Friday, November 03, 2017

Chickory? Not for me.

I know chicory coffee has a bit of a cult following. (Can you call it a cult when it is so big? Probably so. Ask Leah Remini.) But I've never been a huge fan.

If I'm being honest, the coffee I like is what we call "deli coffee" in NYC. Usually picked up with a bagel from a coffee cart or your local bodega, the stuff is probably culinarily related to Bud Light (which I also like, but that's a post for another day) in that it's pretty devote of actual personality. And it's supposed to come in a cup with a Greek key on it saying, "We are happy to serve you." (at least back in the 80s it did)

That's my kind of coffee.

I have, however, recently been sucked into the Starbucks frenzy due to the app I can have on my phone and refill with the touch of a button. With a young child, I fall into the stereotype demographic of the mom in the mini van not wanting to wake her kid to get out of her car only to replace the child in the car seat moments later. So, I use the drive through. Yes. Don't judge. (If it is a small bit of solace, I also walk/run two miles to another Starbucks from time to time and get myself a treat. That's a little more than a four mile loop. So there.)

But their coffee is way to dark for me. Over roasted? I don't know. Burnt? I don't think so, because I tasted that back when I worked at a diner and we left the pot on the heat too long. It's just too intense. So I fill it with all manner of things. In an ideal world, I'd have a venti s'mores frappuccino. Thankfully, since that's about a week's worth of calories in a cup, it's a seasonal thing. (Bad news, that season is upon us.) My second choice is a sugar-free peppermint mocha. (Side note, they only have sugar-free peppermint ay the holidays...and my local Starbucks just told me they might not get it at all...WHAT?!?) A sugar free vanilla latte is also decent.

Anway, what sparked this topic was the recent post by Upworthy in partnership with the New Orleans Tourism board about the history of NoLa coffee. The story is pretty interesting, to be honest. I didn't realize that Europe originally got coffee through Turkish slaves. I knew it wasn't naive to Europe, but I didn't know about the slaves. (I guess if I had thought long enough about Turkish coffee I would have had an inkling.

The chicory was added in to sort of an effort to essentially extend the life of three coffee supplies. Chicory's popularity continued and became synonomous with coffee in New Orleans. Some folks just use just chicory and no coffee.

I'm still not a fan.

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