Revolutionary Moderation

A Post for August the Ninth, in which Don Ventures Slightly into the Realm of Personal Blogging; in Particular, a Discussion About What he had for Breakfast

Have you ever wondered to yourself, "Is Don really Scottish?" Those who know me know I tend to be a little more casual with my money than perhaps is prudent. I like the good things in life, and I'm willing to splurge on them a little bit. Take coffee. I won't buy a huge can of Nabob. I'll spend the extra money - quite a bit of extra money when taken as a percentage, but in reality probably an extra $4 a month - to drink something better.

Recently, I received as a gift some quantity of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee. The real stuff - Wallenford. I've been waiting to finish my open can of my regular, pretty-good brand of coffee, so I'd have a container to put the JBM in when I finally opened it (it came in a freeze-dried cube, not a very practical container), and because it would have been a waste to let the pretty-good coffee get stale rather than letting the JBM retain its freeze-dried goodness while it waits.

Follow me so far?

This morning, I went to make a pot of coffee, and realized I only had about a teaspoon, of the two large tablespoons I use to make a small pot. JBM time! So I was in the process of fighting my way into the JBM (complicated packaging, you see), when I thought to myself, "what am I going to do with the last teaspoon?"

Before you read the options I considered, I want you to think very hard about this. I'm about to open a package of coffee that is rightly considered the best in the world, and is normally priced to reflect that. I have a teaspoon of coffee that I paid in the range of $4 for about a half-pound. I'm considering options as to how to deal with the teaspoon. Please try this test on your own before you read ahead to the answer.

My first reaction was to use the teaspoon, along with the rest of the volume made up by JBM, in this morning's pot. But wouldn't that contaminate the whole pot, give it a bitterness that simply doesn't exist in JBM? I rejected that idea first.

Well, I could pour the JBM into the coffee can on top of the teaspoon, and then there wouldn't be very much contaminant at all, probably so little I wouldn't even notice it. But no, I concluded, I didn't want them to mix at all, notwithstanding the unavoidable remnants of the can. It would be like mixing a great wine with plonk to make it go further. Nope.

Alright, so they shouldn't mix. What shall I do with the teaspoon? I could make about a single cup of coffee with it, but I'm not sure that would work in my coffee maker. Plus, that's kind of wasteful of an entire filter. Did I mention this story is to illustrate my Scottish nature?

I have another, still-sealed can of the pretty good stuff. I could open that can, and pour the teaspoon in. But that returns us to the start of the problem... I'd have to finish the can, for fear of it going stale, rather than open the JBM. At the end of which, who knows what volume of part-pot I will have to deal with?

I began to search for very small tupperware containers to store the teaspoon's-worth in. Do they make baggies that would be appropriate?

I think most of you have realized the solution to my problem by now. I'm not going to spell it out here. Suffice it to say, I spent ten minutes of my morning struggling over this decision. And then felt a pang of regret as I executed what I knew in the end to be the right one.

I thought of using this story to illustrate some point about BC bud being the best in the world, and the extradition of Marc Emery, but I can't seem to draw the line between. Sorry. It's a dumb idea. We don't extradite Canadians for things they've done in Canada. What else is there to say on the topic?

Regular, non-breakfast-related blogging will return.