A Columbian Dark Roast to start the day

Since moving to Boston in March, my coffee drinking habits have changed dramatically. In my New York City condo, Starbucks was literally adjacent to my building lobby, and my baristas knew me by face and by my coffee order- grande drip coffee in a venti cup with cold soy at the bar. If I needed more coffee, there was also a Starbucks in the lobby of my office building.

Daily between 9:00 and 10:00 am, my Coffee Buddy and I would rendez vous in the elevator bank for a coffee run... I'd get a refill (free, of course) of my drip coffee, and he'd get a single-shot expresso (double if the week was really tough). Keep in mind, I worked on Wall Street at the time, an industry that has perfected the dysfunctional balance of high stress, low sleep, and intravenous caffeine drips.

Just before I left the city, I even received a gold credit card with my name engraved on the front in size 16 font. Preferred Customer. Basically, Starbucks was probably going to ask me to run the company, because I had earned gold card status for my loyal coffee consumption.

And then I moved to Boston, where I'd maybe pass by a Starbucks once a week. Certainly there were none in my neighborhood. But all was not lost. I shortly after married a former-Starbucks-barista, who brought not only his coffee expertise, but a stainless steel coffee press.

We registered for a Cuisinart expresso maker, and my fabulous hubby now makes lattes for me in the morning, swirling the tip of the foam milk just so as to make the treat delicious and aesthetically appealing.

Today I attempted regular coffee in the coffee press, for the first time in a solid 3 or 4 months. I guess I underestimated the capacity of the container, because this brew is as thick as sludge. Since beginning to write this, my typing has increased by about 20 words per minute. My heavy eyelids no longer beg me to return back to bed- in fact, I'm probably about ready to go take on Wall Street or something like that.