Ah, life-giving coffee!
Coffee is one of the three most popular beverages in the world (alongside water and tea) and one of the most profitable international commodities. Though coffee is the basis for an endless array of beverages, its popularity is mainly attributed to its invigorating effect, which is produced by caffeine, an alkaloid present in coffee.
www.britannica.com/...
How do you brew yours?
Who first figured out that these berries have a certain charm?
Coffee grown worldwide can trace its heritage back centuries to the ancient coffee forests on the Ethiopian plateau. There, legend says the goat herder Kaldi first discovered the potential of these beloved beans.
The story goes that Kaldi discovered coffee after he noticed that after eating the berries from a certain tree, his goats became so energetic that they did not want to sleep at night.
Kaldi reported his findings to the abbot of the local monastery, who made a drink with the berries and found that it kept him alert through the long hours of evening prayer. The abbot shared his discovery with the other monks at the monastery, and knowledge of the energizing berries began to spread.
www.ncausa.org/...
Like this? [2:12]
Nah, those kids definitely don’t need coffee!
Coffee, of course, led to coffeehouses. Hey, ya gotta have someone to talk to when you’re all buzzed on caffeine!
Coffeehouses in Mecca became a concern as places for political gatherings to the imams who banned them, and the drink, for Muslims between 1512 and 1524. In 1530 the first coffeehouse was opened in Damascus.[203]
en.wikipedia.org/...
But despite the political concerns of the imams, coffeehouses took off: all over the Ottoman Empire at first, and then into Europe.
Max Miller has it covered [11:18]:
In the mid-1600's, coffee was brought to New Amsterdam, later called New York by the British.
Though coffee houses rapidly began to appear, tea continued to be the favored drink in the New World until 1773, when the colonists revolted against a heavy tax on tea imposed by King George III. The revolt, known as the Boston Tea Party, would forever change the American drinking preference to coffee.
"Coffee - the favorite drink of the civilized world." - Thomas Jefferson
www.ncausa.org/...
Here’s a fun documentary [44:45] from the History channel.
Unfortunately, History is a bit too fond of Starbucks. I’m not. If I’m going to pay way too much for shitty coffee, at least give me an atmospheric place to sit and drink it. No, I’m with the APR crew: Bustelo’s the best. Of the commercially available coffees, anyway. Their espresso grind, in those iconic yellow & red cans, makes a wonderfully rich, strong cuppa.
☕️ ☕️ ☕️
There are so many different ways to get to that “perfect” cup of coffee. A girlfriend of mine had a French press, and it made excellent coffee indeed. Espresso pots are perfect for espresso. There are percolators, although I wouldn’t use one unless I were on an extended camping trip. (Have I mentioned that I loathe camping? 😜 ) And of course Mr. Coffee is the epitome of the drip method, possibly the most-used coffeemaking technique in the U.S.
What I use is the precursor to a Mr. Coffee: A Melitta filter that sits on my coffee mug, lined with a paper cone filter. The back of the box of paper Melitta filters gives the story:
It was 1908 when a German housewife, Melitta Bentz, made coffee history. Tired of the bitterness and troublesome grounds in her daily brew, Melitta poked holes in the bottom of a brass cup and lined it with a sheet of her son’s blotting paper. She then filled the cup with ground coffee and poured in hot water, thereby creating the pour-over filtration system. The result...rich flavorful coffee without bitterness or mess. This innovation changed the way people worldwide make their coffee, becoming the precursor to modern day drip coffee brewing.
My transcription
Well? How do you brew?
🐌 🐌 🐌
So c’mon into the cafe and grab a cuppa...
...and a nice nosh...
...and join us!
New Day Cafe is an open thread. What do you want to talk about today?