Thus Dribbled Zarathustra

MUG: Double-walled titanium camp mug from REI. The plastic (not silicone) lid expands more than the mug when there is hot coffee in it. A sip becomes a dribble. Fail.

COFFEE: Guatemalan Estate from Barrett's. Happy camper, except for the dribble.

NOTE: I was trying to observe the alignment of the heavens this morning, as the moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury are in conjunction just before dawn. Low clouds on the horizon defeated my attempt, with only the Moon and Venus visible. Hot coffee dribbling down my chin in the cool morning air seemed about right.

Cowboy up!

MUG: Stoneware bistro mug from American Atelier's "Cowboy" series of dinnerware. 11 ounces, with an over-sized handle crafted from a ceramic tube (with a vent hole). Fun drinker.

COFFEE: First try of another roast from Barrett's. Guatemalan Estate instead of the usual Colombian Supremo.

NOTES: Guatemalan coffee is my standard "change-up" bean. It has similar characteristics to the Colombian, and makes a nice change of pace to keep the palate alert. Barrett's has again provided an excellent medium (Full City) roast. This is a good supplier of fresh-roasted coffee, and the convenience of mail order shopping can't be beat.

The mug came with a dessert plate. My wife bought two sets for the grandsons to snack on, and forgot that the mugs were giant-sized (by kid standards). I can't quite figure out the hieroglyphics on the mug. Probably some Chinese artist's idea of Western cattle brands... or the Western alphabet. The giant cowboy is nice, too. Or is that a Shetland pony?

Mountaintop experience.

MUG: Waechtersbach of choice. No need to repeat my praises.

COFFEE: A small-batch roasted Colombian Supremo full city roast from Barrett's in Austin (delivered fresh by mail).

NOTES: I got a German-made Cilio ceramic coffee filter holder (No. 4 Melitta), and made a pot of coffee the old-fashioned way: just off boiling water poured over to wet, set, and then to fill. The best cup of coffee I have had in a long time. I'm using the glass-thermos carafe, as glass doesn't retain old (bad) flavor like stainless steel thermal carafes do.

Slash and burn.

 

MUG: Specialty advertising Chinese mug. Standard issue.

COFFEE: The Colombian Supremo Bucaramanga from H.E.B.'s Cafe Olé selection of bulk coffees. Burnt and stale tasting, with none of the qualities that I appreciate from a well roasted Colombian. Second and last try of this convenient to purchase, but unpleasant to drink, coffee. It has been slashed from my list permanently. In it's favor, it does come from H.E.B.'s coffee section for "Straights".

NOTE: The mug (did I mention this before?) was a gift from the staff at Chubby's Restaurant on Northwest Highway in Dallas. Thank you, Alicia... the World's Best Waitress (and Mary, too).

Don't worry, be happy.

 

MUG: Waechtersbach (Germany). The decoration sort of tells it all (caffeine is your friend).

COFFEE: Colombian Supremo San Augustin from Barrett's Coffee roasters in Austin, purchased in whole bean form from Texpresso in Buda.

NOTES: The Great Colombian Expedition continues. This medium roast coffee is heavy on the dark side of the Colombian palate, missing the winey brightness that I anticipate with my first sip of a fresh Colombian. The aftertaste is oily on the tongue and roof of the mouth. Good complexity, excellent aroma, a taste of chocolate, muted with dense character. As of now, the jury is out.

Dark forebodings of disaster.

MUG: The standard by which all others are measured: West German made Waechstersbach, natural colored mug.

COFFEE: Nicaraguan organically-grown beans from the Matagalpa region, via Fara Coffee. Austin-based Fara Coffee roasts mostly beans from the owners' family estates (fincas) in their native Nicaragua. Most of their coffees are dark roast. Interestingly, these "Organic" beans don't seem to be listed on their website.

NOTES: First, the Good News (always). The coffee is a surprise. I thought I'd give it a try after seeing it in the bulk coffee bins of my local HEB-Plus grocery store. In the past, I have been favorably impressed with coffees from Nicaragua, but the various coffees I have tried from this store have been a resounding disappointment. Overly roasted (see the oily beans in the picture above), the taste remains mostly smooth despite the cruelty of too much heat for too long. I long for a Full City roasting of these beans.

