I learned about coffee the hard way, the Navy way. Elite coffee conoisseurs would rise early in the morning and hand-select each precious bean, polishing it to shiny perfection, grinding it by hand, ensuring that only the best French imported water was used, brought to a delicate rolling boil before cooling it with shaved ice...
Who am I kidding? It was a E3 messcook in a stained t-shirt who scooped it out of a 25-pound tin with a serving spoon he wiped on his dungarees, and if we were lucky didn't use sea water. By midwatch the sludge was...delicious...
BEST COFFEE EVER! If your spoon doesn’t stand up, then it ain’t done cooking! I had a 48oz Petro Gas Station hot/cold cup and I would drink at least three of those a day - ah, the good ol’ days!
Of course, now that I am older, I do like mine a little less strong and I drink MUCH less of it. I have about one a day M-F and two or three on Saturday and Sunday.