Best Cup of Coffee

Or rather...

Best Cup of Coffee... NOT!

Aside from the Frosticino at Wendy's which is DELICIOUS, I've only had coffee three times in my life.

When I was about 6, a neighbor was babysitting me, and asked if I wanted a cup of coffee before I went to bed. Not knowing exactly what that was, I replied that I did, and she made me what I think was a nice mugful, complete with plenty of sugar and cream.

I'm assuming it was decaf because I don't remember being agitated or not being able to sleep, but I do vaguely remember her mentioning it to my parents when they came to pick me up and them tripping over themselves assuring her it was OK because she didn't know. Fortunately I had my baptism 2 years later to wash this grievous sin away!

Then when I was 15, I went on a weekend senior adventure for scouts. We arrived into the base camp fairly late at night, and after pitching a tent for myself and my buddy, proceeded to brew myself a cup of Rooibos Tea (South African Red Tea) - which is thankfully excluded from the Mormon prohibition on tea and coffee (In case you were wondering about the reasons behind the sin and the first cup.) Once brewed I dumped in 3 bags of coffee creamer and sugar and then proceeded to drink one of the worst tasting cups of Rooibos I have ever had.

I assumed the creamer was bad, or something until my buddy asked early then next day, who'd had the coffee the night before...

Turns out that while hastily packing for the trip, I'd mistakenly grabbed three packets of Ciro coffee instead - and if I remember right, it was some kind of extra strength blend.

Did I mention as well that I didn't sleep much that night either?

So that concludes my tale on the first 2 cups...

When I first began drifting from the faith a year or two back, my sweet wife asked when I was going to start drinking coffee. I've been a pretty solid tea drinker for the past couple of years - mostly green, due to it's anti-inflammatory properties among others, and at the time, I assured her that I had enough vices.

However, walking through Walmart on Friday, I walked by the coffee section, and the wonderful aroma of coffee beans fills my nostrils. Coffee, aside from being a cheap source of caffeine, also has a number of excellent anti-oxidants in it, and is likely better for me than RockStar energy drinks, plus it just sounded good. So I grabbed a small packet...

Arriving home, I nuked myself an extra hot cup of water, and then proceeded to add 2 teaspoons of the aromatic granules to the cup.

It smelt really strong. A combination of the smells I remember from my days brewing coffee at McDonalds and the stale smokey smell of the lounge at a truck stock.

As I mixed and mixed, I also noticed that the granules weren't dissolving...

In an rookie mistake, I'd figured that ground coffee was instant coffee. DOH!

So after searching on the internet and finding out a whole bunch about various brewing devices and methods of tasting coffee, I returned with a second mug, and a clean dish towel. Using the towel, I strained the coffee into the second mug, washed the first and then poured the now granule free blend, back into the first mug. The first had some sentimental significance, and I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.

2 teaspoons of sugar, and a dash of milk and I sat down to enjoy my first knowingly ingested cup of coffee.

It actually wasn't too bad. I chose the mix flavored with cinnamon and hazelnut, and while I couldn't taste either flavor it was pleasant.

I'm not sure if I could become a regular drinker, at least not right now, and I also think that if I do want to invest further time into the practice, that an investment in a french press or coffee machine, might be something I would need to do.