I have a confession…
I drink too much coffee. Most mornings I want to bathe in it and soak it into my pores.
Granted, I’ve seriously cut down (NOT because I wanted to) but I’m pretty helpless against the sultry siren seductive smell of coffee. One whiff is all it takes to lure me to the coffeepot, wherever it may be located.
It is my morning pal…
The opening ceremony of my day…
My java-disiac.
Yes, I know…it’s a bit sick. But hey, if you can’t tell your posse your secrets, WHO can you tell? I’m just sayin.
That being said, I do lose my taste for it when I’m sick and switch to tea. And I’m trying to drink more water (even though I hate it). But coffee will always be my one true love (shhhhh…don’t tell Hubby!).
I’ve taken pics of my two favorite mugs just for you. Sadly, I don’t have a More Cowbell mug yet… It’s on my Christmas list. 🙂
Jenny’s Favorite Java-disiac Holders
This mug definitely puts me in the writing mood…
- Courtesy of the Badass Coffee Company on Maui…
And this one ALWAYS makes me smile…
(You can’t see the second woman but this is two girlfriends chatting.)
In honor of Labor Day here in America, I’m inviting my More Cowbell pals around the world to take a break from their usual labors to share their favorite beverage holders with the rest of us.
For me, it’s obviously all about the coffee. For you, the beverage of choice might be something else. We’ll find out in the comments. Hint: If you tweet them to me (jhansenwrites) you can upload a link to the tweet in your comment.
What do you drink in the morning? Are you addicted to it? Do you have any rituals around your morning beverage? Enquiring minds love to know these things here at More Cowbell!
Jenny
Note: If you’re in the mood to make jelly to go on something yummy with your beverage, there’s a crazy easy recipe from Charlotte Carter over at Writers In The Storm today!
Jenny Hansen's Blog 
Love your Cowbell Java-Jolt holders (aka mugs), Jenny. Sadly, I have no *gasp* snark-riddled ones to upload. Mine are all Starbucks overpriced mugs from places I’ve been, Starbucks I’ve visited.
I get that java is your morning nirvana. Same with me. A fresh cup of coffee (or, two or three) are my treat to me in the morning. Then, I switch to Tazo Zen Green Tea (another SBUX offering) for the rest of the day). It has lower voltage caffeine, but it is so yummy!
Enjoy your labor day! Why do I suspect your afternoon drink of choice will come in a can versus a mug today? Hmmm. Thinking, thinking, thinking…
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YOU don’t have any snarky mugs?? Color me shocked, Gloria! And I’m completely impressed that you switch to green tea in the afternoons. It’s soooo good for you. Some of them have gluten in them so I have to watch it, but I don’t think the Tazo does.
I use green tea in the iced tea we make for the house. My hubby drinks it by the bucket, whereas I’m more of a tea-sipper. 🙂
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I love big mugs–the kind that would hold a grande. Sadly, I burned my favorite mug (grande Tinkerball) in the microwave when I hit one too many numbers and walked away. I love a good hot chocolate with my decaf.
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Nice, Diana! Starbucks has amazing big mugs but I’m in love with great pottery so I often find those at the crafty shows. Love ’em!
And my hubby rarely drinks coffee in the mornings with me but when he does it’s got to have chocolate something in it. 🙂
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I hear you on the coffee front! I had less coffee than usual this summer during my travels, because it was filter coffee or Greek coffee and I just don’t like them as much as my Italian lovvies. My mug of choice is a bit embarassing really: a sparkly Minnie Mouse mug from Disneyland.
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I love the Greek coffee with a hint of cinnamon though…yuuuummy! But my coffee with the ground beans and coffee press will always be the best.
Don’t be embarrassed about your Minnie Mug – she’s got sparkle. My daughter LOVES Minnie Mouse so she’s becoming a big player at our house these days.
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Mmmm….Coffee! I remember reading somewhere that ambrosia took on the flavor of your favorite food or drink. I, too, have a coffee habit. My all time favorite mug is dark brown on the body with the lip a cream color made to look like coffee froth or whipped cream. On the front it says, “Coffee, Chocolate, Men… Some things are just better rich”.
