Melissa Ann Goodwin

Melissa Ann Goodwin

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

C is for Coffee

My Coffee Truths:

  • I did not start drinking coffee until I was around 30 years old. I was a milk drinker until then!!


  • I love the smell of coffee more than the taste.  But I LOVE the taste of that  first cup of coffee in the morning.


  • The second cup never tastes as good as the first

  • I am not  allowed to make the coffee in our house. RVPainter says that I make it wrong on purpose so that he will have to do it. This is not true - I try to make it right, according to his formula, but it doesn't come out the same. I can only surmise that he has left something out of his recipe. And from that I can only surmise that he WANTS to make my coffee everyday.


  • The best coffee I ever had was at the Kauai Coffee Plantation on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. It was so good that we joined the Kauai Plantation Coffee of the Month club and had it delivered to us monthly. Our favorite was the Poipu Estate Blend. Since we will be traveling, we have had to give up this luxury. Wah wah wah
  • A while back, I decided that I wanted to invest my IRA money in socially responsible stocks. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters came up as a company that dealt ethically with its farmers and suppliers and in an environmentally conscious way. I made a boatload of money on my GMCR stock, which split over and over and over during the 10 years I owned it. The moral as I see it, is that you CAN be ethical and profitable too.
  • I do like Starbucks coffee, but I'm intimidated by all the choices and the things you hear people rattling off when they order: I'll have a tall skinny mini mocha locca caramelito latte please.


  • Here's a little coffee humor:

    
  • It's hard to get good coffee when you are traveling. We are going to be going ALL OVER, so I'd GREATLY APPRECIATE it if you'd share what you think is the best coffee joint in your neck of the woods.
Thanks!!!!

61 comments:

  1. Mmmm coffee. I am on cup two right at this moment, and you know, its just as good! I drink far less now that I'm not teaching, one or two a day. When I was teaching, five or six, usually cold too

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    1. I'll be drinking less coffee on the road too, Probably just two cups in the morning. well, maybe an afternoon iced coffee :D

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  2. I don't like coffee. I love how it smells, though. But it does not taste at all how it smells, which is a bummer. When I need a warm drink, I choose hot cocoa, and when I need caffeine, I eat an apple!

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    1. It's a wonderful smell, isn't it? I love cocoa too - probably more than coffee. If left to my own devices and I couldn't master the coffee recipe, I would happily go with cocoa :D

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  3. Coffee is just one method of delivery of that magical substance known as caffeine that ensured some creature would evolve into humans. ;D

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    1. Ah - at last the mystery solved: The Missing Link is Coffee!

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  4. Anonymous4/03/2012

    Williams coffee pub on Edinburgh Road in Guelph.Ontario.Canada..consistently good with basic choices and a not bad food menu. Uh.....who is that delicious coffee server up top? I think I would drink a whole lot more coffee if he was pouring.

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    1. That's Fabio - cover guy of Romance Novels. Thought it would get a chuckle.

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    2. I love the name of this place and will surely go if/when Ontario comes up on our radar!!!!!

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  5. Love coffee. Gave it up years ago because it makes me too jittery but there are some days that still call for half a cup

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    1. Yes, I have to be careful of that too. I'm hoping they will discover it's the cure for all bad things though.

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  6. I had to give up coffee a few years ago...caffeine and acid were the culprits. There's just no replacement for it. I have my fav teas, but it's just not the same. I do still enjoy the smell of hubby's coffee though! Nice story about your investment. Good for you...and them!

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    1. That's a tough one - I worry about the acid effect so I plan to manage my intake. I wish I still had GMCR stock - I think they are STILL going strong. Will have to check - I need to "buy low". :D

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  7. My husband doesn't let me make coffee either. I'm kinda hit or miss even though I make it the same way each and every time. He's become quite the coffee snob. My sisters were recently visiting. My oldest sis was up before us and made a pot. It did not meet his standards, so he dumped it out and made a new pot. Very uncharacteristic of him - which is the only reason it was so funny!

