Coffee: A Reflection In Time - By Jaimie

Every now and then I see something that most people would consider to be an everyday item, but I don’t see it as common or normal at all. It’s so far removed from my everyday life, that I see it with different eyes. It jumps out at me, as if asking me to pay attention and not look past what it has to say. I know that my eyes are different than most in our convenience driven culture because I’ve purposely tried to lay aside the trappings of that lifestyle in favor of the old ways. My off-grid homesteading life has given me a different perspective. I’m looking through new lenses. Or maybe I’ve just wiped away the smudges so that I can see more clearly.

In any case, I frequently have the experience of seeing a modern day item in a way that makes me see it not only as a concrete thing, but more as a picture of a culture and lifestyle. For a moment, it’s like I’m standing in an art museum looking at an artifact so removed from my own experience that I’m compelled to hear its story.

Today, that artifact is the electric coffee machine. There are myriads to choose from. The choices astound me. Pick your favorite or the latest model, but they all seem to have one goal in mind: coffee at the press of a button. Did the Star Trek replicator technology begin with a cup of coffee? Did it start with coffee and move to re-hydrating sandwich cartridges, and then to food simply appearing out of mid-air. I wonder. But I digress.

Americans Love Coffee

It is my opinion that coffee may be the quintessential American drink, as American as apple pie. Perhaps some will disagree and submit that lemonade and soda would be more appropriate for that title. But I don’t generally drink those things, so in my mind I’ll stick with coffee. It’s kind of funny actually because coffee isn’t even an American commodity. It doesn’t grow here. It was originally introduced to Americans when they were still subjects of the English crown. It came on ships from the Caribbean, but so did the favored English tea from across the sea. It wasn’t until after the famous Boston Tea Party of 1773, that drinking coffee became popular as a way of declaring a patriot’s loyalty by ditching the English tea. What’s a Yankee to do without his tea? Drink coffee, of course. That makes coffee pretty American, I think.

Later on as Americans spread across the West, coffee was stowed away in chuck wagons and saddle bags. The beans were still green and had to be roasted before grinding to make coffee because roasted beans were not shelf stable before the existence of vacuum packed seals. So hardy Americans packed up their beans, transported them, roasted them, ground them, and boiled them. More likely than not they enjoyed their coffee grounds and all, with much thanks that their supply had not yet run out. Coffee must have been pretty important for all that effort.

It’s pretty important to me too. But I don’t go to near that amount of effort every morning. I enjoy mine by pouring boiling water over grounds spooned into the bottom of a coffee cone. It’s a morning ritual that takes about 10 minutes. My grandma was always one to have the newest kitchen appliances and she enjoyed her coffee made with an electric percolator. Her mother would have used a stove top one on her wood burning cookstove.

Modern sensibilities say that even that requires too much time! Waiting for a pot of water to boil is out of the question. I’ve heard it over and over again. The popularity of the single serve coffee makers proves it. But how did we get here? That’s what I see when I look at a modern coffee machine. I see a commentary on the instant gratification that has become so all important in our lives today. I can’t imagine my great-grandmother complaining about the slowness of her percolator as she waited for it to achieve the perfectly brewed color. In my mind’s eye, I see her bustling around her kitchen as she started her day by enjoying the aroma wafting from the pot on the stove.

The Modern Quest

In our modern culture’s quest for the fastest, easiest, and most convenient gadgets, I just can’t help but feel that we have lost something. I think that “something” is rather important. It’s the ability to see things as valuable and to cultivate appreciation for everything we have. I truly believe that the further and further we get from being involved in the work of something, the less valuable it becomes. It’s taken for granted. And it’s never enough. The bigger and better thing is always craved. When there is work involved (even just a little), we ensure an appreciation for the result of every task we perform. The longer our culture continues down this road, I’m afraid we will lose the understanding of the value of things more and more. Our children will see everything as easily replaceable commodities and the “something for nothing” mentality will continue to grow.

Am I saying that you get rid of your coffee maker? Not really. I am hoping that tomorrow’s coffee will be a little more fulfilling when you remember how the early pioneers valued it deep into their journey across the west. I’m just making a simple observation about our modern world where true value of the simple things seems so distant. I have to wonder at our consumer throw-away habits. I realize that my own values seem to belong to a different time. When modern convenience technologies glare at me like high beam headlights shining directly in my eyes, I am simply more thankful and committed to my slower homesteading lifestyle. Maybe once in a while, we could all benefit from taking a step back and looking at our world through the lenses of days gone by. Maybe that would allow us to experience a fresh and more thankful perspective on our lives.

Jaimie is a writer and vlogger for AnAmericanHomestead

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