Tour de Smo' 2022

Just put the little flags on the Speedster

@Lane Anderson posted:

We're going to miss the ride to the restaurant in the limo, Stan, but I'm sure we'll make do.

Limo? I know there will be a couple crew-cab trucks there that seat 5 each. It will have to do.

P.S.: I'm not flying the limo flags.

My Mrs’ Bluetec Mercedes is also quite cumfy

I just nailed down, probably the only other place that can accommodate 20ish peeps, for Saturday night 6pm dinner. Quixote Mexican restaurant.  https://www.quixotebrevard.com/

Jus in case anyone wants to know.

Diane said she'd work on Sora's for Wednesday night.

Thursday night will be a crap shoot. The Square Root might be an option, but they do not take reservations.

Jordan Street Cafe is just around the corner, but they changed their format to, order at the counter and take a number. I don't know how that'll work with a crowd. http://www.thejordanstreetcafe.com/

Dugan's Pub maybe. https://www.duganspub.com/

Hey @Stan Galat, I assume that you won't be bringing the espresso machine.  I'll try to remember to bring my small one from work.

We're bringing our Keurig with the stick-your-own-coffee-in filter cups. Does that help?

I wouldn't mind an espresso, Lane.

The one from work (a Capresso) does an OK job, but not spectacular.  I can't convince myself to bring the Jura from home.

Oh yeah, coffee. Do the rooms have a Keurig (or decent coffee downstairs)? I need caffeine or people may perish.

@Lane Anderson posted:

The one from work (a Capresso) does an OK job, but not spectacular.  I can't convince myself to bring the Jura from home.

I can't bring the big machine, Lane - but I can try to squeeze in the Alicia Turkish coffee maker I had in Maggie Valley. If your work machine uses something like Nspresso cups - they're great, but you'd need about $400 worth to have enough to share with the class. Please bring the Jura. Do it For the Children. Also bring a decent length extension cord and a 3-way, because the kitchen lady was pretty humorless about allowing me to fill and clean my machine last year. We'll need to do this outside with the water from the outside tap. Power will be needed.

I love you Danny, but no - a Keurig tain't raight.

To be fair, I've owned every one of these (except the hemp filter), and will drink any of it in a pinch. We fake fancy with guests, and don't read the New Yorker as the go-to on a daily basis. I've drunk at least a tanker-truck full of non-abstract art over the course of my life, and am apparently a Geriatric Italian on vacation, because I don't think I fit the young snob profile. The pourover just takes too long.

There's oddly no percolator, which was my go-to for about 10 years when I was young and quite poor. I still find the coffee to be quite serviceable, assuming you make it strong enough and start with a dark bean.

That's something else, @Lane Anderson - you'll definitely want to bring your own grind. I can guarantee you won't like mine.

Stan, the Keurig works GREAT with the fill-your-own re-usable filter cups. We're OK if you don't want it, but it suits our on-the-road needs.

As I said above, we'll bring it. If you give me a couple scoops of your special coffee, I'd wager you'd like it.

@Chris MacDonald we got you covered.

@Stan Galat Your love of coffee reminds me of a fellow I worked with at the sheriff’s office that joined our wilderness Search & Rescue team many many years ago. Mind you, once we were released into the wilderness to search for a missing/injured hiker we had to be self sufficient for up to 7 days before a re-supply was considered.  So you had to carry what you thought you needed in terms of food, shelter (if anything other than a tarp to lay on), survival gear, and any additional equipment you thought you might need.

So we’re on a search and we’re probably 15 miles or so from where we started our hike and the team I was leading stopped for some caloric input. The new guy on the team, who was a whole lot book smarter than me but hadn’t spent much time in the wilderness (still not sure how he got selected for the team), sat down with the rest of us to rehydrate his chosen gourmet meal from a fine selection of Mountain House gourmet meals. Anyway, after boiling the water to rehydrate a bag of Chili Mac or something and waiting for the magic to happen he pulls out a French Press and a bag of gourmet grounds. We all look at him and ask, “Of all the gear you could have or should have brought, you elected to bring a French Press?” He responded simply, “I love great coffee.”. He fit in just fine and he read enough books he had a theoretical knowledge of wilderness rescue and we helped turn it into a working knowledge.

