The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph courtesy of Cookie Curci-Wright

Make Mine Mocha: Atomic espresso, iced cappuccino or just a cuppa joe? No matter what the flavor, coffee's still a ritual for many.

Remember When

America's favorite brew

By Cookie Curci-Wright

Like most people, I start my day by groggily reaching for my morning coffee. Whether it's made from arabica beans (superior quality, grown at higher altitudes) or robusta beans (less expensive, grown at lower levels) makes no matter at 7 a.m., just as long as it's there and I can take in my three-cup dose of caffeine.

Remarkably, coffee has the ability to both calm and invigorate. Perhaps that's the basis for its enduring appeal. When we're feeling tired or out of sorts, we reach for a cup of coffee to perk us up. When we're feeling a little unnerved or excitable, we pour ourselves a cup of coffee for its calming effects. Either way, coffee seems the best prescription.

Gulped in the morning from a favorite chipped cup, enjoyed from tall icy glasses at lunch or lingered over in a cup of fine old china at dinnertime, coffee has intertwined with American lives for centuries.

The days when we gathered with family for that early-morning or late-night cup of coffee remain a special memory. I remember with joy Grandma's kitchen and the sounds of her early-morning coffee ritual.

We always knew a pot of Grandma's coffee was about to be brewed by the sound of her hand-cranked coffee grinder churning softly at the break of day. Meanwhile, a kettle of water was set on to boil. It was then poured in the pot over the ground coffee and allowed to steep undisturbed for five minutes. The taste was "magnifico" and the aroma unforgettable.

In an attempt to recapture that old-fashioned coffee flavor, I invested in a modern espresso machine. Espresso means "fast," but getting a full cup of coffee out of this contraption is anything but swift. Coffee beans must be ground to a fine, precise texture in order to obtain the best results. (I've yet to achieve this grind.)

After the grounds are spooned into a tiny holder, hot water is forced through the grinds and drizzles out, at a snail-like pace, to make one or two cups of coffee.

The extra paraphernalia needed to make a cup of cappuccino or espresso makes this form of coffee-drinking more nuisance than pleasure. I'll stick to coffee dripped from a Mr. Coffee machine, six to 10 cups at a time.

Like most people, I'm a bit confused by today's growing variety of coffee flavors. I tried creating my own blend but soon tired of sharing my coffee cup with cinnamon, vanilla, amaretto and mint flavors.

With the current advent of coffeehouses and new coffee flavors it was only natural that the cup that holds our coffee would also find new popularity. If you're a coffee buff, then you already know what I recently learned: a demitasse cup is the smallest of coffee cups, holding only two to four ounces of espresso. The pungency of this strongly flavored coffee dictates the use of this smaller-sized cup, as few of us could drink much more of this very potent brew.

The coffee cup we drink from in restaurants holds anywhere from five to eight ounces and is much like the coffee cup used at home. This popular size doubles as a teacup in most diners and restaurants.

A cup called the breakfast cup is the largest and holds a good 12 ounces. Looking more like a soup bowl, this cup seems made for the dedicated coffee drinker who likes to sip on one cup of coffee while reading the Sunday newspaper--cover to cover.

The size of the coffee cup we drink from, be it mug, demitasse or cup, is dependent on individual taste and varies from coffee drinker to coffee drinker. As for me, just don't serve my coffee in a cardboard cup--please!

The pleasure of coffee drinking has been around for centuries, and I see no reason for things to ever change. When it was first introduced to Western Europe in about 1615, it raised a clamor among folks who feared it was intoxicating. Some others even assumed it was poisonous, but eventually its daily use began to grow as coffeehouses sprang up all across Europe.

During the 17th century, King Charles II was suspicious of these popular coffeehouses. Convinced that plots against his government were being hatched there, he ordered them all closed. But coffee was so in demand that the king was forced to bow to the will of the coffee drinkers and revoke his command.

How coffee was first discovered is still somewhat of a mystery. Legend has it that a goat-herder discovered the coffee bean quite by accident. While watching his flock nibbling at the plant's fruit, he noticed his goats suddenly become frisky and agitated. The curious goat-herder sampled the plant for himself and felt stimulated and refreshed.

As far back as 575 A.D. the Persian armies knew about the effect of coffee beans and carried them to Yemen, on the Arabian peninsula, according to the New Book of Knowledge encyclopedia. Traders later took the seeds to India, Turkey, Mocha and Java in the East Indies, where the climate was perfect for the growing of coffee.

Whether we enjoy a steamy cup of Irish mocha cream at our favorite coffeehouse or sip strong black coffee at home from a favorite mug, plans just seem to go smoother when schemed over a cup of coffee. Although this brew can't eliminate all our problems, somehow they seem less insurmountable when discussed with a friend over coffee.

Today, as in the 17th century, the coffeehouse is a popular gathering spot. The air along Lincoln Avenue is touched daily by the inviting aroma of coffee wafting in from local coffeehouses. The faithful gather here in cozy corners or sunlit curbside tables. They talk, laugh, conduct business and share stories of work and family, these dedicated devotees of coffee who, like me, never let the sun set on a day without finding solace in a cup of hot java.

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