Saturday, March 10, 2007

The Aroma of Coffee


You know I never used to like coffee..... I have loved the aroma of coffee years and always thought it was the best smell in the morning but never learned to like it.

I am full Norwegian and I never liked coffee until a few years ago when my husband introduced me to a cappuccino. Now I am addicted. I have to have my coffee every morning with my creamer in it. My husband bought me an espresso machine but it only makes one cup at a time and it is a lot of messing around for just one cup and then if you want another .... forget it. So after fine tuning the art of making coffee, I boil the water and then pour it over the grounds into a glass carafe. It is so good and tastes so fresh. Well at least I think so. But if I ever bought some real coffee beans and ground my own coffee I am sure that I would never go back to my way of making coffee.

Experts say the coffee that most people drink now a days is stale. Well what about those old timers that never washed the pot and just kept adding new grounds that were probably stale to start with? No wonder that stuff tasted like kerosene and I never liked it! Some of my favorite coffee is Kona Coffee from the Big Island of Hawaii. Love that coffee!!!

That reminds me of a story about my Mother. She taught school for 37 1/2 years in old country schools, public grade schools and the local high school. She taught 5Th Grade for many years. She taught most of the kids in the small eastern town we lived in. Anyway the coffee in the Teacher's Lounge left little to be desired. She and a fellow teacher after a long day of teaching and then meeting with parents after school for Parent/Teacher Conferences went in to the Teacher's Lounge to have a cup of coffee before going home for the day. The coffee I am sure had been there most of the day and had really had a chance to get a good scald on it. They both poured a cup of that black, thick, kerosene looking liquid and had a gulp. Mom knowing that only she and her fellow teacher were in the room exclaimed, "This coffee is so strong it tastes like mule pee with the foam farted off!" They laughed and laughed and then the principal came into the lounge and saw these two teachers laughing uncontrollably and asked what was so funny! Mom told him and he laughed 'til the tears ran down his face. For years after that all the principal had to do when he walked into the teacher's lounge was ask, "How's the coffee?" and if Mom or the other teacher were in there they would have a good laugh. Even after both Mom and the principal had retired they would still greet each other on the street with..... "How's the coffee?"

While watching the news the other day I heard of a rare coffee bean that has been developed in the Asian countries. A pound of coffee for $420 or $10 a cup. No way.... Guess there is a business in Minneapolis http://wcbstv.com/watercooler/local_story_008062023.html that sells this special bean that is partially digested by Civet Cats. Well I don't think I like coffee that well in order to pay that amount for it especially after I read about how it is digested and how it comes out! http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2004-01-20-civet-coffee_x.htm I just can't imagine what that smells like. Kind of ruins the thought of the delicious aroma of coffee.

Well I need another cup of coffee so I will have to end this for now.......

Signed..... Mrs. Montana Conservative

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