Cups a Joe (and tea)

Veronica usually writes the blog posts but since this is a subject near and dear to my heart you are stuck with me.

I love a good cup of coffee.

Wait, let me correct that. I love a huge cup of coffee.

But that is a tall order in most places in Romania. Most Romanians seem to happy with thimble sized cups of coffee. But it drives me nuts when I get a cup of coffee at school and I feel like I am tossing back shots. Shots of scalding hot coffee but still shots.  So I have been looking for the perfect mug for my morning coffee for a long time.

I have found it and it is glorious.

Left: New mug Right: A "big" Romanian mug

So a little more about coffee and me in Romania. Coffee here is not quite what we are used to in the States. Usually when you get a cup of coffee it is made Turkish style. The end result being a decent cup of coffee but with a horrible surprise at the bottom, a mound of grounds. Our gazda family in Targoviste thought it was hilarious when I found my first “prize” in my coffee. I wish I could say it was the last time I had a mouthful of coffee grounds, really I do. As a result I have developed a way to complicated process to complete a simple task. This is par for the course with me. It involves precise measuring of water, grounds and time, a french press, and a giant mug. But I now have a giant mug of coffee with no grounds in the bottom, a win in my book and a damn good way to arm myself for battle with my ragamuffins.

Oh and we got one for V’s tea in the morning. This is one of our traditions from home that I have kept up here. Every morning when I make my coffee I also make here a cup chai-ish tea. Try to guess which color is V’s.

The rainbow assortment