Coffee - Nectar of the Gods

I love coffee. I adore coffee. I am a card carrying Starbucks junkie and when I say card carrying I mean that I shell out 20-30 bucks at a time to Starbucks to "reload" my Starbucks card. I love being able to whip out that card when I go to Starbucks and buy whatever my heart desires. (Plus it makes me feel cool) I'm pretty sure Starbucks puts something highly addictive, other than caffeine, in their coffee that makes people keep coming back for more.

Let me share with you, my coffee journey.

In college I did not drink coffee other than an occasional flavored latte from Barne's and Noble. Starbucks was not as prevalent in the mid-west in those days. Back then, Mountain Dew was my addiction of choice (and I wonder why I was pudgy). So after I graduated and had to join the workforce, I discovered the joy of the office coffee maker. I discovered this while temping at a dreary office where my only two expected duties were to answer the phone and make the coffee. While sitting right next to the pot and having nothing better to do, I decided to drink the coffee. I loaded it up with powdered non-dairy creamer (the thought makes me want to vomit now) and a ton (and I mean a ton) of sugar. And hence my love affair with java began. As time went on and I got a permanent job and began my full assimilation into the life of as a rat, I phased out the sugar, but was still loading it up with non-dairy creamer as I was yet unaware of the dangers of trans-fats (or at least I was in denial about it). I made the occasional trip to Starbucks for a sugar filled latte or something of that sort.

Eventually I purchased my condo and my very own coffee maker. And I was buying, insert gasp here, Maxwell House French Roast. Or was it Folgers? I can't remember. But it was already ground and I thought it was delicious. Then I had a Pampered Chef party and the hostess brought some cinnamon something or other Pampered Chef coffee and I was turned on to flavored coffee. So I bought some of that - again already ground. At this point I started buying half and half to put in my coffee each morning. Bliss. Utter bliss. Forget that non-dairy artery clogging, corn syrup filled trans-fat laden crap. I was onto real dairy and I was never going back. I thought it couldn't get any better.

And then I discovered whole bean coffee. Oh happy day. Freshly ground coffee was from heaven. So I bought a coffee grinder and began to grind my own beans. Do you see where this is going? I soon grew tired of grinding coffee every morning to make two cups of coffee for myself and I took the lazy route. I started stopping at Starbuck's every morning on my way to work and saved the bean grinding for the weekends.

Then I met my beloved who drinks 17 times more coffee than I do. And he wants a fresh pot of it steaming and ready each morning as soon as his big toe enters the kitchen. There was no stopping at Starbucks for him. He needs it the minute he gets up. So it was back to the bean grinding. I was not enjoying this little task. So, for our wedding, I registered for a beautiful Cusiniart Grind & Brew coffee maker. You just put the beans in and then the water and, like the name, it grinds and brews. Another stop on my way to coffee nirvana.

We've been married for 1 year and 3 months and I am so sick and tired of cleaning the filter and grinder on that Cusisnart every night. Not to mention the 5 lb bag of Starbucks coffee I buy to go in it which costs me 20 bucks a pop and the approximately 5 cups of coffee I dump out each night because we didn't finish the pot. So I just took my next step in my coffee journey. I purchased a Keurig one cup coffee maker. Pioneer Woman readers will remember she gave one away in her "Give that Photo a Name" contest a while back. Okay so I couldn't afford to buy the Platinum one she was giving away, but I did buy the Special Edition which is just one step down. I am now in love with this machine. We brew what we want to drink. I'm never dumping out a pot of coffee and more importantly, I never have to wash another filter or grinder again. I think this might be the last coffee maker I'll ever buy.

So now that I have spent all this time writing and thinking about coffee - I think I'm going to go pop a "K-cup" into my best friend and enjoy a hot, steamy, fresh-brewed cup of heaven!