[Navagear is proud to present a very special guest post by Julia Rudden. —Tim]
I admit it, I’m not much of a boater. I get motion sick easily, and hours spent slogging through waves in a 22-foot boat isn’t my idea of paradise. But I enjoy the destinations, and since the kids love boating and the husband has a boat, I come along. I may drive or take a ferry to cover most of the distance, though.
I love coffee and having a cup of coffee first thing in the morning, seated on a dock with the sun shining on my back, a book in my hand, and the cheerful sounds of gulls is one of my favorite boating moments.
Thing is, I’ve forgotten to pack up the coffee grounds more than once. And ground coffee just doesn’t keep. Not only is there no space for a grinder, but the husband is a tea drinker, so he’s reluctant to devote precious storage space to a coffee grinder.
Leave it to Starbucks to create a solution. The new VIA Ready Brew Instant Coffee comes in small, sealed foil packets, each with enough for a single cup of rich coffee.
I hate instant coffee, but the VIA doesn’t taste like instant at all. Most instant coffee is made by brewing coffee and then drying off the water to create a concentrate. Somehow, the folks at Starbucks figured out a way to microgrind actual coffee beans so that they will dissolve in hot water.
VIA comes in two varieties, Italian Roast and Colombian. The packets are very small and come in a stylish, compact little wallet. I purchased two wallets to leave aboard the boat. No more last minute packing of messy coffee grounds, and I’m always guaranteed a decent cup of coffee first thing.
By the way, the VIA foil packets give the impression that they ought to be impervious to the moisture and temperature changes on the boat, so we’re storing them aboard. We’ll set one aside for the duration of the cruising season, and brew it up in the autumn. Stay tuned!
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This is the coffee that Starbucks was handing out this morning on Bike-to-Work day. I have to admit, it was pretty good. Way better than I ever expected from instant. I am definitely going to keep a reserve of this in my galley.
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