Small Notes: Experiental Aesthetics in Tea and Coffee

The other day, on either reddit or Bluesky (can't remember, can't be arsed to check), I read something to the effect of:

Tea in a ceramic mug: perfect, wonderful, this will fix my entire day. Tea in a paper or styroform cup: too hot, too many tannins, why was I ever even born.

I'm old enough that I remember when coffee-you-got-elsewhere was, generally, pretty awful. McDonald's is decent enough now (they use arabica beans), but I remember their coffee used to be thin, bitter, awful - though still better than the stuff I'd smell when we took the car in to the mechanic. I swear that stuff was made from recycled tires.

But now? It's pretty good! But to me undeniable that the coffee I get when I go out always tastes worse than what I can make at home. When I'm running around, I have it in a travel mug or paper cup, typically with the lid on. I assume part of what's lacking is that the smell of coffee is so central to the whole experience. I loved the smell of coffee long before I ever liked the taste: I remember my parents making cheap coffee in their little Black & Decker coffee maker on mornings in the weekend, and that wonderful smell. So much of that's lost with a lid, you know?

I'm writing this with the dregs of this morning's cup beside me, in a handmade clay mug, one of a pair we got for Christmas from an old friend. It's wonderful: large, but not oversized, enough to hold half what's in the French press. It's wider at the top, so the coffee cools a bit quicker. For some people, this would be a problem. But I like my coffee just on the hot side of warm, so it's perfect.

Most of the rest of the day, I'm really not picky. I'm still largely working from home, and have a sink in the basement with some coffee and tea supplies nearby. Most of the time, I'll have instant, no sugar, no milk. It's terrible. I drink it out of a mug I got at the dollar store near my last job, when I needed a mug for making coffee at work, and didn't care if it got lost or broken. But for when I want to really enjoy the coffee, I use the French press. I grind the beans fresh. I use a nice, biggish mug. It's another cup of coffee, but it's also not, y'know?