The Wisdom of Coffee

I've not always been a coffee drinker. In fact by another's experiences, it might be nearly amazing I made it through a couple master's degrees and never previously touched the stuff (however, Mt. Dew was a pretty good substitute). I'd simply never acquired a taste for the bitter bean, but will admit the smell has always drawn some attention from my nostrils.

These days, I'm beginning to wonder if there is some serious dependency going on inside of me. Freshly brewed coffee is a staple around our office -- my good friend and coworker even has his own machine in his office and mixes an incredible blend of some exotic S-brand grind with a nationally known F-brand. When it is brewing it smells strangely like someone just smoked a cigarette, but man... does it taste great! He has said, "Fill your cup any time." I'm confident I fill my cup more than even he is aware. Aren't good friends great? Especially when they can brew a mean cup of java!

Just a week or two ago, our office also added this really cool coffee system that makes individual cups of coffee through these little "pods." It is really good coffee and you never have to wonder how long that pot as been sitting there or how many "alien" creatures have practiced their backstroke through it. Lately it has been malfunctioning and spewing half its contents onto the countertop, but that is supposed to be rectified soon. I sure hope so! When my friend's brew is found wanting, I'm typically found wanting!

So, the long and short of it is, I'm now certifiably "coffee-fied." I've got my own venti sized stainless steel, hermetically sealed, caribeener clip, deep burgundy colored caraffe that keeps the best brew warm for a long season of sipping. I can fairly well discern various variety of bean (Jamaican, Colombian, African, Kona Hawaiian, etc.)... can wrangle the strongest hooch S-bucks can throw down, straight up without cream or sugar -- though a "black and white" (Venti, non-fat, 2 1/2 pump mocha, 2 1/2 pump vanilla, hold the whip, one raw sugar) can really taste great on a cool early morning. If I'm not careful, my S-bucks coffee "need" can exceed my weekly gas budget (okay, before you cast the first cup of judgment, remember I ride a motorcycle most of the time -- and gas prices are recently plummeting!). And all of this in the matter of only about four years! I only started drinking coffee through the influence of a couple Christian brother's with whom I met once per week at S-bucks. Now, I'm hooked. Does anyone know of a 12-step coffee program?

Finishing one of those "black and whites" the other night -- yeah, not smart, I was up until 3 am as a result -- I noticed on the side of my cup printed "The Way I See It #158" and thought it profound enough I ripped it off the cup and have been meditating on it for several days over additional cups 'o "joe." The quote has stuck with me enough, I thought I'd share it with you...

"It's tragic that extremists co-opt the notion of God,
and that hipsters and artists reject spirituality out of hand.
I don't have a fixed idea of God.
But I feel that it's us -- the messed-up, the half-crazy, the burning, the questing --
that need God, a lot more than the goody-two-shoes do."
-- Mike Doughty, musician

I'm thinking the thought applies to this coffee-head quite well.

Just wondering what your reaction might be? Care to share?

I'll pour.