Coffee, Café Culture, Culture, Chat, & Conversation...

Scepticalscribe

Scepticalscribe

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Aug 12, 2020
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My good online friend @yaxomoxay & I have both often chatted about the civilised pleasures, and delights of an excellent coffee consumed in a cosmopolitan café, or a small, lovely, cosy, family run, café, or a simply in a relaxed, local café, especially with a newspaper to read, or book to peruse or congenial conversation to be appreciated and savoured.

And it crossed my mind to attempt to re-create a space that is somewhat akin to a virtual coffee-house with this thread, and seek to cultivate the atmosphere of an agreeable & congenial coffee house, or café, or coffee shop, one where the conversation is about coffee, culture, and life.
 
I really enjoy photography books. Most are about technique and styles, but I also like a good coffee table book that simply displays nice photos as well. My latest is Magnum Contact Sheets, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect with this book but I knew it detailed the process photographers take to choose which photo is their best, or a keeper as I like to call it.

The book itself weighs in at over 6 pounds and is just over 500 pages and is extremely fascinating to me, it gives you a look into the very personal process of how photographers choose which images will be published. Ranging from wars to flowers it's both disturbing and beautiful. I would think one would have to really be into photography to read it but it also goes into the publishing side of things, how decisions are made and the entire process.
 
Because, reasons, we were not able to do our summer travel this year, first time in five years, only the second time in 13, and it kind of hurts. We have tended to cover a lot of the same ground, but what ground it is. To stop in those places that others drive past in their hurry to get to point B and just look for history lessons on the ground (a good rock tells a story that covers millions of years, written in a script that is better suited for admiration than for study).

We would probably be in Taos today, heading back east, after spending many afternoons in the desert or the mountains or the dry prairies where shambling wind is most of the afternoon dialogue and the pronghorns are the local traffic (who are always keen to race your vehicle). Taos is not much of a place, but it has personality and the summer thunder echoes dramatically off the mountains at its edge.

In a couple months, snow clouds will be rolling over those places, making many of theM plain inaccessible. It feels like a wasted season. I guess I will have to appreciate the firm embrace of winter this year more than I usually do.
 
My wife has subscribed to the magazine The Sun awhile back. I’ve ignored the issues until I wanted something to read at the beach this week. I read a lot of it. There’s a great article on fixing the economy that I’ll probably start a separate thread about.
 
Edd70 said:
My wife has subscribed to the magazine The Sun awhile back. I’ve ignored the issues until I wanted something to read at the beach this week. I read a lot of it. There’s a great article on fixing the economy that I’ll probably start a separate thread about.
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Please do! I’m not reading much while I’m talking classes, and prefer to grab TV time. I know. I should go back to reading.
 
It was kind of strange. I went outside a few times today and on occasion took time to look at the sky (which I do moreso at night – Jupiter and Saturn are very bright). It was solid blue, horizon-to-horizon.

So? It is summer, that is to be expected.

Except, on any given day, in a normal year, there will be several contrails tracking across. I have seen not a one. There used to be at least one visible at any given time, sometimes two or three. I did see a large plane that looked like it might have been heading to the airbase, but it was low enough that it was not leaving a trail.

This would be a great time to film a western.
 
You said:
Except, on any given day, in a normal year, there will be several contrails tracking across. I have seen not a one. There used to be at least one visible at any given time, sometimes two or three. I did see a large plane that looked like it might have been heading to the airbase, but it was low enough that it was not leaving a trail.
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Where are you located?

Here in south Alabama we’ve noticed more than the usual air activity as we sit on the deck in the morning. It all seems to be UPS and FedEx. That kind of thing. The occasional LifeFlight helicopter thrown in for good measure.
 
Here it looks like air cargo flights and the occasional helo possibly looking for folks who forgot what state they live in and are growing an inordinately obvious amount of a popular recreational agricultural crop.

Edit: not popcorn, no.
 
Enjoying my morning cup of coffee, tweaking the board and sparring/converation with @yaxomoxay :D

Work has been really busy lately so I really enjoy my weekends these days, trying to carve out some vacation time over the next month.
 
I decided to summon my moka pot into service today.

Usually, I tend to prepare coffee either with the pour over (Hario dripper and filter paper - I have ceramic, copper, wooden drippers, ad a plastic one for travel) or French Press (my raspberry coloured Le Creuset stoneware coffee pot), but, today, I decided to treat myself to the delights and joys of my moka pot (Ugandan coffee), served with full fat, organic, hot milk.
 
I woke up this morning to find my husband had made an early trip to the store for birdseed. But while he was there he picked up a selection of coffees including my favorite New Orleans dark chicory blend. So I’m enjoying that this morning.
 
Alli said:
I woke up this morning to find my husband had made an early trip to the store for birdseed. But while he was there he picked up a selection of coffees including my favorite New Orleans dark chicory blend. So I’m enjoying that this morning.
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What a good husband.
 
My work has a Keurig machine and somebody reliably brings "cinnamon pastry" coffee pods for it. I don't really like Keurig-brewed coffee, and that flavor is NOT the greatest... but when you can't get away from work, well... it still counts as coffee.
 
SuperMatt said:
My work has a Keurig machine and somebody reliably brings "cinnamon pastry" coffee pods for it. I don't really like Keurig-brewed coffee, and that flavor is NOT the greatest... but when you can't get away from work, well... it still counts as coffee.
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I don't care for flavored coffees in general. They always smell really good, but it gives the coffee such a bitter taste.
 
Alli said:
I don't care for flavored coffees in general. They always smell really good, but it gives the coffee such a bitter taste.
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I think that is how I first started putting milk in coffee, years ago. Hazelnut coffee smelled great but it needed an overlay not to have an aftertaste that was not like a strong black coffee "bite" has sometimes, but some other kind of bitter. Funny that I eventually tired of that flavor anyway and still didn't go back to drinking it black.
 
SuperMatt said:
My work has a Keurig machine and somebody reliably brings "cinnamon pastry" coffee pods for it. I don't really like Keurig-brewed coffee, and that flavor is NOT the greatest... but when you can't get away from work, well... it still counts as coffee.
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I prefer my coffee to taste of coffee, - and to add milk, cream sugar to taste as needed - and if I want pain aux raisins, or cinnamon buns, I would like to take that with my coffee, rather than in my coffee.
Alli said:
I don't care for flavored coffees in general. They always smell really good, but it gives the coffee such a bitter taste.
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Agreed; apart from the classic (cream, and/or milk - hot or cold - and/or sugar, as needed) coffee, in the cup (or mug, or bowl) needs little else.
 
I taste my coffee, not some adulterated cocktail of stuff. One summer, while picking up some family at a hospital on the other side of the mountains, I grabbed a big Americano on ice, and damn but was that a thing crisp thing of beauty. Just espresso, water and ice.

Of course, I say odd things. We have a percolator, which has no auto-shut-off, because, I say, the coffee needs to sit in there and age properly for an hour or two before it is good. And, "it ain't coffee if you stick a spoon in the cup and it falls over to the side."

Nothing beats vacuum brew, though. We had a 12cup electric vacuum pot and that stuff was awesome.
 
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