Coffee

I was rather a late comer to the coffee drinking thing.  I never learned to drink it in high school.  When I got to college, I was told I would start drinking coffee then, but I didn't.  When I was in the Navy, in my A school and later on in my C school, I was told I'd start drinking coffee then, but I didn't.

Fast forward to 2011.  Around here, we refer to that year as "the year it snowed so much".  All you have to do is say, "that year it snowed so much," and everyone knows what year you mean when you say it.

It was the year it snowed so much that I started drinking coffee.  I just felt like I needed something warm in my stomach in the mornings.  That icy cold Dr Pepper just wasn't doing it for me.   It was one cold, snowy day that year it snowed so much that after work, I went to the store and bought me a little jar of Folgers Instant coffee.

I'll admit, I didn't like it.  It took several months and the discovery of that magical ingredient -- creamer-- before I could drink my coffee without grimacing.  It took even longer before I started drinking it on my days off also.  After three years, I finally consider myself a coffee drinker.  

I was in what used to be Cody's room, and has now become a storage room, when I found my old Mr. Coffee coffee maker.

Did I say old?  This here coffee maker is so old, they don't even make them any more.  But why, you may ask, did I have a coffee maker when I don't drink coffee?   Well, I'll tell you.

Back in my Navy days, my then fiancee' now ex did drink coffee.  I decided one day that I was going to surprise him.  I went to the Navy Exchange and bought the aforementioned coffeemaker.  Then I went to the commissary and bought some coffee.  I took it back to my barracks room and brewed a pot of coffee.  I followed the directions on the can exactly.  That point must be perfectly understood.

I followed the directions exactly. 

When the ex got off duty and came to see me, I proudly poured him a cup of that coffee.  He took one sip, made a horrible face, and said, "Let me make the coffee from now on." 

Back to the present...I found that old coffee maker, and since I have decidedly become a coffee drinker, I felt it was time to make the transition from instant to brewed coffee.  I added coffee to my shopping list,

and yesterday morning, made my first cup of real, brewed coffee.

It tasted terrible.

Even after I'd added the usual amount of sugar and creamer, it still tasted terrible.  Before anyone asks, yes, I did clean the coffeemaker out by running vinegar through it, followed by several pots of clean water.  But, I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  It just tastes terrible.

Maybe I should stick to instant coffee. 

On the other hand, I don't even know what real coffee is supposed to taste like.  Maybe it's supposed to taste terrible.  Next time I go into town, I'll buy a few cups from some of these fast food places and see.