The problem with number 3 is that tropical countries tend to be hot and humid almost all years so people prefer to wear one layer of thin cotton clothings (polyester is too synthetic and doesn’t have good air circulation.
Also it’s where the fabled Coffee Luwak came from.
White linen (or cotton) safari suits were definitely a tropical phenomenon, just not recently. They went with pith helmets and monocles. I can’t imagine a suit made of polyester. What country has polyester suits?
Best coffee in the world? Anywhere but USA actually. This is mainly due to the fact that in usa the tedency to shop on price rather than quality is quite extreme and therefore the makes of the coffee (folgers et al) has started (for the last decades) to use increasingly more robusta-beans.
Funnily enough – what people in usa call “premium coffee” we in the rest of the world call “normal coffee” since we didn’t have this hunt for price but rather had a hunt for good coffee.
To get a taste of the difference try to get a hold of Arvid Nordquist Classic Mellanrost (“middle roast”)* which is the “baseline-coffee” here in sweden. Or if you want the swedish “mass market coffee” try to get a hold of some coffee of Gevalia brand coffee (traditional/classic are the markings used to indicate a brands “normal” coffee here in sweden).
Oh, also, the strength of coffee differs a lot around the world, here in sweden the standard brew strength is “one measure for every cup and one for the pot” (measure being 15-20ml (tablespoon-measurements are 15ml btw), cup being 1-1.5dl (100-150ml, 3.5-5floz (a mug is normally 8floz)) (so for four coffe-cups (4-6dl) use 75-100ml [(4+1)*15 or (4+1)*20] coffee))).
And whatever you do – use a proper coffeemaker (that is a “coffee dripper”, do _not_ boil it on the stove nor use a percolator)
And remember to store your coffe in an airtight container, and also remember that an opened bag of coffee only is good for about 6-12months.
I don’t drink coffee – but knowing how to make it pretty much is required knowledge here in sweden.
(* = a quick google-search for [usa arvid nordquist mellanrost] turned up quite a few stores that carries it in usa)
The strength of Swedish coffee surprised me – I use a little more than half that amount, normally, but I’ll try that strength today and see how I like it!
Actually, there isn’t really an USA coffee except for Kona. It’s the only state it can be grown in. The rest of the USA lies right outside the coffee belt. We get most of our coffee from Columbia.
It’s really interesting how compulsive European ant-Americanism is getting that it can distort their perception of matters as trivial as coffee.
You got it just backwards. American mass market coffee was largely robusta up until the circa 1980. Back in the 1970s, Folders was 80% robusta or more and 20% or less Arabica. Today, the ratio has reversed and often the most common brands are pure arabica. This is also neglecting that every supermarket has vast walls of almost every variety of arabica beans one could want. Plus, the many specialty stores. Hell, I can even get fairly good beans back in my central Texas small home town of less than 20,000 people.
This is also neglecting that America is so vastly diverse that that the is no such thing as “American coffee” in the sense that there is “Swedish coffee” or “French Coffee”. America is not a mono-culture like the countries of Western Europe are. You can find every single version of coffee brewing in the entire world in any metropolitan area.
Europeans and others have often sneered at American food and beverages because American cuisine, such as it is, has historically been on of practicality and made for the ordinary individuals in an egalitarian culture. European cuisines by contrast are rooted in an elitist aristocratic culture in which wasteful conspicuous displays of wealth drove many if not most culinary decisions. As the industrial era made everyone wealthy, once aristocratic luxuries filtered down to the common place. Europeans like to compare their aristocratic cuisines to America’s egalitarian cuisine and sniff when they find it lacking.
Tough bad. Historically, Americans treated coffee as a caffeine delivery system and didn’t much care how it tasted as long as it got the job done. We had work to do. European aristocrats fussed over coffee (and other luxuries) to distract themselves from their increasing irrelevance in the industrial world. History is pretty clear that an obsession with fine living is a sign of declining society. Societies on the go grab a sandwich when they can, societies that have retired can spend hours futzing over lunch.
BTW, the best coffee in the world is in the place that coffee originated, Ethiopia. It looks like molasses, taste like heaven, will let you understand quantum physics and converse with dead relatives. If you drink it for breakfast every morning you’ll be dead in month. Not even the Ethiopians drink it everyday and they’ve been downing it for a millennia.
