I’m really particular about the coffee I drink. I prefer the bold flavor of dark roasted coffee, such as Italian roast or French roast. One of my favorite coffee beans is harrar, from Ethiopia. It’s been several years since I’ve had harrar though – it’s hard to find.
We converted from grinding our own beans and using a drip coffee maker to the Keurig K-Cup® system a few years ago. Donna did some work for the marketing firm that was promoting the product. They sent us a Keurig coffee maker. Over time, they sent us a few different machines.
We have one in our motorhome. It’s very convenient. It’s clean, doesn’t take much space and it’s a fast way to make a cup of coffee. We usually stock up on K-Cups® at Costco. We buy Kirkland Signature® French roast.
Last week, while we were in Heber City, our K-Cup® supply was dwindling. Heber City doesn’t have a Costco. There is a WalMart there. While shopping at the WalMart, Donna bought some K-Cups® in case we ran out. The selection at WalMart was limited. Donna bought Folgers Gourmet Black Silk® dark roast coffee. Sounds pretty good, right?
My idea of dark roast coffee and Folgers definition do not match. Their coffee is acidic, like most light-roasted coffee. When coffee beans are roasted, many of the starches are converted to sugar. Dark roasting at temperatures near 400 degrees fahrenheit, carmelizes these sugars, giving a sweet, smooth flavor. The dark roasting process also causes the bean to expand, decreasing its density. The result is a lower caffeine content in the brew.
Yesterday, the only coffee we had on board was the Folgers. Two cups of that had me jittery. It’s not dark roast. The caffeine content was higher than I’m used to. For me, this stuff wasn’t enjoyable.
I was on a mission yesterday to find dark roast K-Cups®. I looked up Costco and found one about five miles from here. I mapped out the route and rode the scooter there. The Kirkland Signature French roast comes in boxes of 100 cups. I bought two boxes.
The boxes are too big to fit under the seat of the scooter. In anticipation of this, I brought along a plastic bag. I emptied one of the boxes into the plastic bag. Now I could fit 100 K-Cups® under the seat. The other box went into a cloth shopping bag that I hung between my knees. Good to go. This morning, I’m enjoying good coffee!
I took a different route back to the KOA from Costco. I wanted to explore. The route I took wasn’t interesting though – it was mostly industrial. At one point, I was stopped at a railroad crossing. The train was so long and moving so slowly, I shut off the scooter engine and waited. After five minutes, the freight cars on the train began bumping and jolting with loud banging sounds. The train was coming to a stop. I couldn’t see either end of the train.
There were several parallel train tracks at this crossing. A pair of diesel-electric engines sped down one of the tracks in the same direction of the train. A few minutes later the freight cars jolted again. The train started moving back in the direction it came from!
I thought this would be a long wait. The train began to pick up speed. As I looked down the track, I realized what was happening. When they stopped the train, they must have switched to another track. They disconnected cars and split the train. The engines I saw coming by were now connected to the back half of the train, pushing it back the way it came. They were clear of the crossing after a couple of minutes. The logistics of train transport boggles my mind.
Yesterday, the temperature topped out at 92 degrees. We had partly cloudy skies and I heard the rumble of thunder in the distance. It didn’t rain at the KOA, but the wind picked up in the afternoon. I moved Donna’s plants inside and put away the table cloth, before the wind relocated everything.
I practiced guitar inside the coach. I plan to play guitar every day while Donna is away. I’ve been lax about practicing.
Today, they’re calling for partly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures. The high should be in the upper 70s. I have tentative plans to meet up with our friends, Brett Miller and Cheri Alguire for dinner. They’re here for a convention and they’re about to begin the full-time RV lifestyle.
Why not use a french press? I have one that makes a cup at a time and then I have a plastic one for camping that makes probably 6 cups. I like my coffee the way it sounds like you like yours….and I’m fussy too. Just a thought. I sure use a french press before one of those K-cups things although I’ve had warm apple cider drinks from them that are pretty good.
I love your blog and read it every day. You are certainly a very good “handy” man. I don’t know of anyone that would be as good as you with engines and all the other stuff you know about to keep that coach going.
Love reading your wife’s articles on cutting down on clutter.
Thanks for the nice comments, Maryann. A french press would be a good way to go. I’ve used them before. I guess it’s a matter of convenience, or I’ve become lazy and spoiled by the Keurig. With a press, I would have to grind the beans and heat the water before I could use it. With the Keurig, I just drop in the K-Cup, press a button and I have an excellent cup of coffee a minute later.
It is so funny that you wrote this post today, because I just went through a coffee snob moment of my own. Being in Bend, Oregon, I’ve been wanting to sample some awesome coffee at their many high end coffee shops. Well, today’s was so awful I actually tossed it, something I don’t recall ever doing before!! I learned my lesson — get a taste before you buy a cup!! Funny thing was I was just telling Mark that I like Italian dark roast or French roast… I didn’t know about the roasting process… so interesting to find out why I don’t like light roasts!!! Great post.
Thanks Emily. Mark sent me a note regarding your coffee experience today. I can’t believe you had a bad cup of coffee in Bend. Was it a flavored coffee? That doesn’t work for me. We’ll be in that area in August, when we attend the FMCA convention in Redmond. Looking forward to the micro-breweries.