This has been a bad coffee week. I tried two new kinds and they both got thrown away after three days. It's back to good old French Roast while I grumble and whinge about living in a city that doesn't have real coffee by the pound.
I'm picky about coffee. I go so far as to admit I'm a bit of a coffee snob. The fact is, I think life is too darned short to drink bad coffee. I only get two cups a day, and I want to enjoy them. I'm extremely sensitive to caffeine, so I have to monitor the amount of intake. Too much, and it's not a pretty sight (I'm already high-strung). Too little, and the caffeine withdrawal is a gruesome given. So I don't think it's out of line to spend time, money, and effort in tracking down the best sources for coffee.
When I first moved to Nashville, I was surprised to find out there were no coffee kiosks on the streets. Then I discovered there were no coffeehouses. And then I found out there was only one (1) retail coffee store in the whole city. The population here is about half a million! And they all drank bad coffee, apparently. It was a very serious downer for someone from Seattle and San Francisco, let me tell you.
Fortunately, javaheads have moved to the city in the intervening years, and there are now six (6) places to buy beans. Two of them are Bean Central, three of them are Coffee Beanery, and one of them is Starbucks. All major bean retailers, for those not in the know, and therefore not inclined to take chances with their clientele. They stock the ordinary beans, and about a zillion flavored coffees. Yuuuuuuuuck. Still, one does what one can. I did find a cigar store that sells coffee beans, but the coffee I bought there (Mexican Altura, organic) went bad in three days, and smelled like cigars to boot. Not a happy combination.
The Starbucks, which would be my first choice out of the other big stores, is located 17 miles south of here, so you know I'm not tooling down the highway too often to pick up the old pound of coffee. I settle for the local mall, and French Roast or the occasional pound of Sumatra. I very dashingly tried the Beanery's Kenya AA, which I quite liked in Kenya. Sadly, it was watery and weak no matter how strong I made it, and I sent it to join the Altura. Then I hopped in the car this morning and hit the mall.
Maybe I'll convince John to retire in Ecuador, where they have the best coffee I've ever tasted. Until then, I'm sticking with the tried and true. Here, have some coffee.