you will want to drink a quart…of coffee.”---Garrison Keillor, et al.
Is there anything more hip, more with-it these days than coffee? It’s all the rage, it’s up on stage, we can’t disengage…from coffee. People write songs about it, mix it with milk and give it fancy Italian names, cross three lanes of traffic in a trice when they spot a Starbucks on the horizon. In Alaska, where nobody lives, there are hundreds of standalone coffee-hut drive-thrus with lines around the block.
In the past decade, the U.S. coffee landscape has seen massive growth. Commercial coffee and snack shops have surged to over 94,000 establishments nationwide. Meanwhile, consumer demand for at-home brewing has exploded, with millions of operational coffee makers now installed in homes. The hallowed brew is a legend in its own time. You won’t be in with the in-crowd if you can’t talk coffee. Everyone’s asking when the beverage of the decade will announce its Eras Tour. Not to be a fly in the ointment, but what’s going on here?
Coffee is the ultimate daily ritual because it perfectly combines science and psychology. It provides a fast legal and effective brain boost, while its rich flavors and warm aroma trigger psychological comfort. Caffeine looks a lot like a natural brain chemical called adenosine. It acts as a lock and key, sitting on adenosine receptors so your brain doesn’t get the signal that you might be getting tired. It releases feel-good chemicals like dopamine. It’s rich in polyphenols, which help reduce internal inflammation and may lower the risk of chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and Parkinson’s. And though humans are naturally wired to dislike bitterness, our brains quickly learn to associate coffee’s taste with the impending energy boost. Polling has told us the daily brew offers cherished moments of mindfulness, a comforting routine and a way to connect socially with friends and coworkers. Who could ask for anything more?
The Rise Of Coffee
It is served in Lutheran churches
Keeps the Swedes and the Germans
Awake through the sermons.”---GK
I have never been an avid coffee fan. The taste, without complementary additions, is terrible, like drinking hot water. I noticed while at college, however, the ex-military engineering majors in their mid-20s going to school on the G.I. Bill would gather in the student union on hardback chairs with simple tables and glug down tons of the stuff to stay awake long into the night and get their studying done, while I fell asleep in thirty minutes on my comfy sofa. “Gotta have it,” said one of them named Joe Alexander. “Couldn’t get through school without it.” Fortunately for me, I wasn’t in engineering.
If coffee wasn’t my cup of tea, however, the coffee houses of the Beatnik Era in San Francisco were, especially the city’s first, the Cafe Trieste, which introduced Cappuccino to the West. The place was opened in 1956 by Italian immigrant Giovanni Giotta, or “Papa Gianni” to you. Cafe Trieste was originally just a little outpost for homesick Italians to gather and reminisce over bottles of chianti. Little did Papa know that his humble cafe would become the stomping grounds for some of the 20th century’s greatest creatives, the Beatniks. It was conveniently located just up the street from the fabled City Lights Bookstore, whose founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti shocked the nation with the publication of Allen Ginsburg’s poem “Howl” in 1955. Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac, Michael McClure and Bob Dylan were all regular customers of the Cafe Trieste. Thanks in large part to the Trieste, coffeehouses became synonymous with Beatniks and creativity. The coffee, itself, might not have been the star of the show, but it went along for the ride.
I was finally forced to resort to coffee in the 1970s, when making the long drives from Gainesville to the racetracks in Miami and back, sometimes a round trip in one day. Bad enough, until some cretin in Washington decided we needed a national speed limit of 55 mph in 1974. That turned a dreary 4 1/2 hour slog into a dance marathon of 6 hours. McDonald’s was convenient at all turnpike exits and some non-Michelin guide advised me they had good coffee. Not the biggest fan of the beverage at its very best, you can imagine the horror which overcame me with my first sip. Bottled swill would taste better. I put everything in the cup short of ketchup to get it down. Driving 55 mph under those conditions constituted cruel and unusual punishment. I soon had 24 bad-boy points in 36 months and the DMV told me I could drive for business purposes only. Fortunately, my business was a 24-hour-a-day proposition.
This Bold Renegade Carves An “S” With His Blade…
In 1971, most Americans drank low-grade, pre-ground coffee, and consumption was actually declining. Then, out of the night when the full moon was bright, came its ultimate champion, Mr. Starbuck, with a coffee urn on every corner. Starbucks featured high-quality, dark-roasted whole beans and popularized espresso beverages like lattes and cappuccinos that were once only found in niche Italian cafes. CEO Howard Schultz modeled Starbucks around Italian coffee bars, focusing on selling an experience rather than just a beverage. The company introduced comfortable seating, ambient music and a welcoming clubhouse environment that made the cafes daily community hubs. People who never drank coffee before began dropping in, turning on and tuning up. The fanaticism for Starbucks was never more evident to rookies like us than when Siobhan and I went to Manhattan and met old pal Tom Sutton, who was living there. Tom could hardly get past a franchise store without stopping in and there was one on every corner. It seemed like the brand went from 20 outlets to thousands overnight, expanding the total market for coffee. Its massive footprint helped normalize daily cafe visits, benefiting the broader industry and forcing competitors like Dunkin’ to upgrade their menus and store formats. Today, Starbucks commands almost 50% of the U.S. coffee shop spending market and its influence has fundamentally rewritten how Americans consume and view their morning brew.
