I’m just curious, are there any other “Fair Weather Smokers” out there or do I simply need to mail in my man card?

Up until four years ago, I never drank coffee and couldn’t have cared less. While I had tried it in my teenage years, I was turned off and had zero interest. Like wine, my initial interest in coffee was stirred by my wife’s fascination/fixation on good coffee. Another factor was my moving to a new company where getting a cup of coffee from the cafeteria was a central part of the office culture. I guess you could say I succumbed to peer pressure and became addicted. I guess I didn’t pay close enough attention to Nancy Reagan in my formative years.

My wife and I recently purchased a Keurig coffee machine to supplement our Cuisinart grinder/brewer and quickly found that through the wonder of K-Cups we can experience more different varieties of coffee then ever before. The Cuisinart is feeling neglected. A local coffee shop called “Out of the Woods Cafe” in Merrimack, NH has hundreds of different varieties and encourages people to come in and make their own variety packs for the same price as a regular box of a single variety. It has been a terrific way for us to try new flavors without investing in an entire box of a flavor we find we don’t like very much. Once we find a flavor we like we order it up on CoffeeforLess.com and always have a ready supply of our every day coffee.

I am, by no means, an expert on coffee and like I started this site with the purpose of discovering and learning about cigars, whisky, and wine (although I have yet to review a wine); I hope to use this opportunity to discover new coffees and share my experiences.

The official motto of the state of New Hampshire is “Live Free or Die” and while I’ve heard many jokes and jabs directed at the seriousness of that motto I’m relieved to see that it hasn’t been forgotten by the men and women in the legislature. On March 5th, the house passed an amendment to the 2007 Indoor Smoking Act that would provide an exemption for cigar bars.

The Indoor Smoking Act extended the statewide smoking prohibitions to include restaurants and bars. Tobacconists were already excused from having to send their customers outside, but there were no such exemptions for businesses that also sold food and spirits. The ammendment was sponsored by both Democratic and Republican representatives that would provide an exemption to businesses that generate 60 percent of their income from the sale of tobacco and tobacco-related products. These businesses would then be permitted to obtain a liquor license, so long as they comply with the current law that requires they also sell food.

The next move is up to the state senate and looks like it will probably pass there as well. If passed the amendment would become effective Jan 1, 2009.