Coffee routine

So my coffee routine.  Actually I flit around and go through little phases but this is where I’m at right now.  You might be a little surprised, especially as I like people to think I’m a coffee aficionado….

Waking up, about 7:00am

It is tea, not coffee!  I have always had a nice cup of tea, first thing, preferably taken back to bed for a little day dreaming and chatting with Rachel.  We generally like to ‘put the world to right’ while it gets light outside.

Generally most tea will do.  I think you can generally get away with average teas, although we avoid the dusty floor sweepings which becomes the extra value own-label supermarket tea, though some are probably perfectly okay.

With breakfast

It takes us a little longer to get going in the mornings, we tend to have a shower and see Hannah off on her way at about 8:00am.  Then we have breakfast.

My breakfast coffee is generally the SF Bay organic rainforest blend.  It is rather nice and I’ve already reviewed it (click here).  It reminds me of those atmospheric bars filled with jazz, cigarette smoke and cheap alcohol; I don’t care for the last two anymore but I like the atmosphere.  We buy the coffee beans very economically from Costco and I enjoy grinding it myself, although I don’t always get it right.

There’s something so right about a decent coffee with breakfast, it just seems right.  Also for breakfast we have a healthy cereal, some fruit and a daily reading from the Bible.

Elevenses 

My mid morning coffee, or ‘elevenses’ as we say in polite circles, calls for something a little smoother.  Right now this is Kenyan coffee, ground of course.  I have always liked the smoothness and uncomplicated taste.

It also brings back many memories of drinking the real thing in Kenya.  In 1984 I had a bike ride, on my own, around East Africa and I remember collecting my Post Restante letters followed by a cup of coffee, local Kenyan roast of course.  I would find a nice cafe, with a quiet window seat where I could sip my coffee, read every single word and savour the news from home.  It was always a precious time which, I hope, I will never forget.

Later on

As I restrict myself to two coffees a day in order to keep my blood pressure under control, subsequent coffee is decaf.

Believe me, I have had some pretty crap decaf coffees over the years and the latest is Taylors decaf.  At least it works as a compost ingredient.

The best decaf I’ve come across is Decadent Decaf, available by mail order and they have been on my radar for a few years now (actually I tested some free samples on some of my friends on an earlier cycling blog).  My latest purchase is one of those variety packs where you get six different varieties in one package – click here to see what you get.

There’s no doubt Decadent Decaf is good coffee as it is freshly roasted (you might have to wait a few days while they roast small batches each week, almost to order).  I understand the Swiss water method is the type of process used to remove the caffeine, better than the cheaper chemical methods.  It smells right and definitely tastes good; but I do miss the caffeine kick!