Wednesday Wonderfuls is a regular feature on The Blog Jar wherein the heroine steps back from her snarky cynicism to appreciate the finer things in life.
Coffee. I drink it all year round, but something happens in early fall that kicks my coffee consumption up a notch. It is a bit cooler in the evenings, darkness approaches sooner at nightfall, and I become more obsessed than usual with reading. This means I stay up later, read longer, and therefore need massive amounts of coffee-goodness to propel me into an almost manic reading euphoria. Think of it as speedballing for nerds; instead of heroin and cocaine, I'm shooting up with Wilkie Collins and a House Blend.
In honor of my coffee loving, I thought I'd share some of my most favorite coffee musings. Of course, there is Inman Perk, my favorite coffee shop; if you look at the picture above you will see my delicious Inman Perk coffee drink. I like to think of Inman Perk as my personal opium den.
For coffee how-to information, reviews, and snobbery (yes -- I am a coffee snob) I look to CoffeeGeek.com. I especially enjoyed CoffeeGeek's how-to-make-a-cafe-au-lait article; I literally salivated on my computer while reading it. For some music to accompany your brew, try listening to Bach's Coffee Cantata.
Now for the reading, I find that coffee is best paired with thick novels such as Bleak House by Charles Dickens or The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas; of course a dark roast works best with these novels. Modern poetry is best with a light roast, while philosophy lends itself to straight up espresso shots. Of course - you could also go ape-shit with word play. Look to Malaprops for inspiration; at their cafe a mint mocha is a Robert Frost and a White Rabbit a white mocha. Go crazy and have a nutty latte (hazelnut or almond) while reading The Bell Jar. Have a dirty chai (espresso and chai mixed) while reading your E.M. Forster memoirs or a Kipling novel. If you enjoy insipid fluff like Nicholas Sparks I suggest a frappacino, the weight of the novel's meaning should always match the amount of coffee taste in your drink. Since a frappacino tastes like nothing but sugar a vapid novel is suiting. Leave the dark stuff for Proust.
If you fancy the YouTube, I suggest you check out some of Jim Henson's coffee commercials or this MadTV skit. For you barista types, look for tutorials and latte art on the YouTube.
Alright folks, enough for now I have The Dark Clue and a dark roast just waiting to be consumed.
2 comments:
Love this! I'm not drinking the coffee lately thanks to the Bun in the oven, but I am planning my triumphant return mid-April.
How delightful this was! How come I haven't stopped by The Blog Jar before? I usually only have one cup of coffee a day, but it has to be good and it has to be strong and I HAVE to have it, so I relate. I recently bought a Keurig that makes coffee one cup at a time and fell in love with Paul Newman's Extra Bold. Your reading choices are maaaarvelous.
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