Coffee Not for Colds or Flu?

Written by Lori Thiessen

I’m sick.

I’m home in bed feeling crappy, but well enough to bang out a post. My husband’s been sick too and the first thing we generally do is make a cup of tea when we start to feel poorly.

I’ve noticed that coffee is never mentioned in the same breath as chicken soup or the traditional, nice hot cup of tea when offering homemade cold remedies. Why is that?

In “A Cup of Coffee A Day Keeps the Doctor Away?” I wrote that coffee was actually good for certain ailments like preventing Type II Diabetes and some cancers.

But I’ve also read that caffeine can lower your immune system’s defenses and may make you more susceptible to flu’s and colds.

Like most medical advice, it’s mixed.

My dad split the difference and had one cup of coffee with his breakfast and one cup of tea with his dinner. He had water or a cup of juice with lunch. He rarely had colds or flu, but I don’t know if that is more to do with his staying moderate and regimented with his eating habits or the hot bevvies.

Personally, I think when you are sick, your system can’t take something as strong as coffee. A weak cup of herbal tea is just about right for a person in the throes of fighting the flu.

Of course, there are any number of plants, herbs, and bark that can be made into a tea. Coffee is made from coffee beans or chicory if you want non-coffee bean coffee.

For now, I’ll stick to tea until I’m better, then I’ll start up with coffee again.

Q: Do you ever drink coffee when you aren’t well?

Until Next Time,

May Your Coffee Always Be Freshly Brewed!

Why do the Scandinavians LOVE their coffee?

Written by Lori Thiessen

In the post about the coffee break, I wrote about discovering the origins of the coffee break could have started by a group of Norwegian ladies in the 19^th century living in the mid-Western United States. This possible urban legend got me thinking about my Swedish grandmother and her love of coffee.

Apparently, the Scandinavians are the world’s top coffee drinkers with Finns and Swedes vying for the number one position by consuming between 11 and 13 kilos of beans per year per person.

Try though I might, I couldn’t get any real data on why the Scandinavians drink so much coffee. So here are some guesses on my part.

Just in practical terms, it’s dang cold in the Nordic countries so a hot drink is bound to be popular. But the Swedes have a tasty hot drink called glog or grogg which is basically mulled wine.

But I think the Swedes and the Fins latched onto coffee for many of the same reasons that other European countries did. Coffee is a luxury item. It has to be imported from countries like Brazil so it isn’t cheap. People do like their luxuries.

Coffee is also a stimulant. During those long nights in the lands of the midnight sun, something to keep you awake is probably a good thing.

In Finland, alcohol was abolished for a while so coffee was the social drink of choice for many years and it continues to be the ultimate social drink.

It’s a great drink to have during the day because it won’t make you sloshed (unless you add something to it) and it will keep you alert.

There’s my two cents worth on the question of why the Swedes and Finns consume more coffee per capita than anybody else in the world.

If you have any addition information or insights into Nordic café culture, then please do write in. I’d love to hear from you!

Until Next Time,

May your coffee always be freshly brewed!

Where did the Coffee Table Come From?

Written by Lori Thiessen

The coffee table seems a ubiquitous piece of furniture to contemporary eyes. However, the coffee table arrived fairly recently on the home furnishing scene. According to a website called The Origins and Development of the Coffee Table, the coffee table was a variation on something called the tea table, or a tripod style table with claw feet and a hinged table top.

But it wasn’t until the late Victorian age when the coffee table as we know it came into being. There was a craze during the 1870’s and 1880’s for all things Asian, particularly all things Japanese. Think of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado.

The low tables that typify Japanese furniture became Anglicized and it became the long low table that we are familiar with today.

The function of the tea table, sofa table (the high table that sits behind the sofa), end table and coffee table are all more or less the same. It’s a place to put your tea cup or coffee cup between sips and keep the coffee pot and other things like cream, sugar, spoons, or coffee cake within reach.

The living room or drawing room is a less formal place than a dining room to have a small meal like afternoon coffee or tea. Though those of you who have had afternoon tea know that it does have a formality all its own.

Having coffee in the comfort of a space like the living room, creates a space that invites conversation. I think that’s why places like Starbucks provides not only straight back chairs and regular café tables but also comfy club chair style seating with small low coffee tables.

In the last few years however, the coffee table seems to be an endangered species. There have been the large rectangular upholstered ottomans that have taken over from the more traditional style coffee tables. I have found that these new enlarged ottomans are not nearly as practical as the more table-like coffee tables, even if you use a large serving tray to provide a hard level surface.

I think that part of the reason why coffee tables were such a late innovation in home décor is because coffee and especially the coffeehouse, was considered the domain of men. The home was a feminine space and tea which was more refined was the hot beverage of choice. Tea tables were part of the domestic furniture scene since 1750 whereas coffee tables have only been in existence since the 1870’s.

