Recently TRM had another guest inmate from USA who was very particular about his morning caffeine fix.  We understand that.

On booking in his first question was where, or who, made the best coffee?  He was here for a week’s fishing so had plenty of time for research to discover his morning “fix”.

Fortunately our other fishy inmates had done some exhaustive testing prior to his arrival so we had their results all ready.

I understood that the best coffee was always the freshest?  In my limited trials at TRM the best flavour came from fresh beans that had just been ground and not allowed to dry out?

But I usually slurp tea (Twinings Earl Grey – no milk) so refrained from commenting or recommending.  It is all that keeps me going.

TRM have a wide array of different teas here to provide for varying guest tastes, but not coffee.  The usual instant motel brew is standard Nescafe or Bushells which would never rate with the real coffee junkies.

Of course there is more than just the type or style of coffee involved in guest selections.  We warn you that everyone has different tastes of what it – good coffee – is supposed to taste like.

This following taste trial took several days as in Turangi we are spoilt by choice of so many cafes.

But according to SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed is the manager of everything at TRM but does not drink coffee or tea and really had no idea of what a kick start caffeine fix is like, but that has never stopped Her from being a critical coffee commentator) the best coffee reported back by inmates was at RAFTING NZ.

This has long been a popular choice for many TRM inmates but on the next day he advised that was not his sort of coffee?.

But we could understand that for a dedicated angler that may not be the best location in town so we suggested Creel where the fishy tackle store atmosphere vibes and superb finger food would blow him away.  Nope – they failed too.

This guy was going to be a challenge to please.

Then we suggested the coffee cart in the carpark down by the bridge (Where Council removed the toilets?  I had to add that for Gary.) as being very popular with a regular fly fishing team who practice combat casting in the Bridge pool.  But that failed to pass his test too.

So then we sent him into town starting with Cadillac Cafe – with a name like that it had to score with an American?  Nope – sorry.

Then the Mustard Seed – again it did not have his particular sort of coffee that he preferred.

Then Hydro Cafe – ditto…

Then the Bakehouse Cafe in the mall – ditto…

Then Turangi Bakery – ditto…

Then RUST – the wonderful tapa bar which has become the most popular evening dining out place for TRM inmates.  Nope – ditto…

None of Turangi’s wonderful cafes could satisfy this customer.

As you can imagine, by then we had almost given up trying to find the sort of coffee to suit this guy.

He joked about missing his morning hit but still persevered, although we thought he had got over his obsession after a few days cold turkey from his favourite brew.

So on the morning of his departure we were astonished when he bounced in full of energy and so happy as he had finally discovered the perfect morning coffee that he was used to.

When filling up his car for the trip back to Auckland he popped into BurgerKing…

Sometimes we cannot win…