I like coffee.

No, I love coffee.

I purchased recently some pj's from Target that said  "Late Nights. Black Coffee."  Only coffee addicts do that, right?

I tried once to go a whole month without drinking the black stuff and didn't make it.  Big Surprise.

Mindless coffee drinking, rings on the desk and morning rituals, make me think I am working hard at something even when I am mindlessly drifting through Pinterest in search of that super cute mug. I'm working, I'm working right? I have coffee, a computer and a desk doesn't that mean I am in a profound state of activity?  

Maybe not, but I like to believe that's what it means.

 Functioning is one thing with a cup of joe by your side but experiencing that black aroma in your nostrils, the dirt trodden terroir of freshly roasted beans or the heating and science of what is the best method for those little cracked seeds of noir has me intrigued.  

 Being that multiple brewing methods are everywhere in Seattle makes it easy to dwell upon coffee preparation.  You've got:

• pour over
• french press
• aeropress
• espresso
• drip
• chemex
• siphon
• etc. etc....

I promise I am not exaggerating.

 This list does not touch upon the myriads of coffee connoisseurs methods of brewing, extracting, producing, or whatever you want to call it ways of having that black morning cup or afternoon hit.  

 Discovering the siphon method was not new for me, Blue Bottle has had it whipped for years as do others, but the Starbucks Reserve Roastery does things just a little bit different as the guy behind the pots of glass will inform you.  I was there for the show and learned some scientific stuff along the way.  Do you know why they use halogen heating and not real fire?  Basically they don't want to burn down the building that had to have cost more than as the saying goes a pretty penny. It was an interesting show and made for fantastic photos, but the real question is: Was it the best coffee I have ever had?

It was good for sure and the price tag $12 for one cup (you read that right) made me inclined to believe it better be, but coffee is also about where you are, what you are doing, and who you are with while you drink it.  The experience isn't just in the method, or the taste it's in the life behind it.  

My home brewed espresso shot on a fog filled wet morning can taste as good as the siphon blowing clay cup of single-origin that I had at Starbucks that day.  But the friend at my side is what made the moment.  We sat, we sipped and we watched the people and pups go by through the large glass windows and my experience was made memorable.  

So I love coffee but I now know it is because I love my memories of coffee whether alone or with others.

 Did you have your Cup o' Joe today?  Who did you enjoy it with and why?  Were you alone if so what memory did you make? What is your best coffee memory?

 I am bringing to the table my French Press, want to share with me?