Barista de Casa

Ok so my wonderful wife thought that it would be a great idea to have a latte from the Golden Arches. I was somewhat eager to try it since I had not yet gone down that path, but I was embarrassed to go through the drive through so I encouraged my wife to make the purchase inside. She made it back to the truck about 5 minutes later and handed me my cup. The anticipation was so hard to bear so I quickly took the first sip, and quickly realized that McCoffee tastes like dirt. I know there may be some fans reading this, but it was horrible! Luckily I got the drink with the whole milk. Lora selected the less fat version. She commented on how the employee said that their machines had been messed up, but they had recently been worked on. Lora tasted her coffee and realized that her drink was not too gourmet either. So my wonderful wife said “try mine and see if it tastes worse than yours.” So stupid me, I took a sip of her “latte”. As Charlie Brown would say “AUGH”; it was worse. It tasted like I was sipping aluminum foil, even though I have never eaten the silver stuff. So long story short, we did not take it back and get our reimbursement of $5.58. But hear me now, I will never drink McCoffee again, not even if I was on a stranded island and that was the last thing on earth to drink. Sorry Golden Arches, you are no Barista, and you need to keep your day job of fixing french fries and filled hamburgers.

It smells like coffee, it looks like coffee, it’s in a coffee mug therefore it must be good coffee. That was my assumption today when I had the most beautiful cup of coffee from a well known shop in Westport. The atmosphere was very eclectic and the customers were derived from a diverse group of the core population throughout Kansas City. Usually I’m a cream and sugar guy, but today I thought that I would give it the good ole cuppers try to abstain from the norm. My initial concern was “would I get heartburn from this brew?” Surely not I thought, and then I began the cupping process. Boy was I wrong about 30 minutes after the sipping the heartburn appeared. The real question is “why all the heartburn?” This scenario takes place in most of my visits to various shops in the area. The main difference is that it doesn’t happen when I fix coffee at home. Now I’m not just promoting my own brew, but I’m wondering why my coffee is different than others. Some articles say it’s the caffeine, but I would disagree. I think it’s simply a combination of over roasting, over sitting and over brewing. My coffee has plenty of caffeine, and I know that a moderate city roast and even a cinnamon roasts at home do not afford the same discomfort of the corner coffee shop. I don’t think that I’m the only one, as it seems that the modern day coffee shop thinks this is the norm, and thinks that this is the way of the future. My opinion is that the best coffee can be gulped instead of having to cautiously drink it like drinking a bottle of tobacco sauce from Southern Louisiana. (A special thanks to my high school friend who went out of his way to pay for my cup. This blog in no way discounts your graciousness.)

Actual picture of today's cup

Picture this, its 10:00 p.m. on a Friday night in mid November. You’re so excited that it’s hard to get to sleep. As you snuggle into your nice warm bed you reach over and set your alarm clock for 3:00 a.m. sharp. Just as you feel yourself drifting to sleep your quickly awakened by the “bonk . . . bonk . . . bonk “ of your recently set alarm clock. You slowly come to reality and realize that it’s time to wake up. You quickly dress in your warmest attire, then before heading out the door you flip the switch and drop the lid on the already prepared Bunn coffee maker. The steam arises and the aroma heightens you senses. Once the brew has dripped its last drop you carefully pour the fresh steaming brew into your thermos. You quickly realize that there will be extra coffee so you polish off a single cup with a piece of toast before heading out into the brisk fall air.

Hopefully this weekend this brief little dream above will be a reality. I remember the days when my own father took advantage of this same practice. After all it’s the same thermos that he used over 15 years ago. Interestingly enough as I was preparing ahead earlier in the week I took the thermos out just to clean it up a bit and realized that it still had coffee inside. I can’t even begin to think of the last time that we used that thermos. Luckily it still smelled like coffee and no green things were floating on the surface. I guess that’s a testament to an airtight thermos.

This year I will be able to follow this little tradition prior to braving the cold wind in Northern Missouri. The main difference is that this will be the first time that I take my own son out into that same environment. So no staying up late on this coming Friday night; we will be anticipating the same feeling that most children feel just before Santa comes down the chimney.

Beware, Bambi’s relatives!

Update: The coffee was great today, I brewed it at 3 a.m. and it was still warm at 7:30 p.m. How warm? Warm enough to still use non-dairy creamer. I'm impressed on the vintage thermos. Oh, no meat for the table though, but we all had a good time, and we have the thorn pricks and blisters to prove it. Considering that my son has been in the shower for 20 minutes now means I better go!

Many of you know that I voted on the Republican side for the elections. I voted that way because the Republican nominees fell in line with my personal philosophy and world view. I’m not saying that any side is perfect. What I did see Tuesday night did scare me a bit. I saw over 250,000 people standing in Grant’s Park cheering for the victor of this race. That was more people than some Nascar races, and those can be very thrilling. What I saw was people placing their hope in a single man. President Elect Obama is still a man. I remember a very wise college professor once making the statement, “A man at his best is at best still a man.” At the end of the day there will be many disappointed people. I’m not saying that Obama will not accomplish goals, but I am saying that men will always, mark my words, men will always fail us. So whether you voted for Nader, McCain or Obama keep in mind that any one of those men will fail to do something, and every promise will not be made. I do know that my God will never fail and I will take rest in that fact. I hope that you too will see hope in the truth.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Have no fear; new coffee is here!

Today we have a fresh new bag of Colombian Supremo. This coffee is even better than before. I know that it's hard to believe that your pallet will be overwhelmed with this new brew. The good news is that the price hasn't changed, and we'll be offering special pricing for the holidays. Keep telling your friends and family, as business is increasing. Thanks again for your support. Who would have ever thought that over the past six months Barista de Casa is closing in on roasting nearly 200 lbs of coffee.