One of the first things I do in the morning is stumble into the kitchen and turn on the coffee maker. Soon the aroma of freshly brewing coffee fills the air, and my brain starts to wake up.
Nothing's better than that first sip of coffee, so hot it practically burns the tongue, filled with the robust flavor only dark-roasted coffee can deliver. I've tried starting the day with hot tea or a cold cola, but a hot cup of coffee wins hands down.
My grandmother used to make coffee with a stove-top percolator. Modern automatic coffee makers can brew an entire pot in under five minutes, but using an old-fashioned percolator requires time and patience.
Her battered, white porcelain coffee pot stayed on top of the stove for years. First, she'd fill the pot with water, spoon dark brown grounds into a metal basket inside the pot and then turn the gas burner on high. Once the water began to boil, she'd lower the heat and wait.
I loved pulling a chair up to the stove and watching the water squirt up through the glass top, gradually turning darker brown as the aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the air.
The coffee was finished when the water had turned a dark brown, and that deep, rich color is best acquired by using the brand by which all southern coffees are judged -- Community.
Community Coffee has a long history in Louisiana. According to their Website, the company is the largest family-owned retail coffee brand in the United States and goes back 80 years. I don't know a coffee lover in Louisiana who doesn't keep a hefty supply of dark-roast Community Coffee in an air-tight canister in their pantry.
Sure there are other Southern brands -- Luzianne Coffee in the yellow bag and the rich chicory-laced coffees from Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans -- but Community Coffee is the king.
Over the years, others have tried to assert they offer the best coffee. I remember commercials featuring Juan Valdez and his donkey up in the "mountains of Columbia," bringing the best coffee beans down from exotic coffee fields.
Then Seattle jumped into the act. Washington-based companies like Starbucks actively market to caffeine-addicts all over the world, claiming they have the best coffees.
Websites promise to ship the best coffees from Bali, Brazil and Ethiopia straight to your door. The plain, simple coffee bean has gone from the 50-cent-a-cup working man's drink to a $3.99 cup served in fancy carafes. That once plain cup of Joe is now enhanced with almonds, hazelnuts, liquors and creamers.
The old corner coffee shops with faded Formica counter tops, doughnuts under a glass dome and bar stools with well-worn plastic seats have been replaced with sofa-filled coffee shops offering free Internet access and over-priced pastries and omelets.
In case coffee lovers can't get to a fancy coffee house, the Internet offers hundreds of articles on how to make the perfect cup of coffee. Only use ice-cold water and grind your own beans in an expensive grinder.
Forget that battered percolator. Top-of-the-line, fancy coffee makers must be used to brew the best cup around. And no more of that plain Half-and-Half creamer. Now fancy lactose-free International creamers fill the dairy case.
While a fancy cup of coffee might seem appealing from time to time, nothing beats a simple cup of rich Community Coffee. Throw in a sunrise and the quiet of the morning, and, as we Cajuns like to say, cherie, that's some livin.'
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