To drive the cold winter away.

 

MUG: Slightly under-sized eight ounce promotional mug. Ceramic of unknown origin. Lightweight, easy grip, nice lip-to-lip feel. Thin ceramic, imitating the classic enameled tin cup of lore and tradition.

COFFEE: Nope. Bulleit high-rye KSBW. Not approved by the HRC.

NOTES: Santa left a bottle of Bulleit under the tree, packaged with two of these cute mugs.

Joyeux Nöel!

 

MUG: Neiman-Marcus Christmas 1985 mug, made by Waechstersbach in West Germany. The. Best. Mugs.

COFFEE: Eight O'Clock 100% Colombian Peaks coffee, light-medium roast. Beans delivered to my door. Good coffee.

NOTES: This mug is from The Epicurean Shop at the old Neiman's (an in-store purveyor of gourmet goodies). That's not an elf wearing Santa's cap.

 

MUG: Not a mug, but an odd-shaped parfait (?) glass.

COFFEE: Nope. I made a "Hot and Cold Pickle-tini" using "Best Maid Xtreme Hot Pickle Bitez" pickle juice and slices, plus vodka. You get the idea

NOTES: It sounded like a good idea at the time.

"Please accept my resignation. I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member". – Groucho Marx

MUG: Chinese promotional mug. Stainless steel 14 ounce vacuum-sealed double-walled. Chunky, and without a handle. Big hands required.

COFFEE: Eight O'Clock 100% Colombian Peaks coffee, light-medium roast. My coffee of choice in retirement (if I'm buying). Really, surprisingly, good stuff. 

NOTES: I bought a 2-1/2 lb. bag of the whole bean coffee (once-upon-a-time A&P Grocery's house brand) for use as "church coffee" when I started brewing at home and taking three vacuum air-pots to church on Sundays... pre-Wuhan Covid. I liked it so much, I quit buying from my local micro roaster.

As for the Groucho quote, see the photo below. My MINI Big Bend Bash sticker covers up a Bass Pro Club logo on the other side.

I'll sleep when I'm dead.

MUG: Porcelain Espresso shot cup, made for Crate & Barrel in Vietnam. Two ounce capacity, two and a half inches tall. Nice conical shape, with a delightfully useful thumb-and-two-finger handle.

COFFEE: Colombian Peaks, from Eight O'Clock coffee (the old A&P trademark, but now owned by Tetley Tea). Medium roast (closer to a light), here's their ad-copy, "Our award-winning roast of 100% Colombian beans now has the Rainforest Alliance seal of approval. Cultivated exclusively at a high-altitude in Colombia’s rich volcanic soils, these beans are harvested at their optimum ripeness. Medium roasted with winey notes and a rich, elegant aroma with a full-bodied finish. This is a perfect example of the smooth, sought-after Colombian flavor beloved the world over." 

It's really a very nice coffee, especially for times of quarantine and furlough. I originally tried it as a coffee to serve at church on Sunday mornings (brewed in my Bunn commercial airpot brewer) to replace the dark roast coffee brewed in a 30 cup percolator they had been serving.

NOTE: Made as a double ristretto. 

"I'll sleep when I'm dead." 
- Warren Zevon

Tower of Power.

MUG: RTIC travel mug, made in China but designed in Houston, stainless steel double-walled vacuum-insulated. Fourteen ounces (perfect size for hot coffee). Decorated with a commemorative sticker made by Sticker Mule.

COFFEE: Colombian Huila, Pitalito, from Barrett's Micro Roast Coffee.

NOTE: Keeps coffee warm. Doesn't burn lips. Doesn't impart a metallic taste. Nice large and broad handle. Glove friendly. Comes with a screw-down, leak-proof lid, but it's a tight fit in my MINI's cupholders. Fits. Barely.

The sticker was made for the MINI group trip to the Davis Mountains and the Big Bend.