a note
FROM THE MANAGING EDITOR . G. MICHAEL DOBBS
I’m not a coffee drinker. I’m well aware that sounds odd. After all being a coffee drinker is part of being an American adult, especially of my generation. I do like iced coffee drinks but that clearly doesn’t count. And while I intellectually understand the lure of coffee, I don’t really emotionally connect. Movie director David Lynch once said, “Even bad coffee is better than no coffee at all.” How important is coffee? The great composer J. S. Bach once said, “Without my morning coffee, I’m just like a dried-up piece of goat.” The stereotype for the classic reporter involved coffee – copious amount of Joe. I think everyone on my editorial staff is a coffee hound. In fact a survey taken in 2014 in the United Kingdom noted that journalists are the number one profession when it comes to coffee drinking. So, while I’ve got the Bourbon and tobacco habits that are part of the stereotype – don’t worry my new bosses made sure I got rid of the emergency bottle I kept at work – the coffee habit escapes me. I come by this naturally. Neither of my parents were big coffee drinkers. My dad used to guilt my mom into sharing a cup of coffee with him at breakfast. She poured a large amount of cream and used plenty of sugar to get it down. He didn’t want to drink alone. My parents tried “Postum,” a grain-based coffee substitute without the caffeine for a while, although eventually my mom just drank hot water. When they did drink coffee, it was always instant. Blame it on the technological advances of the late 1950s and early 60s when instant coffee was seen as something modern. I know the phrase “instant coffee” is met with scorn today. In buying coffee back when I was kid there was nothing like the selection we have today. Yes, there was a bunch of different brands, but the flavored coffees as well as the specific types of beans used were not something that existed. The most exotic coffee buying experience I could recall was at the old A & P markets where they had grinding machines at the checkout so your coffee could be freshly ground. Today coffee is a science. It’s not just about beans, but how they are roasted, how they are brewed and how they are served. Does anyone still drink the coffee that came out of vending machines? Are there still those kinds of machines? I’m assuming they are museum pieces today. Coffee has ceased being something that came in three basic configurations: regular, decaf and instant. The coffee experience as I see it, but not experience it, is extremely broad. My wife and I have gone to Monsoon Coffee Roasters in Springfield several times and despite my not following the one true religion, I’ve always enjoyed it. The aroma of the roasted beans is incredible and the people are knowledgeable and inviting. The experience there almost makes me want to try hot coffee – almost. Right now I’ll stick to the iced versions. - G. Michael Dobbs, Managing Editor
MANAGING EDITOR G. Michael Dobbs
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