In Boston with coffee. Early winter 2015.
I was in the studio yesterday thinking about giving a bunch of stuff away. I need to find a struggling, poor, young but brilliant, aspiring photographer (or more than one...) so I can give away a bunch of lights, old light stands, soft boxes and other gear that would be serviceable for them and is now more or less obsolete to me.
In the midst of my ruminations about limited largesse I decided that I was tired of making coffee at home and, as it was nearly 3pm it was time for a coffee break --- maybe even combined with a trashy cookie full of white flour, sugar and chocolate. An antidote to having read a blog post on broccoli sprouts and their magical healing powers...
The Starbucks in our neighborhood radius closed up early on and left us with only two options; Trianon Coffee (which is my current fave) and Summer Moon Coffee (which is my coffee desperation location).
Since Trianon is closed on Sundays my choice was quite easy. I'd been to Summer Moon Coffee a week earlier and they seem to have had their virus crisis safety procedures figured out. One could still go in and order a coffee and pay for it at the counter. You couldn't touch the condiments, you had to wear your face mask and you had to stand at least six feet away from...everybody and everything. But you could get steaming hot coffee complete with a splash of half and half. Once you picked up your cup you needed to skedaddle. No lingering allowed.
I ventured over with thoughts of hot coffee bouncing through my head like a melody you can't dispose of. But minutes later I was standing at the front door reading the latest sign: It told me that customers were no longer allowed to enter the store. All orders had to be made online using their app. Once ordered someone in the shop would prepare the beverage and bring it out to "the pick up table" and once they re-entered the shop you would be allowed to pick up your cup and scurry away.
"Oh hell." I thought. "I guess this is the new normal and I better get used to it or risk getting sidelined from society altogether."
It was 90 degrees outside so I sought the cool confines of my car while I grudgingly downloaded the company's coffee buying app.
The first hurdle was with the app. I use an iPhone so my version of the app comes from the Apple app store. I double clicked the button on the right side of my phone to approve the download and Apple asked me to enter my Apple user password. I thought I remembered it correctly, even though it is long and complicated but my memory was not up to the task and after the second failed attempt I thought I'd call for help. The idea of coffee tasted so good...
I called Ben and asked him about my password. He uses my account from time to time to download music; his brain is less full and the interconnections are newer and stronger...
He rattled the 12 digit combination right off. I thanked him and completed the download and installation of the app. I went through the menu and realized, sadly, that we were now reduced to ordering only coffee and coffee drinks and no cookies appeared anywhere on the app menu. So sad. Tragic, almost. I found the large, drip coffee and selected it. I was prompted to customize so I selected half and half and hit "next."
Then we got to the next speed bump in the coffee process; payment. The actual app isn't set up for payment. That's handled by a second app called, "Chow Now." That app will take your credit card information and allow you to finish your transaction. But there is a fee for the service of fifty cents (half a U.S. dollar). I didn't like that but by this point I was in for a pound so I continued.
The combination of apps applauded me for my successful completion and gave me a job # to reference. For coffee. A job #.
A few minutes later a young man came out with a mask and gloves and carefully placed my large cup of coffee on the pick up table and then rushed back into the perceived safety of the shop. I placed my index finger over the little hole on the plastic lid from which you get actual coffee to your mouth and then sprayed the entire cup, and attendant insulating sleeve, with 80% alcohol from the spray bottle I keep in the car for just such emergencies.
Sadly, sadly, sadly, the coffee was, at best, lukewarm. And stale. Boring. Made hours ago. Unsatisfying. But, of course, once you have endured the painful and demeaning process of overpaying anonymously for mediocre coffee the idea of spending more time trying to understand the logistics of how one might remedy this tragedy seems like a waste of time and energy. I drove back home with cool coffee and no cookie.
I put the coffee in a mug and warmed it back up in the microwave. I pulled a Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Chip and Pecan Cookie out of the pantry. Mediocre coffee and a packaged cookie. An altogether unsatisfying experience.
I went to Trianon today and bought another pound of Organic Ethiopian Medium roast coffee and I'll just take my chances making coffee at home for a while. At least till my memory of the disappointing coffee experience at Summer Moon is lost to time, and my short attention span...
The take away: Always have a plan "B" when it comes to coffee acquisition. Even in times of crisis.
Now heading out to the back yard to play with the time-lapse feature of the fz2500. Fun in store for me!
19 comments:
I feel your pain, Kirk. Our national chain here in Canada, Tim Horton's, is still running their drive-through windows so when I feel the need I go there. Otherwise, all coffees and teas are brewed at home. I make a pretty good espresso and I'm ok with brewing at home. I'll do a Timmies run usually just to get out of the house for a bit and go for a drive. My order gets handed to me in a tray through a small opening in the drive-through window. I don't bother sanitizing the tab on the lid. I don't sanitize the cans and cereal boxes when I do groceries. That's a bit much for me. I am very meticulous about physical distancing though and I always wear a mask now when I am out, which isn't often. I wash my hands often. By all accounts (minus Trump and his gang) we will be returning to normal very slowly, in phases. That means this is the new reality for some time to come. People will be returning to work at some point, places of business will be open at some point, but not the way we are used to. Not for a long time here in Canada according to the experts. I hope we have the collective patience and wisdom to see this through properly.
