About Me
Hello! My name is snootycoffee. Well, that's the online name I have taken. My real name is Wally. I'm a huge fan of coffee.
It all started in college. I had a few college professors who were addicted to coffee. One was a Starbucks lover and still is, bless his heart. He was always quick to ask if we wanted to go to the local coffee shop for some java. The other loved making his own coffee. He would always have a thermos of his daily brew there for himself at our 8:00am Life of Christ class.
It was also at college where I visited my first true coffee shop. The place was named Hill of Beans. I was a mocha kind of guy then. They made mochas the best, not that I had tried anything else on the menu. I skipped many Hermeneutics classes for a mocha at the Hill.
I also received my first coffee grinder in college. That really was the beginning of this journey I have been on. I admit that back then it was a Mr. Coffee to brew in. I have come so far.
Then, in seminary, it was The Coffee Company. My friends and I spent lots of time in that place. The people who owned it roasted right there in the store. It always smelled amazing. And, if you went at the right time (closing time), you could get more than one cup of coffee for free because they didn't want to waste it. That place should have gotten an acknowledgment mention in my masters thesis.
It was only in the last 10 to 15 years that I really became a snooty coffee guy. When I started at South Lansing Christian Church, the Sr. Minister was a morning coffee drinker. It was horrible coffee--Maxwell House Filter packets. Horrible!
It was around that time that I began hanging out at Il Bacio Caffe. It was a local coffee shop ran by a guy named Dennis. He ordered coffee in from wherever he wanted. It was always fresh. $2 or so for a bottomless cup. My brew of choice then was Highlander Grogg from Fortunes Coffee in Pittsburgh, Pa. It was all downhill from there.
I even had a stint where I roasted my own. I still have some mutated pop corn poppers and a variac. I was serious about it--influenced by one of those first professors who started me down this road. I could have become better...but I could only roast a 1/3 cup at a time. I lost interest. One day, I will roast again.
Outside of my life as a snooty coffee lover I am an associate minster at South Lansing Christian Church. It's a rewarding job that keeps me out of trouble most days. If you are in town and want a great cup of coffee, stop by at my office -- there's always something great to drink in the coffee carafe.