We'll have espresso whether from the Jura or Capresso.  The Capresso ain't bad (it's a pump machine with steamer), but the Jura is better.  It also cost at least 6x what the Capresso did so it'd better be.  Of course I got both of 'em for free from work, so I can't complain.

Wow

Somehow me and my Dunkin’s sippy cup might not fit in with you’se coffee snobs….   😉

My daily Green Tea sure wouldn’t, either!

I'm a Melitta man myself.  Simple, and good.

I have been drinking Don Pablo Gourmet Coffee - Signature Blend - Medium Dark Roast - Whole Bean Coffee as recommended by someone in this group.  It recently went up $8 a bag on Amazon so now is cheaper from Walmart.

@Michael McKelvey posted:

I have been drinking Don Pablo Gourmet Coffee - Signature Blend - Medium Dark Roast - Whole Bean Coffee as recommended by someone in this group.  It recently went up $8 a bag on Amazon so now is cheaper from Walmart.

That was me. I nearly had a heart attack when Amazon told me they couldn't fulfil my subscription order for that Darn Pablo in the 5lb bag. I had to scrounge for a few months to get my fix (complicated by the usual Hawaii shipping issues).

@Stan Galat, I know you tried the Don Pablo. What did you end up liking?

PPS, one of the great things that has happened since I've grown ancient is that I can now drink two double espressos after dinner, watch a few reruns of Elementary, read some, and go soundly asleep by 9:30 pm. It's a miracle. Perhaps like with iocaine powder, I've developed a caffeine immunity.

My gourmet coffee days are far, far behind me.

I’ll just stick with my Dunkin Donuts small black hot decaf in a sippy cup.   It fits my spiffy, new Stainless Steel cup holder, too!

Wouldn’t want to get a big head about this…..   🥴

I used to do a lot of Yaucano coffee from Puerto Rico.  Great stuff that, when brewed as espresso, could blow your sox off.  

I have been buying a package of 3 - 12 oz. bags from Walmart for about $16.  This is approximately the previous price on Amazon for a 2-pound bag.

Thanks Danny!

I love a great cup of coffee but I need at least a mediocre cup to stave off assault charges. A Keurig works for easy and because I am lazy first thing. I do French Press after cup one.

Is it creepy if I just stand outside Lane's room, peeking in his windows until I get an espresso?

"PPS, one of the great things that has happened since I've grown ancient is that I can now drink two double espressos after dinner, watch a few reruns of Elementary, read some, and go soundly asleep by 9:30 pm. It's a miracle. Perhaps like with iocaine powder, I've developed a caffeine immunity."

And what and how many times do you get up before morning to dispense that coffee...?

@Chris MacDonald posted:

...

Is it creepy if I just stand outside Lane's room, peeking in his windows until I get an espresso?

Yes, bit it would probably work.

Shipping is free on Walmart if you buy two of the 3-bag bundles.

Now that's a good deal!

@Bob: IM S6 posted:

Perhaps like with iocaine powder, I've developed a caffeine immunity."

INCONCEIVABLE!

@Michael Pickett posted:

@Stan Galat, I know you tried the Don Pablo. What did you end up liking?

I'm still partial to super-dark, over-roasted Charbux French Roast. The Don Pablo was fine, but it didn't rock my world. Costco runs sales on what I buy.

Nobody likes my bean, and that's fine. I've got no idea who decided I was a coffee snob, but it's not true - I'm a coffee junkie. The caffeine is not the pull for me, it's the flavor of coffee. I like coffee. I'm perfectly happy with Folgers that's been cooking down on the hot-plate of a Bunn drip machine. I like strong coffee. More is more.

Hampton Inn dark roast is perfectly palatable. It's just not quite strong enough.

I don't want coffee that tastes like something else. I don't want coffee that barely tastes like coffee. I don't want any coffee that allows me to see the bottom of the cup, or even to see 3/4" down in the cup. I don't want any blonde roast nonsense. I don't care what the hipster "connoisseur" wants me to like - he's a little pretentious twit who's never been to Europe or South America to drink really strong, really dark coffee.

