I like coffee. I usually drink a cup at work around 1:00-2:00am of variable quality and brew a cup at home when I wake up, perhaps around 3:30pm, of good quality. Unless Jenny and I visit a coffee shop on a date, I rarely buy brewed coffee because it’s relatively expensive. I’ll never understand the folks who drop $4 every morning on fancy coffee on the way to work. But on date night or at a fancy restaurant, I do order an occasional cappuccino.

I’m not a coffee snob, although I don’t fault those who are. In desperate moments, I’ve drunk Folgers at work that had been on the burner so long it smells like a campfire. I just diluted it with hot water, added lots of creamer, and choked it down. Naturally, I prefer the good stuff, though. You might laugh when I tell you this, but some of the best “normal” coffee (as opposed to coffee beverage like cappuccino) I’ve ever had was the LIFT coffee on a Southwest Airlines flight. No, I’m not just saying that because I work there. It was fantastic – smooth, full of flavor, and with great aroma. We upgraded and branded our coffee earlier this year to rave reviews, and now I know why. I’m trying to find out whether people can buy LIFT beans or grounds directly. Until that is possible, please buy a ticket on Southwest and enjoy the unlimited free coffee. =)

Close behind LIFT is Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. It’s the ultimate coffee snob coffee: rare, very expensive, and grown only in a special mountainous region in Jamaica that provides perfect conditions. It’s so smooth and mild that I drink it black, and even my non-coffee-drinking wife will drink it. The flavor reminds me of the best of other coffees but without the bitterness and acidity that many of them include. On occasion, Buon Giorno in Grapevine lets you order a French press of Blue Mountain in case you’d like to try it.

What about you, coffee fans? What’s the best coffee you’ve ever had?