The Bean

Coffee




It goes by many different names, java, joe, juice, mud, brew, battery acid and sometimes by it’s real name, coffee. It’s origins, like some of its brews, are muddy. It seems that it has been around since at least the 13th Century. Interestingly it was first used for the “energizing” effect it had on people. If you’ve been to a Starbucks you would see that this is true, it seems the baristas (people who make coffee), generally partake too much of their product.



Not the point though, and neither is Starbucks. I’ve done a lot of experimenting with coffee over the years. Strangely enough I didn’t begin drinking coffee till I was well into my thirties. Prior to that I thought that coffee was some type of legal but toxic substance. Some of that may have been due to the fact that one time I drank so much, with so little sleep that I honestly thought I was going to have some type of coronary event, and it didn’t seem like it was going to be on the positive side of life. Along with the shakes and sweats I was pretty sure coffee wasn’t for me, so it was with some trepidation that I picked it up again later.



Instant coffee in a Styrofoam cup isn’t a great start on becoming a connoisseur of the bean. A little known fact about coffee is that you can make instant coffee with hot tap water in a styro cup….I don’t know why anyone would do that though. I’ve done it, so you don’t have to.



There is a coffee that a friend of mine introduced me to one time when we were camping on the beach in San Carlos, Mexico. Combate! What a name, how can you argue with a coffee whose name literally translates to Combat. That is what coffee is all about. Toss a few spoonfuls, plus a few more in a percolator, put it next to the fire and let it go. You can’t over perk Combate, the longer you go the stronger it gets. This stuff lets you walk on water when you’ve had a few cups in the morning. I don’t know if it’s legal in the U.S. yet, but I’m looking for it.