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LOL on the mug saying. That’s just awesome. A coffee habit is a marvelous thing…
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Love your mugs! haha.. that sounds creepy. I cannot live without coffee! My favorite mugs at the moment (it switches all the time) are my large, dark green Hawk Mountain mug and my goldfish mug that says: “There’s always one – be the one.” There’s a bunch of fish on it facing right with one fish facing left. Annndd… my fishy mug is left handed! 🙂
Enjoy your Labor Day, Jenny!
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There are left-handed mugs??!! Shut the front door! Why wasn’t I told? It should be in the lefty manual. Going online to scope out this phenomenon…
p.s. Totally LOVE the fish mug!
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I’m not a coffee drinker,.
But.
Yesterday, I had a whopper of a headache and a small coffee with 3 Advil worked like magic. Powerful stuff.
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1) I’m completely impressed that you can start your day without coffee and remain so cheerful!
2) I’m glad you’ve discovered the headache-curing properties of my favorite beverage!
All that being said, I’m so sorry you had the headache! There’s just nothing worse than that…NOTHING. 🙂
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I was hooked… Now I enjoy the smell (when others are drinking it), and forego the effects by not drinking the stuff. The smell was always much better than the taste anyway. Coffee without massive amounts of “latte” to me was a let down. So when I found out I am allergic to dairy – coffee went out the window too…
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Oh, I’m not one to drink my coffee black…but all of my friends who have lost dairy go to a non-dairy creamer. It’s rougher for you because you’ve given up all animal protein. Still, I’m hoping you still get to enjoy tea??
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I love, love, love coffee….! Can’t start without it, and my students can’t stand me without it. I’m much less effective.
Have a lovely holiday, everyone!
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LOL…my husband always says that I “show up” in my eyes sometime between the end of my first cup and the middle of my second one. He says he can literally see me arrive. How sad is that? 🙂
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I’m a tea girl, but I do love the smell of coffee, and the taste, tho tummy can’t take it full strength. Lattes, all the way.
I had to cut caffeine completely a few years ago. I learned I wasn’t addicted to my morning cuppa so much as the routine of making that cup of tea in the morning. I drink herbals in the afternoon, and knew I’d be sick of herbal if I drank it in the morning as well.
A switch to boiling water to add to a cup of lemon and lime slices worked well. I had more water, which is always a good thing, and by boiling, the fruit infused faster. Sometimes I added berries or grapefruit slices. So if you ever find you have to go without caffeine, Jenny, give that a try.
Love the mugs!
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Oh, this is very good to know, Sherry! I’m hoping I never have to, but you’re right…keeping the ritual helps.
Whenever I’ve had to give up caffeine, I’ve either done really high quality decaf coffee or I’m also addicted to really strong decaf Irish breakfast tea with milk and honey. You can buy it here in the States at Trader Joe’s but I’m sure there’s other options in your neck of the woods.
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Milk AND honey? Yum. Score another point for hot lemon water: no calories. Waaaa!
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Geesh. Yes, the no calories thing is hard to argue with…
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Since my stroke, I’m restricted to just decaf, but I find that’s sufficient to get me moving in the morning. I use a travel mug to carry it around, because it’s easier to carry up and down the stairs without spilling. You learn to adapt…
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Hey, I can grind decaf beans as easily as regular ones. I’d miss the caffeine but I mixed my decaf beans with my regular during pregnancy so I could drink my entire press worth of coffee (about 3 cups) if I wanted to. You’re right…we do adapt when required. 🙂
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LOVE coffee, and now you went and made me be productive today, because your post made me go do one too. I had to go take pictures of mugs and my dog looked at me like I’d lost my mind, but hey. You know, more and more I keep thinking we were separated at birth, chica! You are a soul sister! LOL! Here’s my post about your post…and my favorite mugs. No idea if it will link it, (not savvy that way) but if it doesn’t, just click on my name. You’ll get there eventually. 🙂 http://sharlalovelace.com/2012/09/03/why-coffee-is-my-bff/
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I adore that post, Sharla!! I do agree that we are kindred spirits. 🙂 Now I’ve got to get my hiney over there to comment. 🙂
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I’m not a coffee drinker but I get my caffeine in the form of Diet Coke. One of my favorite mugs is one with a drawing of a Forest Service lookout station with a logo reading “For the hell of it I spent my summer fighting fires.” Picked it up while working at a fire camp several years ago.
