You see, it all started with a beautiful cup of coffee I had on a camping trip with Wendy in college. It was Chock-Full-of Nuts coffee in an old fashioned percolator. Delicious, right? I liked it. I had always drank tea, my whole life. Now I liked coffee. It was good. Then my friends Maggie and Ralph moved in, we lived together during college. They were big time coffee drinkers. Maggie had this little spanish percolator, she steamed the milk and I liked that. But she moved to Puerto Rico and took her coffee making skills with her. Now Fernando gets what I had used to have, my own live-in barista. A few years later a beautiful Krupps, ten cup coffee maker made it appearance; my friend Michele gave it to me when she bought a different color one. After 10 years of making one cup a day, it got cranky. It started spitting my beloved brew out the sides and down the front of the machine.
Wendy, decided to give me a new machine. I liked it very much, but it was too big for my ONE cup that I needed each day, and the grinder was way too noisy. We used it for a few years. It also had a lot of parts to clean. Every time Wendy asked me if I like it, I felt bad because she spent so much money on it. It was okay, but the thought was better than the machine. I visited friends in florida and had the chance to use Kevin's one cup machine with the little plastic cups of flavored coffee. I thought it was cool. One cup, no mess, what could be better? I went home, looked up the machine, it was Three-hundred dollars. I thought, no way!
My husband bought me a one cup coffee maker by Melitta for Christmas. it was Fifty dollars. The big coffee maker went into the cabinet to be used when we had guests. Best gift ever, I thought, I loved the one cup pod machine and used it for two years in my classroom because I wasn't finding the time to use it at home. My sister, Pinky, bought me a case of their coffee pods. I made coffee for all my friends in the morning. We were all so happy.
Then, I mistakenly went to Pinky's house and she made me a latte. A real latte with her Starbucks machine. OK, that was it, The coffee I had been drinking was "just coffee." I knew there was something way better out there calling my name. I started buying other pods for my machine and it didn't like it, it started leaking and I couldn't make coffee at home on the weekends without lugging it home. The other teachers started to get nervous, and brought in their own machine. When I went to Starbucks, I was no longer getting my Mocha Frappiccino, I was buying lattes. I started going to Starbucks on my way to school once a week to treat myself, but the other days I was unhappy. I was going broke over brown water.
For some reason, I resisted buying a new coffee maker, after all, everyone else always bought me one, and I just couldn't decide. I wanted strong coffee, I wanted my froth, and I couldn't afford to keep going into Starbucks. So I went cheap, I bought a little $3 coffee funnel and some good coffee and went coffee commando for a few months. I patted myself on the back that I had solved all my problems, and very cheaply, I might add, though I missed the froth.
Well, then I saw the cooking channel and a chef using his coffee press. I had seen them before, but never in use and always thought they looked so complicated. According to the show, they were easy, and my obsession started anew. Thankfully my sister, catching my schizoid behavior, and probably unconsciously admitting that she started the whole problem with the amazing latte in the first place, bought me a coffee press. I used it and it was so easy and the coffee was amazing. I started using my immersion blender to make frothy milk. But this created a big mess and the thing made a lot of noise.
I ran out and got a little froth whipper at the Goodwill store. I am now in coffee heaven. I have miles of quiet froth, and my kids and husband are bugging me for coffee. They have learned how to use the press and expect caramel macchiattos every weekend. (I really need to get some decaf for them.) After reading what I have written, I must have driven everyone around me crazy for more than the three years I originally thought. I was in L.L. Bean the other day looking for raincoats for the kids and I saw a camping coffee press. Too cool, now I have to go camping so I can buy it. No doubt after reading this, one of my friends will get it for me. They always come through when we are talking coffee.
cool
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