Coffee

[Silver Creek Slim]

Ariosa stands for awful stuff. 

Slim

[Delmonico]

Nope, try googling the History of Coffee in the United States.  Hint: Yer history book from grade school was wrong, we went right on drinkin' tea after the problems at Boston.  It was smuggled in by the Dutch, just like most of it before the tea party.  Why pay tax if ya don't have to.

[Silver Creek Slim]

I give up. Mr. Google and Mr. Jeeves are not being very helpful. 

Slim

[Advertising]

[Delmonico]

That's cause in some things I'm smater than Mr. Google and Mr. Jeeves.  It will take a small history lesson so I'll post it after work.  Gotta go in just a few fer a couple of hours>  It will be there when ya get on in the morning.

[El Peludo]

M-m-m-mmmm! Coffee!     I prefer a Sumatran, myself; Mandejeling is my first choice, medium roast, and Lintong is good, too.  What variety of bean do you suppose is used in Arbuckles?

[Delmonico]

Coffee has it's origins in Arabia and Eastern Africa.  In the 17 century seedings were smuggled out of Arabia and taken ta the East Indies.  (Sumatra, Java and Celebes, my favorite of the East Indies coffee cause it has the highest caffine content in the world)  The between the price from the Dutch and the cost of shipping, coffee remained more expensive than tea.

In the early 19th century some seedlings were smuggled out of the East Indes and plated in South and Central America the largest plantations were in Brazil cause they had lots of slave from Africa ta grow it and wern't afeered of getting more ta grow coffee fer them. 

About the time the plantations were getting a really good start and the price of coffee in the United States was coming down in price, the US Army removed the rum and whiskey ration from the army and navy. (In the 1820's)  Folks who served in the Mexican war and that other one with several names (1861-1865) developed a taste fer coffee.   Till then most coffee was sold green and roasted by the buyer cause it turned rancid quickly.  Then the Arbuckle brothers (as googled by Slim) developed a way ta coat the roasted beans with egg white and sugar ta keep them fresh after roasting. 

By now the best coffee from South America was that grown around Rio de Janeiro, know then and now as Rio for short.

Arbuckle's Rio South America coffee, Ariosa  coffee for short.

So Hairy Man it is Brazillian from the Rio area, or at least that is where they said the original was from.  Being able ta buy Brazillian beans sometimes and having drank the resurected Arbuckle's I would say the present form is from Brazilla.

[Standpat Steve]

Howdy Delmonico,

That's a pretty interesting thread you got going on coffee, and Arbuckles and all. I'ld like to try some Arbucle's. If you know, please tell us how they made the coffee back then.

At home we make Costa Rican coffee (their expresso blend) in a drip-style coffee maker,(using much less water than they recommend) to make such smooth coffee strong enough for our tastes.   

[Delmonico]

To understand makin' coffee, both then and now, on thing need to be understood.  Coffee beans and tea leaves contain tannic acid, tannic acid be bitter.  (Don't believe me, go get a pecan still in the shell, crack it open and remove that reddish material between the meats and taste it.  Much tannic acid.)

Tannic acid dissolves easily in boiling water, not very well below boiling.  Drip coffee machines use water below boiling.  That is why most folks went to the drip machines when they got cheap.

Most "Old West" coffee was strong and bitter, lots of coffee and boil till it would float a hoseshoe as the old joke goes.  To the workin' cowboy livin' on little sleep coffee was more of a drug than a beverage, if modern, stronger drugs would have been available, I am sure the cowboy would have been a "speed freak."

Today if you want good coffee in yer boiler use a coarse ground coffee, bring the water to a boil and remove it from the heat, wait 2-3 minutes and add the desired amount of the desired blend.  Put the pot near the fire, but far enough away ta keep it from boiling.  After about 5 minutes just tap the side of the pot ta settle the grounds and pour.  Very little grounds will be in the coffee.

Never use an egg or eggshells ta settle the grounds, that will either put garbage (eggshells) in yer coffee or a poached egg in yer coffee.  It is not needed, if ya do it right and no cosie would have wasted a valuable egg in coffee. 

(Besides that the only use for a poached egg is to amuse yerself when sick and in the hospital.  Ya tell the nurse ta remove it from yer sight or ya'll see if it sticks ta the wall.  Eggs are only fit ta eat with pepper sauce and if yer sick enough ta get the poached egg ya ain't gettin' pepper sauce with it, I've tried. )

Also when "clear" coffee was wanted for fancy doin's, it was put in a cloth bag before putting it in the pot.  If ya can't strain a few grounds 'tween yer teeth, just buy  100% cotton, unbleached muslin (cheap) and wash it a couple of times in hot water ta remove the sizin'.  Cut a square large enough to allow the coffee to expandd, add coffee and tie with cotton string.

Course good water and a clean pot are very important ta good coffee, don't ferget ta know where the herd is before gettin' water.

[Gen Lew Wallace]

You mean I can't just load the machine up and push that little timer button so it's ready when I get up in the morning?   

[Four-Eyed Buck]

I'm a drip drinker myself. Have used the 8'O'clock Columbian for over ten years. Not sure which genuses are in a Columbian blend. it sure beats the canned Columbians I've tried. It's packaged in bean form and just recently already ground. I prefer the bean form and grind it at the store if they have a grinder available. otherwise, out comes my little hand held electric( slow going there). at one point, it was Consumer Reports best Columbian......Buck

[Silver Creek Slim]

By now the best coffee from South America was that grown around Rio de Janeiro, know then and now as Rio for short.