Personally, I don’t like coffee, so as far as I’m concerned you can take all the coffee (from the stuff pouring at your local 7-11 to the $5,000/lb stuff that comes out of a weasel’s poop) and toss it in the ocean.
But…that’s just me, I suppose.
Finally, a non-coffee drinker. I swear it’s like a religion where I am. It’s not that I hate the smell, that’s okay, but the fact that it always tastes like burnt bitter bean ash prevents me from enjoying. XD
I always tell this story when coffee comes up. If anyone ever actually listened to me, it’d risk getting repetitive.
One morning, determined to make coffee at least marginally palatable, I put about one gulp’s worth from the family coffee pot in a mug and mixed in enough creamer and sugar to get a rough 1/3-1/3-1/3 ratio. I mixed it up and took a sip…
And it was still disgustingly bitter. It blew my mind. Coffee. Made. Sugar. Bitter.
I was actually infuriated by the sheer travesty I had just experienced. andtook that as a final sign that coffee is a the most ungodly of substances and resolved to stick to abstain for the rest of forever. Screw coffee beans, screw coffee drinkers, and screw their sweet-murdering-nightmare-hell-spawn-witch’s-blood-brew.
Customary hyperbole aside (the story is true, but the intensity is exaggerated) I’ll take tea over coffee any day.
I can disapprove of that. Do you know how hard it is to down a medium cheese pizza (with 7 different kind of cheese) all by yourself? Sure the first couple slice is good but you realize you have to finish the pizza soon because cold cheese is horrible.
I love the phrase “littered with verandas.” Like some nerdy giant who loved to sit at home building tiny model architecture was teased so badly by his peers that he fled weeping across Europe, heedlessly dropping his toys as he went, where they were immediately appropriated by the locals as coffee-brewing meccas.
We in Finland (and I think them in Sweden as well) prefer their coffee lightly roasted. The dark roasts are more typical of Southern Europe. I have been told the difference comes from the type of water available. Softer water allows for a light roast where more aromas of the coffee come through, the hard water in the rest of Europe demands a dark roast. I guess ultimately it’s a matter of taste which kind you prefer.
Coffee *IS* a sort of religion and each drinker has an idea on how to make the best possible coffee. Some drinkers having a more discerning taste, others accepting any old thing. I agree with the Swede that percolator coffee is HORRID (though could be because of the cheap brand of coffee I’ve used so far), also too weak coffee is horrible and no matter what you do don’t let your coffee boil. You can prepare it on the stove, but don’t even simmer it, just let it be warm and sit for a bit. The net is full with good how-tos.
We don’t have many verandas. We definetely don’t have monkeys. What we have is coffee, LOADS of coffee. We have been (and still may be?) the largest per capita consumers of coffee in the world, I think we’d have someone who knows how to make a good cup? 🙂
Oh btw. Since it’s about who drinks it and doesn’t. I didn’t drink coffee really until I was way over 30. Being 35 now I mostly drink it at work or when visiting, rarely making any at home, making me an odd-ball in this country of coffee-drinkers. Tea is fine by me. 🙂 Just have milk and sugar ready (for both brews).
Perfect cup of coffee, huh? Rumor has it that elephant dung coffee brews the best cup. I am not paying $500/lb for that stuff. Some Dunkin Donuts coffee beans and a coarse grind and a french press is good enuff for me. White suit bug looks like a bit player in Casa Blanca movie, Sidney Greenstreet without the bulk.
I had a much clearer visualization of the 2nd panel than I would like to admit.
Let me see, my country have
1) A lot of verandas……………………………….Check
2) Monkeys at a (beach) cafes………………..Check
3) Mysterious men in white suits……………..Nope
The problem with number 3 is that tropical countries tend to be hot and humid almost all years so people prefer to wear one layer of thin cotton clothings (polyester is too synthetic and doesn’t have good air circulation.
Also it’s where the fabled Coffee Luwak came from.
White linen (or cotton) safari suits were definitely a tropical phenomenon, just not recently. They went with pith helmets and monocles. I can’t imagine a suit made of polyester. What country has polyester suits?
The suggestion in panel 2 made me initially read “monkey paws” as some sort of strange euphemism…kinda changes the context of the panel three 0_0
Lol, gets kinda nasty that way..
Furries ruin everything? XP
Lengthy post – sorry about that.
Best coffee in the world? Anywhere but USA actually. This is mainly due to the fact that in usa the tedency to shop on price rather than quality is quite extreme and therefore the makes of the coffee (folgers et al) has started (for the last decades) to use increasingly more robusta-beans.
