It's Just Not My Cup

I'm not a progressive person, technologically speaking.

I don't have an iPad/Pod or Kindle. 

I hate the computer panel in the "new" car that requires a 3 hour training to run.

My smart phone is getting a little too big for its britches and I shut it off frequently, rather than listen to it alert me to every message, score and update available. (By the way...YES, I KNOW my voice mail inbox is full. I keep it that way on purpose.)

And I think Keurig coffee makers are killing conviviality.

Whew!

There, I've said it...and probably will get some fall out for it. 

Do you know what Keurig coffee makers are?  Those space age looking machines that sit on the counter of everyone's kitchen now; you tip out a little door, insert a minuscule canister of premeasured coffee grounds, close, place your coffee cup under the spout, push a button and in seconds you have a steaming cup of coffee.  It's very convenient, quicker than lightening, no muss, no fuss...

I can see why they're popular.  Especially for someone living alone who doesn't want to brew a whole pot of coffee just for themselves, or for families with all sorts of crazy schedules who leave the house at different times.  

But that's just the thing:

How welcoming is THAT?  

Coffee brings people together.

I was raised with certain coffee rituals.  

The first smell in the morning was of the coffee my folks were brewing. Plans for the day were made over cups of coffee; not just between Mom and Dad, but also when there was a crew for branding or shipping.  When kids were dropped off at school, there was sometimes a migration of moms back to our house to discuss life, laundry stains and refill the go-cups. Pots were put on when we saw dust up the road: "Grandpa and Grandma Mosby are here!" 

There's a certain script that used to be followed by everyone:

Host: Can I get you a cup of coffee?

Guest: (politely) Oh, don't go to any trouble...I'd have a cup if you were going to make some for yourself.

Host: (relieved) It's no trouble at all!  (bustles around, filling the pot, measuring coffee, etc.) 

There's chatting while the coffee is brewing, then...

Host: How do you like your coffee? Cream or sugar?

Guest: I'd take a little cream if you have it.

And the conversation commences.

This little back and forth opening sequence to a visit is hard to pull off if all the host has to do is push a button for coffee to appear in a cup and handed over.  It ISN'T any trouble and the guest knows it.  

Then there's the personality of a brew.

In our family, weak coffee was a sign of weak character.  

A good strong cup of coffee was redemptive...all sorts of things could be said about someone, but if "they sure make good coffee" then they were probably all right at the core.  

Many times, there was only time for one cup so it had to count...you can't make it all morning on a namby-pamby cup of java, you know?  Besides which, it's just a waste of grounds to simply color the water.  

Warnings or praise would be issued prior to visits to someone's house. "They make awfully weak coffee..." or "One thing about it, __________ sure can make coffee!"

Keurigs are disappointingly, industrially predictable and one can't determine a thing from the cups issued thereof.  The owners can buy different pods of different flavors, but ultimately it comes out the same...smooth and balanced.   

I've gone back to a percolator, myself, simply because it takes up less space and looks charming on my counter.  There are no filters to buy and it makes happy little burbles as it cooks.  It makes enough coffee for two to four people at once. I can carry it all around the house if I wish, and it doesn't leave a scorched taste in the coffee if I forget to unplug it right away.  When I have company, we follow the time honored script you read above, the little pot chugging and glugging away in the background as we wait and visit.  My friends and family know I make my coffee a little too strong, and there's probably warnings to that effect as they come up the drive.  That's okay...you can always add water or cream, but you can't fix a weak cup of coffee.  

Progress is very good, and I admire people who roll with it easily.  This post wasn't to castigate anyone who has a Keurig....which would be about 80% of the U.S. population, now....so if you have one and love it, great!  I just hope the culture of hospitality and the art of making coffee from grounds in a pot is not lost in the convenience and practicality of the space age coffee machines being used today.