Saturday encore ~ And it only took 16 years to figure this out

It's been almost a year since I finally uncovered the secret to making a good cup of coffee in New Mexico. I wrote about this life-changing discovery in two posts last summer, which I've combined for this encore.

I love my morning coffee. My day does not begin officially until I've had an entire pot. But here's the rub – the coffee I make has always tasted pretty bad compared to that you will find in other kitchens, and it's never hot enough. I've tried different coffee makers, different coffee beans, different coffee cups, now I even make it with bottled water. Still, my coffee never makes the grade. It's drinkable, it kick-starts my day, but it doesn't ever make me smile and say, "ahhhh, now that's a great cup of coffee."

I was bemoaning my coffee conundrum one recent morning while on vacation, as I sat at the breakfast table sipping the perfect cup of steaming hot java, fresh from a bottom-of-the-line Mr. Coffee maker. "Why doesn't my coffee ever taste this good or get this hot?" I whined. After much deliberation by a group of knowledgable adults, we decided to blame the altitude. The altitude?

The 7MSN sits over a mile above sea level - 6,253 feet to be exact. Water boils at a lower temperature up here, hence the water inside my coffee maker never reaches the proper temperature for making the perfect cup of coffee...or something like that. Clearly, science was never my best subject or I might have figured this out 16 years ago when I moved to Albuquerque (altitude 5,280 feet).

So what's a high-altitude-living rancher-woman to do? Google "high altitude coffee maker," that's what. And lo and behold, there really is such a thing! Have I mentioned lately how much I love the internet? In fact, Bunn makes several high-altitude models. Who knew and why didn't they tell me? Just when I thought life couldn't get any better, now I'll be able to get a decent cup of coffee around here. It won't be like having a Starbucks on the corner...it will be better.


The long-anticipated moment of truth

Seems like whenever I have to head out to pick up a critically important package, it rains, the dirt road turns to slop, and the trip turns into a minor adventure. I suppose this is nature's way of making me appreciate that which I am about to receive.

Smooch faithfully accompanies me on these package pick-up trips. She gets just as excited as I do about big brown boxes.


But no trip is so important that we can't pause for a moment to share our news with our neighbors.

We're on the way to the post office! The package is here!

Leave it to a blasé bovine to burst my bubble.

Smooch's excitement turns to caution when she realizes the package is bigger than she is.


I have been awaiting this delivery for 19 days, but really for 16 years...since I moved to New Mexico...where the altitude is high and the coffee is bad.

The moment of truth occurred at 6:00 this morning. In a side-by-side taste test where I pitted my $35 Mr. Coffee against the $100 Bunn GRX-B High-Altitude brewer, the results are in...


The new machine is worth every penny. The coffee comes out the perfect temperature and tastes like ... well, like coffee! Stop on by for a cup if you're ever in the neighborhood.