Coffee Culture 101

Coffee is like the phoenix that rises from its own ashes in renewed trend after trend, the Nineties American specialty coffee phenomenon being its latest incarnation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Rhonda Adair

In the not-too-olden days of a decade ago, the weary American traveler would be lucky to find a little freeze-dried packet of coffee in his motel room. Now, a drip coffee pot complete with a pre-packaged filter full of ground Colombian is more the norm, if needed anyway, since there is probably a coffee house within a couple of blocks ready to provide that morning latte. Thanks to the entrepreneurial encouragement of one major coffeehouse chain, several reputable copycats, and many worthy local establishments, Americans have joined the happy but jittery throngs that make coffee the world's most popular beverage after water.

Coffee is like the phoenix that rises from its own ashes in renewed trend after trend, the Nineties American specialty coffee phenomenon being its latest incarnation. But coffee is no spring chicken; from ignomius and somewhat mythological roots among frisky goats on the moonlit foothills of Yemen, coffee has inspired philosophers, revolutionaries, inventors, and businessmen for centuries.

More...