Ooky Coffee

Up early.  Lots of little projects on my plate that I do not want to pursue right now.  Some bills coming due, a major bank deposit to be prepared, my Aerogarden needs to be set out and my article on Leadership Generated Attrition has been languishing for some time.  I have another week to learn how to use my new camera with 24X zoom in time for my daughter's graduation.  But sometimes I need idle time.  My mind seems to be in gear right after my morning stretch, supplemented by coffee.

The Keurig machine, or actually a K-cup compatible Mr. Coffee impostor that I got with a 20% off coupon a few years ago, has upgraded my every morning except Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av.  While professional activities, child rearing and sometimes Jewish obligations hindered my development of more personal pleasures, I have taken a fondness to varietal coffee and varietal beer, both relatively economical indulgences compared to the alternatives of skiing and hedonistic electronics.  So the K-cups can be purchased in 48-cup variety packs while the 12-24 cup boxes can be acquired in innumerable varieties costing less that a visit to Brew Ha Ha, which I still do periodically, though more than brewing my own in a French press, which I also still do from time to time.  This morning I had Brooklyn Bean Roastery Vanilla Skyline and Tully's French Roast.  And then Betty the cafeteria lady can be relied upon to deliver a dispenser of pretty decent hospital cafeteria coffee to the Doctor's Lounge, there for the taking.

While the Vanilla Skyline blend was an extreme disappointment, too weak to justify another purchase of it at any discount, any large sampling is bound to distribute in the typical bell shape.  Most varieties fall within 95% of the gustatory mean, a few dreadful, a few superb.  Even though the Vanilla Skyline Blend left me unimpressed after two attempts, the remaining ten plastic containers will get consumed over time rather than wasted.

In a few weeks I allotted myself a few days \vacation tacked on to the Endocrine Society Annual Meeting in San Francisco.  I've always wanted to see Yosemite and visit the wineries, another source of immense variety.  A convenient base nearby to each might be Modesto, home to E & J Gallo, which I can get at any local store.  I will need to make a decision on witnessing wine made on an immense scale for a mass market like Gallo does, or more to my liking seeking out much more limited operations developed to allow expression of the winemakers' passion for their own individual craft.  It is the difference between a French press of commercial Martinson Coffee, which I still enjoy, or rolling the dice on a package of K-cups from a source that I have not heard of previously.  For the most part I will err on the more unique experience