Coffee & Tea

Coffee

Legends abound on the discovery of coffee, and the average coffee drinker probably doesn’t care where it originally came from, but cares deeply that it is available. Brewing is a bit of an art, but roasting is where the real efforts lie that release aroma and flavor from inside green coffee beans. During a rapid heating process, a chemical reaction causes moisture to be released before the beans are just as quickly cooled. Expertroasters, likethe ones at MillMt. Coffee & Tea in Blacksburg which opened in 1991, have years of experience in volume, temperature management and timing to yield perfectly roasted coffee beans in four basic levels: light, medium, medium-dark and dark. The first coffee trader was a Boston lady named Dorothy Jones who secured a license to sell coffee in 1670. Both the American Revolution and French Revolution were plotted in coffee houses. The coffee filter was invented in Germany in 1908, and “cowboy coffee” is so named because those boys used their dirty socks for filters, filling them with coffee beans then dipping a sock in boiling water. Coffee is the second largest traded commodity in the world, behind oil. Red Rooster Coffee roasters in Floyd deliver “coffee with a conscience” as they take seriously having a positive impact around the world in the place of origin as well as locally. One of the most important things to a visitor in the New River Valley may be a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee, and rest assured, there are many wonderful cafes with locally roasted coffee.

Tea is reputed to have been discovered by Chinese Emperor Shen Nong when a leaf found its way into water he was boiling in his garden. Once consumption became popular, the government levied a tax, and it was named the national drink of China. Taxation has always Tea been a controversial issue, and the early American colonists dumped 45 tons of tea into Boston Harbor in 1773 in protest of taxation [on tea among other things] without representation. Tea bags are a U.S. invention [1908] along with iced tea four years earlier at the St. Louis World’s Fair. It was a hot day. Tea wasn’t selling well, so Englishman Richard Blechynden poured it over ice with instant success. Originally used only as medicine, tea sales today top $12 billion in the U.S. Green tea is reportedly the most healthy of teas, but black tea is the most popular. “Brewing fine tea and positivity” is the mantra at Tea & Jam on the north end of Blacksburg. They take their tea seriously, buying primarily from independent growers and family farms. Like owner Jack Howard, once you discover the flavor in properly brewed, loose leaf tea and its health benefits, you might never immerse another tea bag. If you are a tea drinker, there are plenty of places all around the NRV to satisfy your daily tea passion. facebook.com/ Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk Pearis-Mercantile about happy things. Chaim Potok, author, rabbi540-921-2260

200 N. Main St. ~ Pearisburg

Pearis Mercantile

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facebook.com/ Pearis-Mercantile

540-921-2260

200 N. Main St. ~ Pearisburg