by Phong Huynh
A tip for any office that has a community coffee urn: please rinse it out every once in a while! Coffee should never be chunky when dispensed, as often is the case at my office. Just one more reason to make my own coffee in the morning, which will be even easier with my new espresso machine. (Great excuse to buy one!) I can’t wait to try North Star Fine Coffee in the machine… any coffee good enough for the Sounders FC is good enough for me!
by Steven Ward
Once the Room 203 blend arrived, I ground and brewed the coffee. The smell of freshly ground coffee seeping into the pot was intoxicating.
There is something about holding an amazing cup of coffee; students talked more freely, ideas exchanged more frequently and friendships created. In those few moments, all of the worlds problems were solved. In those few moments, everything in life made sense. In those few moments, a true classroom was created. In those few moments, I was a student and the students were my teachers. All of this based on the belief that room 203 can be created in every classroom.
by Karen Jarocki
Different people have told me different secrets of how to make great coffee…
My grandmother never scrubbed her coffee urn because she believed that that would ruin the flavor. (To her dismay, once her daughter scrubbed the urn and it ended up falling apart.) Others scour the pot so that there is no residue.
I’ve bought nearly every brand recommended and I’ve found that the brand and type of coffee used really are the difference to making a great cup of coffee. I’m eager to try yours and see if it really is the best.
by Tamara Wilson
My parents, always cutting edge in the 1960s, would never consider a brand of coffee that wasn’t the highest quality.
They used Chemex filters, Danish mugs from a trip they had taken, and of course the most expensive coffee at the “Safeway.” My father would go bonkers if it was out of stock, we just wouldn’t drink anything else.
When Starbucks opened in the market, they would drive from Tacoma to get their Grand Central Bread and Starbucks… then FREEZE it for the next few weeks. He had a system of course. To this day, he is a fanatic about the latest burr grinder, blends, you name it…
ME, just one cup of hot coffee please and don’t tell me how you got it from the mountain top in snowy weather and warmed the beans between your knees…
by Carol Pang
When I was working full time I used to say that when I retired that I wanted to be a barista. It took a while to get hired, as I was 69 at the time and probably considered too old for the stress of the job. Persistance paid off and I have been working as a barista for almost two years. It is a very rewarding job to serve customers something that they enjoy and that makes them feel better. I was fortunate to have a boss who was willing to take a chance on a senior person and we have a great working relationship. Also, I love a good cup of coffee.
by Shawnee Frasca
I have always been a tea girl. Coffee was just for dunking cookies in. Well then I met my soulmate and he LOVES Coffee. And you know I am so much in love that I have actually learned to like it… well I still need lots and lots of sugar and cream…. but I like it well sweetened just like my man. And I even make coffee for him. Something I swore I would never do again after my first husband complained about my lack of coffee making skills over 20 years ago. LOL. Well there is my story and I am sticking to it.
by William Overby
When my wife and I first began dating, we went through all the usual awkwardness of getting to know each other’s likes and dislikes. However, I knew as soon as I walked into her apartment and spotted a coffee maker on her kitchen counter that I was going to marry her. 17 years later we are still happily sipping our morning java together!
by Dee Jenkins
When I was in grad school, I got through the long nights of study and even longer days in the library by carrying around my own thermos of coffee. When I would enter the library, my friend working behind the desk would laugh and ask me to hold up my hands… to see if I’d drank enough to make them tremble! It worked… I finished first in my class.
by Elaine Scherer
I started drinking coffee around my table with my father and mother in my late teens. When ever I would hear mom holler, asking if I wanted my coffee, I would beat it downstair as that was our time together. We loved having our “Coffee Time” each morning that we could all be together. I remember shopping for a coffee pot that dad could set to brew coffee when he woke up… The smell lingered in the mornings, and of course I will always remember the call upstairs, “Coffee, Coffee again this morning!”
by Rosanne Ortega
I haven’t ever had YOUR coffee yet but I certainly remember the Christmas without coffee… and how production limped along.
I run a children’s charity in North Texas that provides books, balls and learning toys three times a year to low income children. As you may have guessed, the toys are gathered at Xmas and we distribute about 38,000 each season so we use a lot of helping hands. We have a huge warehouse site where we sort and package the gifts for each family using about 700 volunteers between Thanksgiving & December 20. For the last 5 years, we rely on donations for snacks and drinks.
Last year, our coffee donation fell through. 
I can’t tell you HOW much that impacted our volunteers. EVERYONE commented on the lack of coffee. We had cookie snacks from Frito Lay but no coffee to go with them – that means the folks who came straight from work to volunteer a couple of hours complained. We had Mrs. Baird sweet rolls on Sat & Sun morning but no coffee so the weekenders were upset about that. IT WAS ALL I HEARD ABOUT FOR A GOOD TWO WEEKS… “what happened?” “no coffee this year?”
It really wasn’t good enough to offer them Coca Cola products instead – Jeez, I mean there is caffiene in them too!
As a charity, with funding down last year, we didn’t budget for coffee for hundreds of folks but I WILL NEVER LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN!
Anyway, our charity, Navidad en el Barrio website is http://www.navidaddfw.org/ if you want to check us out!
