COFFEEEEEEEE

"Wake up call" ACEO

Just admit it.  You love your coffee.  There are, however, certain rules that one must follow in order to brew a perfect pot.  It should be hot, but not hot enough to burn the taste buds off your tongue. It should be strong but not strong enough to keep you awake for a week. 

In this busy world it is sometimes necessary to stop at a convenience store for your daily dose of java. Convenience stores have not quite mastered these basic coffee making rules. The temperature of the coffee in these establishments can be similar to molten lava.  And the strength of the coffee is a crapshoot at best. Still, as they say, any port in a storm.

If your intention is to take the coffee with you as you drive it is necessary to ready your Styrofoam or paper cup for transport.  In order to manage this you must find the correct top for the cup.  This is not as easy a task as it appears. After trying on several various sized lids, you hit on the correct one.  Funny it just happens to be the one that didn’t look right to begin with.  You wonder why it’s the larger lid that fits on the smaller cup.  Oh well, you reason, its probably just the caffeine withdrawal fogging your vision.

Now that you have your lid properly sized its time to fix your coffee the way you like it.  What?  You like it black?  Warning, warning, if you are hoping to drink this brew before your evening meal you will need to use some sort of cooling ingredient.  This would be in the form of milk or cream.  Beware of places that use powdered creamer. They do nothing to change the temperature of the coffee.  If you just cannot tolerate your coffee any way but black, you will suffer consequences.

It smells good and the smell draws you in.  At this point you are caffeine deprived enough to kill the next person who nods and says, “Good morning.”  You gulp.  You spew.  You yell.  And maybe you even curse.

There are benefits, however.  There is nothing like liquid fire exiting from your mouth and running down your shirt to get you moving in the mornings.  Wearing brown, black or tan on days you stop at the convenience store is a wise decision.  Stains are much easier to remove.  An additional benefit will be to your diet. Food will lose its appeal since you no longer possess taste buds.

Styrofoam and cardboard insulate the contents but do little to protect the hands.  Picking up a filled cup can be quite a surprise when your hands let go on reflex.  If you don’t want to sneak out the door and pretend the flood wasn’t your fault be sure and pick up one of those little sleeves that fits over the cup. Then, go have a coffee break.  J