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  8. I didn't drink coffee until later in life as well but I LOVE coffee. My husband and I got a Keurig coffee maker and have about 4 or 5 cups a day! My favorite is Island coconut!

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    1. OOOH - the highly coveted Kuerig - people love them! It is going on my wish list :D

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  9. I went off the smell of coffee when I was pregnant with my first child. As a result Hubby - who at that point only drank coffee - wasn't allowed anywhere near me, not even after brushing his teeth, because I could still smell it.

    I love coffee chocolates and coffee cake, but not coffee itself. I don't feel like a proper grown-up, or a proper writer because I understand real writers live on coffee.

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    1. Annalisa, you are SO a proper writer :D Proper Writers I believe, live on ciggies and booze and end up drowning themselves in the river! - or so legend would have it! Don't do either of those, and don't intend to drown myself - and am content to help change the image to one that says, Writers can be Normal People - well, sort of normal. I think that Proper Writers eat coffee chocolates and coffee cake.

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    2. You always say the right things, Melissa :-)

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  10. Hi, I love coffee and have had it all my life. :)
    Thanks for the interesting post.
    Ruby

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    1. Hi Grammy, if you like coffee, and it likes you back, it is truly one of the simple pleasures of life.

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  11. I love the smell of coffee but have never liked the taste. To me it's like vanilla.

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  12. Well, if you ever come through Brevard, NC (And, btw, I'd highly recommend it -- gorgeous mountains, and the Pisgah National Forest, with lots of beautiful spots for an RV, quaint shopping in a small, old town, etc.!) -- okay, a good coffee spot is Bracken Mountain Bakery, right in downtown. They have simple, fairly strong coffee, although usually a few fun flavors too for those who prefer it. And fabulous!! breads and danishes. Also, Quotations Coffee Shop is very good, more fancy options, and wing-back chairs to sit in. Come to Brevard!

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    1. Coffee and a bakery - perfect! Thanks, MK

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  13. My brother, sister, and I are the last of the 100% Swedes in the American family line. In our family relations the last thing they did before going to bed was unplug the coffee pot. Is it a Swedish thing to drink coffee from morning till night? I didn't start drinking it until I was 18, though. It was the only thing you could get for free as a waitress. I just drank Folgers for years, but then I was introduced by a cousin to coffee beans and grinders! It changed my world. I have belonged to Green Mountain and Gevalia clubs, love Starbucks, and have tried various local shops. I'd say...check the yellow pages wherever you are and try the local coffee speciality shops (my favs). What an adventure that would be! And I bet you'd seldom get a bad cup, either. Enjoy!!

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    1. That's so interesting about Swedes and coffee! We'll just find what we find along the way and that will be part of the fun.

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  14. Oh Boy. I love coffee as well and agree with you that the first cup of the day is the best. Here in Canada I think we're addicted to Tim Horton's coffee. There are conspiracy theorists that TH adds something to the coffee to make it addictive.
    I prefer brewed over instant, and not the coffee maker kind. The kind where you pour a spoonful into a cup, then hot water on top (tea spoon cannot be inside the cup at the time - don't know why but apparently it ruins the brewing process) and wait for the coffee to filter down to the bottom. Black coffee made that way is The Best!
    Another great coffee I had was in Jamaica, but perhaps it was because I was on my honeymoon:)
    Cheers!

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    1. Marta, we'll be in Nova Scotia and Quebec this summer, so we will seek out Tim Horton's. That sounds very familiar - perhaps we had it when we were in Quebec before. Yes, Brewed. Instant simply can't compare. And you're probably right about the Jamaican coffee! :D

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  15. I've never drunk coffee, so I don't know of any good places in the area. Hope you don't run into any bad ones while you travel!


    The Golden Eagle
    The Eagle's Aerial Perspective

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  16. We got one of the machines that uses K-cups. It definitely ended the war over how the coffee is made. This morning we found our precious coffee machine dead. NO!!

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    1. NO!!!! Is it a Kuerig??? People love things. It's like a Kuerig Cult. And I'd like to join. I hope yours feels better soon!

