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Slow coffee?

Before you go any further, this is another coffee/tea related post, sorry.

I had an afternoon cuppa with JamesB yesterday and he pointed out this website. Coffedate.com is just that, a place where you can meet someone in a relaxed environment. I like the idea of a more relaxed, no pressure, antidote to speed dating, I can imagine being to enjoy a chat with someone, romance or not, maybe they saw this post, maybe not.

So I may have to revise previous views on coffee (but not the superiority of tea). Tea is still slow and all ritual and little rules, but coffee is slow in a different way. It’s a social thing, the framework for a relaxing chat anda catch up, maybe a more informal meeting. It’s an alternative to the social alcoholic drink, overstuffed sofas, rustling newspapers and a muffin. Put another way, even if you’re going to have tea, you nearly always ask someone out for coffee.

By the way, I wonder if someone out there could be championing proper coffee as enjoyed by generations of Americans, maybe as an antidote to faffy coffee? You know half caf, soya milk frappicinos and the like. Every hardworking American worth their salt seemed to drink strong, black coffee when I was growing up, nothing added, just coffee – or at least they did when I lived their briefly as a kid (and on any detective show too, imagine Cagney and Lacey drinking a latte). I’m Northern though, so anything simple is okay by me.

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6 responses to “Slow coffee?”

  1. Stan Lee Avatar
    Stan Lee

    I never thought I’d ever see “proper coffee” and “enjoyed by Americans” in the same sentence.
    The Americans have contributed much to the world over the years, but “proper coffee” cannot be considered one of them.
    Proper coffee is what they drink in Italy.
    Proper coffee does not sit stewing in a pyrex fishbowl thingamy.
    Proper coffee doesn’t come with skinny soy milk.
    Nor does it come in a choice of tall, grande and bucket sized paper cups.
    Anything other than proper coffee just wouldn’t be proper, now would it?

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  2. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    Ouch! That’ll teach me to throw my opinions all over the place.Always good to hear another point of view.
    However, doesn’t proper coffee depend on your reference point? Someone from India would rightly tell me that my idea of proper tea is a bastardisation of the the traditions they invented.
    I totally agree with your views on tall, grande bollocks, I just wondered if a useful counter to all that was the reference point of how millions of people actually drink/used to drink it before it came trendy.
    Anyway, to push the discussion on, isn’t the real origin of coffee Ethiopia anyway? Closely followed by the Muslims who spread it worldwide? Here’s a quote from one of the first westeners to come accross it in 1538:
    “A beverage as black as ink, useful against numerous illnesses, particularly those of the stomach. Its consumers take it in the morning, quite frankly, in a porcelain cup that is passed around and from which each one drinks a cupful. It is composed of water and the fruit from a bush called bunnu”

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  3. Stan Lee Avatar
    Stan Lee

    Your thoughts on the origins and ownership of coffee are all valid.
    To me it’s not about who invented it, but who perfected it.
    Much as the Chinese invented pasta, but it took the Italians to perfect it.
    Love the blog…Stan

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  4. Clay Parker Jones Avatar
    Clay Parker Jones

    Heard an interesting bit about this last night on NPR’s Marketplace. Japanese foodies are upset about what we Americans are calling “Japanese Food” and in particular, “Sushi”. If you’ve ever had Sushi in the states, you’ll know that you can get it with all kinds of unconventional toppings. Apparently some Japanese food group wants to do something about it (a la “Champagne” and “Tequila” and a host of other region-specific goods). So is a food relative to the tastes of the nation in which it’s produced, or is it something that should be standardized? I dunno.
    But just because diner coffee sucks, you don’t need to generally rag on coffee in America. I hate bad coffee just as much as the next guy, and I must say that we’ve got some great stuff if you know where to look.

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  5. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    Good thoughts on standardisation. I supposed it comes down to if you’re a purist or not – and maybe purists are in danger of finding that their traditiona isn’t as traditional as they thought?

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  6. Clay Parker Jones Avatar
    Clay Parker Jones

    Exactly. Traditions evolve. That which is standard and pure will change over time, and is occasionally completely invented. It’s a lot like nationalism.
    A national identity is oftentimes based completely in fiction, and is many times developed intentionally. There is an example that I’ll have to hunt down, but I believe it relates to the Scottish identity and how it was created in order to help Scots define themselves in opposition to their southern buddies.
    Again, I’m on risky…”I think the example is X” territory, but go with me for a second.
    Anyhow, the imagined national identity is eventually accepted as truth, and becomes “standard”, and ingrained in our historical understanding of who we are. This isn’t to say that all national identities are untrue, or even that the collectively imagined ones are less relevant. It does, however, call into question authenticity, which is essential for many branding discussions. I’ll find the examples that I’d like to cite, but it’s interesting to think that you can sway nationalist identities with collective imaginations.

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