Happy New Year! Like many folks this time of year, I have been pondering whether I want to embrace a few New Year's resolutions. One in particular that I am considering is reducing my coffee consumption. What better way to relate to a majority of our community? 

In 2025, there are more ways to consume coffee than there were when I first started drinking coffee in college. I drink coffee much differently today than I did 35 years ago. The way I see it, Alamosa coffee drinkers generally fall into three categories. This includes 1) Old Timers, 2) Fancy Folks, and 3) Podders. 

The Old Timers make their coffee at home in a drip coffee maker. They are the traditionalists who like their coffee simple (from the supermarket), and inexpensive. It makes me think about my cousin in Kansas who raises pigs. He is the epitome of an Old Timer. He drinks hot black coffee all day regardless of the weather, and if he wants to make his coffee fancy in the evening, he puts a scoop of ice cream in it. 

The second group is the Fancy Folk. These are individuals who care about where their coffee is grown and roasted and often order coffee as a sweetened beverage that costs at least five dollars. Most of these coffee drinks aren't even called coffee. I guess when your coffee costs five bucks, it warrants a classier name. That doesn't mean that an Old Timer won't go to Starbucks, but if they do, they just order “coffee.” 

My third group is the Podders. These are folks who have converted their traditional home coffee operation to pods for convenience. In some ways, they are hybrids because there are both traditional and fancy coffee pods available. I don't know much about Podders because I have never been one. I like saving my coffee grounds for the compost pile. 

I am split between being an Old Timer and a Fancy Folk. I jump on it when someone offers to run to a coffee shop to buy lattes. Of course, I must write down my order because it is too much for any normal person to remember. Within the Alamosa city limits, there are now eight fancy coffee shops or roughly one coffee shop for every 1,200 Alamosans. This may feel like a lot of coffee shops, but it's not. Seattle, for example, boosts one coffee shop for every 400 people. 

While we aren't in Seattle, Alamosa has some great coffee shops. They serve some truly exceptionally smooth and flavorful java and are great places to meet up for business or visit with friends. They sell local foods and host events like the Chamber's Coffee Connections.  They support the economy and offer jobs to our youth. Except for the franchises, our local coffee shops are also incredibly unique. In Alamosa, you can have coffee at a church sanctuary or a brewery. You can even have coffee where you know your money helps a non-profit. 

Given all the community benefits that come from Alamosa's coffee shops, I have decided that it wouldn't be responsible for me to adopt a New Year's resolution to reduce my coffee in 2025! 

Deb Hankinson has enjoyed three careers; first as an architect, followed as a nutrition therapist, and now a business entrepreneur and artist. She and her husband Les own the Alamosa/Great Sand Dunes KOA and the Mammoth gift, fudge and spud shop in Alamosa.