Wiggle room.

MUG: Uncle Wiggily cup made by the Sebring Pottery Co. Small-sized (six ounces). I'm told that's the size that's in high demand today. This one was made for a child in the 1920s.

COFFEE: Guatemalan Antigua from Central Market. Roasted (city) by Frank.

NOTES: While I noticed several roasts that were dark and shiny, my mainstays (Colombian and Guatemalan) remain roasted short of the burned stage so popular among the passing. There really isn't much wiggle room in coffee roasts destined for drip/pour-over brewing, but a rather narrow sweet spot.

This cup was produced for the Wander Co. in Chicago, an early maker of the Swiss Ovaltine breakfast drink. Uncle Wiggily was an early 20th century cartoon book series, created by Howard R. Garis.

Raven-black coffee

MUG: Texas Sesquicentennial coffee mug (from China), featuring a panel from the Texas History Movies graphic history book series.

COFFEE: Colombian Santa Minas.

NOTES: April 21, 1836: the Anglo-Celtic forging of what became known as 'America'.

"Can you drink from my cup?"

MUG: Waechtersbach Totenkopf mug.

COFFEE: Black.

NOTES: Darkness at noon.

Purchasey's Song

Bad news, bad news, comes to me where I shop.
Burn, burn, burn again.
Saying one of my finds is in dark trouble deep.
Burn, burn to the roast and the bean.

...with apologies to Robert Zimmerman.

Yesterday, I went by Central Market at West Gate to pick up some fresh coffee beans. While bagging my coffee, I overheard two of the roasting team members discuss plans to start roasting the coffees darker because of customer requests. The Austin coffee customer equates 'burned' with 'good' when it comes to coffee (just as they equate burned brisket crust combined with bloody meat as the sign of good barbecue). Coffee, beer, bbq, just about anything; overdone means superior in their minds.

Poseurs all.

These folks below were not poseurs by any means, even though they were trying a bit hard to be American-style folk-rockers. Turn, turn, turn again.



P.S. The tune is based on the old English folk song, The Wind And The Rain.

Where do you draw the line?

MUG: A two-dimensional rendering of a barrel-style mug, done on a 'magic erase' drawing pad I got for my two-year old granddaughter for a buck at Target.

COFFEE: A steaming hot virtual Colombian.

NOTES: I used to draw.

Interestingly, below is a picture of my grandson showing off his artwork of a steaming mug of tea at the elementary school district art show.

I'll take mine black.

MUG: A gift from the Bob Bullock State History Museum (don't bother to ask, "Which state?"). Chinese-made, with a black-trimmed lipped rim and foot. Sort of a Neo-Classical design, but it drinks well.

COFFEE: Brazilian Carmo de Minas Fezenda Sertão, Micro Lot 2. As most of my coffees are lately, this one was roasted at the Westgate Central Market. I like the good Brazilian coffees quite a bit. As the world's largest exporter of coffee beans, they produce a lot of crap beans for crap coffee as well, and the superior beans are a bit rarer in the marketplace.

NOTES: The mug was given to me by a dear friend who who made a decision to move away. Sort of a "piece offering"... as was the event the mug commemorates.

Mini mine.

MUG: Savor Drinkware travel mug. Double-walled, stainless steel, and spill proof to boot.

COFFEE: Guatemalan Antigua roasted at Central Market.

NOTES: This travel mug is sorta mini-sized. It only holds 12 ounces, which is 6 ounces less than most travel mugs. Its raison d'être is so it will fit under a Keurig coffee maker. It was a necessary purchase for me, not because I have a Keurig (although I have used the one at work) but because when used in my MINI Cooper, it doesn't block the dash controls above the cup holders like a normal-sized travel mug.

Be still, and drink coffee.

MUG: A generic, ubiquitous Chinese-made imitation of a Waechtersbach cylinder mug. It's ubiquitous for a reason. It works.

COFFEE: Santander Organic Fair-Trade Colombian from Central Market. City roast, by Frank.

NOTES: This mug is of the Radio Free Babylon internet 'comic' strip Coffee With Jesus, and was produced in conjunction with the publishing of a book of the internet cartoons by Intervarsity Press. I won the mug, and a copy of the book, by having this mug selected as the single most tasteless, tackiest coffee mug posted on their Facebook page. A British mug of Charles and Diana came in second.

This is my 'Happy Face'.

MUG: Nothing you haven't seen before. Waechtersbach (made in Germany). I've got nothing more to say on the matter (today).

