An Ode to One of My Favorite Things (and some mention of the street varietal as well)

Coffee. Where would I be without it?

It is posited that coffee was first discovered by Ethiopian goats, and only later adopted by humans. Since then, we humans have continually flip-flopped with our opinions on the delectable drink. In 1675, a king of England allegedly banned coffee houses as he believed the stimulating substance was causing (the) hoi polloi to plot against him. Soon thereafter, coffee was even scorned as the ‘devil’s drink’ by a 17^th century Pope. Lucky for us, he then decided to baptize the beans, enabling even the most sinful of laymen to drink the stuff.

Today, we’ve thankfully gotten past all this nonsense, and have come to love and to cherish coffee. So much, in fact, that some people are willing to pay three thousand US dollars for one pound of la crème de la crème. This audaciously expensive varietal is called Kopi Luwak. Farmed in Indonesia, the Philippines and East Timor, what makes it so special, so coveted, is that every bean has to make its journey through a small mammal’s intestine before being defecated and then lightly roasted. Sounds delicious indeed.

The paradox here in Peru is that while we continue to produce outstanding beans, we consume a disgusting amount of instant coffee (which, by the way, was invented by a Belgian man named George Washington). Peruvian street coffee leaves much to be desired: weak in flavor, unpalatably sweet, and served scalding in metallic cups that are sure to burn your fingertips. However, at four in the morning, it manages to do the trick.

How I long for the days of Front Range independent coffee shops, crowded with pompous, mediocre art, and their modishly aloof creators. Ok, so maybe I don’t quite miss the hipsters. But the coffee… oh, the coffee.