Those wily Chinese, knowing a good thing when they see one, started their own chain in the homeland called Luckin Coffee in Beijing in 2017, and have now outstripped Starbucks in pure numbers.with 26,000 stores and 92 million customers a month. Over the summer, they opened their first four locations in the U.S. in New York City. Because the chain is so young, Luckin was founded with the digital age in mind. Their shops use a tech-driven model to increase efficiency and minimize physical store space. Payment is ALL digital. Orders are placed online for pickup or delivery, thus eliminating the need for traditional cashiers and counters. Luckin loses the clubhouse trade but its approach catches the post-gym workout crowd, the grab-and-go latte drinkers on their way to work, anyone on the run looking to save time.
There’s no escape from rampaging coffeemania. Out here in the rural Klondike where we were country before country was cool, the drive-ins are coming. A mere three days ago in sleepy Williston, a tiny drive-thru called Elliano’s opened up shop and was inundated with curious buyers in minutes, sending order-takers scurrying through the parking lot. When the Java Huns have infiltrated Levy County, the handwriting is on the wall. Coffee rules the world.
The Benefits Of Coffee
New-Agers, in particular, are health-conscious to the max and they are a driving force behind any market, so it behooves coffee to have healthy stats. Helpful scientists have lent a hand:
1. Coffee is a brain-booster. Caffeine blocks adenosine, thus the average user feels more alert and focused within 30 minutes. New studies have shown coffee drinkers have a lower risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s later in life. Coffee may improve reaction time and memory short term.
2. Coffee is packed with anti-oxidants. For many Americans, coffee is the #1 source of antioxidants in their diets. It contains polyphenols that fight cell damage and inflammation.
3. Coffee increases metabolic rate for a few hours. It can boost physical performance 11-12% by increasing adrenaline. It helps mobilize fat from tissues to use for energy.
4. Coffee protects your liver. Regular drinkers have up to an 84% lower risk of cirrhosis. Also a lower risk of liver cancer and fatty liver disease.
The hits keep coming. Coffee lowers your risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. It is associated with lower rates of depression and longer life span. It protects against gout, kidney stones, certain cancers…and who knows…maybe the heartbreak of psoriasis?
As time went on, I buried the hatchet with the coffee bean and Siobhan started making French Press at home, a job which fell to me when business picked up at her Pathogenes, Inc. I now prepare the brews for the two of us and a couple of her employees with exceeding care and sophistication, as would any first-rate barista, and I maintain my kitchen even on days when one or another of the many ailments which beset 85-year-olds deign to attack. After years of indifference to coffee, I have seen the handwriting on the kitchen wall and crossed on over to the other side.
Not So Fast, My Friend!
Despite being a reasonably healthy citizen of 85 years, I have had my share of ailments large and small over those decades. Though I conquered or made peace with most of them, my grouchy stomach has persevered for years, indecipherable assaults of gas and a general malaise which rises and falls unpredictably, defying the best of gastroenterologists. I have been ultrasounded, x-rayed while drinking water, suffered the slings and arrows of endoscopy, all to no avail. I have ingested Kefir, omeprazole and digestive enzymes, endured acupuncture, and once even enjoyed a radioactive egg at the crack of dawn. Nothing. This business has gone on for many years and has worsened with age, but I have assumed there are no answers, only mysteries. Then, one day recently, my wife looked at me with concern and said, “Maybe it’s the coffee…”
What? Could it be so simple? After all these experts, all these tests, all this time? Am I like the kid who discovered Philbert Desanex changing into Wonder Wart Hog in a phone booth and realizing his golden idol was tarnished? I consulted my good friend Mr. AI, or as I call him, Freddy, who lives inside my iPad. I can always count on Fred for the Truth.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” said he, “but your wife could be correct. The truth is that coffee is acidic and stimulates stomach acid. As we age, the stomach lining gets thinner and easier to irritate. And you know that LES muscle between the esophagus and your stomach? When it relaxes, acid creeps up, resulting in heartburn or even reflux
Coffee also stimulates the gut. It speeds up digestion, which can mean gas, cramping or trips to the bathroom. Given the conditions you mentioned earlier, coffee could absolutely be a trigger. Cutting it out for two weeks is the fastest way to know if coffee is your culprit.”
So I did. And it was. It didn’t take two weeks to figure it out, just a couple of days. The difference is remarkable. All the other things I’ve been avoiding as suspect are back in play. Life is a Cabaret, my friends, life is a Cabaret!
I have no quarrel with coffee. I appreciate its assets, its benefits to others, and I am still the Fairfield barista. I will miss all the good times coffee and I had together writing the blog and waiting for flights in the Orlando airport. Good luck to all you coffeehounds everywhere, may your days be merry and bright. Meanwhile, I have taken up with the lovely and talented Miss Jade Leaf Macha Latte. She settles my stomach and tickles my fancy, and we’ll probably be lifetime sweethearts. I might even begin looking for a ring.
That’s all, folks….
