A Ho, Ho, Ho Latte Kitsch.

MUG: Chinese stoneware 12 ounce mug. Grainy, unpleasant texture, but functional as a novelty mug.

COFFEE: Whole Foods French Roast. Mystery beans.

NOTES: I almost forgot to use this mug during Christmas season (the only time it will ever see use), but Day 5 found it. Merry Christmas, pardner!

Less is more.

MUG: A three-ounce espresso cup from Crate & Barrel, made in Viet Nam.

COFFEE: Fara Coffee Signature dark roast Nicaraguan coffee.

NOTES: For Christmas, my wife gave me two of these little cups. Very much appreciated. The Bauhausian motto of "Less is more" fits here very well. I didn't want much for Christmas (I got a nice shirt, too), and more coffee goes into my three-ounce espresso than goes into my morning ten-ounce drip cup.

Less is more.

Tanning balm

MUG: Waechtersbach Christmas/Cat mug. How very German.

COFFEE: Not coffee, but Abuelita Mexican Cocoa (hot).

NOTES: My grand daughter spent the night with us, just as a blue norther blew in. So it's hot cocoa in front of the fireplace this morning... listening to Vince Guaraldi's classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas. It doesn't get much better than this.

Memory harvester

MUG: Chinese-made diner mug, imported by M. Cornell Importers. Heavy, self-defense style mug. Good handle, thick walls, and ample capacity makes this a true 'manly mug'.

COFFEE: Colombian Supremo from Barrett's. Perhaps a bit too light? I am besieged by a lingering upper respiratory infection and a balky coffee grinder. Tastes are all over the place.

NOTES: I found this mug at Tractor Supply Company. I used to drive an International Harvester Scout, even had my first fender-bender in it. Under-powered, top heavy, four wheel drive farm vehicle, without a gas gauge. It had two gas tanks, and when you started to run out of gas, you'd switch tanks on the fly. Some fun on the highway (top speed of 70 mph, if I recall correctly).

I recently discovered Tractor Supply Company (having seen them along the highways for a few years). Waves of nostalgia swept over me when I first entered the new TSC in Buda, Texas. It is almost exactly like the Farm & Ranch departments in the Sears & Roebucks of my childhood. Barbed wire, saddles and tack, gardening supplies, electric fence materials, livestock supplies, farm and ranch wear, pocket knives, hardware, tools and agricultural implements. It brought a tear to my eye of days gone by, of time spent with my father and brother.

Another ongoing URI post

MUG: Spanish-made Waechtersbach snowflake mug. It's still cold outside, and I'm celebrating.

COFFEE: Abuelita Mexican Cocoa

NOTES: Coffee is still not tasting right. Mexican cocoa is.

This blog is not sponsored by Waechtersbach.

MUG: A German-made Waechtersbach latte/soup mug, purchased at (and branded by) Crate & Barrel.

COFFEE: A Nicaraguan/Sumatran espresso roast from Fara Coffee Roasters.

NOTES: Baby it's cold outside.

Demi more or less.

CUP: This demitasse cup is of unknown origin. I found two of them (the other one is yellow with a blue interior) at a thrift store off the square in San Marcos. Probably made in China.

COFFEE: Fara Coffee's Signature Nicaraguan espresso roast sourced from H.E.B. 

NOTES: 30 mph wind and 40 degrees this morning here in Kyle-On-Plum-Creek. This foretaste of winter seemed a good time for a demitasse of espressed coffee.

Gotta whole lotta buzz

MUG: Ceramic, double-walled, silicon-lidded travel mug. This design keeps my coffee warm all through the 45 minute teaching sermons we enjoy on Sunday mornings. Really (both warm and enjoy).

COFFEE: Espresso-roast, estate-grown, Nicaraguan coffee from the bulk bins at HEB (roasted in Austin). Four espresso shots, with steamed milk and foam (and a little cocoa/chili powder dusting).

NOTES: Change is good sometimes. This is one of those times. Due to a head cold I have been dealing with this week, my coffee has been tasting like burnt popcorn. Not a recommended flavor. Being as dairy products have been tasting OK the last couple of days, this seemed like a good solution. It was.


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