CONFESSIONS OF A COFFEE SNOB
(and why you should buy organic coffee)
Yep…Ms. Healthnut over here is a coffee snob. I can’t help it, I just love it way too much
to ever give it up. My love affair with
coffee started when I was 16 years old in a teeny tiny coffee house in
Flagstaff, Arizona called Macy’s (I won’t say how old I am now…let’s just say
this was a LOOOONG time ago). My very
first coffee there was a Cafe Mocha and I was forever changed. The owner, Tim Macy, knows
his stuff when it comes to all things coffee.
Macy’s also has amazing baked goods and food. Actually, I’m sure Tim does not remember
this, but I used to work the drive-through at the Arizona Bank in downtown
Flagstaff. Tim was one of my
customers. He knew how much I loved his
coffee…but also how much I loved his cream cheese brownies. Sometimes when he would come to make his
deposit, he would bring me one of those brownies…wrapped up nicely…and sent
right through the drive-through tube! To
this day, I have NEVER found coffee that is as amazing as the coffee at Macy’s,
and Lord knows I have tried. I live on
the other side of the country now, but on the rare occasions that I get to
visit, guaranteed you will find me at Macy’s. Check out this interesting video of Tim explaining how Macy's got it's start.
Back to coffee. I
drink it, every.single.day. Most of the time I drink it more than once a
day. My afternoon coffee break is one of
my most prized rituals…second only to my morning coffee ritual. I know it probably isn’t the healthiest
thing, but to be honest…I.DON’T.FREAKING.CARE.
There are, however, things I do to make my coffee
healthier. First, I make sure my coffee
is Fair Trade and organic. Did you know
that coffee is one of the most highly pesticide sprayed crops out there? If you drink coffee daily and you are not
drinking organic, you are exposing yourself to high levels of pesticides (yes,
this includes all you pod drinkers too if you aren't buying organic).
Second, if you don’t like your coffee black (which I don’t), make sure
you are using a high quality creamer and sugar.
I use organic heavy cream, or half and half from a local dairy (from
grassfed cows). To sweeten my coffee I
use organic coconut palm sugar. Every once in a while I use regular (gasp) cane sugar (if you
use regular sugar, please make sure it is cane sugar, otherwise there is a good
chance you are getting beet sugar, which is a GMO crop). Other good options for sweetening your coffee
are pure honey or pure maple syrup.
Do not drink decaf coffee (and really…what is the point of
that anyway). It is highly chemically
processed and you just don’t need or want that.
Enjoy your coffee…just think about ways you can make it
healthier!!!
