Coffee — some assorted thoughts.
Today, the barometric pressure is very high — higher than yesterday anyway — so the migraine that’s been off and on for a while is back with a vengeance. So, rather than immediately reach for the painkillers which I’ve been trying to avoid (mainly because they’re so hard to get a Doc to give a prescription for them) , I decided on Tylenol and coffee — doesn’t help much but it takes the edge off and then I can usually deal — provided I don’t have to actually make any important decisions. Someday, when I feel I can do it without whinging and whining, I’ll do a post on living with chronic pain.
Not only do I use coffee medicinally and consciously so, I actually like it. When we lived in Rhode Island, there were lots of coffee shops including the usual Starbucks as well as Ocean Coffee Roasters, The Coffee Exchange, Cafe Zog and a host of others. When you went grocery shopping the coffee aisle was just that; a full aisle with coffees of various types, flavors, and brands, filling nearly both sides of a full aisle. Then we moved to Maryland. Here the coffee aisle of the grocery store was one shelf carrying Nescafe, Maxwell House, and if you were lucky some of the General Foods International Coffees. Then Starbucks opened up in several communities surrounding us — within a year the urge to buy decent beans didn’t mean Internet shopping or a trip into DC or some far off mall with a specialty shop — I could now get decent beans within an hours drive. Life was good again.
Occasionally, I do some searches on coffee just to see what comes up and that’s how I found out about Raven’s Brew‘s Dead Man’s Reach (see the label above). You’ve got to check out their site, even if it’s just for the coffee labels and descriptions. I got some Dead Man’s Reach, just couldn’t resist the picture on the label, it was certainly strongly flavored and it did get the eyes open in the morning. It was smooth too which I hadn’t really expected but enjoyed with sipping or gulping each cup.
Cleo Coyle’s Mysteries: |
I review books and found, while reviewing Cleo Coyle’s coffeehouse murders, that I enjoyed also learning more about coffee, its history and place in society, not to mention the recipes. Not only does Coyle tell a pretty decent mystery in New York’s East Village centered on a coffeehouse and/or its manager, she slips in bits and pieces of coffee trivia and includes recipes at the end of the book.
There’s also lots of books out about the history, economics, and societal impact of coffee on the world. Today I read the Look Inside of Coffee: A Dark History by Antony Wild, Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World by Mark Pendergrast, and The Devil’s Cup: A History of the World According to Coffee by Stewart Lee Allen. They’re now on my wish list.
Also, i ran across this interesting site of coffee links, Bean Scoop Web Reviews. Haven’t had a chance to check all the links out yet but it seems fairly informative.
Now that my coffee is brewed guess I’ll go have a cup.