It�s possible I am the last man in America never to have set foot in a Starbucks. It�s certainly not for want of availability since, according to their website, they have 22 stores within five miles of my home, two within walking distance. I would be tempted to say that it�s my disdain for chain stores, were it not for the fact that I actually may have never been in any kind of establishment that could properly be called a coffee shop.
Apparently they do not fill any need that I have recognized yet. I should point out here that I do not even drink coffee regularly any more. Some years ago I gave up Bustelo and switched to Earl Grey as the delivery system for my morning fix of hot caffeine. Though I still order coffee when I take breakfast away from home, as I often do on Saturday mornings or when traveling.
From what others have written though it is my impression that coffee shops are not so much about imbibing hot java but are apparently some kind of place to hang out in public either alone or with others. In my travels on the backroads of Texas I have found that most small towns have a caf� or a diner where locals gather during the day to take a break and linger over a cup of coffee or two. If you live there it�s usually a good spot to catch up on the latest gossip or if you are just passing through it is a good spot to get a feel for the place. My best guess is that the coffee shop is kind of a big-city version of this for people who either don�t have jobs or else have jobs that don�t confine them to an office.
It�s been years since I was able to spend time like that doing nothing. Back in my college days I would often head over to the student center to get coffee in the evenings, partly to keep from falling asleep in the library but mainly in the hope of finding any kind of diversion that would prevent me from studying. That is probably the closest that I have come to experiencing what a coffee shop is like.
The coffee at the student center tasted like weak dishwater. After college I spent a winter in Chicago and that is where I really learned to experience coffee. I spent time there with a group of students from the Art Institute, and one of them knew how to brew coffee in an hourglass-shaped contraption. It screwed apart into three sections. She would pack the coffee into the middle section and put water in the bottom and then set it on the stove. Somehow the water would get sucked up into the top section when it was done. That was the best coffee I�ve ever had. It was strong and you needed it to fortify yourself before heading for the El in the bitter cold.
Michael Pollan wrote in an article recently that the modern coffee break actually started early in the last century as a �booze break.� Only during prohibition did it turn into a break for coffee. I find that interesting because the other thing I keep thinking about is how much what I hear about coffee shops reminds me of a bar.
Read what others have to say about Coffee Houses at Ecotone.
Comments (6)
Well here in the Seattle area, it is considered an abomination if you don’t drink coffee. There are “starbucks” everywhere, and every othere kind of coffee company too. Espresso stands on every corner, drive thrus every where. It is really hard to NOT drink it.
I went from weak dishwater, to french roast and I have to have it before I can function.
I do LOVE a good Earl grey Cuppa though!! especially when I’m tired achey and cold.
I’ve been in a Barnes and Noble cafe where they ~serve~ Starbuck’s coffee, but they tell me that it’s not really a Starbuck’s.
You’re describing a “machinetto,” — at least that’s what my wife’s mother called it. We had one for years, till one day it refused to unscrew for a new charge of water and espresso. I liked the thing not only for the strong coffee it made but for its cleverness: when the water in the bottom comes to a boil, steam pressure forces almost all of it up through the coffee grounds and out, very quickly, as coffee. And there was the element of dangerous old-world technology to it. Theoretically, if you somehow clogged the outlet, you could make it blow up. I never let that bother me. But as I became a volume coffee-drinker, I realized the machinetto’s down side was that it wasn’t very big.
You can still buy them here and there.
I didn’t know about the origins of the coffee break being a break for booze…. You are right, there is quite a bit of that expectation of better times associated with booze that is there in a coffee bar too.
i’m indifferent towards coffee — i’ll drink it if it’s put in front of me but i don’t go out of my way for it. my husband, on the other hand, can’t function without his morning “fix”.
as far as i’m concerned the best thing about starbucks is free coffee grounds for my compost pile! i’ll buy a cup of something in return for bags of grounds
Well, Bill… I’m with you on the small island of folks who have never set foot in a starbucks. AND, while agree that there is a certain something about those small town cafes (I live in Lincoln Nebraska, so know plenty of ‘em), we here in Lincoln are blessed with several INDEPENDENTLY OWNED Coffee shops who ROAST their own coffees– YUM! The only starbucks that I know even exists in Lincoln is at the airport! Yeah, I might live in a bland, modest midwest city… but at least I don’t have to suffocate in mass-produced product.
(Okay, I’ll get off my high horse now!)