I never thought I would be a huge coffee drinker as an adult. I was never a fan growing up in as a kid or in high school. My parents had Folger’s crystal that you just put in a cup and filled with hot water. I’m still not sure if that was ever really coffee. In college, I drank the high octane caffeinated sodas designed for those late-night study sessions — way before the invention of Red Bull or Monster or other “energy” drinks.

Now as an adult, my day doesn’t start off right unless I have my daily cup. Now I’m no coffee snob, however, I am picky about my coffee. It must be dark roast and it has to be ground pretty fine, not quite espresso ground, but close. I’m not that particular about the bean either, but I trust my local coffee roaster, Rick, to set me on the right path. He owns a small coffee shop in my town and roasts his own beans. I’ve had the good fortune to drop in for a cup or a sandwich just as he’s roasting, and the nutty, fruity and almost burnt aroma hits you like a walk of bricks as you walk into the front door of the building. It’s almost hard to describe, but there is nothing like fresh roasted coffee to make me want a cup. I’ll even wait until his latest batch is finished cooling to take home the warm bag of fresh roasted coffee beans. I try a different region each time I visit. He carries Costa Rican, Ethiopian, Jamaica Blue Mountain, Guatemalan and dozens of others. If you want one of his variety of coffee drinks, he’ll even let you choose the bean to make your cup.

Now for coffee makers, I’ve tried them all. I know all the coffee aficionados encourage the fancy $12,000 Italian coffee machines like Starbucks. Nothing wrong with that, but not in my budget. The one that I’ve found to be my favorite in the Hamilton Beach 12 cup BrewStation Summit. It brews just like a normal automatic drip coffeemaker but stores the brewed coffee in an internal tank instead of a carafe that can stay on the heating pad and scorch the bottom of the pot and alter the taste of the coffee. The
best feature I like is that it can brew the coffee either bold or regular flavor. I like my dark roast brewed bold because I like my coffee strong. When my wife is around and makes the coffee I know she prefers the regular strength. We have the luxury to change brew strength if we choose. She knows I like my coffee strong enough that a spoon can stand upright in the cup. She calls it my Navy coffee or better yet a cup of tar.

I can’t wait for Spring to arrive where I can start having my morning coffee on the back deck and watch the sunrise over the eastern sky. I can read my morning paper and prepare for my day. Good bad or ugly, I know my day started with a good cup of coffee and warms my spirit as much as my body.