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Enjoy a little moo juice in your coffee? Yeah, so does much of the rest of the world. But when did we all start making that delicious black liquid brown?
According to the (amazing, and available for free download) 1922 volume "All About Coffee" by William H. Ukers, it was a Dutch ambassador in 1660 who first had the bright idea to mix nature's liquid candy with the life-giving elixir we know as a cuppa joe. French doctors did one better 15 years later, when they started prescribing the following combination as medicinal: "Place on the fire a bowl of milk. When it begins to rise, throw in to it a bowl of powdered coffee, [and] a bowl of moist sugar, and let it boil for some time."
Okay, that actually sounds kind of gross. But milk's natural sweetness remains the obvious counterpart to coffee's inherent (and, hopefully, pleasant) bitterness. Read on after the jump for some other international historical takes on the light-two-sugars revolution.
While a traditional black brew is still the norm in major coffee-drinking cultures like Ethiopia and Turkey, the blend of milk and coffee has been going strong elsewhere for a large part of the last century. Italians naturally have the edge on the cappuccino (a harmonious blend of espresso, steamed milk and foam), while the Spanish enjoy something called a cortado, which is a roughly a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio of coffee to milk.
In Java, the birthplace of one of coffee's many nicknames, Ukers said "a favorite method is to make a strong extract by the French drip process and then to use a spoonful of the extract to a cup of hot milk." When the French brought their coffee-loving ways to Vietnam in the late 19th century, the mixture of strong, dark-roasted coffee and sweetened condensed milk quickly became common. And, naturally, we Americans have our own variations.
What do you think: Does milk belong in the coffee mug or should it be relegated to the cereal bowl? Let us know in the comments.
Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series for the caffeine-addicted.
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1-27-2010 @8:24PM melissa said... im not much of a fan for coffee but when i drink it i put hot chocolate mix in, some milk, creamers (the french vanilla is preferable), and top it off with sugar...its a little sweet but its a great comfort and a great addition to relax time :)
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1-27-2010 @8:24PM CeCe said... Perhaps coffeelover hasn't had his/her coffee today. That could account for the picky attitude!
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1-28-2010 @12:13AM MOM said... You know, it's all a matter of personal preference and taste. Why attack someone just because they don't like what you do? That's just not right. And very immature to boot!
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1-27-2010 @9:42PM Shelly said... The FDA needs to get involved in this dispute. I think before you decide to do a risky thing like adding cream to coffee it's best to wait untill you have the governments official permission.
They will study the impact of coffee and cream on your health for 27 years and then decide for you if it is ok to do that. I'm fairly certian the FDA will find something wrong with both cream and coffee and will be added to the list of illegal products that should be taken off the market.
You risk going to jail by drinking coffee or cream. Be afraid, be very afraid.
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1-27-2010 @10:20PM Tom said...
1-27-2010 @7:36PM
Catmoves said...
" Oh, come on.
AOL is really tops in trying to make news out of boring and uninteresting crap. I can't imagine anyone (save those with nothing to do) being the slightest bit interested in this foolishness. News must be scarce. Why not tell the public how big business will own America and the rest of the world in 20 years? "
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It would appear that you came here to bitch and moan and fuss,which is to make much ado about nothing. Take your 'did you start your period?' attitude some where else, please. And while you're at it, get a life. Talk to your spouse if you have one. (That sounds doubtful.) We're coffee lovers here for the most part and some of us like a little moo in our Java.
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1-28-2010 @12:22AM cdub638 said... I like straight black coffee, but there is a resturant in Vera Cruz, Mexico that has coffee so strong it has to to be diluted with at least 50% milk. It can't be taken straight!
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1-28-2010 @11:57AM My Inner French Girl said... Cafe au lait all the way! I like a little coffee with my milk. ;-)
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1-29-2010 @6:33AM Countrytraders said... All coffee lovers contact - Roasted Coffee Beans from Blue Mountain Coffee Roasters from Jamaica. http://www.countrytraders.com
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1-29-2010 @6:33AM Countrytraders said... All coffee lovers contact - Roasted Coffee Beans from Blue Mountain Coffee Roasters from Jamaica. http://www.countrytraders.com
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