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NICE mug!! I’ve never heard of a “fire camp” but it sounds very intriguing. I can’t imagine ingesting soda first thing, but I know a ton of people (including my husband) that do it. 🙂
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No coffee for me. Never liked it. But I start my day with Coke. I should clarify: Since I’m Texan, “Coke” just means soda. So I’ll drink Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, or my recent craze, Dr Pepper Ten. I drink straight from the bottle, but koozies have become my friend. Right now, my DP10 is sitting in an Astros koozie, but we also have a Buc-ee’s one, a bedazzled cross one, and a beachside scene one. I want more–many, many more. Let me know when you start selling your More Cowbell koozies.
I love that second cup. Ain’t that the truth? My sister always says that down here when we start a sentence with “Bless her heart…” it means we’re about to insult whoever “her” is. Example: “Bless her heart, she’s had more work done than a Macy’s Day Parade float.”
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Dr. Pepper Ten? Is this a Texas thing? (Because I’ve never heard of it.) Y’all are just full of fascinating facts today! Now I’ve got to go cruise over to Google and scope out the DP10.
Bless her heart is the funniest phrase EVER when used properly (which you have demonstrated)… 🙂
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It’s coffee all the way for me. I’m a bit of a coffee snob – good quality, freshly ground beans made in my beloved stove top Italian coffee pot and poured into my twenty year old Monet mug from the Art Institute of Chicago. Then I switch to green tea at work (in my laughably pretentious Paris mug from Starbucks), except when I treat myself to a mocha in the early afternoons. I’ve always loved the smell of coffee and fondly remember inhaling the scent of the fresh grounds as my mother scooped them into her 1970’s avocado green percolator.
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Oh yes. I grind my own beans and use a coffee press. But you’ve got me beat on the cool Monet mug. 🙂
I can picture your mother’s percolator PERFECTLY.
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If I want to really tick off my doctors, all I have to do is show up for the appointments with an iced latte. My primary care physician will quetly and reasonably explain the ills of drinking too much caffiene. The cardiologist will amp it up a bit and lecture me on the effects of caffiene on my blood pressure, heart activiety etc. Truth be told I really don’t like coffee. I prefer iced green tea. In the morning it’s blueberry/pomegranate juice cut with lemon lime seltzer. I can’t be jolted awake, I’ve gotta ease into the day.
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LOL…Tom. Do you ever do it just to see what they say?
On the easing into the day thing…what I know about myself is that I won’t “ease.” I’ll just go back to sleep without the jolt (or I’ll want to). This is the beauty of the world – you get to ease and I get a nice jumpstart. 🙂
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Coffee, coffee, coffee! I’m totally with you on that. If I’m at Starbucks I go for the Vanilla Latte; however, if I’m home, I’m drinking with my French Vanilla Creamer and usually out of my Carnival Ecstasy mug I bought from our last cruise. *sniff* I miss that boat!
-Jimmy
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Nice! Isn’t it amazing how the mugs from certain places transport us back there? I completely do that. 🙂
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Every morning I lead off with a pot of French Press coffee, which I sip on from a massive mug, steaming hot, as I go over my FB page, read blogs and get my day started. The rest of the day, I drink water, but that dark-roasted morning mug–wow. It’s like a holy relic!
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Can I come to your house some morning when I’m having a hard time jumpstarting? It sounds delightful…and I am positive I’d fall madly in love with your “holy relic” coffee press. 🙂
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Coffee… ah, how I love thee. Why did you have to go and get all bitter on me? I worshipped at your temple of java beans, I slavishly wasted money on fancy machiattoes and lattes that made my ass as big as a house and what do you give me in return? Nausea. Not just an icky feeling in my tummy, but down and dirty sickness that wasn’t pretty for either of us. Why coffee? Wasn’t my love for you enough to keep us together?
You’ve been replaced. Tea loves me and I love tea. Although, I’m not against a tryst every now and again. If you don’t tell, I won’t either. It can be out little secret. As long as you don’t make me vomit.
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This is the most hilarious comment I’ve read all day, Tameri! I know you say you’re a morning person, but damn you’re funny at night.
Fave line: “Tea loves me and I love tea. Although, I’m not against a tryst every now and again.” BAHAHAHA!
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Love your mugs! And your badass attitude. I have about 50 mugs to choose from, but my favorites are this huge (20oz) clear glass mug and my Cinderella mug that looks like a castle. I only use that when I need to remember I’m a princess. And yes, I wear my tiara as well.
