Cup of Coffee

Is it the coffee or is it where you have it or is it who you share a cup with? All are considerations for a good cup of coffee. My suspicion is a good cup of coffee is a combination of all three. Now we have all had that cup of “coffee water” that is just barely a notch above water itself, and it probably still sufficed for that early morning pick me up. However that cup of flavor that is just right is the one that keeps us going back for more. Now on the other hand there are those places that stick in your mind as memorable. Still the last, but not least, is who you may have a cup of coffee with and that too keeps you coming back for more.









As an example of the first, Linda (my wife) and I were at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing, a local restaurant, several years ago and had the most wonderful cup of coffee. The setting was and always is very nice, but the coffee was extraordinarily good. It was a blend of Hawaiian Rain Forest. Magnificent!









An example of the 2nd and 3rd was many years ago in San Antonio, Texas. Linda and I were meeting my brother Max and his wife Jeannette for a weekend…..it may have even been a Thanksgiving family gathering. We were staying in a hotel on the River Walk and I made plans with Max the night before to meet him down on the river at a restaurant for a cup of coffee (he doesn’t even drink coffee) and read the newspaper. I remember nothing about the caliber of coffee or the restaurant. But being there on the River Walk and sharing that quiet time on the river with my brother made a lasting memory.





I have been told many times when making coffee on




a campfire at the back of my chuck wagon “Now that has got to be the best tasting coffee I have ever had.” True probably at the moment, but it also was probably not the best coffee ever, instead it was the ambience of the campfire and the chuck wagon that made the coffee taste so good. I will even go so far as to say the people making those praises of my coffee were most likely tasting some pretty good coffee.







A recent memory of “a good cup of coffee” occurred out in Ft. Thomas, Arizona at a Chuck Wagon Hoorah put on for a bunch of chuck wagon connoisseurs. It was an outstanding morning with Rex Wailes, Dave McDowell, Eddie Sandoval, Steve Woods and I sitting around a little fire out by Rex’s teepee. Rex and Dave had been up for quite some time when I joined them at the fire around 5:30 am. The others joined the campfire coffee brigade shortly after. That particular morning Rex and Dave were probably on their second to fourth cup of coffee. Their line of chat had already taken on a life by itself talking about the enjoyment of the morning and the things the desert has to offer, like the sound of the distant coyote or the cooing of the dove or even the feeling you get when you know you are in the Land of the Apache. Was it the coffee that I remember so well, no….but the times and the people there that we shared coffee with. It was a peaceful time with absolutely no pressure dealing with food




preparation. Some of you may not know that these gatherings are like a chuck wagon cook off without the competition and without anyone having to cook something at a specific time. Well, again the coffee wasn’t exactly special other than the fact that Rex puts his coffee grounds in a lady’s silk stocking and thus has no grounds to be concerned with when pouring coffee.


Now I have said on many occasions when serving cowboy coffee “I will guarantee there will be coffee ground in your cup of coffee.” People don’t mind or at least don’t say anything except for the owner of a big auto dealership where we were cooking breakfast and he said with a big smile, “I have told lots of folks that your coffee is the crunchiest ever.” I don’t know if he liked it or didn’t, I couldn’t tell. What I hope is that he remembered where he had the crunchiest coffee ever.







At home in El Paso my wife Linda and I make coffee every morning and enjoy our southwestern home and the offerings we have inside and outside. We are always searching for the better cup of coffee and have tried many since moving from the instant variety we used for such a long time. (Funny how we can get in a rut and just keep doing the same thing because it may be easier.) We recently tried a New Mexico Dark Roast Pinon Coffee and indeed it was dark roasted and we didn’t care for the nutty taste by itself. We ended up mixing it with some other blends and toning it down a little. Our usual cup of something a little different is a Mexican coffee which has just a bit of cinnamon in the it. The coffee is usually pretty good. We use a French press to achieve the result we like but it is the location and the person with whom you share it that makes the next morning worth getting up early to enjoy.


Just a few weeks ago I was in Bennett, Colorado for another chuck wagon gathering at Rex and Sheryl Wailes farm when we again were enjoying that wonderful aroma of coffee boiling over an open fire, the stillness of the early morning sitting by the fire visiting with friends and enjoying a cup of coffee taking in the distant beauty of the snow topped Colorado Rockies….indeed priceless!







Another time that will live in my memory for a long time will be when Steve Woods and I had set up the chuck wagon at Billy the Kid Days in Lincoln, New Mexico. It was an early morning with a light rain coming down on our wagon fly (this was back when it rained occasionally) with a nice fire going just prior to sunrise and the coffee in hand and as they say…kicked back. Ahhh, now this is what it is all about. Those times are special, and I am always up for the possibility of creating a memory around that cup of coffee. I look forward to those times. I have many, many memories that deal with enjoying a cup of coffee with loved ones and friends and have chosen just a few here to illustrate the meaning of a good cup of coffee





Now some of you might just want the recipe I use and it is very simple. First, I don’t know how much the coffee pot holds, but I stick my hand into the freshly ground coffee and get about 3 fingers of coffee and put into the cold water. I fill the pot up till it is where I can see the water in the spout. When it starts boiling I will place the pot off of the hottest part of the fire and let it do its thing for a little while and then it is ready. Maybe throw a couple of sticks of cinnamon in the pot. Maybe, but what does it matter? If the coffee isn’t that good then maybe the location and the friends or your significant other will make up the difference for a less than perfect cup of coffee.








See you round the campfire. I’ll have the coffee ready.