For The Love Of Coffee

A lot has happened in the world since the last post in this blog. It started with Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and then the trifecta in Japan, followed with Yemen and Syria. With so much soul stirring news in the world, I figured no one would have time to read a blog post. Anyway in the pastiche of all this global news, it has been decided to release a post with global flavors, that has been brewing in my mind for over a year. With this as the backdrop, I begin my new post, for the love of coffee.

To those who are new to this blog, I don’t usually write about food, unless it is to be used as a simili to describe a book. Here are a few examples from the past:

1. An eastern dessert: Review of ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’.
2. A Chinese take-out: Review of ‘Unaccustomed Earth’
3. A Biryani: Review of ‘In Other Rooms, Other Wonders’

But since this blog is also a platform to share a great new find with the world, I am going to make an exception with coffee. In his book, ‘The Post-American World’, Fareed Zakaria has said something to the affect of : America is about large size, Europe is about complexity and the East is about simplicity. With this as the premise, let me take you on a journey of coffee.

The coffee in American stores never satisfied me. It was always too much quantity and too little quality. Even the small cup is pretty large. There is no concept of a small cup size. The terminology ( in a popular store) used for the cup size starts with tall and goes on to grande, venti and now trenta. Trenta holds 31 ounces. Is it for human consumption or for elephants?

In Europe you can buy tiny cups of coffee that are rich in flavor, thick in texture and their creaminess is like God’s nectar. Its so good that you want a second cup. Many years before the Euros entered the European economy, you could buy a cup of coffee in Paris for 2 franks. Ofcourse, being Paris, the same would be for 5 franks, if you chose a window seat As for coffee in the East, I loved the freshly ground and brewed coffee served in South India. It is served in steel glasses. Great taste in a simple setting.

About a year back I had coffee at Saks cafe in New York city. It was the best coffee I have had in America. Served in a small ceramic cup, it was for five dollars. Although the price may seem a lot for a small cup of coffee, it was worth it keeping in mind the quality and the overhead charges of being in Saks NY Convinced that it was possible to make a good cup of coffee in America, we bought an industrial strength coffee machine, so that we can indulge in this pleasure on a daily basis, in the comfort of home.

Now that I have used it for over an year and really enjoyed it, I thought why not share this great find in the blogosphere. So here are the details. Its called the Saeco Incanto Deluxe model (S-class). To sum up its essence, it would be right to say that its like having a hi-tech robot make coffe for you, customized to your liking. Just add water, fresh beans and froth the milk. Then with a light touch of a button, that selects the cup size, the machine will fix you an awesome cup of coffee in less than 30 seconds! I can write a whole dissertation in its praise, but hey its supposed to be a blog post!

Here are the side effects of having this machine at home. Firstly it enhances entertaining at home. Even die hard tea drinkers want a cup of coffee when they see the speed, ease and hi-tech sophistication that this machine brings in. Secondly, it deepens new friendships. Let me explain. You know in book stores you read titles like ‘ What they don’t teach you at the Wharton School of Business’. One thing not mentioned in such books is that one should always begin a meeting with a cup of tea or coffee. It is an eastern tradition and ushers the conversation into a hospitable environment. With this machine in the house, even if someone drops in for five minutes, you can offer them coffee in less than five minutes.

The machine accepts both versions of coffeee i.e. whole beans and ground powder. You can experiment with different flavors by changing or mixing brands. Anyway by enjoying coffee from this machine, I have found American, European and Eastern qualities, that Zakaria mentions in his book. The price is American, i.e. grande at $1000. But it takes only 200 cups to recover the cost! Remember the Saks coffee for $5. The taste and texture of the coffee combined with the sophistication of the machine are European in complexity. The fact that it is freshly ground, makes it simply Eastern. Talk about finding the world in a cup of coffee

Ratna

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