Coffee Adaptations

Coffee, beer, and wine each capture my imagination amid their multiple variations, spirits and soda far less so.  My innate frugality takes a temporary respite to try a new beer or blend of coffee which never amounts to more than I keep in my pocket.  If I had to retain only one liquid pleasure, though, it would be coffee which I can obtain in many varieties within my budget and sample multiple brew methods.

Coronavirus has put a small stumbling block before the blind adherents to the pleasures of brewed coffee.  The shops are open but the purpose of the shop for me is usually the leisure pleasure of sitting there while the mug of coffee supplements my wandering mind.  The coffee itself rarely displaces the experience of being at the table with the exception maybe of WaWa which has multiple varieties and a more economical price, intended to be consumed mostly in the car in transit to someplace else.  Just for coffee, home does as well as anyplace else.

I enjoy k-cups, though more expensive than container or self-ground coffee.  The immediate variety that can change from one cup to the next in sequence offsets the price increment.  Coronavirus has put a few dampers.  Coffee has gotten more expensive in all its forms.  My favorite k-cups came from larger packs, usually 42 at the Christmas Tree Shop or 18 at TJ Maxx where varieties available and the challenge of selecting among many options made a stop there worth the effort.  Supermarkets have mostly 12 packs with the lower prices going to commercial canned coffee inserted into k-pods.  I usually buy two at a time but it doesn't last long.  Over the years I acquired a number of k-cup adapters which I find myself using more for the canned coffee, though it's an incentive to use one of my French presses more often.

When OLLI was in session, I would make myself a multicup French press supply to be sipped from a thermal mug over the course of the day.  I could still do that but it's hardly worth the cleanup of a large French press and the mug for plebeian coffee best described as hot, wet, and caffeinated.

So most days it's a three cup ration, two k-cups of specialty coffee and one cup of commercial coffee via adapter, French press, or Melitta cone.  I'm not yet deprived.