Coffee Culture

As I poured my morning brew today, I realized I haven't written anything about the state of coffee in the UK. I could have been terribly shocked when I arrived here and shopped for coffee, but I had been sort of prepared on our honeymoon. When we stayed with Paul's grandparents in Poland we probably had coffee every day, however it was never made in a coffee pot. Everyone seemed to be using instant coffee, which I thought was really strange, but I thought maybe they weren't big coffee drinkers and just kept the instant stuff around for a picky guest.

Well, a couple of months later, we're in England and shopping for coffee. While in the US, there are maybe 2 brands of instant coffee, in the Sainsbury grocery store the instant coffee section is as big, if not bigger than the ground coffee section. We decided that rather than buy a coffee maker, we'd just get one of those french presses (cafetiere) and an electric teakettle since Paul loves tea. But, cleaning out those cafetiere things is a real pain! So after 2 months here, we've made the change to instant coffee, for the most part. It's actually quite tasty! I read somewhere that the world's largest freeze-dried coffee manufacturer is located just outside of Oxford, which made me think, when coffee is freeze-dried, it's probably done when the coffee is at its peak flavor. Where ground beans may be sitting in your fridge for weeks at a time, freeze-dried is kept at its most robust, almost creamy state. It's kind of like how canned vegetables are better for you and tastier than fresh; they've been preserved at their peak.

But, I know that as soon as Paul & I have a more permanent residence, we'll get a legitimate coffee maker. The freeze-dried stuff is good, but it's still not the same.