Arbuckle's Rio South America coffee, Ariosa  coffee for short.

So Hairy Man it is Brazillian from the Rio area, or at least that is where they said the original was from.  Being able ta buy Brazillian beans sometimes and having drank the resurected Arbuckle's I would say the present form is from Brazilla.

I don't know why I didn't know that.  

Slim

[Silver Creek Slim]

So, what yaz saying is coffee doesn't have to be bitter?

Slim

[Delmonico]

Only if ya want it ta be bitter.   It's all in the beans, how you grind them, and how ya brew the coffee.  Course it also depends on where ya get yer water.

[Silver Creek Slim]

Last year while pheasant hunting in SD, my brother's friend, who belongs to a "coffee of the month club", made some non-yuppy coffee that I thought was real good (not bitter). The next morning, we went to breakfast at a restaurant. I ordered coffee. That stuff was nasty. I don't know what kind he made but he ground if just before making it.

Slim

[Four-Eyed Buck]

I agree with you, Delmonico. water quality really affects the flavor of your coffee! We have four wells that supply water to our section of the park we live in. One of them has lesser quality water than the others and you can immeadiately tell when that well is on line. same coffee, different water quality, EEEwwwwwww! ............Buck

[El Peludo]

Thanks for the info, Delmonico.  I may giv that Arbuckles a try sometime.  I'd prefer to find it in whole bean, and grind it myself, but, I suppose ground would do.  I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Talkin' about the quality of coffee, we use an automatic drip unit, and grind one pot's worth of beans at a time, and think we make pretty fair coffee, with the Sumatran we use.  We just returned from a week long trip to Fairmont, Minnesota, down in the south edge of the state.  All of the coffee we got there was, to coin a phrase, "pot water".  Virtually no real flavor, no real aroma, just "blechh".  On Tuesday, we headed back to Minneapolis to get the flight home, and stopped in the fine, big town of Mankato, at a "frozen custard/hamburger shop", the name of which I cannot remember; started with a "C", I believe.  We got the first "good" cup of java that we'd had in almost a week.  Now, I wonder:  Was the lack of flavorful coffee in southern MN a result of the water, the culture, or perhaps, both?  Is it possible that the taste of their coffe is just not too important?  I'm certainly not meaning to cast aspersions on anyone by this question, but that had to be some of the least enjoyable coffee I have had, in a long time.

[Delmonico]

Slim thinks I pick on yuppies, but they ain't so bad, they helped bring good coffee to the USA.  Remember how hard it was 30 years ago ta get a decent cup?  3-4 ta four kinds of cheap ground coffee, and "INSTANT" yuck.  I find the best places ta get good coffee is those little yuppie shacks that have all the foo foo stuff, just get in line behind the SUV's and Mini Vans and most will have one or two non-foo foo types brewed up.

The one accross the street from work gets new collage kids there evey month or so, all of a sudden a rusted out, blue 82 Olds Cutlass pulls up, Hank Sr. on the tape deck, a man that looks like something from Lnesome Dove drivin' and they say, "Can I help You."  Triple Shot, straight up.
"A what?"  Triple shot straight up! Tripple shot esspprressooo!  I hand them 2 dollars drop a quarter in the little cup that say "Thanks a Lattee" Get my card punched. (Buy 10 get one free) Pour it from their syreeefoam cup inta a proper granite wear cup.  Say thanks and drive off.  After about three or four times of this my triple is brewing when I pull up ta the window.  Young folks are so polite ta the cosie!

(This and other post are in know way ment ta mean Delmonico hates yuppies, some of his best friends are yuppies.)

[Silver Creek Slim]

Nice yuppie disclaimer. 

Slim

[Will Ketchum]

Delmonico, but did you ever have a Yuppie over for dinner?  Or the REAL test.......would you allow a Yuppie to marry your daughter?

Will Ketchum

[Delmonico]

Will, with a daughter aged 22 and a daughter and step-daugher aged 18 have more chance of the marrying a son of a yuppie. (woops that sounds like cursing)

As for feedin' them do it every once in a while, had two over fer supper a week ago.  Wife does crafts, she had 2 friends stay for supper.  I got their steaks cause they were ribeyes, too much cholesteral.  So I had 2 fer supper and one later on sourdough rye bread.

They liked the sougdough rye bread, didn't mention to them that it had lard in it, don't ask don't tell policy.  They ate it dry though, didn't want my melted butter fer it.  They asked about what sourdough really was, showed them the 1/2 gallon jar with my stater in it and splained it to them.  Didn't want seconds on the bread.

Now these are the same two ladies that didn't want sausage and gravy over sourdough biscuits one night when they stopped over while I was eatin', they were full, cause they stopped and had a Big Mac and fries.

Now my mama taught me just cause folks were different than us and strange we were to be accepting of them, which I try as long as they don't try ta change me.  In fact many CAS shooters were yuppies before they found out how much fun it is to enjoy life.  So Take a Yuppie Shooting day should be a National Day, every one would benifit except BMW and Volvo dealer in the US.  (tongue in cheek smiley would be nice about now)