Now the bad news. It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of an old friend. An inspection on the photo above will reveal the horror that my fingers first revealed... a crack in the recently unpacked mug's handle. This mug is one of the original set of four mugs I bought in Dallas upon moving from Austin in 1976. The crack appears to be in the structural ceramic, not just the glaze.

These mugs, in the natural slip color I like so much, have been out of the manufacturer's offerings for so long that a factory representative told me they'd never made mugs this color, physical evidence to the contrary (stupid young person). Another one bites the dust (leaving me with two, plus an inferior Spanish-made alternate).

A repair will be attempted, but...

Roast in Perkatory

MUG: Puffy styro Dixie cup. Nice soft-touch surface texture, smooth rolled lip. The puffed material is better insulating, and biodegradable (IIRC).

COFFEE: Percolated church-coffee, as served in AA meetings nationwide (but no ashtrays). Folgers, Maxwell House, HEB, Kroger, Chock-Ful-O-Nuts, or some other canned ground coffee.

NOTES: Sunday morning at The Well in Buda.  As for the coffee... judge not, lest ye be judged.




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What has Brown done for you?

MUG: Chinese-made specialty advertising mug, from Ben E. Keith food distributors.

COFFEE: Polka Java, a mocha java blend from a local roaster, Buna Bean. Cafe strength brew (thin). Decent flavor coffee that might even be good if brewed properly.

NOTES: Breakfast at the Brown Street Cafe in Ennis, Texas, across from the police station/city hall/municipal court. I didn't ride my bike.

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The Restoration.

MUG: One of my German-made Waechtersbach coffee mugs, the standard by which all mugs are judged.

COFFEE: Colombian Supremo, roasted by What's Brewing in San Antonio, sold by Central Market in Dallas. The water is spring sourced.

NOTES: This is my personal ideal combo of mug and coffee, the pairing that gives me the most satisfaction. I can improve on it slightly by using my French Press instead of the Melitta filter system, but only slightly, and at far greater inconvenience.

This is the first day since I was relocated to Kyle in the general exodus that I have been able to enjoy this combination of goodness. Heretofore, either the coffee was missing, or the mug. The opening of a recent box revealed the mugs, while a trip to Dallas last week to fetch lawn equipment resulted in the beans.

Any port in a storm? Nah, safe harbor.

MUG: Paper cup with sleeve and lid.

COFFEE: Costa Rican Cinchona coffee from Collin Street Bakery's Bellemead location. Not bad. Not bad at all. Very slight "burlap" taste, which is new to me, but brewed strong.

NOTES:  After taking six hours to travel 120 miles (due to the end of Spring Break and Austin's SXSW drunk-fest), I needed a rest (and an escape). Rather than fight the stop-and-go traffic on I-35 the rest of the way to Dallas, I took my escape cut-off route of State Highway 31 to Corsicana and I-45. Collin Street Bakery has one of their Deluxe Highway Shops at that intersection (I-35 and SH-31), so I stopped for coffee and a date bar. I also bought three of their fruit cakes (regular DeLuxe, Texas Blonde Pecan, and Apricot Pecan). These are so wonderful! Fooey on all you fruitcake haters, you are simply giving in to peer pressure and easy prejudice (another sign of The Fall).

The never-ending Coffee Wars

MUG: Novelty ceramic mug from China. Bistro/latte style. 16 ounce capacity. Handsome to behold, awkward to hold. Beautiful blue "satin" glaze, with a white glaze liner and white text.

COFFEE: Brazilin sweet yellow Bourbon beans from Daterra Farms (Rainforest Alliance Certified). Roasted and sold by White Rock Coffee. A tad under roasted for my tastes, but flavorful at my preferred strength. Picked up a pound of this the last time I was in Dallas. Ever searching.

NOTES: "Victory or death" - William Barrett Travis. That's what it says on the reverse side of the mug. Incongruous sentiment for a latte.

An aside: "Victory in death" is what it says on my heart.

The gilded art of bunting.

MUG: A gold foil dinnerware mug from the refectory at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Nashotah, Wisconsin. A very pleasant instrument of caffeine administration, it was made by the W.C. Bunting Company in Liverpool, Ohio. Well balanced, with a nice handle and lip, this mug is a superior, though unassuming, object. One of my favorites, it is a "hand wash" only utensil.

COFFEE: Colombian Supremo from What's Brewing Now in Ole San Antone, via Dallas' Central Market.

NOTES: I liberated this old mug while attending Nashotah House during summer session one year. I replaced it with a modern version from the school's bookstore. The late comedian George Carlin's comments on bunting in baseball vs. blitzing in football are forever with me.

Friends: old, new and new again.

MUG: Waechtersbach, made in Spain instead of Germany. Regular readers (both of you) know that I hold my 35 year old German-made examples of this mug (in this color) to be the epitome of the mysterious coffee mug arts. This Spanish version seems a bit lighter in weight, and the tint is to the brown as opposed to the lederhosen grey of my older Deutschemugs. Nonetheless, it is a fine drinking instrument, and is my old friend of consistent solace.

COFFEE: Mexican Organic Flores beans from Anderson's in Austin. Nutty flavor (not flavored) that is quite enjoyable. The best of the locally-sourced beans I have found. Small-batch roasted.

NOTES: The beans were a gift from a new friend I had never met, but did finally meet over a pint (or three). A charming fellow, whose tastes had always impressed me. My impressions have been confirmed. Truly, a scholar and a gentleman (really).

The beans were sourced from the first independent coffee shop I ever frequented, back when I lived in Austin in the early to late 1970s. Bought my first Braun coffee grinder there, as well as many a Melitta coffee pot (they had a tendency to break in my households at the time... knives and other domestic utensils were known to fly across rooms as well). Surprised and pleased to know the company is still in business, and still in the same location.

An old friend made new again. Thanks, Carter.

Lutheran World Relief comes to Kyle

MUG: Well, not a mug, but a paper sack inside of a zip-lok bag, inside of a cardboard box. Delivered by Federal Agents as a Priority assignment.

COFFEE: Columbian Supremo beans, roasted by What's Brewing in San Antonio, and sold by Central Market in Dallas.

NOTES: Alerted to a fellow (sorta) Lutheran's plight in Hays County, the Steve S. arm of LWR, Art & Architecture Division, sprang into action, contracting with Federal agents to transport a pound of superior coffee beans to Kyle in an act of Christian mercy and relief.

Thanks, Steve!

The Great White North

MUG: Chinese made “navy” or “diner” style mug, 10 8 ounce capacity, sourced from Cafe Du Monde on Bourbon Street in New Orleans (I'm showing the non-imprint side). A great mug, if maybe an ounce or three too small. Serious heft, good lip, thick one-finger handle.

COFFEE: Small-batch roasted Colombian Narino Reserva del Patron from White Rock Coffee in Dallas, as delivered to my door yesterday afternoon by a government employee. It’s a “full city” roast. It’s very good.

NOTES: Even with my tasting sense impaired by the allergies I am enduring moving to Central Texas, this coffee tastes good. Paying $30 for delivery of two pounds of freshly roasted coffee to my door may well be the shape of things to come. Placed my order on Thursday, it was shipped on Friday, and it arrived Monday. By placing my order on Sunday, I might be able to get in by Tuesday, as they ship via USPS Priority Mail. Not bad. The extra expense (higher bean price plus shipping) is balanced by the cost of gasoline to drive sixty mile round trip to Austin.

My bitter valentine.

MUG: Waechtersbach. Red. It’s St. Valentine’s day, and no, I don't have one of Waechtersbach’s popular “Heart” mugs.

COFFEE: Bulk Cafe Olé Colombian Supremo darker roast beans from the Buda H.E.B.

NOTES: Another failed attempt at brewing superior tasting coffee in Kyle. Bitter, over-roasted flavor.

