The Importance of Coffee

I've been thinking this week about my blog and whether or not I should continue it now that I am not, as the title leads one to believe, a "traveling nurse" anymore. 

One thing I've noticed in the last month or so is that being settled and being close to friends and family has resulted in a lot less time on the internet. I'm certain that's a good thing but it has also meant a lot less time spent blogging. On one hand, I have really grown to love photography through this blog, and without it what will happen to the 36 billion pictures I take every week? On the other hand, now that I'm just staying in Missouri for a while, do I even have interesting things/places to blog about? On the other, other hand, there are places like The Roasterie in Missouri that are pretty stinking cool.

And that is how this post came into being.

To start this post I think I should establish that I love coffee. In fact, as I type this I am drinking coffee. It happens to be the second pot I've brewed today (It was only a half though, so it's okay). Yesterday I noticed that there were little dried coffee splatters on the screen of my phone, a faint mug sized ring where I always sit in the morning to read my Bible, and assorted papers on my desk bearing the brown marks that come from accidentally bumping it when the coffee cup is a little too full. 

Periodically, I do this thing where I realize that my love of coffee is out of control and I wean myself back to 2 cups a day and then a year later I'm back in the same place of drinking too much coffee again. The second realization I had yesterday is that I am apparently really clumsy. Okay, that's not really new, but I'm going to pretend like it is. 

Anyway, the point is that coffee is my favorite and I've been wanting to go on a tour at The Roasterie in Kansas City for a long time. Now that I'm back in the area, I finally had the opportunity to go.

Great things about this tour:

1. You get to learn about coffee

2. You get to sample coffee

3. You get discounted coffee

4. You get to smell coffee

5. It's free

We went through the area where the beans are stored and learned the origins of different beans and the process of picking and shipping the beans.

Next we learned about air roasting and the packaging process. The tour guide was really informative.

Finally the coffee ends up perfect and heading out the door.

As if that wasn't enough information, we ended the tour with a cupping demonstration. This is how The Roasterie (and probably every other coffee distributor) ensures quality coffee is being sent out.

Honestly, it was really interesting, but I didn't retain a whole lot.  Here's what I learned: Coffee is good and there are still fun places to see even if I'm not "traveling."

So, will there be more blog posts from this non-traveling nurse? Probably. 

Will they be as frequent? Probably not. 

Will coffee continue to be my favorite beverage? Definitely.