COFFEE: Not coffee, which hasn't really been tasting very good since my case of "...an influenza-like upper respiratory infection" (so said the attending Physician). Today I am drinking some Taza Chipotle Chili Chocolate Mexicano, a stone-ground 70% dark "Mexican-style" chocolate in tablet form, from that renowned center of Central American cuisine... Massachusetts. It's about 500% more expensive (and not even close to being 500% better) than the authentic item from Mexico, but the word 'chipotle' causes my wallet to open... at least once.

NOTES: It's a cold morning. It's spicy hot chocolate. I have a cat on my lap. The 'Happy Face' mug is appropriate.

Local is usually best.

MUG: A 'diner' mug. Probably from China. Heavy, and drinks like all the other diner mugs I have. That's a good thing.

COFFEE: A Colombian Santander from Central Market's in-house roaster. Good stuff. Not over roasted.

NOTES: I bought this mug yesterday morning while meeting up with some fellow MINI drivers for a day's cruise. The shop was aptly-but-oddly named Local Coffee. Aptly, because it's a local company with three locations (we were at the Sonterra store). Oddly, because the coffee they serve is roasted in Dallas (the bagged coffee they sell is Stumptown from Portland). That's not a bad thing, because the coffee was excellent... and the barista made it a point to mention that the coffee isn't "over roasted" (I'm talking to you, Austin).

I sampled their daily drip, and it was the thinnest cup of coffee I have ever been served, even though it was just a sample. Seriously, it looked like tea. I made a puzzled remark, the barista made a mildly condescending remark back, and my visit was about to spiral down when I noticed the array of drip makers at the counter, both Chemex and Clever coffee makers. I looked to the menu and saw "slow drip" coffee as a $2.50 option. The coffee was a Colombian, and I bought it. It was a great cup of coffee (really almost two cups... it came in a 16 ounce leather-thermal-wrapped Mason jar), brewed in a Chemex, and it put the mystery of the coffee-tea behind me.

All the best.

MUG: Waechtersbach mug made in 'W Germany' (to give you an idea of how long I've had this particular implement). It doesn't get any better than this.

COFFEE: Ethiopian Sidama, full city roast, roasted a few days ago in a Rube Goldberg roaster by Doctor Smith's Copy and Coffee Emporium in southwest Austin. Pressed in a Bodum French Press coffee maker. Sampson would be envious.

COMMENTS: All the best; mug, coffee, conversation... and music. Thanks Dr. Smith! Good Yule!

Sur la Tabla Rasa

MUG: A new eleven ounce 'barrel mug' made in China, designed and sold by Gibson Home accessories. Coarse black finish, with a smooth white interior and blue lip. Nice drinker, with great tactile qualities. It came with a piece of chalk.

COFFEE: A 'Fair-Trade' washed Sidamo Nura Korate from Ethiopia, roasted at the Central Market Westgate store.

NOTES: This mug was a Christmas gift from my daughter Catherine LaGrone... who, like her elder sister Anna, never ever needs to give me anything, having gifted me with so much in my life I would never else have known. They have written their names on the previously too-often-erased blank slate of my heart.

Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips.

MUG: A stainless steel 12 ounce travel mug marketed by Savor.  It fits the cupholders in my MINI without blocking some of the control buttons like a standard 16 ounce travel mug does (nor does it inadvertently activate the heated seats control, either).

COFFEE: A Starbuck's "Tribute" coffee pod as made in a Keurig Coffee Maker. The machine (and the coffee pod) is in the break-alcove where I have a seasonal mall job. The result is remarkably similar to the drip coffee served in a genuine Starbuck's.

NOTES: I put a wrist band around the travel mug, to aid in grip and to aid in mission. ExploreGod.com, it says. Do.

Oh, and Isaiah 6:5.

Coffee not burned, in more ways than one.

MUG: A plasti-feely-foamy cup thingie from Dixie Cup, the Perfect Touch cup. Soft to the touch, with a harder rolled edge to give decent lip feel. No polystyrene foam is used in its manufacture.

COFFEE: A "100% ORGANIC, 100% FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED, 100% ARABICA" coffee of unspecified origin, roasted and brewed by Summermoon Coffee in Austin.  The roaster says, "NO FOSSIL FUELS, 100% RENEWABLE ENERGY, NO ELECTRICITY. We roast by hand in a brick oven, over a mesquite fire, using sight, sound, and smell to consistently offer our customers a unique and superior coffee experience." I've been told they use bicycles to rotate the roasting drums.