What I run is the highest octane "coffee" flavor available for $15 for 2 lbs. There's absolutely better coffee out there, but I don't want to send away for it, I don't want to fly it in on the space shuttle or have it carried to me on pack animals from Ethiopia. I don't want to spend $50/lb on it. This is not a luxury good - this is a drink. I don't really like water.

I'm the opposite of Mr. Pickett in that I used to be able to drop 2-4 double espressos before bed and sleep like a baby. Now, I've got to shut the show down by 4 PM. Pity, that. I like the flavor at night.

Also: I can only do about 3 doubles in the morning or my BP gets out of control.

Getting old is no bueno.

Bring some of your "special" grind, Stan.  I can experiment with the auxiliary input to the Jura for pre-ground coffee.

@Stan Galat posted:

I love you Danny, but no - a Keurig tain't raight.

There's oddly no percolator, which was my go-to for about 10 years when I was young and quite poor. I still find the coffee to be quite serviceable, assuming you make it strong enough and start with a dark bean.

I can bring my Grandmother's old Pyrex percolator. I may even have a stainless steel one from my Westfalia days(gas stove). Either way, I can bring one.

@DannyP posted:

I can bring my Grandmother's old Pyrex percolator. I may even have a stainless steel one from my Westfalia days(gas stove). Either way, I can bring one.

I'm good, thanks.

Lol, We have these off the boat Italian 40 year old stovetop espresso makers. We have them in every size. The 2 cup, 4 cup, 6cup and a 12 cup. Just need a hot plate Edit... Sandy corrected me. They are called Contessa. 

Suddenly, I feel as though I've been missing something......

Acid reflux

Is this weekend going to be about driving mountain roads in great weather, or a silly woman's gourmet coffee club convention ? I think you guys need to pour some french roast into your petrol tanks and see how fast you run........sheesh.

@Gordon Nichols posted:

Suddenly, I feel as though I've been missing something......

Just don't ask for a "plain" and expect to get a black coffee.

@Former Member posted:

Is this weekend going to be about driving mountain roads in great weather, or a silly woman's gourmet coffee club convention ? I think you guys need to pour some french roast into your petrol tanks and see how fast you run........sheesh.

Ha! Are you coming with an air-cooled car this time?

Are you kidding ? With my repertoire of bad jokes, I stay air cooled 24/7

Oh, and to answer your question aove:

Yes.

LOL!

@Gordon Nichols posted:

Suddenly, I feel as though I've been missing something......

That's the flip phone of coffees. It'll get the job done, in a pinch.

I did an exploratory, in my truck, on the main part of the Deliverance Run this morning to make sure the roads were still paved. I'm happy to report, they are. There were many fresh pothole patches, which is a good thing. I still saw a couple that weren't filled, and some gravel on the road in a few places to make things exciting. There is a section on 281 that I was worried about. They had chip and sealed it and I wanted to make sure it wasn't still covered in gravel. The texture is rough, but it's solid and no loose gravel. Overall not too bad. I even drove on a, new to me, piece of road that was fun.  It was in the low 70s with puffy white clouds. We could use just a tiny bit of rain, just a tiny bit.

I should've taken my car, but I had other things to do.

I drove by the hotel and I seriously doubt the owner will let us make a fire pit. I might check to see if anyone I know has one of those metal elevated fire pits. That might be possible.

50 years ago, Marianne & I would make regular forays to Brevard and the surrounding wilderness. Really wishing we could join you next week. It looks like it should be great weather and that @Carlos G has done a brilliant job of preparing for a fun time!

Obligatory pic of Marianne hamming it up in front of Looking Glass Falls.

I was hoping that the hotel would have done something with that area as Layton and I discussed it last year.  An elevated firepit would be cool, if we can do that, but I have no idea what they cost.

@Former Member posted:

Is this weekend going to be about driving mountain roads in great weather, or a silly woman's gourmet coffee club convention ?

Dunno.

We'll have had two full days of hard driving on great mountain roads in great weather and probably three mornings of decent coffee by the time we see you on Saturday, Tom.

Were you planning on bringing any silly women? They'll need their own coffee.