Essential Espresso

Essential Espresso

Although my parents didn’t let me have coffee until I was at least twelve, all my life I’ve liked coffee. I’m convinced of it. The rich, roasty aroma has always filled me with a warm comfortable feeling. I never thought about it much until my six-year-old asked for a sip of my coffee. To my surprise he liked it, and I don’t load it up with sugar. Since he’s the kind to bounce off the walls and turn our living and dining rooms into an athletic field complete with a high jump (couch), hurdles (little brother), and a track (around the dining room table), we’ll probably hold off on letting him have coffee until he’s out of the house, or at least has turned into a lethargic teenager.

The coffee bean is a remarkable gift to humanity. Good coffee is all about the bean and the roasting. Most green coffee comes from Brazil, Vietnam, Columbia, and Indonesia. While the terroir matters, the roasting plays probably a more important role. The lighter the roast the more you can distinguish the origin flavor and generally the more caffeine. Even though I need all the help I can get in the morning, I prefer the darker French or Italian roast, which are good for espressos. Of all the US cities you might think Seattle has the most coffee shops per capita. Actually, Anchorage has nearly 3 per 1,000 people compared to Seattle’s 2.5. Despite our love of coffee, we still rank twelfth in world coffee consumption at around 6.5 pounds (3 kg) per person per year. The Scandinavian countries and Finland round out the top four spots, and it’s no wonder as they try to fight the morning chill.

Has there ever been a better drink. It’s so versatile. You can have it so many different ways: freshly brewed, over ice with flavored syrups, concentrated by brewing with steam, leftover and cold as you run out the door hoping to grab whatever jolt you can to jump-start your morning. I even knew a guy who used it in the other end as some sort of cleansing technique. Personally, I prefer to drink mine. And my favorite way is as an espresso with frothy milk in a tiny cup in the Italian Riviera. Since that doesn’t happen very often, today I’ll have to settle for some fresh brewed office coffee in front of a screen saver of Cinque Terra.

Geoff