I've started having coffee a couple of times a week again. I'm nowhere my two pot a day habit that I shed this summer, but a treat every so often can't hurt. And I can stop again anytime I want. Really I can.
When I was still earning my keep by going to fun and dirty places around the world, one of the things I loved was to try the local beers (if allowed by the damned Puritans who write general orders) and to try the local coffee. Here's my take:
- Italy - The article of course names espresso as the best coffee drink in Italy, which I agree with. Espresso is also the base for a plethora of coffee drinks, both tasty and wretched.
- Austria - They talk about Melange, which my friends who had it raved about. I preferred black coffee with my sachertorte.
- Turkey - Kahvesi or Turkish Coffee - The article is wrong. Real men eat the grounds, then see paradise while their hands shake so bad they can't type or write.
- Greece - I love Greek cuisine, but the "Frappe" they talk about in this article is, to me, crap. It's made with instant coffee (hawk spit), and is usually as sweet or sweeter as the frufru coffee drinks Americans have become addicted to.
- Cuba - Never had coffee in Cuba itself, but I've had Cafe Cubano in Miami, and it's one of my favorites. I love the taste of raw sugar in coffee. I scandalized an old Cuban waitress by adding a bit of cream to mine.
- Finland - Never had cheese dunked in my coffee, but Juhla Mokka is one of the best grocery store coffees I've ever had. It's especially good when you've been up 28 hours and it's 20 degrees below with a wind chill and snow.
- Ireland - Of course the article talks about Irish Coffee, because tourists like their coffee like they like their women: full of booze. I think Irish Coffee is tasty, but the brewed coffee I had in Ireland was thick, dark, and wonderful.
- United States - Are you bloody kidding me? Frappuccino? Yeah, lots of Americans get their daily intake of fat and sugar along with a hint of coffee, but come on. Then again, one thing about the melting pot and all of the different people we have here is that there are so many different ways to get coffee. Personally, if I had to name a quintessential coffee for the U.S., I'd say Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. Nothing better than a quiet morning drinking coffee as dark as an ex-wife's heart while you watch the world go by.
4 comments:
I follow up my cup of Brewed dark roast with a double-espresso, followed by another cuppa. And maybe one more.
Coffee is life. Just try entering my house uninvited before I have had some...you'll see. :)
Newbius
Best coffee I ever had was in a tiny little hotel cafe in Paris. I always have liked a very dark roasted coffee and this was just freshly roasted or something and made just right.
I was inspired enough to use the extent of my french language skills to let the little girl who made it know how much I liked it:
"Primo Kaffe!"
Got a nice smile out of it too.
Actually Greek coffee is not instant; they grind the beans into a fine powder and mix that into the water, the same was as the Turks, only without as much sugar as Turkish.
BobG, I've had Greek brewed coffee, and it's pretty good. That 'frappe' thing they serve, though, was sweet enough to make me feel a bit ill. I tried it once just to say I'd done it, but didn't go back for seconds.
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