Coffee-flavored Coffee

In his stand-up comedy act, Denis Leary tells the story of having gone to his corner Starbucks and upon seeing the infinite menu of possible permutations of caffeinated beverages simply ordered "a cup of coffee." The barista proceeds to pummel him with questions. Tall? Grande? Venti? Flavor? Skinny? Latte? Mochaccino? Cappuccino? Frappuccino? Al Pacino?

To which Denis barks back, "I just want a cup of coffee! Coffee-flavored coffee!"

 Well whilst I do enjoy my venti Cafe Misto from time to time, skinny with sugar-free vanilla syrup, I can relate to Denis's plight. Especially since now I have another choice to contend with. From which country do I want my beans?


Like many things, such as the human species and art (see my blog post on Origins), coffee originated in Africa. Most likely Ethiopia or Kenya. Cultivated by the Arabs in the 14th century, the earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the fifteenth century, in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen. By the 16th century, it had reached the rest of the Middle East, Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa. Coffee then spread to the Balkans, Italy and to the rest of Europe, to Indonesia and then to the Americas.

We have at least limited our choice at Valley Lodge to beans grown in Africa but even that is quite an extensive list. Tanzania, Cameroon, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Namibia, ... we are working our way down the list a bag at a time with our daily home brews. Our favorite so far is Kenyan peaberry.

But sometimes in the morning I just don't want to work that hard. Especially before I've had my coffee.