Shrubbery
Although general known as a tree, the coffee plant is referred to as a shrub in botanical references. Coffee plants are evergreens, growing to about fifteen feet high in the wild. On farms and plantations, the shrubs are kept trimmed to a height of about six feet, making it easier to harvest the berries.
The plant has creamy white blossoms that have a sweet-smelling fragrance, like jasmine or orange blossoms. The leaves are like a camillia’s; broad, shiny, and shaped like a spearhead. The bright red fruit are called cherries and are cranberry-sized and shaped. The cherries ripen in about six to nine months. Within the sweet tasting pulp are two flat-sided seeds. These seeds are the coffee beans. A healthy coffee shrub produces about five pounds of beans a year. However, less than 25 percent of these beans are top quality coffee beans.
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Admit it! Anyone who has ever fancied becoming a innkeeper must admit to some sort grandiose dreams of being able to immediately sweep through every room in their new inn and create such charming and luxurious accommodations that every guest will swoon and want to stay forever.
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This is the recipe for the pancakes that we have been using in my family for decades, with some minor variations along the way. When my mother made them, all she used was plain milk. I think us kids turned up our noses at buttermilk! She would also sometimes add about a tablespoon of wheatgerm flakes to the batter with the idea that this would make the pancakes a little bit more healthy. My brother and sister enjoyed the pancakes with plenty of syrup, I preferred them to be sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.
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In the last post, On the Caffeine Trail – Part 1, I told you how I got into the whole coffee thing in the first place, a bit about the legend of the discovery of coffee, and introduced one of our local coffeehouses:
Now:
Let’s Get Historical
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I am a tree planter. Not necessarily because I’m a “tree hugger,” although, yes, I am concerned about the environment and living sustainably, but because I like to measure time with trees. Whenever I have moved to a new house or need to memorialize a meaningful event, I plant a tree or multiple trees. There is something I find so satisfying in looking at the growth of the trees over time and thinking of the events of the past when the trees were first planted.
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Coffee! Ah, now there’s a word that can spark controversy. Just start asking your friends where to find the perfect cup and you’re liable to start a major debate.
With a little coffee knowledge and a growing list of regional coffee options to expand the scope of the debate, you and your friends can plan your own coffee tasting adventures. Perhaps you will discover a new coffeehouse or try some different coffee beans.
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