Looks Can Be Deceiving

MUG: Standard specialty-advertising mug, modeled after the Waechstersbach-style mug. Chinese origin. Thin walls, thin handle, not bad feel to the lip or handle, an acceptable if not remarkable mug. Of course, the decoration is not only remarkable... it's DeLuxe! It really is.

COFFEE: Ran out of my preferred coffee. But hallelujah! Coffee salvation! I was recently gifted with a half pound of Peru Especial coffee beans from Anderson's Coffee in Austin (as discussed previously). The Peruvian is a light roast, with a flavor that reminds me of a good Guatemalan coffee.

NOTES: Not having a locally available source for good coffee can be a problem. The local coffee shop I used as a fall back (only six miles away) went to that great barista in the sky recently. That leaves me with a Starbucks and the H.E.B. Plus... both with a full selection of over-roasted coffees.

Conrad's shame

MUG: Chinese made porcelain bistro mug. See how stylish it is? Branded as a Lavazza™ ("Italy's Favorite Coffee"... the Pirelli of coffee?) mug, it was part of the in-room coffee maker at the Southern Hills Hilton in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It's actually part of a Cuisinart individual-serving coffee maker. This style of mug is almost pleasant due to the thinness of the rim. Great tactile experience, although the funnel shape always makes me nervous.

COFFEE: Lavazza coffee pods, from Italy in theory. Thin, flavorless broth. Awful stuff, not even hot enough coming out of the maker to do a good job of killing cockroaches (not an issue at the Hilton).

NOTES: The Hilton's room had this fancy coffee maker, but no microwave to boil my water for my French-press Travel Mug, the water coming out of the maker was insufficiently hot to use in my French press, there was no fridge to keep a six-pack in, and they wanted $10 a day for internet access. Nice room, poor experience with penny-pinching. No free breakfast, either. See the following descriptive photos on the coffee maker.

 The Lavazza coffee system with the Lavazza Coffee-condom.

 

The Lavazza coffee-condom unsheathed.

See the water running into the cup? See how clear it is? This is at about the 75% full stage.

Looks like a strong mug of English Breakfast Tea. I promise you, it looks darker in the photo, too, than it was in real life. Conrad's ghost must be rattling his chains.

Walk the plank? Walk the pink?

MUG: A pink Waechtersbach mug. Made in Germany, with the peculiar "glaze resist" decoration... not to mention the peculiar decoration motif.

COFFEE: The last of some Whole Foods™ Arriba-brand Colombian, now described as "light roast" (formerly described as Medium/Full City, but Medium is the new Dark, and Dark is the new Burnt Espresso).

NOTES: Surprisingly good for Whole Foods coffee. Bought a half pound in an emergency because the USPS was holding my Barrett's coffee beans in quarantine for four days (for some unknown reason, but the Mail Carrier did comment on how good the coffee smelled in her van).

Road Rage

Coffee: Starbucks™ espresso, served as a Café Americano on ice.

Mug: Starbucks™ Venti iced drink cup. It's a plastic cup made by Berry Plastics. Not sure what else I can say about it.

Notes: It's all the rage among some groups (college-aged kids) to hang out and onto Starbucks™. It's all the rage among many coffee "connoisseurs" to rag on Starbucks™ as Charbucks, because they over-roast much of their coffee. But on a hot day, 375 miles into a 500 mile one-day road trip, I look forward to a quick rest stop at the Bellevue/Waco Starbucks™ for a venti café Americano (no cream). Makes the remaining two hours on the road easier.

The Art of Coffee Staining

It's not burnt.

MUG: Waeschtersbach, Germany. A new acquisition of off eBay. This one has an incredible "fire orange" glaze. Deep, burning, speckled orange with a shiny clear glaze over the surface.

COFFEE: Barrett's Colombian Supremo.

NOTES: Neither the coffee, nor the orange mug, are "burnt" in character... in spite of my locale.

A manly mug for a day for men.

MUG: 16 ounce, straightforward, stoneware mug. It's a souvenir from the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky, the source of my favorite bourbons. A gift from a friend I have never met. The extra big handle is suitable for drinking with gloves on... even lined gloves. The capacity allows for less time in transit to and from the coffee pot, and more time on the job. Good drinker, if a bit imposing due to its massive size, towering above rivals. Kind of like my dad.

COFFEE: Barrett's Colombian Supremo: roasted on Thursday, shipped on Friday, delivered on Saturday, ground and brewed on Sunday.  It doesn't get a whole lot fresher than that.

NOTES: I began drinking coffee when I was about eight years old. I'd get up early and go into the kitchen with my dad, Harry C. Summer, Jr.  He'd be sitting at the breakfast table, drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette (the former a habit I'd quickly adopt, the latter a habit I never took up, but one that took my dad's life prematurely).

My dad was many things, some good and others not so. He was a farm-boy, a varsity football star, a WWII veteran (USAAF), an entrepreneur (grocer, real estate broker, nurseryman), a cowboy, and a man of real faith in Jesus Christ.

Happy Fathers Day, Dad. I love you. I miss you. And I thank you for being just who you are, and for imparting to me the thing of first importance. It's a man's job.

Harry Clifton Summer, Jr. 1918-1995

Reflections on leftover coffee.

COFFEE: The Colombian from Barrett's Coffee Roasters, leftover from this morning.

MUG: 21 ounce double-walled stainless steel mug in the shape of a beer keg. Made in China, remaindered by Campmor. This gigantic mug, when filled with ice, holds about 12 ounces of liquid. Perfect. The big handle makes for a nice grip, and the metal rim is far more pleasant cold than hot.

NOTE: I like iced coffee. This works. The leftover morning coffee is in a thermal carafe, so it remains flavorful.

Reflections on good coffee

MUG: Double-walled stainless steel mug from OXO. Soft-touch rubber handle. When freshly filled, the rim is a bit too hot to the lips. When cooled slightly in the morning air, the rim is a bit metallic tasting. 7.5/10.

COFFEE: Colombian Supremo from Barrett's.

NOTES: Good coffee in the early morning is part of an explosion of sensational experiences.  It's part of "waking up" that has little to do with ceasing sleep. It's part of my sensory awareness training. I make my coffee in the dark, and enjoy it as the light grows. Sounds, sights, smells come into focus, and in the quietness of the morning I gain a heightened awareness of the world.

I also say my morning prayers (based upon the medieval service of lauds) and read the Bible. I begin in the dark, and end as the light grows. All around me, the world changes. Sounds, sights, smells come into focus, and in the quietness of my soul I gain a heightened awareness of the world.

Pot Luck

MUG: USA-made souvenir mug in the form of a 19th century butter churn pot. Not a bad drinker at all. Nice handle, good volume, and good lip. A winning design.

COFFEE: The assembled scraps of coffee beans that have been left over from recent coffee bean changes (there's always a couple of scoops of beans of the departing coffee left as I move on to a new bean). This grab-bag mix is about 1/3 Colombian Supremo, 1/3 Guatemalan Estate and 1/3 Colombian Supremo Bucaramanga (the last third a bitter, dark roast).

NOTES: Waste not, want not.

Bwana Java

MUG: Oh look! It's a Waechtersbach mug! What a surprise! School bus yellow, with a matte black Dymo Label that says "Bwana". All the usual superior qualities of the mug, enhanced by an easy to locate color.

COFFEE: The Guatemalan continues for a couple more days.

NOTE: This mug dates back to when I was Principal/Creative Director of The Summer Group (late 1980s). We gave these to clients and vendors, with a 1/3 pound of Summer Blend beans (Colombian, Guatemalan, and Kona coffee in a 2:1&1 ratio), with their name affixed in the manner of small office break rooms. This one was the prototype, and was mine. The name/title Bwana refers to both my position at the time, and to the art magazine I published (but refused to edit), Bwana Art. The Dymo Label has survived twenty some-dd years of dishwashing machines.

Mi madre' China del café.

 

MUG: Cup, actually. Wedgewood Briar Rose pattern. Tiny cup handle, suitable for extended pinky sipping. Lightweight, pleasant, respectable china serving.

COFFEE: Finishing up the Guatemalan.

NOTES: This was my mother's china. It's probably from Neiman-Marcus, as were most of her better things.

Savory or Safe?

MUG: The CenTury double-walled ceramic travel mug our real estate agent gave us as a house warming gift (one of the pair, as previously featured).

COFFEE: Guatemalan Estate (ongoing).

NOTE: As seen below, I used my new ceramic cone basket to make a tumbler of coffee. I'm not going anywhere, I just wanted come coffee on a cool afternoon. I also have used this for an illustration that coffee tastes much better without a lid. Full sensory impact.

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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