Coffee

My preferred coffee for almost fifty years has been Farmer Brothers. I first discovered its great taste at the Brown Derby in Beverly Hills and was seriously disappointed to learn that it was only available in hotels and restaurants. So I tended to seek out and focus my patronage on restaurants that displayed the Farmer Brothers logo on their coffee-making equipment.

After a few years, however, I contacted the roasting plant and made arrangements to purchase a case of cans - 24 one pound vacuum cans - at either the roasting plant or one of their far-flung distribution warehouses.

So it has been my frequent practice for the past 30 years, or so, to spend half-a-day in travel to whichever location was closest to my current home. But my latest excursion was a shocker. No longer does Farmer Brothers roast that delicious blend that had made their fortune. Their basic case of cans is now replaced with the European style of "Gourmet Roasts" being brewed in our popular coffee houses. These Gourmet Roasts are nowhere as good as their long-standing roast, and not as good as most of the coffee house brews.

So where does that leave me? It leaves me without that great cup of morning coffee and that mellow relaxing cup after dinner.

It's just another problem of old age. As the years go on I find I lose the great pizzas, breads, tacos, dairy, bakery, coffees and so many foods and products that one associates with The Good Life. The tragedy of old age is that the memory of those lost pleasures does not fade.