Tag: coffee

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I have a rough three-day work-stretch ahead of me, but the weekday Pook-Emu Bee links streak must continue (I will however compromise on feature images today).

1. Brainless TikTok trend causes $2,000 in damage to SoCal home (Daniel Farr for the New York Post. August 26, 2026.)
States and localities should consider sentence enhancement provisions for crimes committed for social media consumption.

2. EXCLUSIVE: US Investigators Have Proof That UNRWA ‘Social Worker’ Caught on Tape Dragging an Israeli Body Into an SUV on Oct 7 Was an Active Hamas Operative (Adam Kredo for The Washington Free Beacon. August 25, 2026.)
It’s always who you least expect… except for those times when it’s the most obvious suspect.

3. $3 Specialty Coffee Is Back In Brooklyn (Ainsley Martinez for Patch Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill, NY. August 25, 2026.)
I seldom buy coffee when I’m out (firmly in the DIY coffee camp) but $3 for a cup of any size is cheap around these parts. Maybe I’ll find a reason when out with a friend to give it a try.

4. I switched from Android’s default keyboard to an open source alternative to eliminate my constant typos (Oluwaniyi Raji for Android Police. August 25, 2026.)
I also use Heliboard. It’s good. I turn autocorrect off because autocorrect is a war crime. The predictive suggestions are solid but I tend to forget about them. I need to make myself remember because typing on touchscreens is not a strong area for me.

5. Roblox applies restrictions to games featuring “reward-driven media feeds” available in Roblox Kids and Select (Sophie McEvoy for Games Industry.biz. August 26, 2026.)
The fundamental problem with Roblox is that its ostensible target demographic should not be playing social online games, period.

6. NYC’s borough-based jail boondoggle is nearly $8B over budget and years behind schedule (Matthew Fischetti for the New York Post. August 24, 2026.)
It’s already casting a long shadow.

7. NYers say Citi Bike has gotten too expensive, can a new advocate-led campaign make it cheaper? (Ethan Stark-Miller for amNY. August 18, 2026.)
Hear me out. Instead of stealing my tax money to subsidize City Bike rides for my betters who will then violate traffic laws and threaten to run me over, what if we at least banned the electric City Bikes and made everything more expensive?

8. Smithsonian affiliate AANM gets federal funds, criticized 9/11 response (Robert Schmad for Fox News. August 25, 2026.)
Score another one for team taxation is theft.

9. Taliban facing constant challenge to authority in provinces bordering Central Asian states (Eurasianet. August 25, 2026.)
Economic ties aside, I’ll note that Uzbek and Tajik police don’t take kindly to men having beards, so the Taliban would probably be well-advised (granting I don’t think they’re much into taking advice) to keep their various militants from causing cross-border problems.

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Replied to ☕If you want to buy me a coffee by Simon (Firesphere.dev)
Just black coffee please. Or a double espresso. In the evening, I might like a black liquorice tea to fall asleep to. But, in general, just a black coffee.

Simon at Firesphere.dev wrote a short post titled If you want to buy me a coffee in response to a hot take post on the IndieWeb against “Buy Me a Coffee” buttons on blogs or capitalism or something. But instead of joining the button debate, he stated what kind of cofee he would like for the benefit of anyone who may be out there looking to buy a coffee. I will join in talking about coffee instead of hot takes.

I prefer making my own coffee at home. You can see my set-up in an article I wrote back in 2023 celebrating going five years without breaking my coffee glass (see sad 2024 update). I could use some ideas now that my go-to place for coffee beans was recently shut down by health inspectors (please just close the kitchen and stick to beans). Do not worry though, I have other options (or ordering possibilities). In any event, I do not like “fruity” coffee beans. If I want fruit I will drink tea. No fruity coffee (that includes anything that could be described as having wine undertones). I take my coffee with milk and sugar. I like all kinds of roasts but not Starbucks-burnt. Thank you.

Hario Skerton coffee grinder on a counter.
My Hario Skerton coffee grinder. I use a manual grinder because I like working for my morning coffee.

If you absolutely insist on buying me a pre-made coffee, I will take a latte or Americano (with milk), thank you. I do not have an espresso machine, so it is nice to mix things up once-in-a-while. No fruity coffee there either (this is why I do not like Brooklyn Roasters’ espressos). If you know a good Dunkin Donuts that pours fresh coffee from pots instead of thermoses, I’ll take one for the nostalgia.

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Liked Check it out, a weird little pen that looks like a coffee pot by Ricardo (Extra Fine Writing)
You may not be familiar with the name, so let me break it down: [This pen] looks like a moka pot and was designed by Giuliano Mazzuoli.

I came across a blog post on Extra Fine Writing titled Check it out, a weird little pen that looks like a coffee pot. When I saw the headline on The Well Apportioned Desk, I was not sure what to expect. But when I opened the post, I recognized the pen in question as having been inspired by a moka pot. It is a neat-looking pen. Unfortunately, even at $75 it is a bit rich for my blood given my lack of need of a new fountain pen, but it earns my nod of aesthetic approval. I will note that I have never used a moka pot before. I am a pour-over guy, but trying one is on my to-do list.

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Another day means more daily Pook-Emu Bee links. Note that the Pook-Emu Bee will take tomorrow off for The Newsletter Leaf Journal (which features even more links), but should return on Sunday. If you enjoy the (almost) daily links and commentary, you can also follow via feed.

1. Chuck Norris, Legendary Action Hero, ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ Star, Dies at 86 (Jerome Hudson and Warner Todd Huston for Breitbart. March 20, 2026.)

