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Buying Gourmet Coffee
An Old-Fashioned Coffee Klatch
Back in the dim and dusty past, women didn't hold jobs outside the home. I know that is hard to believe, but it is true. One income was sufficient for a household to live on. Children were cared for by their mothers at home, while the father worked and earned the living to support the household. My, how times have changed!
Now, understand that running a household was a full time job in those days. The modern conveniences that we all take for granted didn't exist. Washing machines weren't automatic, clothes were dried on clothes lines, and the only canned goods that were available were those that the mother had canned and stored herself. Life wasn't easy, and social occasions were few and far between. That is why women participated in old-fashioned coffee klatches.
Coffee klatches were most often regularly scheduled events. A group of women would gather at the home of one and enjoy coffee, sweets, and conversation for a short period of time once every week or so simply for social contact.
Today, we have our modern versions of the old-fashioned coffee klatch. Today, however, men as well as women participate in them and, of course, they aren't called "coffee klatches" now. Still, coffee drinking is a social affair. It is one that is practiced all over the world in one form or another. People gather for social or business reasons, and you can be almost certain that coffee will be the beverage that is offered. There may be other beverages, but coffee is almost always included.
Perhaps the connection between social contact and coffee drinking stems from the old-fashioned coffee klatch. Our grandmothers and our grandmothers were on to something important…coffee drinking is social.
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Health
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Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
Coffee Maker Cleaning
There are as many opinions about what a great cup of coffee consists of as there are coffee drinkers in the world. Every coffee drinker knows exactly what he or she wants in a good cup of coffee. Some like it hot, some like it cold, but very few like it in a pot nine days old…..as the old nursery rhyme goes.
The one thing that all coffee drinks will agree on is that coffee needs to be freshly made. About the only other thing that coffee drinkers will agree on is that the best coffee is made in a clean coffee maker. The pot doesn't need to be "well seasoned." It needs to be well cleaned after every use.
There are a great many coffee-pot-cleaning products out there on the shelves of your local supermarket or chain discount store. All of them work when they are used as directed, but you honestly do not have to buy the products in order to keep your coffee maker clean. Granted, these products do make keeping your coffee maker clean much easier and will accomplish the task much quicker but there are cheaper ways.
One of the cheaper methods for keeping your coffee maker clean so that every pot of coffee will taste great is by using baking soda. Baking soda is cheap. It is one of the least expensive items that you will find on your grocer's shelves, and yet it does so much. Baking soda neutralizes the acidity left behind in your coffee maker after you have made a pot of coffee, enjoyed it, and then emptied the pot.
Only one teaspoon of baking soda is enough to clean the average coffee maker. Simply put a teaspoon full of baking soda into the pot, let it sit for a few minutes, and then thoroughly rinse the pot to remove all traces of the baking soda. |
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French Press Coffee Maker
More than a few years ago, when I was just a boy, my dad would take me to the river to fish and camp overnight. It was a very big deal to me in those days. We didn't have a tent to sleep in, and we didn't have a camp stove. Sleeping was done (what there was of it) on a blanket on the ground and cooking (what there was of it) was done over an open fire.
Such an overnight camping trip was where I had my very first cup of coffee. Dad would pour water out of a jug into a pot, put the pot over the open fire, and bring it to a boil. Then he would pour in some coarse ground coffee and let the pot sit for a few minutes. Then he would drop cold water into it to make the grounds sink to the bottom before we drank the coffee. I've never had coffee that tasted any better in my life.
Now you might be asking what all of this has to do with a French press coffee maker. Well, the principles of making the coffee are exactly the same in the French press coffee maker and the river coffee that my dad made those many years ago. Of course, the French press coffee maker is much more civilized. French press coffee makers can be purchased that are electric. Still, the coffee-making principle is the same.
To make coffee in a French press coffee maker, you put hot water into the pot, add coarse ground coffee, and let the coffee heat for three or four minutes. Then you push the plunger down and the grounds are "pressed" to the bottom of the pot. French press coffee, like river coffee, is
very strong. A little goes a long way and the measurements of French press coffee makers are based on four-ounce coffee cups.
Related Topics: The Specialty Coffee Industry,
All About Coffee, Buying Bulk Coffee
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