Take the day on with delicious Warpath Coffee

There’s something very powerful about “mass luxuries”: something that each one of us can have the very best of and feel special enough to power through whatever life hands us that day. If you start your mornings with a cup of joe, why not make it a winner?

Warpath Coffee is veteran-founded and owned by Tej Gill, Navy Seal combat vet. Though I’m sure he’s trained to peel treebark off or some such to survive and slay our enemies, he sought something that bested the best.

The coffee was launched on Stephen K. Bannon’s War Room.

The coffee was developed to be smooth, flavorful and caffeinated . . . but it’s not dehydrating, nosebleed jitters caffeinated, like happened to me once while checking into a Helsinki hotel, where I felt terrible bleeding all over their cool, snow-white Nordic sheets.

Warpath Coffee was created so that you don’t need sugar or milk. Now, hearing that for a long time, I thought, “Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh. I’ll still have to have some.” After all, that’s been my only experience my whole life, drinking coffee all over the world! I even had a coffee shop right near me in Baltimore owned by the 3rd Prize World Champion Barista who had unusual coffees. One was about $23 a cup and supposed to taste like shrimp. They kept the cream and sugar behind the counter, which I about hurdled to get to my regular fixin’s.

So, trying it out, I had to give “nekkid” coffee a shot, but I sincerely had a pint of cream and some Splendas in my lap, out of sight of the photo. I didn’t take the boast seriously.

The coffees come in ground and whole beans. I noticed something right away — the coffee was moist, not dried out. The good, natural oils were still incorporated.

I set about grinding the whole beans. I had a fancy, big-name grinder, but it chose this morning to die. But fear not! My dad taught me, “You always have to have a Plan B and sometimes a Plan C, D and even a Plan E.” I had a little coffee bean grinder that I got from a yard sale all tucked away. It worked perfectly.

I’ve always preferred dark roast, because it seems the most “coffee-ish”.

Mariner’s Blend Dark Roast has fragrance notes of nut husk, bitter almond extract and a little brightness, like Arctic berry. So, it was time to taste. It really is soooo smooth! No cigarette ash taste. I noticed nut husk, whole nut, well-toasted brioche and whole milk flavors. I then added a touch of sweetener, just to see. It really didn’t need it, it didn’t add anything. The coffee has a medium-rich body.

I’m not gonna pretend that I don’t like flavored coffees, because I do! Well, sometimes. So many taste like straight out chemicals. Dark Chocolate certainly hits the spot for dark roast lovers, if you’ve never tried a flavored coffee. They suggest using some milk or cream for a “heavenly” taste and I will be trying that.

But this fine morning, I made it all hotel-style, with a French press coffeepot. It’s super easy to do: heat water to just below boiling, put coarsely ground coffee into the bottom, pour in the hot water, let sit for 4 minutes on the nose, then slowly, slowly press down.

Because this would make a perfect apres-dinner drink, I added a tiny touch of sweetener to up the dessertiness. It’s got a truffle/cocoa/ganache flavor, like European chocolates — not grocery store stuff.

Let’s talk about cold-brew coffee for a sec’. Nowadays, it’s everywhere. It’s a way of keeping all the coffee flavor oils intact in an intense iced drink.

Years ago, I was on a food press trip to Taiwan with a bunch of freaky old bags from New Yawk. Though we were there to try different foods and drinks, they had the palettes of 6 year olds. Moreover, they had the personalities of Cinderella’s step-sisters. We got into a fight on the streets of Taipei on my birthday and the police were almost called. After a Michelin-starred amazing dinner with each course geared to a different philosopher, the chef came out. He mentioned he was trying some new coffee techniques, including one that wasn’t cooked, it dripped in the fridge overnight. He asked if we would like some.

Well, you wouldn’t thought he had offered a bucket of mice, the way they shuddered and acted. I stepped forward and said I’d try it. I asked about sugar and cream. He said, “No, we don’t do that here.” Okey doke, fine. I kept it in my mini-fridge and poured out a cool glass in the morning. I tend to get jet-lag that renders me a zombie, but that a.m., I was all ready for everything, even a bunch of witches.

So, I started a pitcher of cold-brew that you can see, it’ll be ready when I wake up. I stay up extra late, because I like the freedom of the still of the night. With coffee on the ready — I’ve never figured out scheduling the coffee maker, if I had that side of the brain, I’d be a surgeon instead of a lawyer — it’ll feel like I have a butler. If your power is out, but you have a cooler, you don’t have to be deprived!

They say that the Vanilla-Hazelnut is “insane” with heavy whipping cream. I just happened to have some in the fridge! It was great as iced coffee — just make it 2x as strong. I put a little sweetener in, maybe about 1/3 as much as I usually do. It’s not just that it’s flavored, it’s a quality flavor. I experienced freshly roasted hazelnuts and the fancy Tahitian vanilla extract I have that now costs $30 for a teeny bottle. The cream makes it a very decadent treat.

Speaking of treats, look at the spicy sailor girl on their mugs!