The Father, The Son, and The Holy Bean Black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, sweet as love. -Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French Diplomat Have you ever taken a sip of your favorite brew, tilted your head upwards to the heavens, closed your eyes, and exclaimed, “God, that’s good coffee!”? If […]
Coffee History
My Coffee Tis of Thee: America’s Patriotic Coffee History
It is not stretching the truth to say that coffee played an important role in the founding of this country. From its introduction to European culture, coffee had been considered synonymous with intellectual discourse. Because of the connection between coffee and politics, it is perhaps the most important drink for American history. On American Soil […]
Costa Rica Coffee History
Seeing the lush, green valleys and beautiful mountains of Costa Rica from the air as we were landing in San Jose’ was not even the tip of the iceberg concerning the richness of this country. Home to roughly 5% of the world’s biodiversity and having the most number of species per 10,000 sq km in […]
Visiting the Starbucks Mothership
This article is excerpted from the newly released book Holy Grounds: The Surprising Connection between Coffee and Faith — From Dancing Goats to Satan’s Drink (Fortress Press). (Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada) Full disclosure: I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Starbucks. Okay, mostly a hate/hate relationship because I just don’t enjoy their coffee. […]
The Story of the Bialetti Moka Express
Alongside and connected to the rise of Italian fascism came a revolution in the drinking habits of the Italian public. It might sound peculiar, but what has become known as THE Italian way to brew coffee in the home, Moka Pot (or Stovetop Espresso) Brewing is linked to the social, technological, and economic changes that […]
The History of Greek-Style Frappe
According to popular legend, the Greek-style frappe was invented in September 1957 at the annual Thessaloniki International Fair in the convention center of Greece’s second largest city. Working at an exhibit for Andreas Dritsas, then the Greek distributor of Nestle products, sales representative Dimitrios Vakondios made an important discovery. Reportedly there was no hot water […]