Of Coffee…

Brazil is the leading producer of coffee in the world, accounting for about a third of all coffee produced.  It might be expected that Brazil is a country of excellent coffee.

It isn’t.

Mainly, because, although it does grow wonderful tasting coffee, it then exports all of those wonderful beans to be enjoyed by other countries.

The inferior coffee left behind was sometimes stretched with ground up, burnt peanut shells. 

Brazil had two main types of coffee that were popular. 

One of the most popular coffee drinks served in Brazil is Café com Leite, which as the name suggests is coffee with milk.  This was my mother’s favorite.

The second, cafézinho, was a very small cup of coffee, about the size of a shot of alcohol.  This was actually a good thing since cafézinho is very potent.  Made of very strong coffee, with a lot of sugar added, the resulting concoction more closely resembles syrup than liquid. 

What’s odder is that cafézinho is often given out for free at gas stations.  Along with coolers of water complete with a communal drinking cup.

In spite of the fact that my mother hates sugar in her coffee, she did occasionally enjoy a cafézinho.  My dad is also partial to strong coffee.  This created a bit of fun when we came home on furlough.

My wonderful grandmother and her husband always welcomed us into their home on our furloughs.  Now, my grandma’s idea of coffee was a pale amber color and seemed to have only a passing acquaintance with coffee grounds.  My parents were less than fond of the mild brew.

Their solution was to get up and make the coffee.  Unfortunately, my Grandma was used to her watery brew and eyed my parents black concoction with distaste.  After a few mornings, she gently told them that she was okay making the coffee. 

In the end, they each made a pot of coffee suited to their tastes and gave our family a fun story to tell.

But no matter how strong you like your coffee, chances are it may have been grown in Brazil.