Friday, February 16, 2007
Coffee, chocolate and toast
I was at a brew pub and when some friends sat down and asked the waitress what they had, I recommended what I had. After she said "Stout" I said "it tastes like chocolate, and coffee and toast." At least one person ordered the stout and asked me to repeat my description as he sipped.
The caramel sweetness feels all cool your mouth while the gentle bitterness gives you a little tingle. The color is really what fills your mouth. There is something about darkness, it attracts us and scares us. I like to joke that in the dark, you can't see what you should be scared of so why worry? Standing in a well lit room with a monster, that is scary. A dark beer like that is something you can stare into but not see to the other side, like it just goes on forever. I find myself taking big bites sometimes because I like they way they feel, a big mouthful of beans is so much fun to chew and to taste and feel on every surface possible. That, friends, is how a nice full bodied beer feels, endlessly filling your mouth without the need for excessive volume.
So here we are, years after that day in the brew pub. Many beers later, some of them brewed on my own. I think to myself, isn't time for some coffee, chocolate and toast? I brewed a pot before work and brought it with me in a thermos. I have bread in the office these days so I toasted a few slices and spread on some chocolate coconut spread. Sadly it was another day of eating at my desk, the breakfast memories didn't get to take their rightful place in my mind. After my first sip of coffee, though, I did remark that it tasted like a Saturday. May a Saturday soon show us all breakfast as memorable as my description of that beer.
The caramel sweetness feels all cool your mouth while the gentle bitterness gives you a little tingle. The color is really what fills your mouth. There is something about darkness, it attracts us and scares us. I like to joke that in the dark, you can't see what you should be scared of so why worry? Standing in a well lit room with a monster, that is scary. A dark beer like that is something you can stare into but not see to the other side, like it just goes on forever. I find myself taking big bites sometimes because I like they way they feel, a big mouthful of beans is so much fun to chew and to taste and feel on every surface possible. That, friends, is how a nice full bodied beer feels, endlessly filling your mouth without the need for excessive volume.
So here we are, years after that day in the brew pub. Many beers later, some of them brewed on my own. I think to myself, isn't time for some coffee, chocolate and toast? I brewed a pot before work and brought it with me in a thermos. I have bread in the office these days so I toasted a few slices and spread on some chocolate coconut spread. Sadly it was another day of eating at my desk, the breakfast memories didn't get to take their rightful place in my mind. After my first sip of coffee, though, I did remark that it tasted like a Saturday. May a Saturday soon show us all breakfast as memorable as my description of that beer.
