I went back

MUG: M Ware mug, made in China. This is another Waechtersbach imitation, with thinner walls than the original, but of very similar dimensions.

COFFEE: Barrett's Colombian. Brewed stronger than usual due to some maintenance work I did on the coffeemaker last Friday.

NOTES: I saw this mug at Dooley's 5-10 & 25 Store in Fredericksburg, Texas (a real, old-fashioned dime-store) a month or so ago. I didn't get it then, as Dooley's is a "cash only" establishment, and all I had on me was pocket change and my debit card.

We went back last Saturday, and I got both of the ones they had. One for me, and one as a gift for a friend's 90+ year old father (a German-Texan living in northeast Oklahoma), although the gift may really be intended for Otto's much younger second wife. She's the Ausländer who has had to deal with the mug's prophetic sentiment for the last twenty years (since not long after my friend's mother passed away).

Friday blues

MUG: It's a Fiesta. Made in the U.S.A. by Homer Laughlin Company as part of their Fiestaware™ brand of ceramic ware. Fiestaware is all about color, and this particular mug's color is Peacock.

COFFEE: Barrett's Colombian Supremo Estate, mill-ground, drip-brewed, slurped-down.

NOTES: This is a Fiestaware mug with a mug handle. Prior Fiestaware mug designs were enlarged versions of their teacup, with a mug body, and a one finger trigger-guard handle. Never liked them. Too dainty for a mug. This one attempts to rectify the situation, but I still find the design of the mug unsatisfying. Can't put my finger on the problem (although I can put three fingers through the handle).

Coffee spec

MUG: Diner-style mug of unknown manufacture. The front side bears the imprint of a record store in the Pacific Northwest.

COFFEE: Guatemalan Antigua from Spec's Liquor Store and Deli.

NOTES: I buy my coffee from Barrett's Micro-Roasters via the Internet and the US Postal Service. They roast and ship twice a week, and I get my delivery a couple of days after roasting. It's a great way to get consistently good coffee, 5 pound bag at a time.
But on occasion, I time my order wrong, and have to go scrambling for a few day's substitute.

The whole bean coffees at my local mega-grocery store are consistently over-roasted. Other resources are lacking. However, I finally found a reasonable emergency supply source. Spec's is a large chain of liquor stores based in Houston. Their larger stores have "gourmet deli" sections (some more so than others). The Spec's ten miles from me has a wall of bulk coffee beans, roasted by Spec's in Houston. Their beans are mostly over-roasted, but they have a "light" Colombian Supremo and a Guatamalan Antigua that have the proper "City" roast that I feel brings out the best of the bean's flavors.


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