A Tour of Texas

I had a pretty extensive tour of Texas on Saturday.

It began when I met up with a buddy of mine at a farmer’s market in Coppell, TX (a NW suburb of Dallas) that morning. We met there to go to on our road trip to see where Dr. Pepper first began.

But while I was there, I chewed the cud with an organic coffee roaster, or more accurately, tasted the brew. After a great conversation that would surely amaze or bore someone not so into coffee, I bought about a pound and a half of some Peruvian coffee. It was great stuff: strong, natural cinnamon, chocolate and caramel flavors in the coffee. The variety of flavors blew away the beans from the Coffee Chain That Shall Remain Nameless because the beans I sell on a daily basis are roasted to fit one specific taste profile. The beans I bought at the market are roasted with the flavor profile left up in the air, like the sweet smells and smoke of roasted coffee. It’s a little more adventurous.

So anyway, two other guys and I drove a couple hours to Hico, TX (just next door to our final destination in Texas terms). Our destination: The Koffee Kup Family Restaurant. They had pies with mile-high meringue and tasty chicken fried steak, but the main reason we went there was the infamy this café used to have. The retired title of restaurant was: Koffee Kup Kafe. The infamy comes from the alliterated title and what the first letter of each of those words mean when lined up next to each other (KKK). No joke. This is Texas, mind you.

Then we set off to Dublin, TX, where Dr. Pepper was invented and is still bottled to this day. What makes this plant (more accurately a small building on a corner in a town of 3,000) unique is that the Dr. Pepper made here still uses the original recipe of Imperial cane sugar, rather than corn syrup. This gives the pop a much crisper taste and is just plain awesome. I took a tour of the ancient glass bottling machine that is only used once a month, due to the lack of bottles and the ancient nature of the parts in the machine.

In the soda fountain shop next door, I had an old fashioned Dr. Pepper, made by adding carbonated water to syrup. Ooooooohhhh yeeeeaaaahhhhh. Then I bought 8 six packs to savor for a while.

And a couple days later, back in Dallas, TX, I hit up a happy hour at a local microbrewery and tasted their ‘chili’ beer, made with jalapeños. Let me just say: jalapeno beer = awesomeness.

Why Teach? on The Brew; Scary liquor stores; Seraphim Falls

I just posted September's first article, "Why I'm Still A Teacher" by new author Gayle Amato. It's a great look at what education really is and where The Brew fits in in the educational process.

There are still a few kinks to get worked out, as you may notice when you look for September's editorial, which has disappeared. Such is the joy of Internet publishing. But fear not, for my editorial writing prowess will be able to be viewed once again (and will make look Gayle's article look all the better) when this one of many hiccups is fed a good spoonful of peanut butter.

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I've come to love scary-looking liquor stores. I went to one in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood in Dallas where two black men were sitting outside and asking for money and beer. An Asian and a Phillipino man manned the counter inside. When I walked in, looking as white as can be in cargo shorts and a polo, I think I did my part to celebrate racial diversity. Or is it unity? All races are brought together through a liquor store?

To make it even more ethnic, I was on a mission for Gallo beer, which is made in Guatemala. I found this beer at a store similar to the one mentioned above while living in Chicago. I knew that my only hope would be to check out random, ramshackle stores which might carry it.

I was let down when I didn't see Gallo. But instead I found Tona (there should be an 'enye' in that name but this blog couldn't translate that symbol), a beer from Nicaragua.

Oh, man. I almost forgot about Gallo when I downed this smooth but somehow crisp delight. My curiosity was rewarded and now I'm not so sure if Gallo is the best Latin American beer I've had.

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I watched Seraphim Falls this weekend and was wowed as James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) was chased through the southwest by Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson). Both played ex-Civil War generals who had some unfinished business. Great cat and mouse film with some very surprising moments.

Brosnan should get an award for best use of a horse as a cloaking device in this film. That's all I'm gonna say about that, otherwise, I'll spoil the best surprise of the movie.