I have some small-batch roasted imported beans coming my way, so hope springs eternal, even in Hays County. Speaking of Hays County, Texas, I do find it interesting that Jack C. Hays, the legendary Texas Ranger (and founder of the city of Oakland, California) for whom this county is named, had the middle name of Coffee. No one seems to have capitalized on this historical fact, including the gourmet coffee shop situated on Jack Hays Trail. I suppose Frontier Indian Fighters don’t fit the barista lifestyle.

Here I am.

MUG: Another repeat appearance. This is a Chinese-made specialty advertising mug that was handed out by the South Florida folks who did the “God Quotes” billboards. This one was given to Dallas City Council Member Mary Poss, who gave it to me.

COFFEE: Rio Grande Blend from Texenza Coffee (“South and Central American beans boast a smokey dark chocolate flavor with a rich, smooth finish. Perfect for iced coffee”). I'm not a fan of blends, as I suspect they are too often used to disguise poor beans by adding a few good ones. This locally roasted (Austin) coffee doesn't change my thinking.

NOTES: This is a good cup for Morning Prayer (the coffee is usually brewing as I observe the daily office). Still searching for superior coffee, I ordered some Colombian beans from way up north yesterday (Dallas). Stay tuned.

Sore loser

MUG: Chinese manufactured stoneware mug from M Design (Museum?), very thick and heavy. Design is meant to imitate an enameled steel camp mug, but this ceramic monster is far easier on the lips, with no burn from the heat transmission common to enameled cups.

COFFEE: Hot Ibarra Mexican cocoa. Just a touch of cinnamon makes this an exceptional treat.

NOTES: This mug came from the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, and has been featured here before. The post title refers to both the quotation from Davy Crockett, and to the tendinitis in my arm and elbow.

The plate in the background was purchased by my parents in a Taos, New Mexico art gallery because the image reminded them of my sister, June Ann Summer.

From the country of 1100 springs

MUG: Bell-shaped stoneware mug made in China, purchased from The Dollar Store. Perfectly acceptable 11 ounce design with good functionality. If it had a green mermaid on it, it would have cost $9.50 instead of the $1 my wife paid for it. See note below.

COFFEE: A darker-roast Guatemalan marketed as “organic”, as purchased from HEB.

NOTE: The coffee is much better tasting today (but still not to my standards of taste), due to using Ozarka spring water instead of the chemical and mineral heavy tap water from the City of Kyle. People in Dallas don't realize how great the tap water is there (at least the water sourced from Dallas Water Utilities).

My wife bought me this mug at The Dollar Store in Kyle because we appear to have left the box containing all our coffee mugs back in Dallas. We will be making a 36 hour trip to Dallas today to fetch said box (and a few others). The Exodus continues, though I am certain it won't take 40 years (but 40 days is a possibility).

Getting a grip on change

MUG: CenTury™branded double-wall ceramic travel mug, hecho en China. The travel cup has a nice trumpet-flare opening (dribble resistant), 16 12 ounce capacity, and comes with a silicone non-slip burn-resistant gripper and drink-through cap.

COFFEE: 3:5 blend of What's Brewing Colombian and Organics* Guatemalan. Improved from the straight Guatemalan I had yesterday, but this is the last of my Colombian. I must admit all complaints about coffee flavor are unfair until I get some better water. The Kyle muniwasser is heavily laden with chemicals (added) and minerals (naturally sourced). 

NOTES: This is, in some ways, the most expensive coffee mug I have. It (and a companion travel mug trimmed in pink silicone) was a housewarming gift to my wife and I from our Realtor as a thank-you gift for finally buying a house she showed us. She also gave us a nice bottle of brut sparkling wine from New Mexico, and a suspect bag of gourmet coffee beans roasted in Austin, “specially blended for iced coffee, with rich chocolate flavors”. Hazmat coffee, or will I be pleasantly surprised? Stay tuned.

*Organics is just a guess. I don't recall the actual name, but it's of that vein.

Frontier Outpost: Jack Coffee Hays edition

MUG: German stoneware beer stein, .25 liter capacity.

COFFEE: Organically-grown Guatemalan coffee, dark roast. Bitter, not better.

NOTES: Nice, heavy little mug, with a colorful shovel head on the front. A bit of a dribbler, due to the narrowing opening. Lip positioning is important with this design.

