Time...for
Coffee?
| Coffee
anyone? |
Conversation
anyone...? |
...and
Closing Comments |
| Ah,
what better way to begin this page than with a return to In A Word.
Now, how do you like your coffee; cream, sugar or maybe one of those
flavorings...? |
InAWord_Coffee_2005.pdf |
So,
with a personal account or two and a bit of history on the voyage from
Africa to America, let us continue the journey to understand how coffee
maintains it's position as the most popular of
beverages. |
|
 Coffee
and a newspaper have long coincided - whether traveling or at home, the
two go together.
|
I
can't recall the last time I sat down with the paper and a cup of coffee;
surely, it's been in the last year. I drink coffee for sure;
but reading the paper is more like scanning a few pages if
that. |
Call
me a progressive, but the paper is just not my favorite form of media;
sure, it's cheap and has a lot of information, but I just can't appreciate
it like some others. Coffee however is another thing... |
|
The
other
day I saw an ad for a cold drink called "Java Monster"
Selling at the price per 15-oz. can of 2 for $4, it comes in three
flavors: "Loca Moca", "Mean Bean", and
original. The subtitle is Coffee and Energy. I'm not
sure about cold coffee. |
 Some
coffee drinkers have that favorite cup; the one with some sentimental
value or...But for the motorist, a Styrofoam or insulated is best...
|
No
coffee drinker would turn down a cup of coffee, but in the season of
changing temperatures, the cool and cold days make that cup all the more
pleasing and soothing. When cold on the outside, make it warm
on the inside with a fresh cup of coffee. (I know; it sound
like an old commericial...) |
| I have been
to a coffee shop lately; one located in the old downtown of a nearby
city. The shop is on the bottom floor of an old, multi-story Moss's
furniture store. A neat place with bring planked floors and
lots of ceiling space... |
I
seldom drink coffee black; but like some basic of flavored cream be it
powder or liquid. I use to drink the rich stuff that spews out of
one of those machines, but it to rich (in calories) or too sweet - one or
the other... |
 Yes,
donuts too; and my favorite is the Old Fashioned kind...without sugar -
but so gooooooooood |
| |
|
|
"I
have measured out my life with coffee spoons" - T.S. Ellliot
"Time for Coffee?"
celebrates the roasted, natural bean that produces that refreshing, enduring
beverage; not just the beverage for its taste, but also the pleasing aroma and
the bitter taste of the bean alone.
Coffee has been with us for the
ages and, not surprising, is the most popular beverage in the world
today. Call it Java, a "cup of Jo", or any of the many
recipes and extractions displayed and drank at coffee houses; but coffee by any
other name would smell as good. It may seem peculiar...talking
with such sentiment about coffee; but as smells can do, the aroma of coffee
conjures up so many images from the past that it must be
important.
As with
the events surrounding coffee time, conversation is a common
companion. What may be the excuse of coffee time is really an cause
for conversation. So whether in the Andes Mountains of South America
or the Appalachian Mountains of the southern region of America, coffee time is a
special time.
Years
ago, my kids and I would pile into a old van I had (1984 Dodge Caravan) and
power that 4-Cylinder, 2.3 Liter engine to a local museum, park, trail or the
beach. Of course, I had to get my cup of Jo in the morning; and a
favorite place was Gates. Oh, this place sold gas, but it also sold a good
cup of coffee with flavored creams and other complements. If we
happen to go downtown, I could not help but take in the aroma of the local
Maxwell House plant. On a day of low cloud cover - or in the early morn -
the fragrance permeated the air and turned an otherwise common day into a coffee
day. Kids don't need coffee -- they have youth to get them
through the day (and night); Parents however...
Not too
long ago, I picked-up an old percolator at a Salvation Army; an experiment just
to recall the rich smell of coffee made this way. There is something
special about percolated coffee; I don't know if it's the temperature or the
action inside that metal decanter, but the quality is better than the average
drip-variety, I think. Then there's the Senseo: great concept and
some slurping noise & action; I kind-a like
it!
So,
what do you say? Let's have a cup at: hey@hkirkrainer.org
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File Edited: 10/26/2009