Month: November 2022

Coffee Beans Cha Cha Cha

While thinking of a title for this entry I remembered the Coffee Beans Cha Cha Cha Western Airlines TV commercial, the one where the cartoon bird, (parrot?) is riding on top of a Western Airlines plane, sitting with his back against the vertical stabilizer (most people would call this the rudder, but the rudder is the movable area at the tail end of the vertical stabilizer) while a steward or stewardess brings him cool things while on his flight. The end of the commercials, which sometimes featured hand made pizza, or a lion tamer for entertainment, or whatever, always ended with "Western Airlines, the only way to fly". It wasn't, and still isn't, but whatever.

One of these commercial had the steward dancing towards the bird passenger (birdssenger?) in a poncho and sombrero, I think, singing "Coffee beans, cha cha cha, coffee beans cha cha cha..." followed by the bird with a cup of delightful coffee and saying his famous line about Western being the only way to fly. That commercial more than any other stuck with me. Gosh, the things I remember. We'll be back to coffee stuff after the jump...

Anyhow, that became the title, and I tried to find a video clip of this commercial but could not, for whatever reason.

Back to coffee now. And coffee beans.

Drive Through Coffee or Make At Home?

I'm always amazed, astounded really, when I drive past a coffee joint with a drive through and see dozens of cars lines up, idling, waiting to place or pick up their order. Of course largely I'm speaking of Starbucks, the heavyweight champion of the world as far as coffee purveyors with drive through windows.
Now don't get me wrong, I do not begrudge Starbucks success, they were likely inspired in their founding by my great aunts' Ella And Nora's Coffee Tea and Spice store in Pikes Place in the 1950's. My father worked for my aunts as well for a time. Interestingly the first Starbucks, also in Pikes Place, had coffee, tea, spices, also sold in bulk.

Maybe it is due to the 10+ years I lived in Claremont, California, and the fact that up until I moved away drive thrus of all kinds were banned in order to reduce smog, urban craziness, unsightly messiness, what have you. Drive through Mc Donalds? Next city over. Claremont had other rules too in order to raise the bar and control the city, such as no overnight street parking, but that is a blog post for another blog on another day.

Back to my coffee amazement.

Good Mornings Start With Coffee

I am Full Blown Caffeinated, a term I will abbreviate in the future as FBC to differentiate between a Pre-Coffee Condition (the dreaded PCC) and Post Coffee Awesomeness (the always welcome PCA). I just finished my 3rd large mug of this fine, but chilly, Sunday morning, and thankfully am thawing and awakening. What am I drinking today? Same as most mornings, and yes, I am aware that the coffee snobs out there will  jeer my rather pedestrian selection but I don't care: Folgers Black Silk.
Why? It's delicious, packs a decent punch, I can make it at home, it's inexpensive, and it's delicious enough to state twice it's deliciousness.