Q- All of my friends and family drink coffee, and I feel like a terrible outsider. You’ve long written about being a coffee fan— are you someone who just likes all coffee or is there good and bad coffee? Sorry if this question is really dumb.
A- Not dumb at all. There is indeed bad coffee— if you make the mistake of heading to Jiffy Lube ™ to have any work done on your car— and trust me there are a million reasons not to go there— stroll on over to the free coffee and pour yourself of some of the most undrinkable sludge you’ll ever find.
Coffee is complicated because there are a lot of elements that go into it;
1- Freshness of the beans/freshness of the grind. Unlike wine— age is not coffee’s friend. You need to start with freshly roasted beans. If someone gifted you a bag last year and you didn’t use it— throw it away. When you first open the bag you should be hit with a great roasted aroma. This goes for whole beans or grinds.
2- Freshness of the pot. Dunkin’ Donuts is infamous for this— they’ll make a pot of coffee at 8am and when you come strolling in at 1030 it might be the same pot— no sir. You want something that was brewed in the last fifteen minutes. It’s A-OK to take a sip of your coffee at DD and then hand it back to the barista and ask them for a fresh cup— they’ll brew it right there. The other vile thing they do is taking what’s left of an old pot and pouring it into a new pot. Do this 3-4 times and you have a bitter half old pot of coffee.
3- Cream, milk, sugar. When I first started drinking coffee I put cream and sugar into it. Today if you put sugar in my coffee I can’t drink it. My advice is to start with fresh coffee, add cream and sugar to taste and then as you become more accustomed to it- reduce the amount of cream and sugar you use because who needs the extra calories.
So try different brands— if you’re getting it on the road Starbucks is completely different than Dunkin’ which is different than Dippin’ and Gourmet. I personally prefer Cumberland Farms although they’ve dipped a bit in quality. They usually mark the pots with what time they were brewed so you can get the freshest possible.
I feel your pain, I struggle with finding a Tea I can tolerate— I really hate most of what I’ve tried. In Japan they had a grape tea which I absolutely loved— here in America you can buy a box of that same tea for $700 on Amazon— a little too rich for my blood.
Q- Did you get everything you wanted on Christmas? And a belated Happy Birthday!
A- I am the worst person to buy for— because I buy whatever I want through the year, but my family still manages to surprise me with great things— so yes I am very happy with how the holidays and my birthday went— I hope the same was true for yours.
Q- How do you get through that horrible period where Christmas is over and now it’s on to Winter?
A- I hold New Years as part of my “holiday” season— and Christmas doesn’t actually end until January 6th. We try to break it up by going to Florida for a bit at the end of January— and we do our best to enjoy the dribble of decent weather that pops n from time to time. We bundle up and take a walk— we pick some great movies to entertain us, we even do things like celebrate Byrne’s Night all attempts to forget the 600 days of winter.
Q- So if you can work from anywhere why do you stay in the expensive Northeast where the taxes are high and you are surrounded by a lot of political nonsense, because let’s face it from your writing you skew to the Right.
A- Family. End of story. I do skew Center Right— I’m not Far Right as many people seem to think- but yeah here in New England if you believe in small government, the right to keep and bear arms and lower taxes you’re Far Right. There’s a lot to like about New England— but you’re right my income would be a lot more impressive in other states than it is here. Who knows. My thoughts for moving are that I would have to improve my climate, my taxes and my lifestyle. We are considering buying a winter house in Japan— property there is very inexpensive.