Confessions of a Coffee Junkie

Hello. My name is Physicschick, and I am a coffee-holic.

There! It's out there on the table. I feel better. BRB... I need another cup.

This is one of my favorite coffee cups from my physics teaching days. A student gave it to me. It's a chalkboard cup. You can draw on it with chalk. It really works.

 

I think I started drinking coffee when I was about 5 years old. I loved it!! I remember going to my great-uncle's house in Dayton, TX when I was very young. He made coffee so strong that you could float a horse shoe in it. I drank it up. It was espresso before espresso was cool.

Now that's not what I got at home. My parents like their coffee, shall we say, a bit on the weak side. It faints when it's poured. Really. It's a pitiful waste of water. But I got used to it. Then I ventured out on my own in this big scary world... and I rediscovered real coffee.

When my husband and I reconnected, I found someone who was as much a coffee junkie as I was. He introduced me to my now favorite coffee of all time. It's my go-to coffee when I want a cup, straight up. I introduced him to my favorite flavored coffee. We like to mix them.

Now I don't sell this coffee or make any money from them. I just like the stuff!

Our faves are the Chickory blend from Community Coffee and Houston blend from HEB. If you've never tried chickory in your coffee, you should. Most people have a strong opinion on the matter: they either love it or hate it. We fall into the "love it" category. The leaf of the red chickory plant is known as radicchio. You've probably had it in a salad. It has a bitter, peppery taste. Chickory root is roasted, ground, and used as a coffee substitute in many parts of the world. Folks around NOLA (New Orleans Louisiana) say that it was a cheap way to stretch the coffee. Aka "poor man's coffee", chickory has a rich distinctive taste that I love.

On the opposite end of the coffee palate is HEB's Cafe Ole Houston blend. It is a medium roast coffee that is rich in flavor. It even contains toasted coconut which gives the coffee a wonderful sweet, nutty flavor. It does not taste like many flavored coffees that get that artificial taste to them. I really like it. The hubby and I like to mix our two faves half and half.

There are two things that I really like to do to make my basic cup of coffee something special: I use turbinado sugar in my cup and cinnamon in the grounds. I have found that adding the cinnamon to the grounds before brewing incorporates the flavor of the cinnamon without having to put up with having a layer of cinnamon floating at the top of your cup. The turbinado sugar just has a really special taste to it. You can buy it in bulk or individual packets.

But when we're really feeling like living large, I make "Lara-bucks!"

Now that's what I'm talking about! My favorite coffee (see above), turbinado sugar, coffee creamer or half & half, whipped cream, and a drizzle of honey on top. The honey is what really sends it over the top! Try it now! I know you'll love it.

There are about a gazillion calories per cup, so reserve it for special occasions... like Saturday mornings. ;)

That's tomorrow. Oh yeah! Think I'll go make some coffee now. Who needs sleep?

Keep lovin' and keep cookin'.