Bayou Teche Threads: Une Demi Tasse.

It is evident to outside on-lookers that there is a value that continues to exist in coffee. Within the local boundaries of relations and life, coffee is the common core.

"Comment ca va, beb? I got a fresh pot of coffee brewing."

"Viens ici! The coffee is just about done."

"You got time for a quick cup of coffee?"

But there is nothing quick about the art; grinding, scooping, boiling, pouring, stirring, brewing.
Like a single finger print, it varies from surname to surname, parish to parish; from the preparation to the presentation. When an online forum was initiated to a locally produced french table about coffee recollections, people had responded. This went on for hours, I was getting notifications out the wazoo! To my surprise there were a little more than 500 comments on a simple little question I had asked. This goes to show the truth of coffee, this simple yet important 'thing' is another root holding our culture down.

"A coffee pot is called une grègue. The kettle we boiled the water in was une bombe. This is in the St. Martinville area."

"Making coffee was an art. You dripped a little, talked a little."

"We always had afternoon coffee. And coffee for company any time of day. I always had coffee milk as a little girl. My uncle Kirby drank his coffee black. I used to ask him every time I served him if he wanted sugar, just so I could hear him say," just dip your lil pinky in there to make it sweet". My dad only wanted his coffee made in an old drip pot. Wish I had one now."

"You ever wonder how they could afford all that coffee.?Everyone was so dirt poor but they always had coffee. Not to offer coffee to a guest was considered an insult. My Mom always bought Mello Joy.
Ron Guidry Anybody ever make camp coffee? Pot of water over the fire, pour grinds directly in water, bring to a boil, get it off the fire and let it steep?"

"Ron, I have heard that called Cowboy coffee"
"I remember dad telling me about paying a nickel for a pound of coffee. He would choke on the price today."

"Company in the afternoon started a regular ritual. "Y'all want coffee?" "Mais, if you have some made don't make some just for us". "Oh it won't take long". Water on to boil, drip pot readied. Then coffee, cups, cream, and sugar all passed around on a tray. I can't remember the last time I saw coffee served on a tray to each person, but I was a kid"

"OMG Bryan Lafleur!!! -- Was this something in the Cajun Families Hand book???
"Mais, if you have some made don't make some just for us". "Oh it won't take long".
How many times has this scene played out in my life I can't tell you!!"

"I can still see my grandmother's cups on the counter turned upside down on a tray always ready and never saved( put in cabinet,Lol). She was always ready, in case unexpected company came."

"Unexpected company seemed fairly common,"

"Or EVERY time I go home to VP, I walk through the kitchen door, kiss everyone on the lips and then they say... 'fresh coffee...'"

"No one minded because cajuns led lonely lives. There were often miles between houses. Company was the only way they received news of the outside world. Can you imagine an existence without Tv, cars, or any other way to communicate with the outside world?"

"I've seen the ceramic coated ones but by far when I was growing up it was the aluminum.
Sandy Jarreau The enamel one is the only one daddy wanted. Wish I had one today. Mom would make the filters. We kept an old one as a pattern."

"I still have a 2-cup aluminum drip coffee pot and 2 trays that coffee was served to company! I just can't part with them."

"Sandy, you can still find those old enamel white drip style coffee pots. Have seen them at Guidry Hardware in Lafayette!"

"My fondest memories of my grandmother was her getting up every morning and grinding her coffee beans and making her coffee with chicory... I have never known any other way... strong and nothing in it... I and my family are huge coffee drinkers all day and night... coffee pot is always on and ready for friends...coffee with every meal and ice tea for sipping during the day as well..."

Coffee is eminent. Coffee is not only a sort of life source to the working man’s soul but also a sure way for conversation.
Alright, enough of that history lesson... The mugs that you find at thrift shops are AMAZING. There is no way you can get that unique and original at Target or even World Market. I tend to always have a mug obsession because if when I find one that catches my eye and my interest, I can't resist. But obsessions somehow end up controlling the situations and I am guilty of that. When I was living at, what my roommate and I called, 'the camp', at times I would have cupboards, that's plural, with an 's', full of straight up wonky coffee mugs. I had to learn to curb my appetite. GIFTS FOR ALL! I mean who doesn't like a good conversation piece?! *ahem* coffee and the mugs you drink it out of.

One local farm-to-table restaurant in Lafayette, Louisiana knows what I'm talking about. The Rusted Rooster, located on the corner of St. Landry & University Avenue, has a few fans (thanks Andrew Toups) that document the mugs that they receive their morning coffee in..