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  17. Reading this has me dying for a cup of coffee now. I so agree, there's nothing like that first cup in the morning. And, I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets intimidated at Starbucks LOL.

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  18. I love coffee, and I love the sign you posted at the end! I'm trying to visit all the blogs in the A-Z Challenge.

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    1. Thanks for coming by! I'll make a visit over to you too.

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  19. I have to have a cup of coffee in the morning or else I don't feel right. Hey, how can I get Fabio to come to my house and pour me a cup of Java?LOL!
    Blessings, Joanne

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    1. I'll just send him over after I get mine! xo

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  20. Hey Melissa, you've posted about one of my favourite things. Just came back from enjoying my first brew of the day in the bistro attached to my apartment building. It's heavenly coffee. I like to dring what we call Fair Trade coffee, ethically sourced from plantations around the world, most particularly South America. I find Starbucks too milky and yes, too many choices, yet I always drink it when in Paris as Parisians don't make very good coffee except for the cafe au lait in the morning. They frown on milk drunk after midday, go figure.

    Hmmmmm. Thanks for my second coffee post I've read today. Can't get enough.

    Denise

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    1. We're of like mind with the ethically sourced coffee - and glad to give you a double dose!

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  21. I've fallen back in love with coffee since we bought our Keurig coffee maker..and all our coffee comes from Green Mountain!

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    1. yay for Green Mountain! And I've yet to find anyone who doesn't love their Keurig.

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  22. I, too, came to coffee late but sure enjoy it now. I have discovered Coffee Kids, a group that helps to provide education and good housing to families that work in the coffee industry in South America. I love trying new brewers and beans so am always looking for a suggestion. If you get into Wisconsin Berres Brothers in Watertown, north of Milwaukee, is worth a stop.

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  23. I have to have my morning coffee. Followed by late morning coffee, then early afternoon coffee...
    My parents used to let me have it since it helped my asthma, now I love having it all the time. I even got my wife into drinking when first met in college.

    Tim
    The Freedom of Nonbelief

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  24. I love the rich, warm smell of coffee and the tantalising aroma of ground beans but I don't like the taste at all and never drink it.

    Today's the day you take possession of your RV - I hope she's all you've been dreaming of:-)

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  25. Oh my, if that guy served me coffee it would definite;y become my favourite! Do you have dough egberts coffee in the great USA? I've still to find a coffee better the this one. You could pop a jar in your RV cupboard while on your travels :)

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    1. I've never heard of that Anna - but I will definitely look for it!!

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  26. Love this. My C was Comfort Food = Coffee Ice Cream. Hope you'll stop by and take a look.

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  27. My neck of the woods is probably a bit far from you Melissa :) I loved reading this post because I've only just started liking coffee too and I'm turning 30 in a couple of weeks (see we are soul sisters!).

    I agree about coffee tasting the best in the morning and that the second cup is NEVER as good! And the bit about Starbucks reminds me of the movie You've Got Mail where I think Tom Hanks quotes something very similar. I love that movie and I think you will too if you haven't seen it yet.

    Keep enjoying your travels! I am insanely jealous - a road trip across America is my absolute dream :)

    Megan @ Storybook Love Affair

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    1. I did see You've Got Mail - maybe I had that subliminally in the back of my mind! It's a lovely movie - Meg Ryan's bookstore was one you and I would have loved. xo

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  28. Thanks Jen - so nice to meet you and look forward to more.

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  29. Anonymous4/04/2012

    I'm so envious of you touring in your RV! We have a touring caravan and love to hit the road, but to set aside months and months to do it would be fantastic. Good luck with your travels and good luck with your next novel. I hope your muse comes on your trip with you :)

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  30. Oh Melissa! I could write a boatload about coffee...but I won't! :D
    And as far as having great coffee during your travels.....why doesn't RV just keep making it every day!!??

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  31. I love coffee! Alas I can't drink it, and being based in Greece, their coffee REALLY hits you! So I make do with smelling it instead.
    :0)

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  32. I love the smell of coffee but I very rarely drink it. Usually just a cup on a Sunday. I'm a tea girl :-)

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