Cafe Du Jour

Bustelo and Medaglia

Here are my current off-the-shelf favorite brands of coffee.  I love them both, and think they are great.  I brew them in my hand-me-down coffee maker (Thank you Elegant Astronaut see blog link).  I use a mesh filter and a paper filter.  I read somewhere that paper filtering helps the coffee to not affect your blood pressure as negatively.  Anyway, all that filtering keeps the fine ground stuff out of my cup.

I looked up Cafe Bustelo and it turns out it is something of a Latinesque star.  There is an interesting site (cafebustelo.com) with the history and current trendiness quotient in Hollywood, Coachella, etc.  I didn't see anything about trade practices but I will watch for this and post back when I find something out.  I discovered Cafe Bustelo in my Spanish study days (90s).  I was genuinely ahead of the trend wave and never even knew it! Bustelo is labeled a dark roast espresso.

Medaglia D'oro is another long time favorite.  This espresso is Italian Roast and appears intermittently on my Kroger's shelves.  My local store carried it for several years then one day it disappeared.  I inquired at the customer service booth and was told they would check on availability.  When I touched base again, I was told "It is no longer in our warehouse, we can't get it anymore".  I would check back every couple of years, same answer.  About two months ago I went there (love their olives, 10 for $10 frozen veggies, and cheese selection) and boom... there it was just as before.  I guess it appeared in their warehouse again.  Anyway, I went my way rejoicing with two cans (all my grocery budget could afford at that moment).

Coffee and I go way back.  We were a Folgers family growing up.  One of my grandmothers always brewed Maxwell House.  The other one liked Maxim instant and we would drink it and work the daily crossword puzzle. I truly remember sitting in my highchair as a toddler and getting coffee poured into my cup after I drank my milk for breakfast. I do have very early memories, but I think my mother kept me in that highchair for a long time. I was pretty hyperactive (related to caffeine perhaps!!!?). Those days we made coffee in an aluminum percolator on the stove.  For special occasions we used the electric stainless steel percolator.  

I am sure that I am less depressed and more productive as a result of coffee in my cup.  I read that it is has lots of antioxidants.  I'm glad that I have seen the elevation of coffee and coffeehouses in my lifetime. This is a good time to be drinking coffee.