Amulet's Coffee

Coffee makes me alert. Sometimes, downright hyper.

 

Excelso or Supremo ?: These are two popular brands of Colombian coffee sold online. I bought a kilogram of each (Excelso was 50 cents cheaper) and wondered if I can tell the difference in taste. Supremo is better than Excelso in the following aspects [both roasted to the beginning of a "2nd crack" of beans, and the oils just begin to glisten up the surface of roasted beans]:

1. decoction much darker
2. takes in more milk for the same brown color that we like.
3. tasted better in both hot and ice-coffee versions.

 

I googled to see if coffee is offered to any god/deity in India....and came across information on Kal Bairav temple of Ujjain where liquor is offered to the god:
Wikipedia has this:

Liquor is offered to the temple deity as one of the five tantric ritual offerings known as panchamakara: madya (alcohol), maansa (meat), meena or matsya (fish), mudra (gesture or parched grain) and maithuna (sexual intercourse). In older times, all five offerings were made to the deity, but now only alcohol is offered; the other four offerings are in form of symbolic rituals.[3]

Outside the temple, vendors sell baskets of offerings, containing coconuts, flowers and a bottle of liquor.[10] In 2015, the State Government set up liquor counters outside the temple to ensure that the devotees are not swindled by unlicensed vendors of alcohol. The counters sell both [[desi daru |country liquor]] and foreign liquor.[11]

Every day, hundreds of devotees offer liquor to the deity.[2] The devotees hand over the liquor bottles to the priest, who pours the liquor in a saucer. He then offers prayers and takes the saucer near the deity's lips, which have a slit. He tilts the plate a bit, and the liquor starts disappearing.[3] About Two-third of the bottle is returned to the devotee as prasad.[10]
​

Adding brandy (instead of sugar) to coffee is a practice in some European countries. Wikipedia has this to say about the Spanish way:

A carajillo is a Spanish hot coffee drink to which a hard liquor is added, often brandy, whisky, or anisette. According to folk etymology, its origin dates to the times when Cuba was a Spanish province. The troops combined coffee with rum to give them courage (coraje in Spanish, which becomes corajillo in its diminutive form, and later carajillo).​

 

Use INSTANT coffee. That is what she is using, although she is not clear about that. If it is ground coffee, you do not need besan, the coffee grinds themselves would be a mild abrasive.
Buff-puff pad can be used in DIY facials.

 

For those who make the traditional coffee from coffee powder that is steeped in hot water and dripped through a Madras Filter, there will be the spent-coffee grounds at the end, and very likely the 2nd decoction that nobody wants. These coffee grinds are good to add to the garden compost, or to plants that love slightly acidic pH soil, like roses, and pretty much most flowers. However, before they go to your compost or flower plants, you can use them for a foot massage. The slight abrasive action, the acidity, and the sun-screen protection of the caffein content are all good for the feet.
Place the coffee grinds in the middle of a large metal plate/tray ( we have them in indian homes, don't we?). You are going to stand in the plate, and use the sole of one foot, to massage the top of the other. You can do this in the bathroom if you are afraid of spills.
Use one foot as the dam, scoop the coffee grinds with the toes of the other foot, and deposit them on top of the dam-foot, then massage with the sole of the foot. Listen to your favorite songs while doing this. Have a hand-hold (use hand-rail, towelrack if in the bathroom) while you are standing in the middle of the tray/plate. Use the 2nd decoction to moisten the top of your foot while you massage the coffee-grinds on the top of your foot. When you have had enough, wash your feet in the bathtub, sink or wherever convenient. This treatment is especially useful for people who endure year-around warm weather, and tend to wear open sandals and expose their feet to the sun.

Adding other stuff to the coffee grinds, like many internet advisors (like the one copy pasted below) might suggest, is not necessary.
Coffee ground foot scrub
A shout-out to all you coffee lovers out there! Did you know? Your feet love coffee just as much as you do. To prepare this foot scrub, all you need to do is mix 2 tablespoons coffee grounds, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon coconut oil. Apply this thick paste all over your feet and massage for 15-20 minutes before rinsing. This DIY foot scrub helps to enhance the texture of the skin on your feet.<source>