Coffee, Coffee, Coffee!!!

March 13, 2013

Ah, coffee, one of my most favorite things in the world. I absolutely love, love, love it! I began drinking coffee at a young age, though my parents and grandparents would give me a little coffee with a lot of milk and some sugar. As I got older, I cut way back on the additives and savored the pureness of coffee more. There is something about the smell of fresh grounds and the sound of a percolating pot that is so soothing to me.

Coffee, which comes from a seed inside of a "berry" that grows on a tree, can be brewed by many methods. Besides the most common automatic drip (a filtration method) that "Mr. Coffee" and Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio made famous, coffee can be steeped using a French press (my favorite because it brings out every nuance of flavor from the beans), boiled (the oldest method also known as Turkish coffee), and pressurized (think espresso machines or Keurig). I recently took pleasure in a coffee ceremony using a cool siphon pot (boiling method) at Blue Nile Café in Kansas City’s City Market. I highly recommend this experience!

Did you know you can cook with coffee, too? It goes well in chocolate desserts and is a main ingredient in the Italian delight tiramisu. You can use coffee in rubs, marinades, and sauces. And, of course, there are the classic beverages like Irish coffee and café mocha. It’s not just for waking up! I enjoy a cup any time of day or night and especially when I watch reruns of a favorite television show, Gilmore Girls. Any fans out there know what I’m talking about! If you’ve never seen it and are looking for a new show to pass the time, head on over to MCPL and check it out for free.

MCPL also has great books on coffee. For some history and background check out Coffee: Philosophy for Everyone: Grounds for Debate by Scott F. Parker or Uncommon Grounds: the History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World by Mark Pendergrast. For recipes, try 300 Chocolate & Coffee Recipes by Catherine Atkinson or Coffee: More Than 65 Delicious & Healthy Recipes by Avner Laskin. And just for fun, check out the Coffeehouse Mystery series by Cleo Coyle.

Here’s mud in your eye!

Jenni P.
Raytown Branch