h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Grits are wonderful when done right. Do not attempt them in restaurants any further north than the Kentucky state border.

Hyp, just because they claimed it was American coffee doesn't mean I think there *is* such a thing as American coffee. Just like I don't think there is such a thing like German coffee. That was , really, when I said I don't envy the Americans for their coffee.

Grits, polenta, etc are not for me.

Actually, if you're going to compare some southern American food with a tortilla (Mexican ones, I've no idea about Spanish ones), the grits have a very similar taste. The processing of the corn with lye (or whatever they use instead now) would be the key factor, I think.

there is a distinct difference between german and danish . i believe the danish is roasted harder

it took me a while to get used to danish and when i finally returned to germany many s later i was desperate for a mug of decent german

however in the meantime i had gotten so used to danish that i didn't like the german variety anymore

I can't imagine they imported roasted coffee beans from the USA.

Germans: If you come to America, try Eight O'Clock Coffee, or some similar 'grocery store' brand. The cheap stuff, not flavoured (!), and not bragging on Arabica, etc.

It will come closest to Melitta Gold, and be mild. It comes in ground and beans variety, in case you bring your own coffee grinder.

I used to live with someone in America who must have been the world's biggest skinflint. And I'm bad enough, so that's saying something.

One day he bought a bag of beans (rather than ground) accidentally. But we didn't have a grinder. That evening he sat down and proceeded to chew the full bag of beans to grind them. It was one of the most disgusting performances I've ever seen in my life!

I don't eat grits. They aren't offered in restaurants in my part of the country. You have to go farther south than I am to find them. But this brings up the issue of what is actually "American" as opposed to regional. The US is a big place. Foods vary from region to region.

If this is incorrect, someone please correct me. I think in England they call coffee made in a drip coffeemaker that uses either a mesh or paper filter "American" or "filtered" coffee. I don't think it has anything to do with which beans are used or how the beans are roasted. Perhaps they called Bel's coffee "American" because of the type of pot used to make it.

"Americano" is basically what you have to ask for in the UK if you want what used to simply be called "black coffee". I've even met with varying degrees of confusion on occasion when asking for "black coffee".

That's true, KB. I asked for black, thinking it would be plain coffee, but it arrived sweetened. I really hate sweetened coffee. I can drink it with a bit of real cream, but I don't want any sugar in it. I want to taste the coffee.

Hyp, that's how coffee is usually made here. It was a German housewife who invented the filter. I never knew that was supposed to be American.
But it was certainly black. If ever I go there again, I'll ask for their specifications.

A German housewife invented the coffee filter?

I demand a Guide Entry on this, you hear?

I would have thought percolators were American. Filter coffee is a German specialty.

It fits - those grounds are just so damn messy without one!

For a second there I confused percolator with perforator:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGFX5r-4Bq0

Dmitri, can you even buy a real percolator any more? That's all my mom used when I was a kid. A pyrex one with a glass percolator tube and glass and metal basket.

You know, I don't know. I'll let you know if I see one.

We always used to use the metal coffeepots. And then there were electric ones. My grandmother had one of those glass ones - the grandmother that *didn't* make coffee you could stand a spoon in.

latest coffee fashion here for the last thirty years or so has been'french coffee' which is basically the same as 'filtered coffee'

you just put both the ground coffee and boiling hot water in a pot, then after a few minutes you sieve the grounds from the coffee

in estonia i learned that you don't need anything special to make this: you just pour coffee grounds and boiling hot water in the same mug, then wait for a few seconds for the grounds to settle on the bottom of the mug, then enjoy

w*rked perfectly okay for me

Did you do it in one of these, Pierce?

http://kopiaste.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/briki.jpg

Greek coffee.

I love strong the sort that the spoon stands straight up in it

re 78>:

nope, dmitri, just a regular mug