I normally do not write about coffee. Not that I do not drink coffee — I do — but rather that I am really not a morning person and also that I do not consider it “part of my diet.” Here I am using <em>diet</em> as an adjective in the sense “of or relating to a food regimen designed to promote weight loss,” rather than as a noun as “the usual food and drink of a person,” or “something used, enjoyed, or provided regularly.”* Certainly coffee is part of my usual food and drink and in my house it is certainly used, enjoyed, and provided regularly, but I do not really consider it part of the regimen designed to promote weight loss in me. This journal started out as just a place for me to log my food intake so that I would not be surprised when I did not loose the weight I thought I would. Since then I have discovered a great community of people who love food for a multitude of reasons and love talking about it. I guess maybe it is time for me to loosen up a little bit and talk about the stuff I enjoy even if it has no caloric content.
The other reason, as I said, is that I am not a morning person. The ritual making of the coffee is something reserved for my wife and experienced by me only through the muted sounds of footsteps in the kitchen and the whine of the coffee grinder as heard from under the covers in the bedroom. Even the experience of drinking the coffee is filtered through the fog of trying to wake up — something that normally takes me several hours.
We are currently drinking <a href="http://www.folgers.com/wb_varieties.shtml" title="Folgers Whole Bean Varieties">Folgers Whole Bean 100% Columbian Coffee</a>. Columbian in this case refers to the country of origin, rather than the variety. The variety is, of course, <em>Coffea arabica</em>, which <a href="http://www.coffeeresearch.org/agriculture/coffeeplant.htm" title="Coffee Plant">accounts for 75-80% of the world’s production</a>. We grind it ourselves with a <a href="http://www.krups.com/us/products/index.cfm?page=family.cfm&query=uni%3DKAFFE%26fam%3DKUTEE" title="KRUPS - Expect the best">Krups Electric Coffee Grinder</a>. We like it fairly strong, so we let it grind until the beans have been broken down into their constituent subatomic particles — maybe 30 seconds. We also use a <a href="http://www.krups.com/us/products/index.cfm?page=family.cfm&query=uni%3DESPRE%26fam%3DKOMBI" title="KRUPS - Expect the best">Krups coffee maker</a>. It is one of those with a built in expresso machine. What we discovered was that our regular coffee was as strong as the expresso and we could make it ten cups at a time, rather than half a cup at a time with the expresso machine. Plus, the expresso machine is a fairly high maintenance device, while the coffee machine is something that we can operate in our early morning stupor. If we had it to do again, we would probably just get a coffee only unit.
We used to use one of those re-useable gold filters but somewhere along the line somebody told Gretchen that the paper filters filter out something that increases cholesterol levels while the gold filters did not. Anyway, I at least talked her into using unbleached ones, though I can still taste the paper in the coffee.
We both drink our coffee unadulterated. No sweetener. No dairy. We do not like coffee flavored foods.
So, that is coffee in our house. It is not very exciting, but there it is.
I do have one recommendation about coffee though. If you are ever in <a href="http://www.harrogate.gov.uk/tourism/" title="Tourist / tourism information in the Harrogate district - Harrogate Borough Council">Harrogate</a>, go to <a href="http://www.bettysandtaylors.co.uk/" title="Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate Ltd">Betty’s Café Tea Room</a> and get yourself a cup of their special café blend. We loved it when we were there. For the die hard fan, you can even <a href="http://www.bettysbypost.co.uk/" title="Welcome to the Bettys by Post Mail order Shop">order it on the Web</a>. While you are there, I can highly recommend the Old Swan Hotel — lovely coffee made at the table in individual coffee presses — and definitely take a stroll through the gardens while you are there. If you would prefer to stay in nearby Ripon, I can recommend the <a href="http://www.unicorn-hotel.co.uk/" title="The Unicorn Hotel Ripon">Unicorn Hotel</a>. They have a lovely little pub (sorry but I do not remember their coffee :-).
* Definitions via <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=diet" title="Dictionary.com/diet">Dictionary.com</a>.
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