Hat and Rehat
Call Me a Cab
- Messages
- 2,444
- Location
- Denver
My wife was employed by an independent coffee roaster here in Denver much more than a decade back. His family owned coffee plantations in Nicaragua, soI can't tolerate coffee -- messes with my digestion -- but I more than make up for it with tea. And I cringe when I see people loading a perfectly legitmate cup of tea with such abominations as milk and sugar. I only like mine straight-up, lukewarm, and brewed for at least fifteen minutes. Half an hour is even better. It should be the color of an old piece of rusty iron pipe or it's not worth drinking.
Carlos was importing raw bean as well as roasting it. This was early in the American discovery of coffee beyond Folgers, before Starbucks was on every corner, but they were getting there.
Grocery chains were introducing the whole bean bins, fill your own bags, and grind it on the spot, and Carlos was aiming for that market. His dad kicked off, and a fight over the plantation estate ensued. Carlos stuck it to his younger brother, who was also in Denver, running 3 or 4 esspresso carts, and his sister back home. He managed to get control of the beans. My wife was openly critical of the way he did dirt to his siblings.
She got her walking papers.
She went to work for some Russians new to town, for a while. I'm unclear about Carlos' fate, but sis was married to a high level Sandinista, so it's something I sometimes wonder about. Dazbog, the Russians, now have the King Soopers (Kroger) contract Carlos was aiming at.
Preamble aside, I used to hang out at the roasting facility from time to time.
Carlos had cases of a tabletop type hard bound book written by a friend of his. He was supposed to be selling them, but never seemed to put any effort toward it. I borrowed one, and it was a fascinating read, basically the history of coffee.
The title is, Tea Floats and Coffee Sinks. I can't remember the author, and have no idea what kind of print run was ever published, but if you ever trip over a copy, bring it home.
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