While most people count their coffee consumption by the amount of CUPS they have consumed, I count my consumption by how many POTS of coffee I consume. It is likely that if you have two cups of coffee, I have two pots of it. It is my fuel, and it is my therapy through the hard days when my spirits are down and I need to get up and work anyways. In short, it is my Operator Elixir.
ROUTINE
When the time comes around for me to roll out of bed in the morning, I find myself instinctively going to the kettle on my gas stove. I put the kettle under my sink faucet and run a full blast of water in it for about 7 seconds. I found this to be the perfect amount of time needed to extract enough water to brew up coffee in my large french press.
Next, I set the kettle down on the stove and put the burner on high. Now I play the waiting game, and try to find things to do in the few minutes it will take for the kettle to start screaming. Such a beautiful sound in the morning when you are more related to a zombie than an intellectual human being.
Yesssssssss…….
Once I have brewed my medium roast coffee grounds for a few minutes, I am ready to strain the grounds and pour my first cup. The first cup is usually the most pleasing of the whole day for me. I use this cup to let my mind wander and get mentally charged for what is going to come.
The second and third cups of coffee are used to plan out what I am going to do. These cups are usually just mellow and approaching lukewarm. My french press never seems to hold the heat very well, so I have to rush the coffee down my throat before it loses that perfect combination of flavor and heat. Of course I don’t want to burn my mouth, but the aftertaste comes as your mouth cools.
HISTORY
One of the cool things about coffee is the history behind it. Interestingly, America began its’ relationship with coffee during the Revolutionary War after the Boston Tea Party. While it was normal for the British and other countries to drink tea, America decided that they would rather have coffee as their primary hot beverage.
In my opinion, the energy that coffee gives us contributed greatly to the morale of our troops during the Civil War. History and personal accounts of the Civil War shows that the men on both sides depended on coffee for the energy they needed for their long marches and the courage to march right into a line of fire.
It seems that coffee became the one ration that most soldiers demanded to have, if nothing else. I can understand that need myself.
HEALTH
It is said that coffee in moderation is actually quite healthy for you. Now for me, I think that is only speaking to my type of coffee. Medium to dark roast with absolutely nothing to screw with the natural taste that it has. Coffee has a good amount of caffeine in it as long as you don’t roast it too long, which means that the lighter roasts have more caffeine to offer.
Caffeine is an amazing drug. It makes your blood run, can give you better reaction times, and just seems to motivate you to get working. Of course, like any other drug, it has addictive properties that your body will become dependent on.
Side effects of withdrawal from this caffeine dependency, that I have experienced, are headaches and constant fatigue. Not really good if you need to be active and think straight.
I like the good stuff. Save the foo-foo stuff for the masses.
CLOSING
I will admit that I do have a caffeine addiction and I am darn near dependent on coffee. But as long as I can have at least one pot of coffee in the morning, I am usually set. I love the taste of coffee and the energy it gives me. I feel a drive to work harder, and just make every day count. For me it is simple, give me coffee or give me death.