real coffee

Nothing beats a good cup of just plain real coffee. Not that Starbucks creations are not from real coffee, of course they are (I assume). But after having been in the volume restaurant business for many years, I came to learn a few things about coffee. The most disturbing of which concerned the fact that some coffee is not really coffee at all.

Many hugely busy chain restaurants use coffee products from hugely busy chain restaurant coffee suppliers (names to remain anonymous at this point). I have been told by somewhat reliable sources, that some so-called coffee "grounds" are in reality just freeze dried chunks of ground up cardboard soaked in coffee. If you are a coffee aficianado, you most likely can appreciate a good cup of real java, like the ones Jen and Roth are enjoying in the photo above at Cafe Campagne in Seattle. At home, we brew coffee (mostly Yuban) in a Cuisinart drip coffee maker. Jen and Roth have a similar machine (with an espresso maker and steamer). My mother: Folgers freeze-dried crystals. My wife, Loretta, can not drink coffee now without adding Nestle Coffemate Hazelnut creamer. It's all coffee. But, until you have had a rich, just-ground and press-brewed cup of French roast...you just ain't experienced what coffee was meant to be.

So, whether you are brewing coffee flavored chunks of cardboard, or pressing boiling spring water through expensive french roast grounds...savor the moment...we may not be able to afford coffee at all much longer!