Category Archives: coffee

Nov1

black medicine water.

Posted on November 1, 2025 by beth

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coffee on the morning after halloween

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A list of words for coffee in ten different languages…

10. Welsh = coffi

9. French = café

8. Manx = caffee

7. Romanian = cafea

6. Dutch = koffie

5. German = kaffee

4. Swedish = kaffe

3. Malagasy = kafe

2. Icelandic = kaffi

1. Ojibwe = makade-mashkikiwaaboo (literally “black medicine water”)

(plus others found later and added in below)

Tamil: Kaapi

Hungarian- kávé

Indonesian: Kopi

Spanish: Cafe

Korean: kuppi

Swedish slang for coffee: Java or Kip.

Snutkaffe (cop-coffe): standard black coffee with absolutely no sugar or milk.

Preferably from a gas station.

Onondaga word for coffee: either khófi or ohnegaijíh (black alcohol)

trump: covfefe

The phrase in Welsh according to the BBC for “I like coffee” is “dw’in hoffi coffi”

which does rhyme.

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I pretty much will drink any coffee. turkish prison coffee, gas station coffee, day old, microwaved, reheated, etc. I especially love the Ojibwe translation (black medicine water), which I find to be quite accurate. anyone have any others?

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‘coffee is a language in itself.’

-jackie chan

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source credits: random and all over the place

Mar10

searching.

Posted on March 10, 2025 by beth

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on a recent visit to see my family in northern Michigan

i was excited to wake up early

enjoy my usual vacation routine

have some quiet morning time

easing into the day

reading, writing

looking out over the beautiful lake

while enjoying a delicious cup of fresh morning coffee

I was staying upstairs

with its own tiny kitchen

had everything set up to brew the coffee

ready to go

the only thing missing

was the actual coffee

but could not find it anywhere

even after checking every cupboard, drawer, and shelf

I quietly ventured downstairs

searched the big kitchen

in the heart of the house

no luck

just decaf, not real coffee at all

now that I couldn’t find the coffee

I so wanted it even more

I opened every drawer and every cupboard

checked high shelves

checked low shelves

looked where the teas were

looked on the countertops

checked the refrigerator and freezer

nothing

tried to figure out

their organizational/logical system for where they kept things

went in the laundry room checked all of the cupboards high and low

now I was even more determined to find it

went into the garage in my pajamas with bare feet

opened the extra refrigerator

the extra freezer

nothing resembling coffee in either of them

finally decided to brew myself a cup of decaf

to at least have a morning coffee-ish experience

when my family woke up

the secret location I hadn’t considered was quickly revealed

it was on a shelf at the bottom of the basement stairs

aha!

the basement

who knew?

I forget they had a basement

even if I had thought of it

it wasn’t a place I expected to find the coffee

but no worries

I was now fully awake

even without the caffeine

and almost sweating

after my whirlwind of a treasure hunt

now if anyone needs to find anything in their house

I can help

having learned what’s in every cupboard, drawer, or on a shelf.

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‘searching is half the fun:

life is much more manageable when thought of as a scavenger hunt as opposed to a surprise party.’

-jimmy buffett

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photo image: zoe coffee company

Sep29

the monk of mokha.

Posted on September 29, 2024 by beth

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celebrate national coffee day with a your favorite cup of coffee and this wonderful book

it’s the incredible but true story of a young man, Mokhtar Alkhanshali,

a beverage, a history, a mix of cultures, and pure perseverance

the unlikely and winding journey he took

from here to there and back again

keeps you wondering

will his dream come alive?

with a refusal to give up

a survival instinct

and lots of thinking on this feet

you’ll follow along

with this poignant, suspenseful, moving, and often funny story

as Mokhtar struggles to keep his balance

and not abandon his people

both near and far.

written by award-winning author, Dave Eggers

you can’t help but cheer him on

and you might even learn something along the way.

Mokhtar Alkhanshali and company

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“Al-Shadhili became known as the Monk of Mokha, and Mokha became the primary point of departure for all the coffee grown in Yemen and destined for faraway markets.”

-dave eggers, the monk of mokha

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credits: Dave Eggers, 2018, NYT bestseller, Knopf Publishing

Aug28

unfit for consumption. but so good.

Posted on August 28, 2024 by beth

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Johann Bach is remembered as one of the world’s greatest composers, known for orchestral compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos. But one of Bach’s lesser-known works is Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (“Be Still, Stop Chattering”) — a humorous ode to coffee popularly known as the Coffee Canata. Written sometime in the 1730s, Bach’s mini comic opera makes light of fears at the time that coffee was an immoral beverage entirely unfit for consumption. In the 18th century, coffee shops in Europe were known to be boisterous places of conversation, unchaperoned meeting places for young romantics, and the birthplaces of political plots. A reported lover of coffee, Bach wrote a 10-movement piece that pokes fun at the uproar over coffee. The opera tells the story of a father attempting to persuade his daughter to give up her coffee addiction so that she might get married, but in the end, she just becomes a coffee-imbibing bride.

“If I couldn’t three times a day,

be allowed to drink my little cup of coffee, in my anguish,

I will turn into a shriveled-up roast goat.“

-Johann Sebastian Bach

*thank you for putting this to music, johann, i feel the same.

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source credits: interesting facts, flypaper, wikipedia, etsy mug

Jun13

sunny spirit.

Posted on June 13, 2024 by beth

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i love their sense of humor about this

despite the entire town

being under construction

enduring random outages

having traffic-related ‘disturbances’

their coffee place is open

still standing

it’s up to you

to creatively find your way there

the coffee is damn good and worth the odyssey.

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“humor is the great thing, the saving thing after all. the minute it crops up, all our hardnesses yield,

all our irritations, and resentments flit away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.”

-mark twain

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image credit: roos roast coffee

Oct19

choose wisely.

Posted on October 19, 2023 by beth

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no matter how tired you are

when coming into the faculty room

to grab a cup of coffee

at the start of another day

look closely at the flavorings offered

choose wisely.

what will it be today?

caramel? chocolate? or bleach water?

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“once you make a choice, you have no choice.”

-anna chin-williams

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photo credit: c. hull – thank you!

Sep29

coffee art.

Posted on September 29, 2023 by beth

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on international coffee day

Meet the Italian Artist who creates Incredible Works of Art From Spilled Coffee

Italians are known for their love of coffee, but while most enjoy espresso for its taste, artist Giulia Bernardell appreciates it for its creative potential. She turns spilled coffee into works of art that look like detailed watercolor paintings.

Many of us start our day with a cup of joe, but Bernardelli indulges in a dose of inspiration, too. Her bio reads, “My future starts when I wake up every morning. Every day I find something creative to do with my life.” Bernardelli’s journey to creating coffee art began by chance. One day, the artist accidentally spilled coffee over her canvas as she was working. But rather than clean it up, Bernardelli grabbed a spoon and used it to guide the brown liquid around the white space.

Today, Bernardelli continues to use spoons in lieu of a paint brush, but she also uses matchsticks to achieve intricate details. From architectural sketches to studies of the human face, Bernardelli takes inspiration from everywhere. She even recreates Italian Renaissance masterpieces in her coffee art style. She’s “painted” the Mona Lisa and The Creation of Adam, using spilled coffee as pigment.

Since making a name for herself as a respected “coffee artist,” Bernardelli has branched out into new, edible mediums. She also creates art from melted ice cream, fruit, vegetables, and much more.

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“coffee is the best thing to douse the sunrise with.”

-terri guillemets

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art credit: spilled coffee art, guilia bernadelli

source credit: mymet, emma taggart

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Giulia Bernardelli