That was disappointing. Since the pandemic's effects on the supply chain began to ramp up -- who expected bread or paper toweling to get short? -- I have worked hard at being provident. At stocking staples in depth. The habit has persisted even as stores have returned to something near normal. If it's not quickly perishable, I keep a couple of month's supply -- coffee beans, UHT milk, paper goods, sugar, canned vegetables, canned meat, dish soap, even butter (the good stuff will keep for about a year in the fridge -- check the expiration dates).
When I used up the last of the powdered coffee creamer* this morning, I wasn't worried. I knew I had more. I'll just get the next one one and-- Pulled out the backup and it was hazelnut-flavored. I'd bought two containers of the stuff some time ago when none of my usual sources had the normal kind. I'd tried it back then and loathed it, but kept it around just in case. I'd been glancing at the remaining plastic container and thinking it was plain. Well, it was all I had. I tried it again. Still wretched; the hazelnut flavoring drowns out the coffee with cloying intensity.
So there I was, a nice big mug of fresh-ground, freshly brewed Tanzanian Peaberry with Sugar In The Raw in my hand, ruined. Looks like the next cup will be black with sugar.
Almost. Second item on the list of the things I keep around is "UHT milk." It's shelf-stable, though it tastes better cold. I normally have a pack of eight single-serving cartons on the top shelf of the fridge. I don't like it as well as richer additives, but it's better than nothing -- and it's a lot better than excessive hazelnut.
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* If you take your coffee with cream, preferences can be weirdly specific and using different forms will seem "off" in taste or mouthfeel. My Dad used Coffee Rich as far back as I can remember, and wasn't fond of other options. I started using CoffeeMate not long after I started drinking coffee (after I moved out: my parents did not allow children to drink coffee other than as a very rare treat, 50/50 with milk, even at the age of 19. Coffee was free or crazy cheap at most radio stations I worked for, which beat fifty-cent soft drinks by a considerable margin) and came to prefer it. Liquid creamer, half'n'half or different powdered brands are okay but as a regular thing, I want my choice of stuff in my coffee. (About that free coffee? It was a big shock to go to work in television and discover we had to pay full vending-machine retail prices for coffee! On the other hand, they paid considerably better than radio. On the other other hand, the vending machine coffee was not very good.)
Ghee is a pantry safe butter. Have not had Tanzanian Peaberry in years or a good Cuban bean. I like my coffee strong and black.
ReplyDeleteHaving tried coffee at the age of 4 or 5 (a babysitter was sitting with my brother and me in a cheap motel in Tulsa OK while our folks were out house hunting) and having found it totally disgusting, I still find that the smell of perking coffee makes me bilious. (Just as well since, about 10-15 years ago I discovered that caffeine was my enemy.) OTOH: That babysitter taught me to "tap dance" to The Sidewalks of New York - the only tap dancing I ever attempted. She was one of only two babysitters that ever tended me AFAIK.
ReplyDeleteTastes vary -- I really love the stuff. I liked it well enough as a kid (well, of course: "rare and usually-forbidden treat.") and have come to appreciate good coffee as an adult. What a dull world if we all liked the same things!
ReplyDeleteI've never been able to make coffee my jam. But hot tea, ideally brewed from loose leaves? Gotta have it. Luckily the mail order sources I've used have not seemed to run dry during the pandemic, even when I was having to drive to three stores to find my preferred variety of milk or to find any eggs at all.
ReplyDeleteNot shortages, but I'm having major home renovations done (80 year old house suffering through deferred maintenance) and the GC I use has apologetically told me that the whole process (re-roofing, repairing a subfloor, replacing a lot of damaged wood siding) is probably costing me $10K more than it would have in 2019....I'm trying to look at it as "I own this house outright so any renovations are basically me paying future me" (or maybe my heirs, IDK)
An astronaut says "I can't find milk for my coffee".
ReplyDeleteThe other astronaut says "In space, no one can. Here, use cream."
Mini-Moos. UHT pasturized half and half in the little containers you find at a diner. you can put them in the fridge but they'll stay good on the shelf for a long time.
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