Funnily enough – what people in usa call “premium coffee” we in the rest of the world call “normal coffee” since we didn’t have this hunt for price but rather had a hunt for good coffee.
To get a taste of the difference try to get a hold of Arvid Nordquist Classic Mellanrost (“middle roast”)* which is the “baseline-coffee” here in sweden. Or if you want the swedish “mass market coffee” try to get a hold of some coffee of Gevalia brand coffee (traditional/classic are the markings used to indicate a brands “normal” coffee here in sweden).
Oh, also, the strength of coffee differs a lot around the world, here in sweden the standard brew strength is “one measure for every cup and one for the pot” (measure being 15-20ml (tablespoon-measurements are 15ml btw), cup being 1-1.5dl (100-150ml, 3.5-5floz (a mug is normally 8floz)) (so for four coffe-cups (4-6dl) use 75-100ml [(4+1)*15 or (4+1)*20] coffee))).
And whatever you do – use a proper coffeemaker (that is a “coffee dripper”, do _not_ boil it on the stove nor use a percolator)
And remember to store your coffe in an airtight container, and also remember that an opened bag of coffee only is good for about 6-12months.
I don’t drink coffee – but knowing how to make it pretty much is required knowledge here in sweden.
(* = a quick google-search for [usa arvid nordquist mellanrost] turned up quite a few stores that carries it in usa)
I never knew how much I was craving for a cup of coffee until I read your comment.
I bet Mikael Blomkvist drinks Folgers… J
The strength of Swedish coffee surprised me – I use a little more than half that amount, normally, but I’ll try that strength today and see how I like it!
Reporting back… stronger coffee tastes much better, plus you don’t have to drink as much to get perked up. Definitely better this way.
Actually, there isn’t really an USA coffee except for Kona. It’s the only state it can be grown in. The rest of the USA lies right outside the coffee belt. We get most of our coffee from Columbia.
Colombia.*
Uhmm, no
It’s really interesting how compulsive European ant-Americanism is getting that it can distort their perception of matters as trivial as coffee.
You got it just backwards. American mass market coffee was largely robusta up until the circa 1980. Back in the 1970s, Folders was 80% robusta or more and 20% or less Arabica. Today, the ratio has reversed and often the most common brands are pure arabica. This is also neglecting that every supermarket has vast walls of almost every variety of arabica beans one could want. Plus, the many specialty stores. Hell, I can even get fairly good beans back in my central Texas small home town of less than 20,000 people.
This is also neglecting that America is so vastly diverse that that the is no such thing as “American coffee” in the sense that there is “Swedish coffee” or “French Coffee”. America is not a mono-culture like the countries of Western Europe are. You can find every single version of coffee brewing in the entire world in any metropolitan area.
Europeans and others have often sneered at American food and beverages because American cuisine, such as it is, has historically been on of practicality and made for the ordinary individuals in an egalitarian culture. European cuisines by contrast are rooted in an elitist aristocratic culture in which wasteful conspicuous displays of wealth drove many if not most culinary decisions. As the industrial era made everyone wealthy, once aristocratic luxuries filtered down to the common place. Europeans like to compare their aristocratic cuisines to America’s egalitarian cuisine and sniff when they find it lacking.
Tough bad. Historically, Americans treated coffee as a caffeine delivery system and didn’t much care how it tasted as long as it got the job done. We had work to do. European aristocrats fussed over coffee (and other luxuries) to distract themselves from their increasing irrelevance in the industrial world. History is pretty clear that an obsession with fine living is a sign of declining society. Societies on the go grab a sandwich when they can, societies that have retired can spend hours futzing over lunch.
BTW, the best coffee in the world is in the place that coffee originated, Ethiopia. It looks like molasses, taste like heaven, will let you understand quantum physics and converse with dead relatives. If you drink it for breakfast every morning you’ll be dead in month. Not even the Ethiopians drink it everyday and they’ve been downing it for a millennia.
Personally, I don’t like coffee, so as far as I’m concerned you can take all the coffee (from the stuff pouring at your local 7-11 to the $5,000/lb stuff that comes out of a weasel’s poop) and toss it in the ocean.
But…that’s just me, I suppose.
You are not alone. I cannot even stand the smell of coffee. I have to hold my breath whenever I pass the Gloria Jeans in the mall. Makes me nauseous.