The coffee is a newly-sourced variety that I won't be revisiting after the .75 pound I purchased is exhausted. A search for a new supplier of good coffee begins now, as my old stand-by (Colombian Supremo from Central Market/What's Brewing) is no longer available to me locally.

SPECIAL NOTE: This is the first post from my new home in Hays County, Texas. Hays County was named after legendary Texas Ranger Captain Jack Coffee Hays, who also has the distinction of being the founder of the city of Oakland California. That might explain a lot about Oakland.

Stirred, not shaken (but pressed).

MUG: SYM-12 design, unknown origin restaurant service mug.

COFFEE: House Blend pressed coffee, fresh ground, fair-trade.

NOTES: As served at Stir Coffee, which is part of Good 2 Go Taco (recently reopened in the 'hood). Nice sediment at the bottom of the cup. A little on the light side, flavor and viscosity wise.

Vintage coffee drinker.

MUG: Blue-Striped stoneware mug I found at Goodwill. Good drinker, although the handle is cramped, and the rim is just a bit of a "dribble rim". The design imitates a butter-churn.

COFFEE: Colombian Supremo from Central Market/What's Roasting. The CC was a bit stale (despite the vacuum coolness), so I went back to my base. My base has gotten $2 a pound more expensive.

NOTES: Hand-thrown, and signed "Lawrence Houston", with the stamp "Sr. Potter" on the bottom. I have no idea where it came from. It's a commercial product, in a rustic style that I can't explain. Here locally we had Love Field Pottery that made stuff like this in the 1930s-40s, and Marshall Pottery in East Texas still does. Lot's of hazing in the glaze (almost raku-like).

Too hot to handle?

COFFEE: Community Coffee™ Private Reserve Colombia Altura. CC's Private Reserve bulk line is dispensed whole bean out of vacuum containers. When you open the chute, an airlock hisses. When you close the chute, a vacuum pump removes air. Not bad stuff.

MUG: Single-wall ceramic handle-less mug (11 ounces), with a silicon travel top. Made in China for Borders™ Books and Lifestyle Accessories.

NOTES: The mug body gets pretty warm due to the single-wall construction, but not too warm (although I imagine pouring boiling water into the mug might change that). Good sipper, with and without the silicon cover. Handsome design with the white interior and the dark brown (java?) exterior. Worth the $4.99 after Christmas sale price. 

P.S. I also got a 2' tall black artificial  “Christmas” tree to make my American Mid-Winter Pagan Civic Holiday decoration out of for next year (celebrating a combination of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Santa Claus, and the New Year).

Foaming at the mouth.

MUG: Unknown manufacturer (China) and designer (USA). Basic bistro-mug design. Roomy handle, slightly wobbly base.

COFFEE: Community Coffee Reserve Espresso made as a cappuccino. Cocoa-chili powder dusting.

NOTES: One side of the mug has eleven names laser-etched into the stoneware. The other side simply has the name above all names etched into it.

New Year's Day

 

COFFEE: Community Coffee Reserve Espresso Roast. Burr-ground to a powder, stamped, expressed. Good.

MUG: A Bodum double-walled espresso shot glass.

NOTES: To Jim. Vaya con Dios, amigo.

Christmas

 

MUGS: Waechtersbach classic mugs, Made In W. Germany. One winter themed (for my wife), one Christmas themed with cat theme bonus (for my mother-in-law), and one natural/mud colored (for me). Perfection in mugs.

COFFEE: Organically-grown Colombian Supremo, San Antonio-roasted, medium roast beans, purchased yesterday during the Exodus to Central Market. Burr-ground for cone drip.

NOTES: Merry Christmas!

I don't play like Robert Johnson

MUG: Unknown country of origin (I should have looked, but you know the old joke about turning over a coffee cup), but branded Illy, and designed by Matteo Thun in Milan, founder of the Memphis Design Group. Nice ceramic heft and lip, but a poor handle that appears to be an Illy trademark (circle shape only allows one finger, and is uncomfortable due to the mug's weight). Probably works better for an espresso cup, not a mug. An example of anti-Bauhaus design (form leading function).