Q: Do you have a coffee table as part of your home furniture? What do you use it for mainly?

Until Next Time,

May your coffee always be freshly brewed!

Breaking News About the Coffee Break

Written by Lori Thiessen

Well, it’s not really breaking news but I think it is an interesting bit of trivia you can wow your friends and relations with.

Stoughton, Wisconsin is taking credit for being the birthing place of the coffee break in the late 1800’s. The story goes that the wives of the workers at the wagon factory were asked by Mr. Osmond Gunderson, to help sort out the tobacco inventory. The wives agreed but only if they would be allowed to go home, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, to see to their housework. Being good Norwegian women, they all kept a pot of coffee on the warm so when they went home they could have a – you guessed it – cup of hot coffee. Thanks to these Norwegian women of yesteryear, so Stoughton boasts, most workers are entitled to a 15 minute break morning and afternoon.

Stoughton is so proud of this claim to fame that for the past 11 years the town hosts a Coffee Break Festival which provides free coffee to all festival goers, and includes an arts and crafts show as well as an automotive and motorcycle display, entertainment and stuff for the kids.

It seems that people from the Scandinavian countries really enjoy their coffee. I guess if you live in a cold climate, hot drinks are bound to be a hit. But I wonder why coffee in particular and why it became so popular with them. I sense another topic for a post coming on.

My grandmother was Swedish and boy, did she like her coffee. It was devastating to her when her arthritis medication played so much havoc with her stomach that she could not drink coffee anymore. I can’t say that that particular gene has been handed down to me but I do enjoy a well-made cup of coffee after a good meal.

Q: Do you enjoy a cup of coffee at a particular time of day or setting?

Until Next Time,

May Your Coffee Always Be Freshly Brewed!

A Short History of the Coffee Break

Written by Lori Thiessen

In the most recent post on the Coffee Shop Office blog, I wrote about the weird things people do on their coffee break. This post is based on an article from CityNews – Toronto. At the bottom of the article was a link to a site called Talk About Coffee, and an article talking about the history of the coffee break.

According to this article, the origin of the coffee break remains a mystery. However, the author of this article believes that it is linked to the invention of the espresso machine. Trying to get his workers to drink their coffee faster, Luigi Bezzera conceived a machine that would use steam pressure to force water through ground beans and, hey presto – espresso coffee was born. Bezzera’s machine was developed in 1901.

In 1902, The Barcalounger Company, when it was known as the Barcolo Manufacturing Company, made a 15 minute break part of its employee benefits package. Free coffee for employees was listed in the expenses of the company in 1901.

But possibly the biggest turning point for the institutionalization of the coffee break was when Time Magazine reported the labour negotiations between the United Auto Workers and the major car manufacturing companies in 1964. Though there were many other things that the union was fighting for including health benefits, it was the fight over the coffee break that nearly brought about a strike. Under pressure from a determined group of workers the major car manufactures gave in and conceded a 12-minute a daily coffee break.

When I was working in more traditional offices years ago, there were some offices that were insistent that you took your 15 minute coffee break at the appointed time, no matter what. Other companies gave their employees a choice: you can either have a full-hour for lunch or take a half-hour lunch and two 15 minute breaks, morning and afternoon. Most of the time, I rarely had time for lunch let alone coffee breaks.

Yet organizational studies and workplace wellness advocates show that the coffee break is good for you. It helps your productivity which is good for the company and the break is good for your physical and mental health.

Q: Why do you think the coffee break got started?

Until Next Time,

May Your Coffee Always be Freshly Brewed!

Coffee Commercials on the Decline

Written by Lori Thiessen

I promised you in my last post that I would do a little research and find out if indeed there are fewer coffee commercials than of old. And I do try to keep all of my promises.

My extensive research conducted over three days and oh, about 20 channels reveals that yes, indeed there is a conspicuous lack of coffee commercials. I counted one commercial during my testing time. It was a Folgers commercial.

I think Andrea was correct in her comment on the last post that the reason for the lack of coffee commercials is the trend for people to buy gourmet and local, making mass marketing pointless for producers of specialty coffee and coffee beans.

A few months ago, McDonald’s was launching its foray into the specialty coffee market and there were plenty of their commercials around.

Things are now rather quiet on the coffee commercial front. I think that the biggest commercials for coffees these days come from friends and family members. People always seem to be talking about their favourite cool hangouts and why they hang there.

We are fast becoming aficionados of gourmet coffee. The more obscure and exclusive a brand seems to be the better we like it. Perhaps it’s because we want to be a cut above the masses. As the French social theorist, Bourdieu would say we are acquiring the indicators of the class to which we wished we belonged.

Q: Do you find yourself, friends and family discussing cafes and coffee? Why do you think that is?

Until Next Time,

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May Your Coffee Always Be Freshly Brewed!