Romancing the "Bean"

Something strange happened this morning. When I woke up, I wanted coffee and I realized I didn’t have any here at my apartment. Hhhmmm, quite a dilemma. And quite ironic. Actually, it’s usually not a big deal because when I work mornings, I stop at 7-Eleven to get my coffee fix on my way to work. Haha, I’m kidding…I don’t do that…anymore.

On a serious note, I have tried not to drink too much coffee outside of work, because I do spend time at work doing tastings and checking shots that come out of the espresso machine. I don’t want my palate to be completely diminished by drinking substandard coffee. Not that 7-Eleven coffee in and of itself is inferior, just the preparation and serving process remain mediocre compared to how we rock the “bean” at Starbucks. We are VERY encouraged to drink our coffee, through different preparation methods (the regular brewers, the coffee press- which is the most pure way to experience coffee in its truest form, the espresso shots, etc…) and to try all the different roasts that we sell. We want to be informed for our customer, to really be able to describe what the coffee “feels” like in our mouth. I have to be honest, I do LOVE coffee, but NOTHING compares to the SMELL of the beans when we open up a new bag of beans. That’s what I was craving this morning. Waking up to Starbucks in my cups. Folger’s who?

Anyway, this morning, I had a little bit of plain cream and some tea that a customer had given me. I like TAZO tea (that Starbucks serves) but a customer came in one day and was talking about the “purity” of certain teas and the next time she came in, she gave me a brand new box of super nice tea bags. So, this morning, I brewed up a batch of hot tea and added some cream to it with a little bit of Splenda. I have been sipping on it all morning, and I will admit while my quiet time was amazing and uplifting and is definitely contributing to my positive feelings…the savoring of this simple tea has also helped me to feel really wonderful. It’s just an Oolong Tea, nothing “special” or necessarily energizing. I guess it was the whole experience of brewing it and then just sitting and enjoying it, no distractions, just me and my prayer journal.

Plus, I will get my fill of coffee beans later in the day. I am the closing shift again today which is what I did yesterday. I like opening the store better, as there is not as much cleaning involved. Plus, I am a morning person. Being closing shift, I find myself wanting to go out in the café and sit with the customers and shoot the breeze. My breaks are never long enough in the evening. Dusk is probably my favorite time of the day, and I’d rather be doing something romantic at dusk… Not that hauling out our trash bin to the dumpster isn't romantic, but it's just not my idea of a perfect evening. Oh well, at this point in my life, a romantic evening needs to be the last of my focuses...I should just be happy that the coffeebean will be consistent and bold in flavor when I need it to be. That's about all the romance I can handle right now! haha!!