COFFEE: Illy dark roast. Brewed correctly and fresh. A superior cup of coffee.

NOTES: Breakfast at Crossroads Diner on Walnut Hill Lane near Presbyterian Hospital and the DART rail station. The grits and pancakes came from Heritage Homestead (a Christian agrarian community near Waco), and the chorizo from a local vendor. Good stuff.




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Blown away.

MUG: Not. Mexican hand-blown glass.

COFFEE: Not. Buffalo Trace bourbon.

NOTES: This glass was a gift from my parents, deceased now an average of twenty years. It's a wonderful vessel for spirits, as were they for the Spirit. 

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How to make a better cup of coffee on the road.

MUG: Double-walled stainless steel French-press travel mug. It get's too hot to hold, so I added a beer bottle sleeve. 

COFFEE: Cafe Olé prepackaged Colombian Bucaramanga Supremo from the H.E.B. in Odessa. 

NOTES: I use the hotel's in-room coffee maker to heat the water, pour it over the grounds in my French Travel Press, wait four minutes, and then press and drink. The little coffee packet says it contains enough coffee for a "perfect pot", which in my case means one mug.

Happy un-Camper!

 

MUG: German-made Waechtersbach "happy man" mug, possessing all the virtues and qualities of Waechtersbach coffee mugs that I have extolled in the past. Simply the world's best commercially-made mugs (speaking for the ones made in Germany).

COFFEE: Fresh ground at O'dark thirty from Colombian Supremo medium roast beans, sourced from Central Market. Familiarity breeds contentment.

NOTES: After several days of on and off travel (with a couple more yet to come), staying in other people's homes, historic hotels, and run-down motels, and eating in restaurants and with hosts, it's indescribably wonderful to be home, enjoying a pot of my coffee. Strong stuff, and soul satisfying (combined with morning temperatures in the mid-50s). I'm home, and I'm happy to be here. I like it here.

Lodging my observations.

MUG: A USA made (I forgot the manufacturer) china naval mug. Heavy, thick-rimmed, wonderful mug, worthy of a robust, manly brew. A champion "big finger" mug.

COFFEE: Thin diner-brew coffee, perfectly typical of what's served nationwide, totally devoid of all the characteristics that make coffee more than simply a habitual breakfast beverage. The coffee is supplied by DeCoty Coffee in San Angelo, and is served all over West, Texas. The coffee itself may be fine, but the accepted brew-strength is just pathetic.

NOTES: This example was obtained at the Black Bear Restaurant at Indian Lodge Resort in the Davis Mountains state park, close to the McDonald Observatory. You gotta love a restaurant that serves grilled liver-and-onions, and has both black bear and mountain lion warnings posted on the door.

Whoa Nellie.

MUG: Commercial diner mug by Buffalo. Sort of a Mid-Century Modern design. Odd "contemporary" handle shape, really nice decorative band.

COFFEE: Big Blend coffee from Big Bend Coffee Roasters as served at Nel's Coffee Shop in Ft. Davis, Texas. Brewed too weak (standard diner strength), so there's no way to tell if the coffee's any good.

NOTES: Nel's is connected to The Bookfeller used book store, both physically and by marriage. Good breakfast, however.

Limping on.

MUG: Paper cup. What can I say?

COFFEE: Hotel Limpia House Blend, from Big Bend Coffee Roasters. Good body, brewed stronger than one might expect, but a slight undertone of 'sweetness' that I find unnecessary.

NOTES: Waiting in the empty lobby at 5:30 a.m. Drinking it on the Hotel Limpia's front porch. An altogether nice way to start the morning.

Debris field

MUG: Paper cup, with a plastic lid and a corrugated paper sleeve. I forgot to remove it, and so the aromatic and tactile experience was diminished considerably.

COFFEE: Starbucks™ Anniversary Blend. Touted as "bold and spicy", I found it thin and underwhelming.

NOTES: The debris field represents my using a Starbucks™ as my early morning home away from home in Tulsa. A plastic cup of water (the best thing I had there), the wrapper from my apple-spice muffin, an empty pill bottle that held my vitamins and prescription meds, a used, tightly folded paper napkin (as is my habit), and the coffee.

