Travesty...Coffee style

I think I may have broken myself...and I blame Iron Chef, the instructions on my bag of coffee, and a late night movie!

I love coffee, adore it, cherish it, might marry it if it would have me (ok, maybe that last was a bit extreme...I'm just kidding guys). So, on Sunday evening I was sitting down after mowing the yard and playing with the dog and Iron Chef came on. I love Iron Chef anyways (I believe there might be inspiration even for the culinarily challenged there) and then the secret ingredient was coffee! Score! I settled in for a great hour of TV.

Well, after about 20 minutes all I wanted was some coffee - any form, it didn't really matter. I thought about heading to Starbucks but didn't really want to leave so I broke into my freezer and grabs some beans. Now, one of the things that the show had talked about was making the correct strength of coffee and I figured that if I'm going to learn anything from Iron Chef then it ought to be that the best coffee is made by following the instructions! So, I filled up the pot with 7 cups of water (6oz = 1 cup in coffee world) and then read the instructions which said to use 2 (that's right, TWO) tablespoons per cup. For you un-mathy people, that's 14 tablespoons of ground coffee and even though I wasn't planning to drink it all, it's always good to make more than you need, right? I went ahead and aimed for 14 tablespoons of the stuff and by the time I'd ground it and filled up the filter, I was realizing that not only was there a TON of coffee in there but there was also no way you could make the 12 cups the machine claims to be able to handle. Well, that's a different dilemma for a different day but since there was so much coffee I thought that I'd best put in a bit more water cause otherwise I was worried it would brew itself up and then jump out of the pot and attack my dog, steal my car keys, and go on a joyride of the city! So, 9 cups of water, 14 (or so) tablespoons of coffee, and some time brewing results in one THICK brew! All is fine and dandy though so I fill up my big mug and take a sip. Now, this is some very strong coffee but it tastes pretty good so I'm up for it.

Right around then I realize that I was supposed to watch a movie for my movie club the next day so I run out to rent it thinking that I can stay awake because I've got the coffee! So, one really awful movie later, I've drunk almost the entire pot of coffee. My hand is actually shaking as I brush my teeth and I'm starting to think that this is not looking good! I lay down, still tasting coffee and proceed to lie awake for about an hour - something that I never do! Well, this is a bad deal but not a travesty, not yet.

The next morning, I get up (kind of feeling icky) and get ready for work. My routine always involves me brewing up coffee and taking it to the office but when I thought about doing that this Monday morning, my mind immediately went, "Absolutely no way under any circumstances are you putting more coffee into this body." Hmmm, convincing argument. So I went to work, on a MONDAY morning, with no coffee! Thought about getting some in the afternoon - same discussion, same results. Same thing this morning!

So, it's now been two days since I've had any coffee and I'm still not sure I'm up for it. I can't believe it - it's like hating chocolate! I have no idea when I'll break the fast but I'm thinking that I might just have to force myself into it because right now my mind is still saying, "Coffee, no, I don't think that would be wise!"

So, a somewhat sad week in Jen world...I'd hate to have to change my blog's header and for the record, the instructions may be right but they're insane, the Iron Chef doesn't know what he's talking about, and the movie totally wasn't worth it!
:)