A sad day, but also a day to remember a life very well-lived. Rest in peace, Chuckator. (I have a few Chuck Norris-authored posts prepared for future newsletters.)

2. Getting their sea legs: Coney Island Mermaid Parade seeks funding to stay afloat (Olivia Searman for Brooklyn Paper. March 19, 2026.)

My thought whenever I see something about the Mermaid Parade is “I’m glad I’m on the other side of Brooklyn”

3. Peet’s Coffee reveals new floral lineup ahead of Spring season (Tea & Coffee Trade Journal. March 20, 2026.)

I will pass on the lavender coffee, thank you. But while you make up your mind, you can see my first and second posts on Peet’s.

4. Shangri-La Frontier Anime Reveals Season 3’s January 2027 Debut, 1st Game’s 2026 Launch (Joanna Cayanan for Anime News Network. January 19, 2026.)

I’m not excited but the second season (which effectively ended on a side-story cliff-hanger) did give me one article, so inertia demands that I watch.

5. Polish ex-minister warns growing anti-EU sentiment may spur ‘Polexit’ (Krzysztof Mularczyk for Brussels Signal. March 19, 2026.)

I am calling for a total moratorium on -exit (almost as over-used as -gate), but if we absolutely must… whatever you want to add to -exit cannot add a syllable.

6. The Intel N100 killed the Raspberry Pi for home servers (Jeff Butts for XDA Developers. December 5, 2025.)

The mini PC I use with my TV has an N100 CPU. The one I am going to re-configure as a Syncthing node and server has a lesser CPU. I do approve of the N100. Solid stuff.

7. A Springtime Reader (Nicholas A. Ferrell at The New Leaf Journal. March 21, 2021.)

Spring has spring, so I share my 2021 spring-time reader.

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I recently wrote about ordering Copper Moon’s “White Christmas Blend” coffee beans. In my first article (I noted the arrival of the beans in a second article and can now confirm it is good), I noted that I usually buy my coffee beans at D’Amico in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn (which has its own White Christmas blend). Earlier today, I read a November 11 NY1 report titled Division grows in Carroll Gardens over new Court Street bike lane. As the headline suggests, the report is on a {very stupid for reasons noted in the report, signed person who has seen it first-hand) bike lane running along a largely commercial stretch of Court Street in Boerum Hill and Carroll Gardens. The article includes a quote from Joan D’Amico, the owner of D’Amico, complaining that regular customers have nowhere to part and business has been down 10% to 20% since New York City’s bike lobby rode roughshod over another neighborhood (I may have added the last part).

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Five days ago, I wrote about ordering Copper Moon White Christmas coffee after an entry in my feed reader caught my attention. The coffee has arrived.

A large black two pound bag of Copper Moon Coffee, White Christmas flavor, with a small Copper Moon postcard.

It arrived as promised, well packaged and all. I appreciate the little postcard with the signature of the person who packed my coffee. I still have to finish a few beans from my previous batch, so I expect to try the White Christmas tomorrow.

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Back in May I published a NLJ article titled Failing to Try Airport Illy Coffee Vending Machine. While researching the Illy vending machines, I came across a website called Vending Connection. Being a fan of vending machines, I added Vending Connection to my feed collection. Just yesterday (November 7), I read a new Vending Connection post titled Copper Moon Coffee Announces Two New Seasonal Blends: White Christmas and Winter Solstice. I usually buy my coffee beans at D’Amico in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens neighborhood. D’Amico has a very good White Christmas blend. I was curious how the Copper Moon White Christmas compares. After concluding that the price is very reasonable ($31 for two pounds of whole beans with shipping), I placed an order. Christmas is coming early.

(Does this make up for my failure to try the Illy vending machine coffee?)

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From the beginning of a September 3, 2025 report in Tea & Coffee Trade Journal:

Death Wish Coffee Co. has brought back its limited edition and seasonal best seller pumpkin chai.

First flavored seltzer, now coffee. Is dramatic life or death marketing for otherwise innocuous drinks the new trend? It seems like it is more of a trend than pumpkin spice makeup removal wipes.

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I would have ordinarily passed over a report about Keurig Dr. Pepper acquiring JDE Peet’s. However, I decided to open the link since I just recently posted here about Peet’s becoming the coffee provider for Southwest Airlines. I noted in my own post that I had never opted to use my free Southwest Airlines drink on coffee, usually going for apple juice. However, I know that I have on one or two occasions on shorter flights taken the Dr. Pepper. For that reason, I was thinking about a quip about how Dr. Pepper is now Southwest Airlines’ coffee provider. Alas, the report from Tea and Coffee Trad Journal linked above noted that Keurig and Dr. Pepper would split into two companies, with Keurig joining Peet’s and Dr. Pepper focusing on the non-coffee side of things. Thus, my idea for a short post about a quip turned into a sport post about the quip that wasn’t.

(Aside: Not a fan of Keurig machine coffee but I would take it over lemonade coffee.)

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The Tea & Coffee Trade Journal reported that Peet’s coffee has become the new exclusive coffee provider for Southwest Airlines (Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, August 12, 2025). I flew Southwest to and from San Antonio in May. I recall that Southwest’s coffee provider at the time was Community Coffee. However, while I wrote about having a Dunkin latte at Houston Hobby and almost trying an Illy’s coffee vending machine at Houston and Denver International Airport, I did not consider using my free drink on any of the Southwest flights on the coffee. The idea of drinking coffee on an airplane is unappealing to me, and I fear it would be unwise given that planes do not fully agree with me (they are more aggreeable than trams, however). Even if I flew well, I would have some concern about the quality of airplane coffee, so I would have probably stuck with coffee at the airport and apple juice on the plane.