coffee.

archives:

Tuesday, April 29

nes + milk

coffee history has been made.
where: 3rd ave betw 23 + 24
what called: push cafe

i was recently exposed to a new coffee phenomenon. at this israeli cafe, one is served a hot glass of milk with a huge dollop of nes, the instant coffee that i heart. it is then left to you to stir it until it reaches a stage of coffee goodness.

i have taken to re-creating this beautious thing in different ways.

the simplest and most direct way is to create a cup of hot milk and insert the dollop. if it is happening in a nice glass, then this should be seen as very authentic and good.

another way i've developed is to prepare a vintage ll bean thermos with a dent in it (from a very unfortunate coffee-related mishap that is likely described in another bulletin) of 1% organic milk and bring this with me to my internship at a very famous crazy hospital where i keep a small can of nes. i prepare a cup as needed in this way.

another way is the decaffeinated version which is not as good since it is not nes, but an organic decaf coffee product. same idea, but the taste is not the same and the same satisfaction and pleasure is not had when opening the product jar since it is not the small red can plastered with images of coffee beans. it is the same procedure, but the coffee material is different.

Labels: coffee, decaf, decaffeinated beverage, enjoyment, thermos

Tuesday, November 27

small green machine

many years ago, my mother bought me a small, green coffee making machine. a drip machine, possibly braun or krups. i don't know where she got it -- maybe williams sonoma. anyway, it has been in and out of use since that time. i am guessing it was about 1991. one day the carafe broke. i bought a replacement, but the color of the plastic rim didn't match. it was white, and the machine is green. so, ok. in the last decade or so, this coffee maker has been stored somewhere in case there is company and i need to make an alternative coffee. a pot of decaf. in those days i was drinking caf all the time, any time. now - no way. i use a beautiful glass bodum given to me by my beloved. it creates about two cups, not official 8-oz cups, but two proper coffee cups. it's enough. i drink it in the morning, and that's it, usually.

we put on a thanksgiving feast this year, and i took out the green machine to entertain. things have changed! only two and a half takers for decaf; the rest herbal tea or black tea that has been "de-caffed." it was necessary to buy paper cone filters, which i am enjoying. long ago there was a gold filter, but i got rid of it. it seems rude and inauthentic, but i can't prove this.

so, the green machine is still out. i have been using it. but it makes too much coffee. it lasts all day long in my poor, dented llbean thermos. it is dented because one day in a stupor i thought i could use it as a hammer to hammer something. it is dented, and i am miserable about it. i can't find any on ebay. i think i'm going to put the green machine away tonight or tomorrow.

i'll take it when i next entertain, maybe. i think my mother is coming for dinner soon. she might want some decaf.

Labels: bodum, coffee, enjoyment, mother, thermos