We always welcome houseguests bearing gifts. We recently hosted family from Iowa. They left a bag of Cow Tipper from Verena Street Coffee Co. in Dubuque, Iowa. It’s really good. It tastes, well, exactly how it says it tastes: “a rich and creamy blend of vanilla, caramel and coffee liqueur flavoring.” Good news! They ship--$5 normally and free if you spend over $45.

Allow us to issue with a brief disclaimer. You shouldn’t start every morning with whiskey in your coffee. It’s just not responsible. Some mornings, though, it’s perfect. Weekends, for example. And when it’s really, really cold outside. Awaking to a frigid Saturday, we recently indulged. We uncorked a bottle of Rieger’s Kansas City Whiskey that we’d received for Christmas. (BTW, whiskey makes the best gifts.) We poured a shot—approximately—in our cup of Joe. Boy did it elevate the day. It warmed our bodies and souls. More importantly, it delivered the requisite bravery to go outside and shovel the driveway. The real test for whiskey, though, lies in how it tastes straight. Rieger’s Kansas City Whiskey is perilously smooth. It goes down so easy but be warned: it packs such a punch. Enjoy it enthusiastically and mindfully.

We used to have a fine, ordinary coffeemaker. It was a 12 cup. It was programmable. It even looked nice—brushed metal. But, we only used it on weekends. Mornings before work, the process just seemed like a hassle. Cleaning the filter. Grinding the beans. Waiting for it to brew. Yes, we’re soft, especially in the morning, especially until we’ve had our coffee. The Keurig revolution is well upon America. We’re late because we resisted. We thought it was wasteful. We thought it was expensive. We coveted the idea of grinding our own beans. But then, because our workplace served dreadful coffee, we secured a Keurig K10 MINI Plus for the office. That contraption made work better. It brewed a strong, rousing cup of coffee. Yeah, the coffee costs more per cup—considerably more—but it tasted extraordinary. This tale unfolds predictably. We...