I made a bizarre pot of coffee while John was taking grandson David back to college. Normally John makes a pot of coffee every morning, and we both drink it. His is dependable coffee, always the same. On the recommendation of his cardiologist, he uses three parts decaf to one part regular. I have no restrictions, so I’m glad to drink whatever he prepares.

When John goes away, though, I like to brew something different. I had a bag of mocha coffee, Walmart brand. Several times I used it in the single-serving machine, and it was fine. This time I poured water to the 10-cup level in the regular pot and estimated how much coffee to put in the basket. I pushed the “on” button and went back to reading blog posts. When the lovely aroma reached the other room, I went for a cup. Oddly, the machine was still sputtering. After all that time, only four cups had dripped into the pot! I cut it off, drank one cup that was a bit strong, and left the machine to cool off.

Had I broken the machine? Where was the missing water? It had not leaked on the counter. I picked up the machine and tilted it, thinking I’d hear water if it had escaped into the bottom somewhere. I turned it upside down. No water came out. It remains a mystery to me. Coffee powerful enough to make six cups of water disappear has got to be Sponge Coffee.