Nothing like an evening cuppa jitter beans.
-K-
Authors on Coffee and Cigarettes II
Another Nickel’s Worth of Wisdom
- “It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity.”-Dave Barry-
- “Cigarettes are a classy way to commit suicide.” -Kurt Vonnegut
- “Don’t stir all the warmth out of your coffee; drink it.” -Kate Chopin-
- “Some very considerable part of the gestural language of public places that had once belonged to cigarettes now belonged to phones.” -William Gibson-
- “I like coffee exceedingly…” -H.P. Lovecraft-
-K-
That moment when you have to tell someone they make a poor cup of coffee.
-K-
The Return of Coffee Shop Hours
or Drinking Subpar Coffee on Fridays
Most of us have routines and rituals. One of mine is to spend an hour or so every Friday after work at the local bookstore’s café with a book and a cup of coffee. I’ve been going back there for last few Fridays now that the café is open to full capacity. Now that I’ve fallen back into that welcome routine I’ve discovered two things.
The first thing I discovered is that a few moments alone (even in a crowded café) to decompress with a good book before heading home is invaluable. That hour or so allows me to leave work worries at one place before heading to the next. The second is that the coffee at the café sucks. They offer a passable brew, but a year of lockdowns had me experimenting with a variety of excellent brews and now I recognize that the coffee at several places I frequent is not good (and that’s a polite assessment). I don’t plan on changing my Friday routine (I value my coffee shops hours too much) but I’m wondering if I should try to sneak in my own coffee (hip flask in the movie theater style) and just leave a bigger tip.
-K-
One More Cup and One Last Smoke
or A Moment to Get Sentimental
June is leaving a heat wave in its wake in the Midwest, and with June’s departure the topic of coffee and cigarettes has come to an end. I feel as if I only scratched the surface of this topic. I started the month mentioning an individual’s relationship with coffee/caffeine and cigarettes/tobacco. Hopefully some of this month’s posts got you thinking about your own relationship with coffee and cigarettes, it did for me.
Caffeine and tobacco are vices for many people, but vices tend to provide some of the best memories. This month got me thinking about how many hours I’ve spent in various cafes drinking coffee while reading books and how the two activities are interconnected for me. I remember reading Still Life with Woodpecker at a Borders Café on a rainy Sunday. The book cover got the attention of an inquisitive redhead and the caffeine gave me the courage to start up a conversation. The redhead and I didn’t work out it but it is a fond memory. I’ve also been thinking about the many nights spent smoking cigars and playing euchre with friends when I was in my early twenties. I’ve lost touch with most of those old friends, but the cigar talk and trading stogies are memories I’ll never lose.
I mentioned at the start of the month that an individual’s relationship with coffee and cigarettes (caffeine and tobacco) can give you a bit of insight into that person’s character. Thinking about your own relationship with coffee and cigarettes can also give you personal insight and maybe stir up some fond memories.
-K-
Black Coffee and Cigarettes: The Mix Tape
1. “Coffee Girl”–The Tragically Hip
2. “Smoke Rings”–Sam Cooke
3. “Cigarettes and Coffee”–Otis Redding
4. “Rum in My Morning Coffee”–Jan Smith
5. “Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray”–Patsy Cline
6. “Don’t Smoke in Bed”–Nina Simone
7. “Cigarettes, Whiskey, and Wild Wild Women”–Jim Croce
8. “Coffee Blues”–Lightnin’ Hopkins
9. “Never Get Out of These Blues Alive”–John Lee Hooker
-K-
Making My Own Cuppa Joe
or Why I’m Going to Pass on the ‘bucks and the Dunk’
I am a creature of habits (some bad, a few expensive, but most relatively harmless). As the state I live in moves into the next phase of its quarantine I feel like some raggedy ass bear coming out of hibernation (if you saw my beard you would have a better visual). One habit that this forced solitude has allowed me to break is my ‘need’ to stop at coffee shops.
I always make coffee in the morning whether it’s a K Cup or a full pot, but on most days I stop off at a coffee shop after work to get a caffeine boost. I’ve come to realize that this coffee shop habit is mostly laziness on my part. It’s just as easy (and hell of a lot cheaper) to make a cup of coffee when I get home. They (insert name of major coffee brand here) want to convince you that their coffee shops are a “third place.” They want you to believe they are a home away from home, a caffeinated version of Cheers where every barista knows your order. These branded coffee shops are nothing more than big box retailers on a different scale. They are creating a ‘need’ I don’t have or want (three months of quarantine cold turkey have proven this).
So here’s to staying home and brewing your own. Here’s to sipping coffee (cold brewed or regular) on your porch, patio, deck, or front stoop. Here’s to making a cuppa joe and going to the library which is a much better “third place” (they have free internet too and books, oh so many books). Here’s to being you and realizing you don’t ‘need’ to conform to somebody else’s idea of where to get a good cuppa joe.
-K-
There is nothing quite like Waffle House coffee at three in the morning.
-K-
Voodoo Shooter 