Coffee

Buying Time in the Comfy Chair

I spent some time in a cafe on Saturday. I was there with my son, James. We bought our drinks and then sat down in the comfy lounge type chairs.

We had some real quality father, son time. I was using my iPad and James was battling enemies on his DS. I should say that this isn’t a common practice. We do actually talk to each other. Anyhow, I’m getting off track.

The thing I started wondering while at the cafe was, “How much time can a couple of drinks buy me in the comfy chair?” Is there a time limit once you’ve purchased your beverage of choice? Does the clock start running once you get your drink or once you finish it?

We took a while to finish our drinks but once we had, we were just a couple of guys sitting in comfortable chairs in front of a table with empty cups on it. Should we have left at that point?

Just as I was pondering these weighty matters a cafe worker came past and removed the empties. We were now just a couple of guys sitting in comfortable chairs in front of an empty table. We now had no visible evidence that we ever belonged there. Thankfully the cafe wasn’t all that busy so we weren’t taking seats that ‘paying customers’ should have been able to access. We didn’t stick around too much after that. There was shopping to be done.

So, my question is this, how much time in the comfy chairs does a couple of drinks buy you? Do you linger once your drink is finished or do you leave as soon the last drop is gone? How long is too long to linger? I’d love to read your comments.

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I’m Not Lovin’ It

Apr 19th, 2011

by Rodney Olsen.

5 comments

I know that Ronald McDonald is already making money hand over fist and that he won’t care that I’m not happy, but surely a company as big as McDonald’s should be able to perfect the simple art of listening to a customer.

I’m sure that one unhappy customer doesn’t mean much to them but is it asking too much to simply be treated with a little respect?

I decided to buy myself a coffee in the city this morning.

I walked past McDonald’s and noticed that the store was rather quiet so I popped in for a long black. I fumbled in my pocket for some change and then counted out enough for the BIG coffee into my hand. I was ready for a monumental caffeine hit and so I then stepped up to the counter, money in hand.

The young lady behind the counter smiled and asked how she could help me. I got out words to the effect of, “I’d like a ….”. That’s as far as I got before the McDonald’s worker turned and started a conversation with a fellow worker.

Really? Am I that boring? Is my order that uninteresting that you’d rather talk amongst yourselves? You didn’t even get to hear what my order was.

I’ve had bad service before but to my knowledge I’ve never disappeared half way through an order before. Well, when I say half way, I guess it was closer to a quarter of the way through the order. Could she no longer see me there? I’m a big guy. She should have been able to spot me there waiting to finish my order.

After waiting a short while for her to remember that without customers her business would cease to exist, I turned around and walked out. I’m sorry, but I refuse to be ignored. If you really need to talk to a co-worker, do it either before or after taking my order, not half way through my opening sentence.

On my way to where I was going I found another shop that sells coffee. They took my order, made my order, gave me my order. It didn’t seem to cause them much trouble. I guess in future I’ll be visiting them a whole lot more and McDonald’s a whole lot less.

Have you ever had a similar experience with bad customer service? Did you hang around or just walk off?

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Clever Coffee from Five Senses

Jan 23rd, 2011

by Rodney Olsen.

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It’s Sunday morning and I’m sitting at my desk enjoying a freshly brewed coffee. Brilliant.

You may remember that I recently wrote about the The Death of the Breville, a sad tale of the end of the line for my old coffee dripper. Today I’m sipping coffee made with a device that brews coffee just as I drink it, one mug full at a time.

It’s the Clever Coffee Dripper from Five Senses and it’s wonderful.

So what is the Clever Coffee Dripper? I’ll let Five Senses explain.

It’s a free standing, one cup filter (which is often called a pour-over) with one very important addition — a valve that keeps your brew from drawing down until you activate it by sitting it on a cup. What’s so good about that? Well, the way the valve works means that you can control all the variables of your brew independently of each other. You know the ones I’m talking about! No matter which brewing method you’re using, it always comes down to the same variables — grind size, the amount of coffee you dose, water weight, water temperature and the amount of time that the water and coffee are in contact.

One of the great things about the Clever Coffee Dripper is that you can get involved in the process of creating the perfect cup. Not that it’s terribly involved or that you have to nurse the device through the process but you do have control over various elements that lets you ensure you get the brew you want. I’ve experimented a couple of times since the Clever Coffee Dripper arrived and I reckon I’ve got it just how I like it. From here on in I’ll be drinking my favourite brew whenever the mood hits.

Oh … one last thing. Just because the Clever Coffee Dripper comes from Five Senses doesn’t mean that you can only brew coffee from their extensive coffee range through it … but seriously … why would you use anything other than Five Senses?

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The Death of the Breville

Jan 16th, 2011

by Rodney Olsen.

4 comments

As I sit here drinking my Nescafe Gold Rich Roast instant coffee, I’m remembering the good times with my old Breville BCM 120. The Breville has served its time and is now destined for the scrapheap. With its last dying breath yesterday afternoon it let out a pungent electrical/plastic burning smell before the light on the on/off switch went out … forever.

Yes, I know that drip coffee makers don’t get the best from the coffee beans and some coffee aficionados consider that using premium coffee beans in such a device is sacrilegious, but lets look at the facts, without my drip machine, I’m now drinking instant coffee. The Breville actually made a decent brew.

I really do enjoy a well made long black but we live on an instant coffee budget so being able to have a nicer brew with the BCM 120 was a wonderful thing. Don’t mock me. I know that I could do a lot better but have you seen the prices on those fancy machines? I would love to have a DeLonghi or a Saeco but at this stage it would seem that I’ll need to go shopping for a simple plunger to brew my beans.

How do you have your coffee? What do you use to make coffee at home? Do you have a fancy machine or just a jar and a kettle?

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Beware the Morning Stretch!

Oct 22nd, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

5 comments

I was up early today to make sure I’d be out the door in time to go on my regular pre-work ride and coffee with some local cyclists. (The ride was great, by the way. More than double the regular number of participants.)

As I tried to move from a semi-catatonic state to something a little more active I yawned and stretched. I stretched my arms up above my head and then …. zap.

Something in my head snapped. No really. It felt like a large jolt towards the left side of the back of my head. It wasn’t pleasant.

I headed straight out through the family room towards our bedroom. I figured that I’d collapse at any moment and that it’d probably be wise to let Pauline know what was going on.

I took a few more steps and upon realising I was still alive I decided not to wake Pauline after all.

So far I haven’t noticed any side effects. I had a good, solid ride to the city and then to work and everything seems fine. I’m glad that I seem to have all my faculties but I don’t think I’ll be stretching like that again any time soon.

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