Risser Kaffee Verein

Caffeine is a wonderful cure for brain fog, and coffee is my favorite way to deliver it. I know I am not alone on that either. If I rate brain fog on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the worst, then today is really only a two so it won’t take long to clear things up. That brings me to the personal and local significance of the 3rd of July. Where I live, there was a big annual event to celebrate the 4th of July holiday that took place on both the 3rd and 4th of July. At some point, I assume for economical and logistical reasons, it became only a one-day event, on the 3rd of July. It is said that 400,000 people attend this event which includes a fireworks show firing off 1,500 pounds of Fireworks, live music an air show, etc. I have attended it myself in the past. It is a wonderful and spectacular event! Several times over the years since moving and working in the area of the event, I have commuted to and from work through the crowds and traffic. All this specter and activity on the 3rd of July has made it the day I celebrate Independence Day (for now). That said, while the 4th of July is the day that the Declaration of Independence was formally adopted by the Continental Congress and a national holiday, it was on July 2nd that they voted to adopt it, and some thought for that reason, Independence Day should be celebrated on July 2nd. Where does that leave the 3rd of July and what were the Founding Fathers doing on that day of anticipation and preparation? Well given that two of the most important of them, John Adams as well as Thomas Jefferson, were people who enjoyed coffee. I like to think they were drinking coffee. What better beverage to chase away any level of brain fog and keep his one’s wits sharp than coffee while waiting to found a nation! Thomas Jefferson called coffee “The favorite drink of the civilized world” and kept imported coffee beans in his cellar. John Adams gave up tea drinking in favor of coffee in a gesture of patriotism (since tea had become negatively stigmatized after the events surrounding the Boston Tea Party). Oddly, both Adams and Jefferson died on the same day, July 4th, 1826, which was 50 years after the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Now, about the 3rd of July, I am already enjoying my coffee to celebrate Independence Day and chase any of my remaining brain fog away in preparation for work tonight and my commute through the holiday celebrations!