, she regaled the children with tales of the wonderful place she had chosen to live. And we ground and brewed and drank that wonderful thick sweet coffee until we were all on a caffeine high that would last til Tuesday. It was what coffee was meant to be, the taste and the aroma and the presence...and the memory is lovely, as well. And you have rekindled it as I sit sipping my cup of doubleshot with the "coffeenilla" so beloved of our seven-year-old Granddaughter.

And your walk in the garden---I wander past the shrubbery, letting my fingers brush through the lavender, for a breath of that spicy fragrance. How nice to get to know you---the tea table has a great rival in the getting-acquainted genre---long distance coffee time can be fulfilling, as well.

rachel

[racheld]

Hey, I thought this was a one-page thing when I tuned in. I went back to the beginning and thoroughly enjoyed all the morning rituals, the dog-walkings and the grindings, the fortune-telling in the garden and the heart-drawings in the crema---what a bunch of sweeties!!!

No dog here, not in several years, but we do have two Grand-dogs who visit from time to time, and in residence we have a very loud, very omnivorous macaw, who starts his day gently asking, "Cookie?" and goes on from there with every food word he can think of. He also enjoys a wee sip from the side of my cup, getting a bit of foam on the outside of his wickedly sharp black beak, shaking his head and lifting a foot to nudge away the dregs.

And our Grand-parrot, who spends a few days with us when his own parents are away, is a fiend for a saucer of sugar-sweet latte...we have pictures of him sitting on the arm of my chair, dipping his golden bill into the saucer. And our succession of white rats, the only pets for quite a few years when we lived in an apartment, each got a thimbleful of coffee in a drink-cap. They'd lap up the coffee, then spend the rest of the day gnawing the plastic into a tiny gnarled lump.

The coffee-counter in the downstairs kitchen has, from left-to-right, an incognito Brand X little drip maker, free with an order from my favorite catalog. It's used only when someone wants a no-frill cup. Next is the pretty white kettle, which brings water to a boil in a minute or so, for Chris' morning cup of Earl Grey, and for the presspot or Melitta drip, both stored in the cabinet above. Far right is the Senseo machine, Christmas gift last year, and source of my favorite brew---two shots in hot milk, two S&L, occasional sprinkle of cinnamon or shot from one of the syrup bottles lined up like soldiers.

First cup is early, house silent; huff of furnace, chime of clock, gentle clatter from ice machine my only companions. Quiet, mail on the bright screen, sips of energy and absorbing peace before all the hustle of the day. The guys come in, get work orders, go away and return. And nobody likes coffee but me and the birds.

[srhcb]

Steve, this one's for you: a picture of a coffee cart on my way to the subway (though not of MY usual coffee cart - I was running late this morning, and didn't end up hitting it).

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Well I'll be damned. That's pretty neat, although I suspect that around here, where snow on the ground and below freezing temperatures prevail half the year, their utility would be somewhat diminished?

I suspect they may have these carts downtown Minneapolis, but I avoid going there during daylight hours.

THANX SB

[phaelon56]

That's pretty neat, although I suspect that around here, where snow on the ground and below freezing temperatures prevail half the year, their utility would be somewhat diminished?  

NYC doesn't get nearly the amount of snow as my central NY state location (they get 10" - 30" in the average winter and we get 130" or more). But it does get insanely, wickedly cold with the damp winter winds blowing in off the ocean and the wind tunnel effect of tall buildings propelling the winds up the avenues.

These coffee carts are out there on all but the worst days when there's too much snow to move them into position.. When I worked in the city we weren't fortunate enough to have a cart with good coffee on my morning route (8th Avenue from 40th Street down to 34th) but I often grabbed a pre-sliced bagel with a square slab of cream cheese already esconsed between the layers.

I think the panoply of street carts in NYC is one of the compelling features of the streetscape that make it so unique and memorable. As a visitor there this past weekend I stopped reguarly to inhale the aromas of grilled meat from the many Halal kebab carts. Yum.

I just wish NYC had some good espresso carts. Why Seattle and not here?

(and yes I know about the Mud Truck but was not impressed with their espresso).

[malachi]

I wake up and I'm usually standing by the sink rinsing cups.

Taste of coffee in my mouth. Mmmmm...

This time of year it's pitch black outside.

If I think hard enough I'll be able to figure out what espresso I just had. Was it the Ecco Caffe?

There is a hazy memory that goes something like this:

- 5am - alarm.

- Stagger out of bed into the hall.

- Grab the clothes I put out the night before off the chair

- Out into the kitchen.

- Grind and pull a quick garbage shot (thank god for muscle memory).

- Another shot... watch it flow, watch the colour, watch the time, taste the shot... With any luck I'm good to go or else I'm doing the adjust-the-grind dance.

- Small pitcher of milk.

- Steam.

- Pitcher goes on the windowsill.

- Grind, dose, distribute, tamp.

- Pull the shot.

- Tap and swirl the milk (get that texture like velvet).

- Stop the shot.

- Muscle memory cappuccino cup rosette.

- Drink.

And back to the beginning I'm awake. Fuzzy hazy memory and that lingering aftertaste...

On good mornings I still taste it a half hour later.

[Megan Blocker]

NYC doesn't get nearly the amount of snow as my central NY state location (they get 10" - 30" in the average winter and we get 130" or more).  But it does get insanely, wickedly cold with the damp winter winds blowing in off the ocean and the wind tunnel effect of tall buildings propelling the winds up the avenues.

These coffee carts are out there on all but the worst days when there's too much snow to move them into position...

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So true! New Yorkers are a hardy bunch (we may have less snow, as Owen notes, but it gets pretty windy, and we walk around in the cold a whole lot more than people in colder climes, save perhaps Chicago), and these carts are actually pretty snug - sometimes there are even two people working in one cart, which would, I imagine, help you keep warm.

I just wish NYC had some good espresso carts. Why Seattle and not here?

(and yes I know about the Mud Truck but was not impressed with their espresso).

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Me too! I'm not sure what the issue is...though I have noticed that New Yorkers are totally brainwashed into loving Starbucks, so maybe it has something to do with the fact that we just go there...or with the size of our "downtown?" I have never been to Seattle ( ), so I don't know if this is true, but I would guess that the New York office district (for lack of a better word) is bigger/more scattered...I wish there was some good espresso on the street.

Edited December 5, 2005 by Megan Blocker (log)