I often tell folks that I have two favorite photo blogs that, as a retired guy, I try to read daily, because both of them tend regularly to wander sometimes far off-topic. Blogs from both, at times, include the keyword topic "pool," but with different kinds of meanings from each. Both also talk about food (but are sprouts really food?) and coffee. One even once raved over multiple blog posts about how best to roast coffee, then he switched to tea; the other just writes about making and drinking, ah, good coffee. Other of their topics include notable life events, their dogs, their cars and ones they sorta kinda wished they owned, and, commonly, cameras and photography. That last one is a topic that both have interesting and considerable valuable experiences to often write about. Since you are obviously one of the two blog writers I particularly favor, I ask only that you keep at it! Thank you for the memories!
Thanks CRSANTIN and MIKE MARCUS. Yes, I think we're in for a long haul. And, yes! I will keep writing.
Love the way obliquely referenced Mike Johnston's recent blog post of food. Like the person above, I read the both of you every day.
My Finnish/Spanish photographer friend bought a job lot of green coffee beans back in March and dropped off my share several weeks ago.
Roasting coffee on a hob top is interesting and quite fun. I've medium roasted some smooth Monsooned Malabar, some lovely red el salvadorian beans and finally some Ethiopian (to a dark roast).
Not really any better than buying some good pre roasted beans, but the Treen ones last forever and give me something to do of a weekend.
Braved the shop today, didn't pick up any cookies, but got the last of the season's hot cross buns.
Enjoy your coffee!
Mark
Michael writes brilliantly. About photography.
"I guess this is the new normal and I better get used to it or risk getting sidelined from society altogether."
I think we've been sidelined from society already. It is now our job to recreate it.
First world problems really suck!
You've made me appreciate my humble Mr.Coffee and Folgers a bit more. Not much for class or style, but it's there when I need it.
That's a Sony in your hand. How old is this photo?
Before he picked up his filthy tea habit, MJ recommended one of these gizmos https://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Shrub-Clever-Dripper-Small/ for making drip coffee, or "pour over" coffee, as they insist on calling it (does anyone make "pour under" coffee?). It actually makes a difference in the taste.
Dave, as per the caption: 2015. Boston, visiting colleges with Ben.
Duh! My face is red.
No biggie, I've done the same more than once. Best, KT
There is a lady called Sandra Coan (https://www.sandracoan.com/) who runs online courses hailing the virtues of artificial lighting for portrait work. She has students all over, I'm sure there'll be someone in Austin. You can be the judge of whether the student is any good, but I'm sure that, if they are listening to Sandra, they will at least be enthusiastic about getting some lighting gear for their fledgling photography business.
Hi Kirk,
Coffee …
We Swedes are (also) coffee drinkers..
Traditionally coffee was boiled. Course ground coffee plus water boiled until it stops foaming, wait, wait, pour. Or put to the boil thrice, or…
Traditional Swedish coffee drinking etiquette (probably because fresh boiled coffee is to hot), now obsolete:
Carefully pour coffee from your cup in the saucer to the brim. (Put a lump of sugar between your teeth.) Raise the saucer on three(!) fingertips and drink (through the sugar lump).
Outdoors up north at least one has a sooty kettle in his rucksack to hang over the fire on a stick.
In the high country some take salt instead of suger – I’ve tried it, interesting taste. (Sugar used to be a luxury, especially there. And the water in the brooks there lacks minerals, so your body needs additional salt.)
Urban people mostly pourover, nowadays with coffee machines.
1972 I moved to Germany (now back in S.).
The coffee? Mostly with a taste of Ersatz, and only condensed milk to drown that taste – it took years before you could count on good coffee in cafés.
My first really good foreign coffee? In Austria!
Once I had forgotten to get my coffee ground in the shop.
And a friend came visiting…
His eyes widened as I spread a couple of sheets of newspaper, spread coffee beans over, topped with another couple of sheets and started do roll (heavily) an empty wine bottle over until the crushing sound stopped.
( It was of course not fine enough to pourover.)
He had never tasted boiled coffee before, but he liked it.
- - -
Another coffee enthusiast :
https://blog.mingthein.com/2017/04/11/off-topic-on-coffee/
Same experience here.
It's snowing right now. Would love to have coffee. Too much hassle.
So you want great coffee at home? Start with whole beans, roasted just before shipment. I get mine from coffeeam.com, its a quick delivery for me in Georgia but there may be great one closer to you. Freshly ground, in a good grinder makes a big difference ! I like the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, and Ethiopia Longberry, though the choices are almost overwhelming. A 5 lb. bag saves money over the smaller sizes and makes the wife happy, as she "can't stand the nasty stuff".
Bill Langford
Us Aussies frequently wonder how Starbucks stay in business. They’re all but gone down here because the product is so awful and so expensive. Thankfully my hometown here in NSW has an unlimited supply of superb coffee small, independent coffee establishments, most of whom have remained open during the virus crisis. However I still make my own espresso at home...
Max
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