I have no idea what possessed me to write the comment above, perhaps it was your love of coffee making me jealous. Dang, now I really want some coffee. 😉
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You ARE a princess, Tameri…when are we wearing tiaras together again??
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Awesome coffee mugs, Jenny. I don’t drink any coffee and not much tea either. I just wake up and get on with it, some days more successfully than others 😛
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You do this “no caffeine” business with multiple children, Reetta?!! I’m completely in awe. I’d never manage a toddler with no caffeine!
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Hey, Jenny, fun post! Regarding water-drinking, I’ve got a tip for you (works great for my 11 yo, who’s not crazy about water, either): lemon water. Just squirt a wedge of lemon in your water and stir it up. Tastes great. I also love the TrueLemon packets. It’s simply lemon crystals – no sugar or artificial sweetener. They are so easy, keep forever, and no popped liquid packets in your purse. 🙂
I love the smell of coffee, and enjoy a nice mocha now and then, but otherwise, coffee doesn’t do it for me. It’s all about the tea, baby! Iced, green, black, hot (Earl Grey, yum).
Have a great week,
Kathy
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I hear ya Kathy. I squeeze 1/2 a fresh lemon into a 24 ounce leak proof Costco bottle…add water and ice and voila….I fill 2 each day to drink at work and then try to do 2 more at night. The iced lemon water is fabulous and…they say helps with weight loss if you drink a glass 30 minutes before you eat. Something about the acidity in the lemon helping you digest food?!?!? Could be a myth but I say mind over matter…LOL!!
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Oh my God…look at you two virtuous water girls!! And what’s this about the lemon water making you lose weight?? THAT could get me on the bandwagon for sure. I also drink more water when I’m working out regularly.
Oh! Oh! Do I feel a THE WATER ERA dawning??!
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LOVE your coffee cups Jenny!! SQUEEEE!!!!
LOVE coffee. My favorite HAS to be Second Cup’s butter pecan latte, which I only indulge in once in a blue moon…ok, like once a month but who’s counting. I usually grab a Tim’s or a coffee at work every morning and that’s it. The rest of the day/evening, I try to drink water but I need my warm, steaming cup of coffee to start my day…
I have a few fab cups at home but…here’s the tweet with my fav fabulous work coffee cup!
http://twitpic.com/ar2574/full
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You know I completely love the idea of you drinking out of that mug! Now if I just knew what a Second Cup’s butter pecan latte was…
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Diet Dr. Pepper all day long, every day in a large white coffee mug with ice.
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Lots of people at More Cowbell are Dr. Pepper fans!! I’m happy to know that in light of a post I just put together… You go, girl!
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My morning “brew” is Diet Dr. Pepper, so no mugs, just a chill pack to keep it cold. True story. My sister and I hauled a 12 pk with us to England (years ago, when you could haul things on planes) and made it last by sharing one can a day for the trip. One day this desperate eyed stranger came up and asked where we got it. Almost cried when we told him we brought it with us. We did find some in a shop in London later in the visit and gorged. A bit. But it is heavy to haul around. LOL!
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Holy freakoli! You dragged a 12-pack to England?? BAHAHAHAHA! That’s classic. I love this entire comment.
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Such a fun post, Jenny! I drink coffee or tea in the mornings, usually just a cup or two. Caffeine doesn’t have much effect on me, but I love the taste and warmth. Fun mugs like yours (why does that sound saucy?!?) make sipping more fun. Hope you’re having a brilliant week!!
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I can’t imagine caffeine not giving me a little kick. (And p.s. I LOVE it when you’re a bit saucy. ROFL…)
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Must . . .have . . . coffee. I blame living in Seattle in the early 1990’s. My coffee cup at work has come under attack. One colleague asked, “Who has that disgustingly chipper cup?” Me: “Guilty as charged. Just call me Pollyanna.” Here it is in all its glory: https://twitter.com/EMitchellwriter/status/244941728291897345
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OMG, that was SUCH a coffee-crazed time! I was there in the late 90’s and they were still rabid. I order Java Jane from Victor’s Coffee Company in Redmond to this day. 🙂
Love the mug!
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Okay, here’s the Paris/Las Vegas mug. It’s not scandalous in itself, but I work in a staid office, where no one would willingly go to Vegas, LOL https://twitter.com/EMitchellwriter/status/245253191502020608
Redmond! Victor’s–ah, that brings back some memories!
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