Mercury Retrograde Coffee

Some days are a success. Some days are less than successful. Some days, well, Mercury is in its retrograde pattern, is it not?

Inspired by a local restaurant’s version of Turkish Coffee? I “tried this at home,” again.

The basic recipe is my morning coffee with additional ingredients like Cardamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, and Cinnamon. For last several years, one merchant I’ve worked alongside called the spice ‘Chai,’ but I’m not really looking too hard at that appellation.

As an addendum, I keep small bottle of Mexican Vanilla (vanilla extract) on hand, as much for the properties of chasing away evil as for a flavor ingredient. Just a drop on the pour over filter, though, maybe a few drops, just enough to add the heady essence of vanilla without the weight?

Mercury Retrograde Coffe

the Portable Mercury Retrograde

Perfect Quick Example

It’s a perfect quick example of what happens when Mercury is Retrograde (back into Pisces) along with Venus (retrograde as well), the fallout from the lunation?

The horoscope for 4.1.2025 had the original (corrected) text version, the first pass proofreader, and the final copy editor’s mark, all checked off.

In the planetary confusion, Tuesday morning, there were still a half-dozen typographical errors, had to be corrected on-the-fly.

Perfect Quick Example

“Good help is so hard to get these days.”

“Oh, heads will roll.”

the Portable Mercury Retrograde

What the Wife Knew

Twisted little thriller. The premise seems simple, suppose you had a mate that deserved to die, and did.

You know, like “He needed killing.”

Only, despite the character’s best efforts, she didn’t do it?

What the Wife Knew

Weekly Notify Email

—weekly mail—

Weekly Notify Email

Weekly mailing list

#horoscope

dark side of the moon

“I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon.”

— Pink Floyd

dark side of the moon

via Pink Cake

Turkish Coffee

From memory? Turkish Coffee is best done in a small brazier atop a stove.

Traditionally, it’s a copper conical shape with a brass handle. Not terribly exotic, just functional. Roasted coffee beans are ground super-fine, like dust or talcum powder, then combined with various aromatic herbs, typically cardamon, ginger, and cinnamon, then water is added, maybe two parts water per one part coffee.

The coffee is brought to a boil, let cool, then boiled a second time. As it cools, it’s served in a demitasse, a true Turkish coffee is supposed to served in an ornate one-ounce cup.

Zaatar in San Antonio missed the brazier, replaced with a more utilitarian stove-top pot, but the coffee, water, spices, and insulated handle were correct. As it cools, the fine grinds settle. Still found their way into my coffee (see Sagittarius), but it’s to be expected. Hint of cardamom. Not quite the correct cup, it close enough, and better yet, the right flavor.

It was flavor, plus the kitchen-battered pot itself that sold the coffee. Hot off the stove, fine grounds still roiling in the mixture, just good stuff, and not too sweet.