Thursday, March 21, 2013

Say it with Koffie.



We love our early morning coffee and we often try different beans to improve our cup. It is said that the beans originated in Ethiopia and spread to Arabia and Asia. We were excited when we sailed around South America, with Brazil being the largest coffee producer in the world and followed on it's heals are Columbia, Mexico and Guatemala. But what we found were aisles of Nescafe instant, with not a coffee bean to be found. When we found some, it was a specialty item, packaged in small overpriced packages.The bulk was exported to the world largest consumer - Europe.  Which brings us to the Netherlands and their coffee hospitality. Supermarkets offer free coffee while you shop and when you enter someone's house, you are asked: " Can I get you a cup of Coffee? " What they are really saying is: "Sit with me, lets talk and share some time together"  It is called "gezelligheid" The Dutch have their favourite brand name of coffee, Douwe Egberts, which has been around since 1753, giving them the time to refine the art of coffee making.

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