8 oz can of High Brew (Austin TX) in the back pocket for long rides. A few cans in the panniers for a weekend of camping. It's like jet fuel for me.

Thanks for the reminder, I need to order more.

McMaster Carr?

Brass or stainless tubing? Health-wise, would be preferable to any generic not-known-to-be-food-grade plastic hardware store bulk, and to anything with PTFE.

Or when I was talking to a fellow at a gas station in Nova Scotia about my vehicle's fuel economy - I gave him the number, he tilted his head a bit and asked, "Those Yankee gallons?"

My wife and I love our daily two cups each -- black only, no additions. I like the story we tell about our Technivorm Moccamaster. It's a fancy little machine that our friends turned us onto, but we are a thrifty family, so we lusted after it for years. When the time came for us to finally become homeowners, our realtor helped us buy our first house, sell that one after a few years, and then buy our second house. With each transaction, the realtor gave us a gift certificate to a spendy kitchen store. We eventually felt like we should bite the bullet with these pooled certificates, and we bought the Moccamaster. I like to say that we had to buy two houses to finally get our coffee maker.

Same in Pennsylvania. 😎 I was just thinking yesterday, about the old P.O. Lunch in New Castle, run by Greeks. I need 3 chili dogs really really bad. And no onions on mine!!! 😋😁

Well, my offer for an excellent hot cocoa recipe got one like, so...
It's very customizable; I eliminated the instant milk and use 50/50 water and soy milk. I also cut the sugar to 1 1/4c. and use a mounded cup of cocoa. It's like mainlining chocolate.Alton Brown’s Hot Cocoa Mix

2 ½ c. non-fat instant milk

2 c. confectioner’s/superfine sugar

1 c. Dutch process cocoa powder

2 tsp. corn starch

1 tsp. salt

dash cayenne powder

Sift all ingredients together and mix well.

To serve, fill cup 1/4 to 1/3 with mix, add hot water and stir a lot.

I love black coffee and drink a pot or two every day from the ole MocaMaster using locally roasted beans. Hot is OK but growing up in the desert we all drink ice coffee, sometimes with a splash of cream. Ice coffee is heaven

I drink coffee from a 6-cup Melitta manual pot. A good burr grinder makes a big difference over the $20 bean smashers sold as 'grinders'. Even cheap beans make decent coffee, for me, if the coffee is relatively fresh and ground just before brewing. I started with a Capresso grinder but now use a Baratza Encore, which I guess is thought of as the best of the low end grinders, good for drip and pour-over coffee, not so great for espresso. Next biggest improvement was water at the right temp - about 200 degrees F. I use a Bonavita electric kettle.

I'd really like a Technivorm. They are beautiful and beautifully designed to make good coffee, IMO.

I can't distinguish between coffee from the Capresso and Baratza grinders. The reason I got the Baratza is that the Capresso stopped working. Then I kept tinkering with the Capresso, and it works now, which is how I can compare them. You can get more spare parts for the Baratza, so it will last longer than the Capresso; at least when I bought mine, the Cap's lower burr wasn't user replaceable and the Baratza's is.

Never. I don't care for hot drinks. I do enjoy the smell of coffee brewing, just don't care for the taste.

Great novel, meh movie (aren't they always?) Have you read The Comedians?

That is a truly fantastic and simple drip machine. Paired with a quality grinder and beans it can rival any method for a good cup.

I didn’t start drinking coffee until I was in the Army- and it was always the ****** black chow hall coffee. Sometime at my 2nd duty station- someone offered to get coffee and that sounded like a good idea- they came back with this frilly girl drink crap- I may have spit the first sip out. But then I was like “hey, this is pretty good.” Really, it was Burger King coffee with cream and sugar.

i drank a lot of coffee for the next 10 years until I realized I don’t sleep so welll- I have a cup every once in a while-

It's one of my favorites. Actually liked both versions of the flick. Haven't read much else of Greene's, but I've seen several of his classic movies. Besides the obvious ones, Our Man in Havana is a great role for Alec Guinness.

That's fair, I suffer from an incessant comparison with the book, and that's just a recipe for disappointment usually. I admit I did really like Michael Caine in the 2002 version. I've always admired his work, starting with The Man Who Would be King and Zulu, both classics. .

I need to see Havana, I haven't yet. I love Greene's writing though, he manages to truly capture the feel of a place. I spent two years in Haiti 2003-5, and his book nailed it.

Yes, the two-group commercial Elektra lives in my dining room, plumbed-in and on its own 240v circuit, and my wife gets a latte in bed every morning, or else.

I rebuilt another one and gave it to my friend who was opening a shop, you can see it at Bennett Urban Farm in Old Town Hillsboro OR.

I picked up another two-group Elektra project and a single-group Elektra project, but have had no time to work on them, or on anything else for that matter. I quit my job, opened my own office, then a week later Covid hit, and its been nothing but work-survive-work since then. I'm hoping that 2023 will let me do things like rebuild espresso machines, restore and ride bikes, work on cars, go fishing and camping - jeez, its like the last 2.5 years disappeared.

If Sky ever opened Velocult II I'd rebuild one of the Elektras for him - but that ain't gonna happen :-(

Me too! I still root for your chromed Bianchi. Glad you're still around to tinker with coffee and bikes (whenever time permits).