Kaldi, the old goat herder, walked along the well-worn paths of his ancestors, intuitively knowing the right mixture of sternness and tenderness needed to get goats from point A to point B safely and efficiently.
The story of Kaldi and his dancing goats is a charming and imaginative origin tale, even if it may be more myth than reality. It's a testament to the enduring fascination with coffee and its power to captivate our imagination. Thank you for sharing this delightful journey with us.
Coffee professional here- impressed at how much you were able to fit into a single post! As for how I drink my daily coffee? Kalitta wave pour over. Without adulterants. Roasted by my friends and coworkers.
I'm really glad this came across well. It was tough not to just keep going with the history (first half), and I'm sure Michael could have also thrown a lot more info out there. I feel like the art is in what you leave out, some of the time.
My daughter and I are cold brew aficionados. We buy a variety of whole beans, grind them and cold brew them daily. It gives us time together from prep to drinking and has also saved us money over store-bought inferior versions.
I'm late the game on this post, but I'm glad I got here. Great overview of the coffee process!
One point I'd add is it's not just America with the whipping cream, etc. Vienesse coffee culture is also full of drinks with heavy cream and sugar. But they make it look luxuriant!
As for me, I have like seven different coffee making tools at home but the ones I use most are the Aeropress, Chemex (when it's not just me), and I recently got an ibrik, so I use that a lot. Aside from the Turkish coffee, which gets slightly less than a teaspoon of sugar, all the others are mostly black. Occasionally, I'll put a drop of milk in if it comes out too bitter. Something to note for me is that I'm solely a decaf drinker so my bean choices are limited, but Los Angeles has lots of roasters so it hasn't been too hard to find good stuff.
I love black coffee, and drink enough every day to kill a small mule, but I like some of those sweet drinks too (just different times of the day/purposes). Vietnamese and Thai coffees are similar, right? Those are tasty after dinner in lieu of a dessert.
Loved this! I also roast my own and it’s definitely a fun hobby. My go-to lately is a Chemex pour-over but I like to keep changing it up. Also have a cheap espresso machine that I’ve modded to be able to pull some pretty decent shots. Mostly enjoy light and bright beans and love a good Ethiopian bean.
It’s great how accessible home roasting is these days. I have a Behmor 1600 and love it. Thanks for the fun article and combination of history and science!
That's awesome, Josh! I find myself doing only the bare minimum to get very good coffee, but even that little bit of effort isn't insignificant. It is well worth that bit of work to be happy by way of taste!
It is no mean coincidence that the happy collision of the Gutenberg press significantly reducing the price of books in concert with the concomitant explosion of silent reading (the cost of texts before the press was prohibitive and those who couldn't afford books listened in groups to readers) in train with the increasing consumption of coffee were certainly proximate causes to the rapid advances in arts and sciences in the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras (15th through 17th centuries).
It's true. And Bill, I focused a bit more on the industrial revolution aspect, but you're spot-on about the more broad expansion of the arts and sciences, especially science. But also politics.
Great post. As a rank amateur in terms of coffee, most of this was new to me. Thanks for the enlightenment! I now know why the place I get my coffee in Tokyo - Kaldi - is called that. I just drink it filtered and black. Nothing very sophisticated. The best coffee I have had was when I was living in Turkey. Great stuff.
I've been a home roaster for about three years and just as Michael's experience a friend introduced me to the world of single origin, third wave coffee.
Just loved this post, thank you Andrew and Michael. First, a little transparency: I am not a coffee drinker, never was, but I do adore the smell of coffee, both the beans and when it's being brewed. Why that adoration stops at the act of imbibing, escapes me. I tried coffee, real coffee, for the first time at an international summit in Valencia, Spain, right after a full buffet lunch, and it sent my heart racing for the next several hours.
I'm a chocolate gal. And coffee and chocolate are a match made in heaven—and brought back down to us by the gods. Just think of the delicious similarities... they both have "beans", they are both roasted (although you can have virgin chocolate), and they are both called "dark and rich." Both can be taken as a beverage, or in bar form (yes there are chocolate bars with coffee beans embedded in them, sheer ectasy!). Both have a long and storied cultural history and heritage.
How curious too... literally yesterday I softlaunched a new Substack dedicated to our love for cacao (cacaomuse.substack.com). Great food-loving minds clearly think alike :) When I write my piece about cacao history would love to link to this post, so watch that space!
Low fat Chocolate milk added to my coffee everyday, old school drip machine on a timer, in the summer I add ice and it is wonderful. 💚 Thank you goats and Andrew for the story!
Pour over coffee is my go to! I didn't like coffee until I discovered this style a few years ago at Roast'd in Fort Lee, NJ. The different flavors you can get with different coffee beans and different brewing ways was an eye opener to me. But with pour over you need to know that the place you're going to makes it well. It can come out either watery or bitter if not done well, so you might not like the style because of a bad brew rather than the method.
I love that coffee was invented because church is boring😂 I drink mine black from a Chemex, although, I switched to a reusable filter during the pandemic when I had trouble finding their paper filters. It’s not the same flavor, definitely, but it’s still pretty good.
The story of Kaldi and his dancing goats is a charming and imaginative origin tale, even if it may be more myth than reality. It's a testament to the enduring fascination with coffee and its power to captivate our imagination. Thank you for sharing this delightful journey with us.
Thanks, Winston!
Coffee professional here- impressed at how much you were able to fit into a single post! As for how I drink my daily coffee? Kalitta wave pour over. Without adulterants. Roasted by my friends and coworkers.
YUM!
I'm really glad this came across well. It was tough not to just keep going with the history (first half), and I'm sure Michael could have also thrown a lot more info out there. I feel like the art is in what you leave out, some of the time.
