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In My Cup

September 22nd, 2014

I enjoy morning, always have. My parents said, when I was a wee little girl, I’d be up before anyone else watching Charles Kuralt, an odd choice for a four year old to be sure. I’ve also enjoyed coffee for as long as I can remember. I spent much of my childhood in Colombia, South America, and as a result I started drinking coffee in the womb, something not frowned upon in other countries like it is here in the United States. I remember my mom making us cups of coffee when we were little, we’d all sit down in the afternoon and enjoy a cup together. This is a habit I’ve carried with me to this day. (I’m the one in the curlers on the left)
wendy Susy Tea
My coffee has, however, changed throughout the years. When I was in Colombia, I loved cafe con leche, which is strong coffee mixed with scalded milk. When I lived in the U.S., regular brewed coffee filled my cup. Thirteen years ago, when I tried espresso for the first time, everything changed. Espresso is now my beverage of choice, usually in the form of a latte with steamed milk added to the espresso. I don’t just drink any espresso though, I have to admit I’m a bit of a coffee snob. Mr Chiots has spent the last thirteen years honing his brewing skills, upgrading machines, and learning to make the best shot of espresso around. Usually, if we’re out and about, we don’t even bother buying coffee, even at a small coffee shop. We find the majority of espresso to be lacking in flavor and depth.
coffee
There’s nothing like starting your day with something that you truly enjoy, for me that’s a cup of good coffee and a few chapters in the latest book on my reading stack. I get up a little earlier in the morning so I can have time to savor what’s in my cup. I firmly believe in living life to the fullest and making the most of everything. If I’m going to drink coffee in the morning it’s going to be the best cup of coffee, I’m not settling for something mediocre. That’s why we roast our own coffee beans and why we get our milk from a local farm. Every morning you’ll find my alarm going off a half hour early, just so I have extra time to enjoy the pleasure of a cup of coffee and a bit of reading before I start my day.

What’s in your cup in the morning?

14 Comments to “In My Cup”
  1. kristin @ going country on September 22, 2014 at 5:34 am

    My beloved New Orleans Blend Community Coffee from Louisiana. Like you, a tradition from my childhood, from when we would visit my grandparents in New Orleans and drink it cafe au lait style. Also like you, I drink nothing else.

    I brew it very strong and drink it with whole milk. Preferably Jersey milk, but since the Jersey dairy farm is about an hour’s drive away, that’s a rare treat.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

  2. Marina on September 22, 2014 at 6:31 am

    Earl Grey tea, with a tiny bit of sugar and a spot of milk. I picked that habit when we lived in England, and I too get up early every morning to savor a nice cuppa before I start my day.

    Reply to Marina's comment

  3. Jaye Whitney on September 22, 2014 at 6:42 am

    I’m with you Susy on early mornings, there’s nothing like it! It’s my time for reflection and to plan the day.

    I start my AM with a French press of strong coffee with a splash of heavy whipping cream in my cup.

    Reply to Jaye Whitney's comment

  4. Nebraska Dave on September 22, 2014 at 8:51 am

    Oh Susy, you really don’t want to know what I drink in the morning. I grew up on a farm and coffee was made with either an electric perk-a-lator or made on the stove with a perk-a-lator. The smell of coffee brewing in the morning mixed with the smell of bacon in the skillet was awesome. I, however, didn’t really start drinking coffee until I was in the military at 21 years of age. Well, lets just say military coffee is definitely not espresso. When taking a break in the military everyone either smoked cigarettes, drank coffee, or both. I chose coffee because it was free. Through the years coffee has kind of stuck in my morning routine and sometimes with evening meals. I still remember your podcast on coffee oh so long ago. Sorry to say my coffee is still the military grade country cowboy Folgers in my cup coffee. I see you cringing in disgust. :-)

    Have a tasty cup of coffee day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  5. whit on September 22, 2014 at 9:08 am

    The photo is just adorable. I hope you didn’t have to sleep with a head full of curlers at night.

