• Home Page
  • About this website
  • Biography
  • Dr. B's Notes
  • Contact
Richard S. Beam

​140     The One About Coffee

2/15/2019

0 Comments

 
It’s cold again today in Omaha.  Actually, it hasn’t been really what I’d call warm for a good while, but there’s due to be snow (a small amount) again today, as well.  Then, that’s going to stop, but only for a day, or two, and then we’ll have more snow.  I confess that I’m getting tired of having an inch, or two, of snow every two, or three, days even if it is mostly just the light, fluffy stuff.  It’s enough that one has to shovel it in order to keep the driveway and sidewalk from becoming a sheet of ice, so it has to be done.  I AM getting tired of having to do this every few days, however.  So, anyway, I’ve been trying to keep warm and that has led to a lot of coffee drinking.  That got me to thinking, which led to this post.
 
Those who know (or have known) me, know that I have been a fairly heavy coffee drinker for virtually all of my adult lifetime.  I’m not sure what it is about coffee which has appealed to me for all of these years, but I’ve enjoyed it at least since I went to college, I think.  I’ll confess that, for much of my life, I have had a tendency to drink at least partially decaffeinated coffee (what Steve Ayers used to call “low test”) much of the time, but since I’ve retired (which has cut into the amount of coffee I drink a bit), I find myself drinking “regular” coffee more often, although a bit less of it.  This may be the result of Bonnie having taken up drinking coffee after she started working for the Honors College at Western, at least in part.
 
You see, she now drinks several cups (mugs) of coffee a day, as do I, but since she never cared for my “special” blend (the one that so many students said smelled so good in my office), we both tend to drink from the same pot, which, more often than not, is made with Archer Farms Candy Cane Coffee which we stock up on during the Xmas season when it is available at Target and stretch to last as long as possible. There ARE other options, of course, but that’s the one we both like the best.  This holiday season, I found that Dunkin’ Donuts White Chocolate Peppermint was available in a couple of stores around here, so I thought I’d try it and I liked it a lot, although Bonnie doesn’t care for it, as she isn’t fond of White Chocolate.  So, I have a few bags of that stored away for my personal enjoyment, and I drink it some of the time.
 
Still, nothing is quite as good as the original “RSB” blend which I came up with in Sylva all those years ago.  I probably shouldn’t give away my “personal” blend, but it was: 1-part Chocolate Raspberry; 1-part French Vanilla; 1-part Southern Pecan; and 2-parts Folgers Decaf.  I’d mix that together (it made a LOT) and store what wasn’t to be used quickly in as air-tight a container as I could find. Since 1 “part” usually consisted of a “bag,” (what in those days was about 1 pound) that was a LOT of ground coffee, but I’d keep it tightly closed and would work my way through it, even if I didn’t tend to make it too strong.
 
Nowadays, I have found both the Southern Pecan and the Chocolate Raspberry can be hard to find, so I tend to use a local brand of Vanilla Hazelnut (available in both regular and decaf) to mix with the Chocolate Raspberry (when I can find that), so I’m less likely to have the coffee that I’d really like, but I won’t complain.  I still do get my daily fix.
 
Anyway, I’ve run across several “coffee-related” jokes and cartoons recently, so I thought I’d see if I could put together a posting about coffee stuff.  Here’s a quote that I ran across: 
“Don't worry about my coffee consumption.  Worry about what I would be like without coffee!” After all of those years of being a coffee drinker, this is probably much truer than I’d care to admit.
 
I really liked this quote from Stephen Hawking: “When the going gets tough, the tough take a coffee break.”  (This just may explain why I found coffee a necessary ingredient in the scene shop….)
 
I think that one of the most enjoyable things about coffee (and coffee drinkers) is the humor people find in believing that it’s not possible for them to survive without coffee (or, perhaps, until coffee).  I’ve not found that to be really true, but I will admit that that first cup does get the day off to a better start than not having it would.  That was the real reason for my getting to school before 8 o’clock in the morning.  It was NOT because I wanted early morning classes.  I really wanted to have a little time for a second cup of coffee and to get my head together before I had to actually get to work.  Still, I do sympathize with Garfield…
Picture
This strip made me think of Bonnie (in more recent times):
Picture
The funny thing is that both of our daughters said that exactly the same thing had occurred to them when they saw this strip.
 
I have to admit that coffee IS something of a necessity, even if I probably could survive without it. And, more IS, probably, better, but I’m not sure that even I would go this far…

Picture
Not having coffee would probably make me grumpy, but I don’t think it would reach this level unless it went on too long.
Picture
I also have to admit that I really don’t like the super-strong, burnt-tasting coffee one finds at many of the “barista” shops which have appeared on every corner.  The reaction below is NOT one which I enjoy, although Garfield seems to think it’s okay.
Picture
Still, I have to admit that a day without coffee is a bit like a day without sunshine, although I hope that I’m not quite as vehement about it as this:
Picture
Oh, well, good luck and good coffee to one and all.  It will help you to “live long and prosper.”
 
LLAP
0 Comments

    Just personal comments about things which interest me (and might interest others).

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly