Those astronauts looked way too chipper stepping off that lunar module.

Think about it. They just spent days crammed in a tin can hurtling through space, dealing with freeze-dried ice cream that probably tasted like cardboard dipped in sadness, and supposedly bouncing around on the moon for hours in suits that must have felt like wearing a sauna wrapped in aluminum foil.

Then they pop out for the press conference looking fresh as daisies. Not a single bags under the eyes. No yawning. No thousand-yard stare that comes from too little sleep and too much recycled air.

The conspiracy theorists went wild. Studio lighting. Fake backdrops. Government cover-ups. But nobody asked the real question that matters: what were they drinking up there?

Because regular coffee doesn't cut it after that kind of adventure. You need something that hits different. Something that makes you feel like you could walk on the moon even if you're just walking to your kitchen at 6am on a Monday.

NASA's keeping secrets, and I'm pretty sure one of them involves some seriously advanced caffeine technology they're hiding in Area 51 right next to the aliens and that car that runs on water.

Until they come clean and share whatever rocket fuel they were pumping into those astronauts, we're stuck down here on Earth figuring out the coffee situation ourselves.

That's exactly what the Black Coffee Please Newsletter is all about. We're hunting down the roasters who are doing things that feel almost illegal. The cafes where the baristas actually care. The spots where you can grab a cup that makes you feel ready to do impossible things, even if that impossible thing is just getting through your inbox without crying.

No boring coffee talk. No pretentious tasting notes. Just real places making real good coffee, served with enough sarcasm to keep things interesting.

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Today’s coffee note: Ethiopian Yirgacheffe

Known for its sweet flavor and aroma with a light to medium body. Ethiopian Yirgacheffes are spicy and fragrant, and are frequently rated as some of the highest quality Arabica coffees in the world. 

A Medium-Dark Roast or Dark Roast may be used for those who prefer their coffee a bit more heavy and sweet, but roasting dark tends to lose some of the finer qualities of a Yirgacheffe.

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Check it out and join the search for moon-landing level alertness.