My mother is a hard worker and all around badass.
She put up with my childhood antics with grace and love that only a mother could. Nowadays she works as a database administrator and puts in more hours than your average full timer by far. She always fills her free time being active, working on her garden, or caring for her horse.
She probably likes her horses more than coffee…
I can’t really fathom how she fits so much into her days, but I do know that she usually starts the day with a decent sized cup of coffee, and she will partake during the day at work if she needs it.
At home, my parents brew coffee on a Cuisinart all in one grinder/brewer machine. Recently I have upgraded them to a Baratza Vario-W so they can get a better brew. They even try to buy good quality, locally roasted beans.
I occasionally question their purchase decisions as a good son should…
Despite all of the efforts to get my mother a better brew (my father doesn’t have coffee as often), she still sticks by her tried and true method of measuring the quality of what is in her cup.
I call it the “Chocolate Test”
My mother’s coffee quality program entails adding scoops of chocolate powder to the coffee until it tastes palatable. I often get comments such as “That one needed 3 scoops”, or “This was really good, I didn’t need to add chocolate at all!”
Like most people, mom just wants something pleasing and unoffensive to drink in the morning and she will find a way to get it even if her brew doesn’t deliver what she prefers. For her that means adding chocolate powder if necessary. Despite never hesitating to “fix” her coffee, she certainly does enjoy a high quality brew.
I’m pretty sure most people have had bad tastes of coffee in the past and have grown to live with the disappointment. Maybe this expectation of terribleness is why not everyone is a nerd about their coffee. No one will be accusing my mother of being a coffee geek anytime soon, but no matter how you look at it she knows when the brew tastes great and when it needs a little help.
So here is to all of the mothers out there who love us unconditionally, even when we don’t tell them how much we love them nearly often enough. Keep drinking coffee your way, and I will keep trying to make the coffee world a better place!
Love you mom!
Happy Mothers Day!
Pete
