In search of hot coffee.

"Once you wake up and smell the coffee, it's hard to go back to sleep." - Fran Dresher

Ah...so much symbolism in that quote, am I right? Both, literally and figuratively!

The at-rest English teacher in me could go on and on about the difficulties of "turning off"  one's social or moral consciousness once it has been awakened to TRUTH. Yeah, I could do that alright, except for one problem.

I'm in search of hot coffee this morning.

LIT.ER.AL.LY. (Haylie & Betsy, if you should ever stumble over this, I know this pronunciation will bring a smile and memories :)

Mike and I must surely have the Worst. Luck. Ever. with coffee pots. I mean, really, it's not a complicated piece of engineered machinery; in fact, it's one of the more simple of the kitchen appliances, correct?

Ummm...apparently noooooootttttt.

We are on the third morning in a row where a less-than-a-year old drip coffee pot (our preference at the moment) leaks out water (through some crevice or space we cannot FIND), making a wet mess all over the counter, and producing a mere cup or so of meh coffee.

I don't know about in YOUR house, but coffee is esteemed and needed and we pretty much expect it to show up before we do! We are both morning people, essentially, but we still have needs. Like, no talking that really means anything of substance until the first cup has been consumed.

It's not the time to tell him about a project I'm introducing that day at school. It's not the hour for him to detail a meeting he'll be participating in later that afternoon. It's certainly not the time for either one of us to "remind" the other of certain B&B chores that need to be done - especially if there is a tight timeline involved. :) LOL. If we venture there, we do so on tiptoes, knowing to expect THE stare or maybe an eye roll, or - our favorite - pretending like you didn't even hear anything at all!

One single cup of perfectly brewed coffee does so much, people! It's crucial. I don't have many vices in this life, but coffee is one of them. A long-time Diet Coke ADDICT, I cold turkey gave it up due to the aspartame a number of years ago. It's not that I CAN'T go without something; it's that coffee is soooo pleasurable as well as necessary. I've "given it up" on several occasions, none of them to any avail.

"Coffee has always been a significant part of my life. For me, it's a chance to start my day and gather my thoughts - it's fuel for my creative process."  - Connor Franta

On school mornings, I set the alarm (and actually get UP) a good 45 minutes before I need to, just to have quiet coffee time on the couch before I start my day. I'd like to be able to say that the time is used for personal devotions or prayer or something equally valuable and essential, but more often than not, it's a simple time. I sit, sip, move very little, but slowly - ever so slowly - my brain begins to wake, I begin to think, and then plan. Then the to-do lists, the checking of the calendar, the updating of the lesson plan, the talking to God, and the soul-felt desires for the day begin to ease their way out of me. THEN...and only then, am I ready to face the day at my best.

I guess we started off our marriage with a traditional Mr. Coffee; to be honest, I just can't remember. But I DO remember when we both realized our coffee pot was one item we both agreed was worth a little money spent. We invested in a Cuisinart brew set with a built-in grinder. Truly, we were both enamored of that machine. It was good to us and gave us good, strong coffee with amazingly ground, fresh bean flavor...until it didn't. I think we probably eaked about 3 years out of that one. In hindsight, I realize that is a fairly good life span for a coffee maker.

By the time this beloved brewer gave up the ghost, Keurig was all the rage. Intrigued by the pods (WHAT? We could EACH have our OWN choice of flavor - in the SAME morning?) It seemed the biggest issue we might face would be - who would get that first cup while the other waited???

It seemed wayyyy too good of a product not to try, so we joined the masses and purchased our first one. And it was magnificent in many ways. Not only could we both enjoy our own preferences, but there was little to no waste; you brewed the cups you wanted and no more. No waste, that is, unless you consider the then-empty pods that needed a final resting spot. By this time, we were living in Northeast Texas, in a small, rural community with no recycling pick-up program like we were accustomed to. Each time we dropped that pod into the trash can, I'm pretty sure a little, tiny piece of us cringed in horror. What kind of world were we leaving behind for our grands?  (Yes, I am absolutely over-dramatizing here; however, it did bother us and the waste is apparent even if we AREN'T tree-huggers.)


 This was the original Keurig and, I'm proud to say, still brews amazing cups of coffee for the guests up at The Cabin, here at the B&B. Since it was first generation, it was simple to operate - three buttons, no clock, no extra bells or whistles - just good, hot coffee, one cup at a time. We would probably STILL be using that model if we hadn't been lured by all of the hype and attention that the next generation of Keurig was receiving. It would not only allow you to brew that one, single cup, but it gave you the option of brewing a POT as well!

The best of both worlds! HOW could this NOT be the perfect coffee machine for our home?

It's still really unclear to me why we didn't along with this Keurig, but there was - and is  - absolutely no love lost between the three of us. We tried...oh, we tried! The single cup portion worked fairly well, even though it was rare that you'd ever get a full cup. The pot side - well, we could never get it to brew a pot as rich and as flavorful as what we liked. We added new water filters. To our machine AND to our faucet:) We experimented with flavors and brands and brew strengths. I think - at the end of the day - it was all of those BUTTONS...and the set of directions that felt more like the next Great American Novel wanna be than a simple manual on how to make a pot of coffee. We grew disenchanted after more than a few struggles and gave this one to our son, Jordan and his wife, Elizabeth, who took it home and proceeded (if I'm not mistaken, they are STILL using it) to brew coffee, day and night, pot and cup, for like ever and ever and ever....

We were back on the hunt. By this time, our lives are quite busy. Both of us have crazy schedules, Mike with his territory sales and traveling, me with teaching, and both of us with trying to grow a healthy and successful B&B business. We decided on the KISS method of purchase for this go around - keep it simple, stupid!

Back to Mr. Coffee we went. Twelve cup pot, on and off switch. It did have a clock, which was really, really awesome while it remembered to turn itself on the mornings we had it set to start automatically. Needless to say, that feature didn't last, but we've hung in. "Making" the coffee the night before means measuring out our desired cups (based on how we feel at night, which does NOT always equate to how we'll feel about it in the mornings, sadly...), adding water, and then going to bed with a hope and a prayer.

This has worked really well for the better part of a year.

No more.

This morning this machine brewed its last cup. We will be putting it out of its misery (and ours) today. I will go to Target (YES, I said TARGET, which means driving to Texarkana, perimeter shopping AND cruising each and every aisle as if I have no where to go tomorrow...because I DON'T!  Chick-fil-A and Starbucks may or may not also be involved in this trip:) and purchase yet another coffee maker. Hopefully one that will be everything we dream of, which - at this point - is not a whole lot other than hot, dependable, with as few buttons as possible.

If you're still reading, you are a GOOD person. Or a BORED person. Either way, thank you lots and, if you have a coffee maker that you adore, PLEASE drop a comment, either here or on FB or Insta!

Caffeine-deprived but grateful & blessed,

Staci