Kaldi’s Coffee | RegenAxe

Mardi Gras Mask

We needed more coffee. We only had enough beans left to make one more pot of coffee. So as part of my preparatory grocery shop, in honor of winter storm Octavia’s then expected arrival, I turned into the coffee and tea aisle. My basket was already well lardered with the staples required to weather any snowstorm, milk, bread, eggs and beer, but the specter of snowbound starvation pales in comparison to the threat of having no coffee in the house.

We drink Kaldi’s coffee. Kaldi is a local roaster and coffee shop proprietor, who also happens to sponsor our charity MS-150 bicycling team, plus they make darn good coffee. Most of the varieties of Kaldi’s coffee were on special and the selection had already been pretty well picked over. There was a woman standing there, looking over the still available coffee bags. I stood near her, squinting over her shoulder, trying to see which varieties were already ground and which ones were still whole beans. I wanted a bag of whole beans.

At this point, the woman turns to me and asks, “Have you ever tried Kaldi’s coffee before?” I assented and then she asked, “Which one is your favorite then?” I tried saying that I didn’t really have a favorite one and that I liked several of their varieties. Then she asked, “Which one are those?” I was a little surprised by her third-degree, but mostly by her intensity with which she asked these questions. She sounded like she really wanted to hear my thoughts on Kaldi’s coffee. Taken aback, I couldn’t remember any of the cute-little names for the varieties that I drank. I was speechless. My silence occasioned her the opportunity for a little soliloquy, “My friend only likes Birds and Bees. I like it too, but sometimes I would like to try something different. That’s why I was asking what flavors you liked?” I blurted out French roast, but she dismissed the suggestion out of hand, “Too bold.” Then she said thank you and walked away without selecting any coffee, but she was back in a flash and informed me, “You are blessed.” I thanked her.

After she was finally gone, I studied the still available selection of coffee. As it turned out the only variety that was whole bean was Birds and Bees. With 20/20 hindsight I could now see that what she must have really wanted was a bag of ground Birds and Bees. There is a Kaldi’s kiosk on the other side of the store, she could have taken a bag over there and gotten it ground. If I had known, I could have been more helpful.

Now I’m walking on sunshine, oh oh!
I’m walking on sunshine, oh oh!
I’m walking on sunshine, oh oh!
And don’t it feel good!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Saturday morning was cold, frostbite cold, but it was also brilliantly bright, as the day’s winter sun blazed cold, but bright. Anne and I launched ourselves on an epic, 6 mile walk. Our first stop was Kayak’s Coffee, where we had breakfast and got warmed up some too. The second stop on our itinerary was the History Museum. We walked there to see the visiting Napoleon exhibit. On the way back, we skirted the Grand Basin and the Art Museum, before lighting at the DeMun Kaldi’s Coffee, our third stop. From there we trudged home, feeling strangely tired even with all of the day’s imbibed caffeination.

Kayak’s Coffee was pretty empty when we walked into it. Located kitty-corner to the WashU campus and just above one of the Metro stops, Kayak’s Coffee is perfectly located to reap the local student trade. I asked Anne though where the students were. Was it just too early on a Saturday morning? Or, was it too early in the sense that they were not yet back from Christmas break? Or was it just too cold for the student body to venture out? I didn’t get my answer at Kayak’s Coffee, but I got my answer later at Kaldi’s Coffee. Last year Kaldi’s Coffee bought Kayak’s Coffee and Anne had an epiphany, for a really easy three Kaldi’s Coffee bicycle ride, Kayak’s Coffee, the DeMun Kaldi’s Coffee and the downtown Clayton Kaldi’s Coffee. I think that this version of the three Kaldi’s Coffee bicycle ride would be less than ten miles.

Treasures of Napoleon was the History Museum’s exhibit. This is a visiting show. It comprises a private collector’s personal collection. Consequently, photography was prohibited. The picture of Napoleon Crossing the Alps, painted by Jacques-Louis David is a picture of a reproduction of a reproduction. I photographed a banner above the ticket counter. The banner was a reproduction of the original David work that was in the show, but this David work was not his original painting of this subject. Even a good artist will copy his own work if the money is also good. I judge this exhibit good, if not great. My sole credential for this judgment is that I own and have read the Durant’s Napoleon volume of their multi-volume history of Europe. In truth all of the truly great pieces are state treasures, so for one collector to have amassed as much as he did is truly great. Truly!

After the Napoleon exhibit, hoards of Girl Scouts, super-charged by Disney Radio quickly drove us from the museum, with our ears still ringing. All that girl energy transfused into sound was just too loud. On the way home, we passed by the Grand Basin and the Art Museum and got some pictures along the way. We lay over at the DeMun Kaldi’s Coffee and I learn which of the three questions that I had posed at Kayak’s Coffee was the correct question. Ten on a Saturday morning is too early for university students to start hitting the coffee shops, after noon is more their speed. Kaldi’s Coffee was very crowded. On the way home from there, Anne told me a lightbulb joke:

How many ADD students does it take to change a light bulb?
OK, many ADD students does it take to change a light bulb?
Look, it’s a squirrel!