    I am the only coffee drinker in my household, preffering pour overs to anything else. My beverage of choice tends to change with the seasons though. Coffee gets me through the crazy summer season, then it’s like my body craves relaxation that only a cup of tea can provide. Somewhere between the fall and winter I unconsciously switch to tea and visa verse in spring. Funny.

    Glad to have met another Charles Kuralt fan. I used to love curling up on the couch and watching him on Sundays when I was little too. He was always showing us beautiful parts of the country and whipping up wonderful scenes with his storytelling. Wish there was a show like it today.

    Reply to whit's comment

  6. Natasha on September 22, 2014 at 9:35 am

    I also love coffee! I started drinking it in my early 20s. I prefer a decent cup of French press, but my husband doesn’t mind cheaper, leas awesome coffee…

    I also prefer it with lots of half and half or cream, but use milk nowadays.

    Reply to Natasha's comment

  7. Sarah on September 22, 2014 at 10:03 am

    I love coffee but it tends to make me jittery. I like it strong with lots of hot milk, otherwise I’ll go for Earl Grey.

    I wish I could get up and have a relaxing morning but that never seems to be in the cards for me, at least not on weekdays.

    Reply to Sarah's comment

  8. Misti on September 22, 2014 at 12:05 pm

    I’ve been nervous about drinking coffee since I started breastfeeding but I had half a cup yesterday and a cup this morning and tempted fate! So far we seem to be doing ok on the baby end of things—not caffeinating him too much! If I can feed him and pump before I have it then things should be ok to return to having my cup of coffee every morning. I really missed it when I was battling the first trimester and was happy to introduce it back. Somehow though I managed to wean myself off of a three cup a day and seem to be happy with just one cup now.

    Reply to Misti's comment

  9. Tom Wolfe on September 22, 2014 at 4:12 pm

    Usually espresso (light/medium beans from a local roaster) and when I’m in the mountains it’s cowboy coffee (dark roast) strained with a gold strainer. Any my son, who is now 11, has been drinking coffee diluted with hot “frothed milk” (as he calls it) for a couple of years. Coffee isn’t bad for children and it seems to do him, like me, some good. In any case we both enjoy it.

    Reply to Tom Wolfe's comment

  10. Tom Wolfe on September 22, 2014 at 4:17 pm

    … and I echo your comments about cafe espressos. Very few of them know what they are doing and the result is usually, at best, a tiny cup of strong burnt-tasting coffee that lacks the tangy, sweet, complex notes of a great espresso.

    But if you’re going to add milk to an espresso… it isn’t an espresso: it turns into a hot milky coffee beverage and the quality of the beans or the brewing process are far less significant. In my opinion anyhow.

    Reply to Tom Wolfe's comment

    • Susy on September 22, 2014 at 6:40 pm

      I have to completely disagree that adding milk covers up the flavors in the espresso, in fact I personally think that it can often allow you to taste some of the more subtle flavors that can get lost when drinking straight espresso. When I drink my morning latte I can even tell how many days it’s been since the coffee has been roasted because the flavors change so much as the coffee ages.

      Reply to Susy's comment

    • Susy on September 22, 2014 at 6:43 pm

      I also have to add that the milk makes a tremendous different as well, where the milk comes from (type of cow, what they ate, processing, season) changes the flavor profile of the milk which changes the way it interacts with the coffee. Perhaps using raw milk which doesn’t have a strong, weird taste makes for the ability to taste the coffee more. I can definitely tell when my coffee has regular store milk in it as all I taste is boiled milk.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  11. Jennifer Fisk on September 22, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    I am partial to Hannafords Organic Arabica blend which hasn’t been available since June. Hoping it comes back. I’ve used a varieties of Fair Trade blends but I’m not super happy. I have a can of Taster’s Choice which is fine.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

  12. Jennie on September 23, 2014 at 7:38 am

    I hope when you were in Seattle there was some good coffee waiting for you!

    Reply to Jennie's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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