Model: Cynthia Schmidt (2010)
“Let me wake up next to you, have coffee in the morning and wander through the city with your hand in mine, and I’ll be happy for the rest of my fucked up little life.” ― Charlotte Eriksson, Empty Roads & Broken Bottles; in search for The Great Perhaps
[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]Some people put cream and sugar in their coffee. I’m not one of them. Some people put water in their coffee and call it an Americano. That doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest. I prefer my coffee black, strong, and hot enough to burn my lips on the first sip. I’m just rather crazy that way. I don’t want anything interfering with my coffee in any way. Give me my coffee unfiltered and we’ll be just fine, thank you very much.
How we prepare coffee, in general, has changed dramatically over the years. Coffee was once boiled on top of a wood burning stove, a process that was aromatic, but tended to result in a lot of burned coffee. There are still modern ceramic pots that duplicate that effect, with the presumed side effect that one is actually watching the range top a little more closely now. James Mason invented the percolator in 1865, a device that used heat to pour hot water over the grounds. Eventually, the design was modified and made electric and by the 1950s there was hardly a house in America that didn’t have one. For special events, there was even the giant two- or five-gallon size that would brew enough coffee for an entire platoon.
Commercially, though, the Bunn company had a lock on brewing coffee that was faster, and in many opinions, better. They invented a machine that was connected to the water supply, so coffee was always ready to go at the push of a button, great for restaurants and all the coffee shops that were beginning to pop up across the country. The Bunn heated the water first, then poured it over the coffee grounds which were sitting in a filtered basket. Coffee would then drip down into a waiting carafe. When Mr. Coffee introduced a home version of this machine in 1972, with baseball great Joe DiMaggio as the spokesperson, it changed the look of American kitchens and killed the percolator. [/one_half]
[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Dedicated coffee houses also started popping up during the 70s and with that came more specialized types of brewing. All of a sudden, people started caring about where their coffee was sourced, how it was roasted, what blend of beans were used, and how it was ground. Espresso machines were popping up in all the coffee shops, replacing the Bunn in anything that wasn’t a full-service restaurant. People began requesting their coffee to be personalized, specialized, steamed, stirred, and boosted with an extra shot.
Personally, I prefer my French Press for a couple of reasons. First, I find the plunger style of coffee brewing to be more flavorful without risking burning the coffee. The carafe never sits on heat so there’s no chance the coffee is going to slowly turn into sludge. Second, and perhaps most importantly, I can do it at home, any time of day.
I seriously don’t understand people who don’t brew their own coffee. Consider today’s picture. Would this scenario have happened if one had to get dressed and run to the nearest Starbucks for coffee? While I suppose it’s possible, it certainly wouldn’t be likely, and definitely not convenient. I’m all for coffee shops, mind you; I spend a great deal of time in them. But I want that first cup of coffee in the morning to be like love: unfiltered and something I can cherish privately to myself or share with someone intimately.
We get rather religious about our coffee now. Everyone wants it prepared their way, we want it to taste the same no matter where we are. No matter how you prefer to have your coffee, though, there’s no question that our love for the beverage is unfiltered.[/one_half_last]
The Joys of Coffee
At The Coffee Shop (2011)
If it wasn’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever. -David Letterman
[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]Yes, I’m well aware that today is Mother’s Day in the US and yes I’ve shot enough mothers and children to have given that the theme for the whole week. That’s rather crowded territory today, though, and if you’re sitting on your computer or mobile device reading this then you’re obviously not spending time with your mother, for reasons we won’t discuss, so we decided to go a very different direction for this week and talk about something that is near and dear to my own heart: Coffee.
I have been drinking coffee since I was 14. Granted, I didn’t drink as much of it then as I do now, and I tended to dump loads of sugar and milk in it until Poppa caught me and said if I were going to drink the stuff I had to drink it straight. I think he was hoping that would put me off and that I’d stop, but it didn’t. I learned to drink it black and enjoy the flavor of the bean itself, not all the flavor and garbage dumped on top. To this day, I fail to understand the fascination with lattes and cappuccinos and other fancy coffee-based drinks. I suppose there’s nothing wrong if you really like all that sweetness and confection actually in your coffee. I prefer my coffee black, a bold roast if you please, something of moderate acidity.
Coffee drinking has taken a lot of heat over the years (pardon the pun). I was told it would stunt my growth, that it would damage my kidneys, and that it could lead to more dangerous addictions (yes, a dear old church lady actually told me that). Some religions forbid the drinking of coffee because of its caffeine (they’d rather their members not be too alert). Like anything else we try to enjoy, there’s always someone right there waiting to tell us we shouldn’t. We tend to ignore those people.[/one_half]
[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Instead, we prefer to consider facts that say things like:
What may be most compelling about coffee in today’s society, though, is its qualities as an object of social construct. Coffee shops have become the meeting place for everything from first dates to important business meetings. Today’s picture, made somewhat humorous by the expressions on the men’s faces, is an example of coffee’s social attraction. A large storm had just swept through the area, flooding streets and knocking out power. Anyone in the neighborhood when the storm hit was just stuck. There was no getting out. Where did they go? The coffee shop. Their large carafes of coffee were already full and an honor box let patrons pay without needing a cash register. The coffee shop offered comfort, safety, friendship. and a place to pretend to get work done.
So here’s to coffee, the good and bad and everything else we’ll talk about this week. Now, put down your phone and go talk to your mother. Maybe over a cup of coffee.[/one_half_last]
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