By Pierre Ratte
For over 30 years, my daily pour has been a latté. Some years ago, I took a latté art class in Seattle. While it’s not every day that hearts and recognizable shapes like the one above get poured, it’s often enough that it is intriguing. What will my coffee look like this morning?
No question, it’s addictive. Trying to get that design shape just perfect—very addictive! Oh, maybe you thought it was the caffeine? Well, there is that! But the artwork is frustratingly difficult. So next time your barista pours a beautiful heart, flower or whatever, don’t take it for granted. If you’ve tried to make latté art, you’ll know it’s a skill not easy to come by. When you know, you know.
Fun Facts: Ethiopian goats excited from eating hillside beans are credited with discovering coffee. Interest in coffee migrated from Ethiopia to Turkey. The first café opened in Istanbul in 1475, and coffee culture centered around cafés and conversations ever since.
By the 1800s, coffee houses were the rage in Europe and Italy, but brewing took time. Espresso was invented to reduce brew time from minutes to seconds. Pavoni reportedly invented the first pressure-release valve to safely operate steam-based machines in 1900. Later, Gaggia patented a device that increased water pressure from 2 to 10 atmospheric bars, thereby discovering ‘crema’—the light brown floating foam.
Brazil produces more coffee than any other country. Finland consumes more coffee per capita than any other country. Caffeine’s effect begins in 5 minutes, peaks at 30 and remains for hours. Light roasts retain more caffeine than dark. Decaf coffee has 2-10 milligrams compared to 80-100+ milligrams for regular coffee. Starbucks reportedly has over 30,000 cafés in 75 countries.
Why is the coffee company called Chock full o’Nuts, if coffee is a fruit? The company started selling nuts to theatergoers in 1926. After 1929, the company changed its nut shops to lunch counters selling a pumpernickel-raisin bread, cream cheese and nut sandwich for 5 cents, including a cup of coffee.
Chock full o’Nuts later opened many lunch counters, notably hiring African Americans. After retiring from baseball, Jackie Robinson served as its VP and director of personnel. Its slogan, “Better coffee a millionaire can’t buy,” was sung by the founder’s wife.
It’s still a brand and advertises “No nuts, just coffee.”
