One-Thousand Faces

Another benefit to coffee lovers is that there's no way coffee can ever get old. It's not like cake. There's cake. And there's other flavors of cake. But we have it better.

We have the beans. There's thousands of different beans from different regions and different plantations.

We have the roasts. Every bean can have tons of different flavors reflected in how it's roasted.

We have the brew. There are so many ways to simply brew your coffee, and each brings out some different quality.

This morning, for instance, I pulled a shot of espresso in one shop, came back here to have a different coffee in drip, and will shortly start the three-hour long process of filtering a different coffee for iced coffee, all while roasting yet another coffee for tomorrow. The combinations and possibilities are endless, and there are more being developed all the time.

And for the dedicated and passionate, there's simply nothing better. I know that by the end of today I'll be covered, head-to-toe, in coffee. I'll be sitting in the humid summer air, craving my evening beer, reeking of coffee, and wishing I was already in Puerto Rico (so I could actually play with the plants themselves, no less). And there's something special about that, that few industries can give you. Something so simple presented in an infinite number of ways.

So what's your record? How many coffees have you had in one day? I don't mean how many cups, but how many varieties, methods, etc.? Think carefully (there could have been espresso in that cake frosting, for instance...)