Old School Coffee

I was weaned on coffee! My paternal grandfather was named John A. Johnson; there were at least two or three other John Johnsons in the old Swedish Free Church, so they had to give them nicknames to tell them apart. My grandfather worked for Columbia Coffee Company, so he was "Coffee Johnson". He was in charge of making the coffee at Sunday School picnics, but not at doings in the church basement, as the kitchen was off-limits to men. Growing up, my dad was at the end of the table. There were boarders and a bunch of older siblings. Many dinners for him were homemade bread and coffee. I love coffee, strong and black. We had a coffee club at work; all you could drink for two bucks a month! When the rest of the folks saw me making a pot, I pretty much had it to myself, as no one else wanted it that strong.

Now that I think of it, a cup of good strong coffee and a couple of slabs of homemade Swedish rye bread would make a pretty good supper tonight!
 
Re an above post, in Dallas the Tom Thumb stores are owned and operated by Safeway, although they retain a more upscale image, as when they were previously owned by Randall's.

In Houston, Randall's operated under that name. One such store was mentioned in a mystery novel by the superb author David Lindsey.

I once wrote an article on coffee for the food pages of a major newspaper. It was fun to research, and I tried many coffees from a variety of countries.

Overall, I prefer a top Columbian Supremo blend. In Dallas, the Central Mkt. gourmet grocers have an excellent selection of coffee from a number of countries. They also stock many of Twining's superior teas. As an aside, Robert Twining founded his company in 1706 and they remain perhaps the leading shipper of superior tea. Twining's holds the Royal Warrant as supplier of tea to Queen Elizabeth II.

I favor a drip style coffee maker.

Among instant coffees, I think that Taster's Choice has a slight edge over my next most favorite, Nescafe Clasico.

BTW, my first exposure to coffee on an intellectual level came when someone passed out brochures from, I think, the Pan-American Coffee Institute (Bureau?) . I was in elementary school, but remember that the brochure claimed that some Latin American men drink as many as 40 cups a day! They must be as nervous as a mouse that has just realized that a black mamba has him in its sights!
 
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Ever had coffee soup?My dad used to perk a fresh pot,put some saltines in a bowl, cover them with coffee and add abit of sugar. My coffee of choice now is Tim Hortons.
 
Since I lost my job at the Sheriff's office I have been working a lot of security on the Trans Canada pipeline....most of the posts are one or two man affairs several miles from the closest highway....by necessity, got reaquainted with " cowboy coffee" and the eggshell thing...almost got me spoiled against store bought coffee now
 
I drink a lot of coffee. Usually drip coffee, that's
just for daily life.
For times when I want good coffee, it's in a vacuum coffee maker.
When camping, it's percolated coffee.
Whatever. Got to have it....
TACC1
 
Said something like "COFFEE, 5 POUNDS, 1ea., NSNxxxxxx" on the can.

Wow. I actually think that's accurate. Your powers of observation and memory must be outstanding, or you were a chop!
 
Ah yes, the military coffee. Two happenings that I remember from the hanger pot shaped my coffee drinking. One morning I went into the AT shop where the pot resided and fixed a cup with the creamer and sugar like always and being one of the few mornings my head was clear and the old smeller working good as I started to get a sip I got the aroma of a wet dog. Poured that cup out and started with a fresh cup. That was ok so I added sugar, still ok so no more creamer.
Since the AT shop was where the pot resided, the ATs were responsible for loading the pot at night and setting the timer. One night we didn't get finished with the night flight and securing the birds until about midnight. When the junior duty AT got ready to set up the pot there wasn't any coffee. Freeze dried had just came out and there was a large bottle of it sitting in the cabinet so Ken just dumped the entire bottle in the pot and went to the barracks. Next morning we had some 10x espresso that would double as paving material. Needless to say that got dumped and Ken was sent to the galley for real coffee and we waited for some regular stuff.
Larry
 
Wow. I actually think that's accurate. Your powers of observation and memory must be outstanding, or you were a chop!

Actually the can came in real handy after the coffee was gone. I don't know how many air regulators we could fix with one can but there were many. :)

I worked on Weapons Elevators on an Aircraft Carrier and at each magazine level, there were at least one regulator per door. As you may know the Navy spared no expense on buying ANYTHING and the air regulators were made out of solid brass pieces! The one weak point was the diaphragm. Over time they would crack and leak air. It just so happened that the coffee can was made out of almost the same thickness of metal! Well when your at sea and run out of parts, you have to improvise!

So, with a compass, tin snips, a small hammer, a fine file and a drill, we made diaphragms that actually lasted much longer that the original stock ones. ;) Sometimes ya do what you gotta do! :D
 
Military Coffee

I work in one shop that only changed the coffee grounds on Fridays, Every morning some just added more coffee and water. THe stuff was nasty. I walked to the Fire Department and drank there coffee.
 
I got to work early one day when I was a much younger guy and was told to go get the coffee started. Never had used a 50 cup perker before and thought it was one scoop per cup. 50 scoops later I thought we must use a lot of coffee here. 15 minutes after you could smell coffee outdoors. The secretaries mixed it with hot water and it lasted two days. From that point all engineers and geologists were banned from coffee making. Our senior driller was happy as he never believed coffee making was men's work except in camp. Do any of you remember that navy coffee would have some small oil drops floating on the surface? I never saw that in other mess halls.
 
Remember the smell floating around an "old school" A&P coffee grinder?

MMMMMMMMMM

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