While I grew up thinking that Yuban coffee was the best, my tastes have changed a bit. I like a dark roast, but one that's not burnt. That's why I prefer Peet's.

I've drunk practically every single origin coffee and hundreds of blends -- everything from Jamaica Blue Mountain and Kona coffees to African, Middle Eastern, Asian, and South American ones. My all-time favorite is one that even many coffee blenders have never heard of, Sulawesi-Kalosi. Peet's quite correctly describes it as, "Rich, full body; moderate, well-balanced acidity; and a multidimensional aromatic character with prominent herbal, nutty, and pleasantly sweet woody notes." All true.

Besides making sure that the coffee we drink is fresh and stored properly (in the dark, but certainly not in the refrigerator or freezer), the biggest favor we can do ourselves is to invest in a high-quality burr grinder. Coffee that we grind right before adding water to it is much richer.

I currently use a simple paper filter. Many people prefer a French press, which I have and once used and may again some day. Those are the two top methods.

Then, of course, we have to boil the filtered water and add it to the cup. This turns out to be the lesson that I had to learn most recently.

While this sounds simple, it's not. After boiling the water, we have to let it cool down. Since where I live is more than a mile high -- where water comes to a boil at a lower temperature than sea level -- I figured that I really didn't need to wait. Wrong.

The taste of the coffee comes out much more strongly when I let it cool down to close to 180 degrees. That takes about 3 minutes here.

Finally, we need to serve it properly. Serving it in a paper cup is gross. But I go even a step further. Ever since Carl Lau told me about 10 years ago that he thinks that coffee tastes better in a fine bone China tea cup, I tried it and agree.

Taste is one thing. Health is another. I wouldn't be telling you this if I didn't know that drinking coffee is good for our health.

Scientists have studied coffee as much as anything we consume. Some early studies indicated that it might be problematic. But recent studies are practically unanimous that drinking three or four cups of coffee a day are good for us. Maybe it's all the antioxidants that it has.

Alcohol
While I drink coffee for pleasure, I drink alcohol for my health. That is at least partly true.

Hard liquor does contain a few calories, unlike water or black unsweetened coffee. One shot of 25 grams has about 50 calories.

Studies by Barbara Rolls and others show that when we take our food in liquid form rather than in a solid one, we consume more calories that day. To keep my weight in check that's one of the big reasons why I otherwise avoid drinking any calories.

I do enjoy my liquor. But not as much as my coffee, because I don't drink as much of it.

As we all know, drinking a lot of liquor can have terrible consequences. But many of us think that drinking no liquor is healthier than drinking a little. Strange as it seems, that's wrong, according to many published studies that I reviewed years ago. This seems to be especially true for people with diabetes.