wake up and smell the coffee

 

If you’ve been a regular reader, you may remember that people have been drinking coffee for roughly 1000 years, and it was originally discovered by Muslim goatherds in Ethiopia in the 9^th century. Because it was considered a “Muslim drink”, it did not appear in Europe until around 1600.

https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2009/03/muslims-and-dancing-goats.html

 

Although it has generally been considered an ordinary beverage, variations of the stuff can be very expensive. The most expensive variation is something called Kopi Luwak, which can cost as much as $600 a pound.

https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2012/07/this-coffee-tastes-like.html

 

The most expensive coffee that I have ever tasted personally is Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, which costs about $40 a pound. Mine was a gift from an insurance friend, who was born in Jamaica.

https://www.jamaicancoffee.com/collections/blue-mountain?msclkid=b79eee86812c12b81cc18ff2adb87df6&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Jamaican%20Coffee%20Campaign&utm_term=jamaican%20blue%20mountain%20coffee&utm_content=Jamaican%20Coffee

 

I don’t remember if it was much better than what I usually drank, but it was MUCH better than the Army coffee I drank in the National Guard, and also better than the store brands (Folger’s and Maxwell House) that my parents bought.

Like many beverages that we consume, there are a variety of opinions about whether coffee is safe to drink, or even good for you. Given that there can be as many as 1000 carcinogens in a cup of coffee, those are valid questions.

However, according to the Journal of American Medicine, coffee in moderate quantities can actually be good for you.

In addition to creating a lower risk for cardiovascular disease, it also can provide protection against Type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and a variety of liver conditions, and it can also lower cholesterol.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/style/self-care/coffee-benefits.html?referringSource=articleShare

 

How the coffee is prepared, though, can result in different results. Experts warn that boiled coffee is not as healthy. Examples of this include the plunge-happy French press, Scandinavian coffee, or Greek and Turkish coffee — the kind commonly consumed in the Middle East. (When poured, the unfiltered grounds settle on the tiny cup’s bottom like sludge. To peek into the future, elders in the region have a tradition of reading the sediment of an overturned cup, like a crystal ball.)

However, the oil in boiled coffee has cafestol and kahweol, compounds called diterpenes. They are shown to raise LDL, the bad cholesterol, and slightly lower HDL, what’s known as the good kind.

To the list presented by the experts, I would also add the percolated coffee that we all drank in the 1970’s. It definitely was not good stuff.

When I was a kid, my grandparents on the farm in Hastings, Minnesota used to boil a pot of water on their wood burning stove, and toss in an egg and a cup of coffee. The idea was that egg would absorb the coffee grounds, but allow the flavor of the coffee itself to come through. That was before I drank coffee, but I remember that, at the very least, it smelled good.

The Vietnamese have created their own variation of egg coffee.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_coffee

 

An egg coffee (Vietnamese: Cà phê trứng)^[is a Vietnamese drink traditionally prepared with egg yolks, sugar, condensed milk and robusta coffee. The drink is made by beating egg yolks with sugar and coffee, then extracting the coffee into the half of the cup, followed by a similar amount of "egg cream"⁠ ⁠— egg yolks which are heated and beaten, or whisked.

The legend goes that fresh milk was in short supply during the war so whisked egg yolk was used as a replacement.

The drink is served in cafes throughout Vietnam, though it originates in Hanoi. The Giang Café (Vietnamese: Cà Phê Giảng) in Hanoi is known for serving the drink, which it makes with chicken egg yolk, coffee powder, condensed milk, and, optionally, cheese. The cup is sometimes served inside a bowl of hot water or set upon a small candle to retain its temperature. The son of the café's founder Nguyen Giang claims that his father developed the recipe for the drink when milk was scarce in Vietnam in the late 1940s, replacing the dairy product with egg yolk.

Although this type of coffee does not sound that appealing to me, “The Voice of Vietnam” proclaimed that it made the list of the top 10 drink list in 014.

 

Before I turn in for the night, I always load up the coffee pot in the kitchen, and set it to start brewing about 4:15. Not only does it serve as my alarm clock, the smell of freshly brewed coffee is a wonderful way to start the day.