.... coooooffeeeeee

Coffee and I have had a pretty good relationship. Despite my initial trials in learning how to make a good, or at least drinkable, cup of coffee, I now have a pretty safe mode to make a pot.

Then I sold my coffee pot at my yard sale.

The reason for this was that in an RV, power conservation is one of the the main commandments (not sure what they all are. Not overloading your rig is one, respecting your tires is another. Oil is the blood and petroleum is the food sacrificial for this beast.) And a coffee maker uses about 1500 watts. That's a lot. A radio uses about 60. Our little microwave uses 900. So I had to reevaluate my relationship with my morning cup of joe.

First I tried instant coffee. Instant coffee does not taste like coffee. Then, I think I could switch to tea. Then I think, no, I need coffee. We have a percolator which makes coffee a little more horrible than instant. Then, as I was packing up the last of my kitchen goods, I found a French press that my friend left behind. A ha! I think, mayhaps this will work.

Well, unfortunately, I had to return that press pot. But fortunately, I took a walk the other day (unfortunately in 99 degree weather -- we don't have a car currently since it is on its way back to the Midwest, and we only kept one bike) and I found a pretty large pot for sale at Goodwill for 99 cents (if anyone wonders how I can afford to keep shoveling money into a behemoth like Bertha, it's because most of my stuff is bought second hand. This French press still had a tag on it for $19.95 from REI.)

This a.m. I tried it out. My directions came mostly from this site, which is a little bit too far geeked out for my taste (for instance, I don't think that freshly ground coffee goes stale the moment you can smell it), but worked. I took three scoops of French press ground coffee (that was a going-away gift from my friend Kathy; thank you!) and poured 18 oz. of boiled water over it. Let it sit for 4 minutes, then pressed slowly down. I poured it out, added some milk, and had a taste....

Eureka! Coffee flavor! Very impressive.