The Bean Journal

October Mixtape: New Beginnings.

Every month we assemble a mixtape of the music we've been listening to with our cup of coffee each morning.

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Editor’s note: Music is an essential component of my coffee drinking experience. This is what I’m listening to with my cup of coffee this month. Each side is 45 minutes long, just like the blank Memorex tapes I used to buy as a kid, and about the time it takes to enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee…or three.

Warning: This month's mixtape includes some songs that would qualify for the Parental Advisory sticker.

If last month was all about comfort food music, this month is the polar opposite. I'm uncomfortable. My wife and I moved to Oregon. Today is my first day working in a new city where I don't know the people, the vibe, the coffee shops,* or what our future here holds.

Side one of today's mix is a slow burn. I'm feeling my way around the musical space slowly, seeking out a footing, and letting the confidence build until it is just short of delusional. Then we go over that edge together.

Side two is all ahh and oomph and a gritty, eff it. It's a howl. I got this.

And I do, until I don't, and then I'll find it again. That's how life works. Every day is a re-envisioning of the future. Choices are reinforced or thrown away. Today—sitting at a strange table in a strange home in a strange town—I'm feeling grimy and gritty, ready to get down in hopes of making a better life with my partner and the dog who doesn't care where he is as long as he is with us (and maybe there is a squirrel to chase).

Enjoy these playlists. I'm doing so with the last of the Costa Rica honey-washed medium roast collaboration we launched last month with The Pinery Coffee Co. in my home state of Wisconsin. We're a long way from there now, but home all the same.

*Except Prismatic. Shout out to them for the kindness paid when I passed through a few months ago.

"Coffee Hacks For Van Life" is a recently released article providing one van-lifer's hacks for making quality coffee on the road. That vanlifer happens to be a friend and inspiration to us. If you're dreaming about life on the road you'll find some key details on how to survive on Build To Roam.

LEARN MORE ON BUILD TO ROAM

CHECK OUT ALL THE COFFEE COLLABS!

We dropped a collab coffee to support The Ice Age Trail Alliance. You should buy it. Take it on a hike. Grind it. Brew it. Then drink it under a big tree.

BUY TRAIL BOOTS COFFEE

WHERE WE'VE BEEN:

Check out where we've gone in our semi-regular feature.

JUST FOR FUN-ISH:

• The Milwaukee Brewers are the number 1 team in baseball, and yet they don't feel like the favorite (outside of those of us in the know) to win the World Series. That might be because they haven't been since 1982. This is the year. I can feel it.*

This video explores that team as they are connected to a local Milwaukee dive bar called the Cesar's Inn through the eyes of a Briton who made the trip to Wisconsin from London after finding an iconic Brewers t-shirt in an English thrift store.