I enjoyed reading your post and it made me laugh 😀
I'm going to tell you my story. I've been a coffee addict for years, and year and been drinking only strong espresso. I live in Europe, so now you know what I mean by that. I have my own espresso machine at home and if I were to drink coffee elsewhere, I was always careful what I choose.
However, when you travel abroad, you have to look twice or three times because what is coffee to others, might be dirty water to me as you said 😂
When I was in Paris and I saw those big mugs that they were serving coffee in, I knew it right away that is not my kind of coffee. So I went out to hunt a place where kebab was served, because I knew those people know what coffee really is and I was right. The cup was small and the coffee was strong and perfect!
I've never been to the US, I don't know how coffee tastes but when I see those big mugs in the movies, I know that's not my kind of coffee. 😀
Unfortunately I had to give up drinking coffee in September because i could not control it any more, became tolerant and it was abuse what I was doing. Still have a high respect for coffee though ☕
I truly hope you can find your coffee again.
It was nice to read your post.

Happy New Year @llfarms! 🍾🎇