I enjoy good coffee. Over the years, my mornings have included 2 cups of strong coffee with a little milk. However, since the pandemic erupted and I began working from home (with an eye toward retirement), my coffee consumption has edged up. Of late, it’s 3-4 cups in the morning and I put one large cup of coffee in the frig – to have with lunch. The cold coffee business is not new. Golfing buds with whom I lunch after a Saturday round know that my staple beverage is iced coffee (ideally a mix of regular and expresso). Oh – and the coffee I drink is “regular.” None of that decaf stuff for me. Besides – decaf gives me a headache.

In my house, I am the capo de tutti capi of coffee. I make the coffee in the morning (I use a locally roasted Alchemy coffee – “Harar” – from the Harar region of Ethiopia. “Harar” means “freedom” in Arabic). The water is filtered. And I normally run extra water through when the pot gets low. So in the mornings, Donna and I sit. Read two newspapers. Watch a little “Squawk Box” or the “Today” show. Work a Sudoku. Have breakfast. And sip good coffee. Ahhhhhh. . . . .

There are varied health benefits from drinking coffee. Statistically, they say coffee can improve energy levels, make you smarter, burn fat, improve physical performance, lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s, some cancers (for men it reduces the risk of prostate cancer), and possibly Alzheimers. It may protect your liver, fight depression and make you happier. In short, I don’t see much downside to knocking back a few cups of java.