Mug: Stainless steel thermos-type bottle that holds 20 ounces of coffee (I've always wanted to see one that looked like a 76mm armor-piercing artillery shell). Little plastic-lined cup/cap more suitable for taking medicine out of than enjoying coffee from. I've customized this one with a spiral application of the Jesus Prayer sticker. Folks crane their necks to try and figure out what it says, and so I slowly rotate it so the prayer scrolls before their eyes: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." Evangelism effectiveness? God only knows.
Coffee: The Base, 100% Columbian from home, ground this morning and constantly stored in heat-retaining thermal containers (no hot-plates or coffee-warming coffee makers).
Coffee: Restaurant brew Columbian. This is the kind of coffee that gives 100% Columbian a bad name. Weak and relatively flavorless, but "fresh brewed from freshly ground beans". Far from the worst restaurant/coffee shop coffee I've had, it is nonetheless barely drinkable, relying more on the social aspects of coffee drinking than any motivation by sensory pleasure.
Mug: Standard "food service" mug from the place where I have coffee and breakfast every Monday morning at 6:30 a.m. with my Christian men's accountability group. Piety, Study, Action, grumbling.
Mug: 9 ounce (1/4 litre,) hand-formed ceramic beer stein from Germany. Milky slip glaze. This is a half-scale German beer stein (or really, it's a quarter-scale, as true German beer steins are designed to hold a full litre... tourists prefer the 1/2 litre size). Works pretty well as a coffee mug. The recessed lip tends to encourage dribbling, though. Chunky, with good tactile elements in the handle and rim.
Coffee: Staying with my preferred Columbian.
Mug: Gone.
Coffee: Ahhhh. Back to my preferred coffee, a Columbian Supremo that I am currently getting from the bulk bin at Central Market. Just an all-around, fully satisfying brew. Ahhhhh, I'm a happy camper!
Mug: Another Starbucks travel mug, but one that more suitable for home/office/camp use. The nice wide mouth provides sufficient olfactory stimulus (you can wake up and smell the coffee). The lid (not shown) allows the coffee to slosh out, and the shape is not car cup-holder friendly. But for around the house, outdoors, or at the office, the lid helps keep the coffee warm, and keeps foriegn objects out (sugar, milk, creamer at home...bugs outdoors...drugs and/or poison at the office).
Mug: Insulated double-walled stainless steel OXO mug. Meant for camping, I use it for sitting on the front porch enjoying my coffee on cool mornings. I got it out today for two reasons: 1) It was about 69 degrees outside when I got up, so cool mornings are on the way, 2) I've been admiring a double-walled titanium coffee mug for no good reason.
Functionally, this mug works pretty well. It does keep coffee hot longer, and the rubberized grip has a very nice feel to it. The downside is the lip-to-lips interface: it isn't all that pleasant. The metal can be too hot, and it can impart it's metallic composition to the taste buds.
Coffee: I ditched the Columbian blend I have been fighting with for the last two weeks. It has been replaced with an organic from Mexico's Chiapas region. It's not a Fair Trade Coffee, but it is from a "socially responsible" cooperative (or so the distributor claims). It's a medium-dark roast that is just a bit darker than I prefer. But it IS an upgrade from the error of my last few weeks.