Am I the only one who is noticing a thinning of the brew-strength at Starbucks™? This has happened a few times, recently (usually when I am traveling). Lowering the bar, perhaps, to gain market? Or is it just me?

End of days coffee

MUG: Styrofoam cup. As styrofoam cups go, this one is very attractive, and I did appreciate the sanitized wrapper.

COFFEE: Mello-Cup blend from Farmer Brothers. Suitable for pouring on cockroaches, I suppose.

NOTES: This is the coffee that was supplied with the coffee maker in the Tulsa Days Inn motel I stayed at last weekend. I brought my own coffee, but made this as a demonstration. The little packet is designed to make 4 cups (I used it to make two cups, which was still too weak). I compared it to the four cups worth of coffee I brought from home, and mine had a 4:1 volume ratio over the motel coffee. Cockroaches beware!

Mugga Java

MUG: Well, cup, actually. It's a Japanese decorative porcelain cup. Nice touch, good lip, comfortable handle. The decoration includes gold glazing, and the artwork is from a 18th Century celestial illustration (sun, moon, stars, comets, planets).

COFFEE: Mocha Java beans from Allegro Coffees. Ground this morning as lightening flashed across the sky. Mocha Java used to be my preferred coffee blend thirty-five years ago. In formulating my own private blend with Coffee Company, I finally settled on estate grown Colombian Supremo as my daily grind preference. Sometimes less (fuss) is more (satisfaction).

NOTE: Bought this because we were out of beans, we were at Whole Foods, and I didn't like the look of their Colombian. It's OK, if a little more acidic than I like. I noted that both Mocha (Yemen) and Java (Indonesia) were in the news this week. Yemen because of terrorist activity, Java because of volcanic. Colombia, on the other hand, was peaceful.

In the dark, but not of it.

MUG: Conical espresso cup. Thick, with a thick one-finger handle. The design, construction, and glaze color are exceptional (in my eyes). A beautiful treatment of a cup that too often lends itself to daintiness. I have included my A.G. Spalding & Bros. mechanical pencil for scale (The pencil is made by the same family that produced Spalding baseball gloves for decades before selling out. They are still in control of the old logo-type.). Oh look! Both the cup and pencil are my favorite color!

COFFEE: This is the dark roast my wife likes (dripped, not espresso) from The Olive Branch, a bakery/breakfast/lunch spot in Waco, Texas. The eatery is located in an old 19th Century warehouse near the Brazos River, one that is now full of restaurants (ground floor) and testosterone-free shops (up stairs). The coffee is called Downtown Dark, and is a custom blend from an unidentified roaster. Deep, rich flavor. No complaints (it ain't Colombian Supremo, but I'm narrow-minded). We bought a bag for home consumption. It's still good, made to the stand-up-and-walk-around strength I prefer.

NOTES: Traveling through Waco? This is a good place to stop for breakfast or lunch. Avoid the shops upstairs. They would drain even Floyd Landis.

Non Cogito.

MUG: Novelty mug from a company called The Unemployed Philosophers Guild. 11 ounce generic design. Standard and functional, if not outstanding ergonomically. On the bottom of the mug, there is this warning: "FOR BEST RESULTS, USE OTHER SIDE." This is covered in their helpful instructional video.

COFFEE: French Roast beans, ground this morning, procured from Tom Thumb's Grocery a few days ago under the label of Safeway Select Gourmet Coffee. Mrs. Summer has been wanting us to brew French Roast coffee for some time, and after enjoying a cup in a little restaurant near the Brazos River in Waco, she bought home 1/2 a pound. I'm not a big fan of the style.

NOTES: The mug has René Descartes' mug on it. It's one of those disappearing art mugs, where something printed disappears as the hot liquid is poured in... often things like Dr. Who's TARDIS, or the wives of King Henry VIII. In this case, "I Think, Therefore I Am" becomes "I Think Not", as René disappears.

As for the French Roast replacing my beloved Colombian Supremo?

I think not.