Do you remember the days when if you ordered a cup of coffee in a diner or café that was what you got? A cup of coffee. Nothing else. Remember the days of the bottomless cup? If you do then you should be lying about your age. It was all the same swill. And cheap. Nothing about Arabica, mountain grown, organic, shade friendly, or fair trade. Nothing about the terroir of coffee beans and other terms of snobbish endearment borrowed generously from the wine industry. It didn't matter whether you were sipping espresso, Guatemalan, Colombian-French, Sumatran, or Costa Rican. No one had ever heard of lattes. And Frappuccinos? Oh puh-leez! Dark roast, medium roast, light roast, blonde roast. And never mind that sissy decaf, or Maiden's water, or brown water, or why bother?
Coffee was coffee was coffee. Now we are paralyzed in front of the coffee counter, unable to choose among the plethora of options that smile out at us from the menu board. For me it's still easy. I drink mostly decaf, Swiss water of course. They make it differently nowadays. The green unroasted beans are placed on a special rack through which water is poured to flush out the caffeine. Then the beans are dried and roasted. I can tell the difference. Decaf doesn't keep me awake at night. They use quality beans now for making quality decaf and this is why it can taste every bit as good, or bad, as regular coffee beans.
In 1990 or so, in a hip café, I overheard a customer order "Unleaded, please". She was not being ironic. She gasped, put her hand to her mouth, while her friend and the server were both laughing (this was back in the days of table service. Ah, the halcyon days of table service!) she corrected herself and sputtered, "decaf, I meant decaf coffee, not gas!" I swear the trendy joke of calling decaffeinated coffee "Unleaded" began at that precise moment, time, day and place. And I was there to witness. After that I, the server, her friend, and the young lady herself, began to refer to it as unleaded at every coffee shop, social gathering, dinner party and coffee break banter. It spread like wildfire.
Besides decaf I will order whatever fair trade organic dark roast is on the menu. As the selection is always limited to one or two options I never have to suffer over indecision. I used to try to buy everything fair trade. Impossible. This is a niche market which doesn't match my low income. I still buy fair trade whenever I can. I can't start a revolution but I can still play my small part to do damage control, or harm reduction.
I am not complaining. Coffee, like everything that matters in life, was much simpler than it is now. And a lot worse. I love coffee nowadays. Especially dark roasts. The darker the better. It isn't so much because the dark roasts contain less caffeine (longer roasting time, more intense heat, causes caffeine to evaporate) but the flavour is so rich, complex and intense. No cream, milk, skim milk or soy or almond milk, and no sugar, honey, artificial sweetener or stevia (Steve who?). But black and bitter. Just like life. In the summertime, iced in a real glass (ceramic cup will also do but please, not in plastic), while relaxing at a patio table with flowers, birds, shade and sunshine.
This is the real Black Gold.
By keeping us addicted the coffee marketers have us cornered. Like shooting fish in a barrel.
The European Enlightenment is owed to coffee. Up till the Renaissance everyone in northern Europe drank beer, which kept them passive and stupid. Then along came the coffee houses, caffeine and there's been no turning back.
Coffee. If you're not shaking yet then you need another cup.
Drink coffee. Do stupid things faster.
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