But then you can’t swim in the ocean or eat sea fish anymore since the whole ocean turn into a big bowl of coffee!
Finally, a non-coffee drinker. I swear it’s like a religion where I am. It’s not that I hate the smell, that’s okay, but the fact that it always tastes like burnt bitter bean ash prevents me from enjoying. XD
I always tell this story when coffee comes up. If anyone ever actually listened to me, it’d risk getting repetitive.
One morning, determined to make coffee at least marginally palatable, I put about one gulp’s worth from the family coffee pot in a mug and mixed in enough creamer and sugar to get a rough 1/3-1/3-1/3 ratio. I mixed it up and took a sip…
And it was still disgustingly bitter. It blew my mind. Coffee. Made. Sugar. Bitter.
I was actually infuriated by the sheer travesty I had just experienced. andtook that as a final sign that coffee is a the most ungodly of substances and resolved to stick to abstain for the rest of forever. Screw coffee beans, screw coffee drinkers, and screw their sweet-murdering-nightmare-hell-spawn-witch’s-blood-brew.
Customary hyperbole aside (the story is true, but the intensity is exaggerated) I’ll take tea over coffee any day.
Shoot!
Do you have any contact info for the monkey paw guy? I’ve been trying to find him. I’m in need of some other-worldly services…if you know what I mean.
As far as coffee goes (and I’m no connoisseur), it’s all good (or bad depending on your like/dislike of coffee).
I think it’s like this saying – “Pizza is like sex. Even when it’s bad it’s pretty good.”
I can disapprove of that. Do you know how hard it is to down a medium cheese pizza (with 7 different kind of cheese) all by yourself? Sure the first couple slice is good but you realize you have to finish the pizza soon because cold cheese is horrible.
Buddha bless the toaster oven.
“I may be an atheist, but I worship coffee.”
Didn’t George Carlin call it, “… the low end of the speed spectrum.”
I love the phrase “littered with verandas.” Like some nerdy giant who loved to sit at home building tiny model architecture was teased so badly by his peers that he fled weeping across Europe, heedlessly dropping his toys as he went, where they were immediately appropriated by the locals as coffee-brewing meccas.
We in Finland (and I think them in Sweden as well) prefer their coffee lightly roasted. The dark roasts are more typical of Southern Europe. I have been told the difference comes from the type of water available. Softer water allows for a light roast where more aromas of the coffee come through, the hard water in the rest of Europe demands a dark roast. I guess ultimately it’s a matter of taste which kind you prefer.
Coffee *IS* a sort of religion and each drinker has an idea on how to make the best possible coffee. Some drinkers having a more discerning taste, others accepting any old thing. I agree with the Swede that percolator coffee is HORRID (though could be because of the cheap brand of coffee I’ve used so far), also too weak coffee is horrible and no matter what you do don’t let your coffee boil. You can prepare it on the stove, but don’t even simmer it, just let it be warm and sit for a bit. The net is full with good how-tos.
We don’t have many verandas. We definetely don’t have monkeys. What we have is coffee, LOADS of coffee. We have been (and still may be?) the largest per capita consumers of coffee in the world, I think we’d have someone who knows how to make a good cup? 🙂
Oh btw. Since it’s about who drinks it and doesn’t. I didn’t drink coffee really until I was way over 30. Being 35 now I mostly drink it at work or when visiting, rarely making any at home, making me an odd-ball in this country of coffee-drinkers. Tea is fine by me. 🙂 Just have milk and sugar ready (for both brews).
Perfect cup of coffee, huh? Rumor has it that elephant dung coffee brews the best cup. I am not paying $500/lb for that stuff. Some Dunkin Donuts coffee beans and a coarse grind and a french press is good enuff for me. White suit bug looks like a bit player in Casa Blanca movie, Sidney Greenstreet without the bulk.
Whydoya think they call it “mud?”
Also, too…isn’t “artsy foreign porno” redundant (‘ahem’..at least so I’ve heard)?
Probably the best coffee in the world is kopi luwak from Indonesia. I had some in Jakarta this summer. Strange but phenomenal
See, that sounds like the place I described.
The white-suit bug is now my Steam avatar. I credited you in the description.
Thanks!
Technically, according to some people, the best coffee is made from beans that are eaten and then pooped out by a rodent.
Someday…
Somehow…
… I wanna be one of those guys in the white suits.