NOTES: Without a doubt, the absolute best 'church-coffee' I've ever been served (as served at The Well in Buda, Texas... which also 'served up' something entirely different and far less tasty yesterday).

As a great bonus, and no small thing to me, no human babies were burned to death in the fire of Moloch to make this coffee.

The daily grind changes. Conehead's revenge.

MUG: Not a mug, but a new grinder. It's a Breville Smart Grinder.

COFFEE: A Santa Inez from Brazil, by way of the Central Market at Westgate.

NOTES: I replaced my well-used Cuisinart burr grinder a few months ago (when it disintegrated internally) with a Krups conical burr grinder. I tried to like it, but while it had some great advantages over the Cuisinart (it didn't make a huge mess), it also didn't grind the coffee consistently, resulting in 'muddy' coffee from my cone filter drip maker (drip filter grind had too much finely powdered coffee).

The Breville is a true conical grinder (the Krups was a hybrid, with concave/convex disc burrs). I asked it some questions, and it remains mute, so I guess it isn't really very smart. We'll see what its learning curve is.

Kaffeeklatsch

MUG: 0,25L German stoneware beer stein. Made by Franz Stöber. There's an Augustiner logo imprinted on the side not seen. This is the ceramic glaze color (salt glaze?) that my favorite Waechtersbach mugs come in, and probably related.

COFFEE: Guatemalan Antigua coffee from/by Central Market Westgate. Roasted by Frank.

NOTES: Guten Morgen!

'Tis the season.

MUG: The Ghost of Waechtersbach Past. Unknown make, unknown location of manufacture, but I presume China. General design is similar to the Waechtersbach design.

COFFEE: A Colombian coffee, made from organic beans grown on a small estate. City roast by Central Market, roasted onsite at their Westgate store in southern Austin. My new preferred source.

NOTES: After missing out on a Día de Muertos coffee mug at HEB before the day, I found this one at Superfly's Records records in San Marcos... where I also found an old Augie Meyer LP that wasn't already in my collection. Over-payed for the LP, but I paid a more than reasonable $6 for the cool mug. 

There is much I dislike about the commercial-holiday-season (October through December). Dead holiday walking. This mug seems appropriate.

Happy "Steal a Child's Candy" day!

MUG: My happy mug. Made by, "Guess who?" Hint, it was made in Germany. Perfect shape and volume.

COFFEE: Still the "organic" Colombian from Central Market's in-house roastery. Still good.

COMMENTS: After "Trick-or-Treating" and "Trunk-and-Treating" last night night, my grandkids came by to display their costumes and booty. I got the Milk Duds. Today I'm having some of the leftovers for breakfast.

Ben Franklin was right, but misquoted.

MUG: Diner-style novelty mug, made for the 90th Anniversary of Neiman-Marcus.  This is a mug of weapons-grade heft, a home-defense mug.

COFFEE: Wow! The best cup of coffee I have had in ages! It's a City roast Brazilian coffee, Fazenda Santa Ines from Carmo de Minas coffees. It was roasted and sold by Central Market at their Westgate store. It is outrageously good.

NOTES: The mug (as featured before) was made in Thailand and designed by High-Wave Good-Bi. It has a contrasting inner color (tan exterior, pale avocado green interior). Good handle, good lip, good heat-retention properties, and a good vibe (I grew up in the Neiman-Marcus culture). I have a matching mug that my wife uses. It has a green exterior and a rose interior. We only use these mugs on Sunday. If I use a different mug (or bring her coffee in her usual Polish-made coffee cup), I hear about it. It's our Sunday Morning Tradition/Ritual.

Now, about today's blog-post headline. Beer aficionados like to quote Ben Franklin as saying, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Great quote, but that's not what he said. What he really said was that rain is proof that God loves us, and because the rain causes the grapes to grow and they can be made into wine, that's proof that God wants us to be happy. It has rained over 4" so far this morning. I'm happy. God loves us. I have seen the proof.

Coffee mug in the rain.

Red dawn.

MUG: The second best coffee mug in the entire world.* A fire-red Waechtersbach.

COFFEE: A Guatemalan Antigua organic estate-grown coffee. City roast, from Central Market's Westgate in-house roastery. Very good stuff.

NOTES: *The only reason this is the "second best" coffee mug is because the "best" mug is PMS Mud colored (also a Waechtersbach). The mud/natural slip color has been unavailable for so long, the USA importer says it never existed.