I like mine black and a pour-over is solid.
Probably my favorite if I have time/patience!
The drug I consume without fear of incarceration.
It’s a hell of a drug.
Black coffee. Tbs per 4-5 Oz water. Drip or pour over.
Yes, please!
My daughter and I are cold brew aficionados. We buy a variety of whole beans, grind them and cold brew them daily. It gives us time together from prep to drinking and has also saved us money over store-bought inferior versions.
Sounds awesome! It sounds like a pretty fantastic ritual.
I'm late the game on this post, but I'm glad I got here. Great overview of the coffee process!
One point I'd add is it's not just America with the whipping cream, etc. Vienesse coffee culture is also full of drinks with heavy cream and sugar. But they make it look luxuriant!
As for me, I have like seven different coffee making tools at home but the ones I use most are the Aeropress, Chemex (when it's not just me), and I recently got an ibrik, so I use that a lot. Aside from the Turkish coffee, which gets slightly less than a teaspoon of sugar, all the others are mostly black. Occasionally, I'll put a drop of milk in if it comes out too bitter. Something to note for me is that I'm solely a decaf drinker so my bean choices are limited, but Los Angeles has lots of roasters so it hasn't been too hard to find good stuff.
I love black coffee, and drink enough every day to kill a small mule, but I like some of those sweet drinks too (just different times of the day/purposes). Vietnamese and Thai coffees are similar, right? Those are tasty after dinner in lieu of a dessert.
Glad you made it here, Oleg!
Yup, Vietnamese, Thai, and, I would add Cuban coffees are all pretty sweet but in different ways.
I enjoy them all!
But I'm married to black coffee and espresso. <3
Loved this! I also roast my own and it’s definitely a fun hobby. My go-to lately is a Chemex pour-over but I like to keep changing it up. Also have a cheap espresso machine that I’ve modded to be able to pull some pretty decent shots. Mostly enjoy light and bright beans and love a good Ethiopian bean.
It’s great how accessible home roasting is these days. I have a Behmor 1600 and love it. Thanks for the fun article and combination of history and science!
That's awesome, Josh! I find myself doing only the bare minimum to get very good coffee, but even that little bit of effort isn't insignificant. It is well worth that bit of work to be happy by way of taste!
Mike and I are former colleagues.
It is no mean coincidence that the happy collision of the Gutenberg press significantly reducing the price of books in concert with the concomitant explosion of silent reading (the cost of texts before the press was prohibitive and those who couldn't afford books listened in groups to readers) in train with the increasing consumption of coffee were certainly proximate causes to the rapid advances in arts and sciences in the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras (15th through 17th centuries).
Coffee fueled the Elightenment of cross-disciplinary exploration! Coffee: The Fuel of Polymaths.
It's true. And Bill, I focused a bit more on the industrial revolution aspect, but you're spot-on about the more broad expansion of the arts and sciences, especially science. But also politics.
Very informative post.
Great post. As a rank amateur in terms of coffee, most of this was new to me. Thanks for the enlightenment! I now know why the place I get my coffee in Tokyo - Kaldi - is called that. I just drink it filtered and black. Nothing very sophisticated. The best coffee I have had was when I was living in Turkey. Great stuff.
I've been a home roaster for about three years and just as Michael's experience a friend introduced me to the world of single origin, third wave coffee.
My top three coffee brewing methods are:
1. Aeropress
2. Chemex
3. Melitta pour over
Walther, have you written about these methods anywhere? I'd check it out!
Oddly enough I have a coffee post in my drafts. I might need to finally finish it.
Allow me to push you over the edge with my coffee-colored dog: https://youtu.be/i1eDSFNdCHg
aaawww fine, I'll do it
Yes! I am not above using my children for the purpose of making the world a better place.
Just loved this post, thank you Andrew and Michael. First, a little transparency: I am not a coffee drinker, never was, but I do adore the smell of coffee, both the beans and when it's being brewed. Why that adoration stops at the act of imbibing, escapes me. I tried coffee, real coffee, for the first time at an international summit in Valencia, Spain, right after a full buffet lunch, and it sent my heart racing for the next several hours.
I'm a chocolate gal. And coffee and chocolate are a match made in heaven—and brought back down to us by the gods. Just think of the delicious similarities... they both have "beans", they are both roasted (although you can have virgin chocolate), and they are both called "dark and rich." Both can be taken as a beverage, or in bar form (yes there are chocolate bars with coffee beans embedded in them, sheer ectasy!). Both have a long and storied cultural history and heritage.
How curious too... literally yesterday I softlaunched a new Substack dedicated to our love for cacao (cacaomuse.substack.com). Great food-loving minds clearly think alike :) When I write my piece about cacao history would love to link to this post, so watch that space!
We totally do need to weave the two together!!
I would enjoy reading this.
Low fat Chocolate milk added to my coffee everyday, old school drip machine on a timer, in the summer I add ice and it is wonderful. 💚 Thank you goats and Andrew for the story!
Yay! Old school drip for me as well, although I've upgraded to more of a Thermos-style carafe.
Pour over coffee is my go to! I didn't like coffee until I discovered this style a few years ago at Roast'd in Fort Lee, NJ. The different flavors you can get with different coffee beans and different brewing ways was an eye opener to me. But with pour over you need to know that the place you're going to makes it well. It can come out either watery or bitter if not done well, so you might not like the style because of a bad brew rather than the method.
Check out all the heroes in the comments here who do this themselves! (I'm not such a hero)
I love that coffee was invented because church is boring😂 I drink mine black from a Chemex, although, I switched to a reusable filter during the pandemic when I had trouble finding their paper filters. It’s not the same flavor, definitely, but it’s still pretty good.
That sounds fantastic!