First of all, I would like to write to one and all and shout it from the rooftop, carried on the wings of the wind, in the streets as if an old time a town crier, or atop a steed, Happy Fourth of July, 2026.
This year marks special events such as the 250th year of the Declaration of Independence being announced, July fourth, 1776. 2026 is the 239th year of the publication of The Constitution of The United States for America, September 17, 1789
250 years is long enough for:
myth to replace memory
slogans to replace arguments
celebration to replace reckoning
Patriotism sells.
Remembrance requires presence.
Most anniversary products work by borrowing emotion—they assume affection for the nation and convert it into purchases. That isn’t wrong in itself, but it is shallow. It treats the Declaration as a brand asset, not a living claim.
What made 1776 singular was not symbolism. It was risk.
Men and women and even children, were signing with their names or signaling with their lives, knowing exactly what the penalty could be. The Declaration was not a celebration; it was an accusation, a severing, and a wager on truth. That quality cannot be merchandised without being diminished.
So the question becomes:
How do you honor a document that was written to be used, not admired?
The difference between commemoration and continuation
A wreath marks a grave. A declaration demands a response.
If the 250th is treated as a memorial, it will look backward only. If it is treated as a jurisdictional anniversary, it asks a present-tense question:
Does this still apply—and if so, to whom?
That question cannot be answered with products. It can only be answered with clarity, invitation, and time.
But it is all in this spirit of hopeful transformation that I offer to anyone that reads here, two gifts and one announcement, in honor of the 250th anniversary of The Declaration of Independence, the 239th anniversary of our Constitution and RESET-An Un-aliens Guide to Resetting Our Republic- Revised & Expanded. From today, 7/4/2026 and through 9/17/2026 and thereafter hopefully, are the following stories, recipes, a new blend of coffee and the release of something + over fourteen years in the making. And it begins with cake.
The Gathering Place Maple Molasses Ginger Bread
By Dahni
In 1747, an English woman named Hannah Glasse published a cookbook titled The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy. Unlike earlier cookbooks written by professional chefs for aristocratic kitchens, Glasse wrote for ordinary households — women, servants, and family cooks responsible for preparing daily meals.
Her purpose was simple: to make cooking understandable and practical. She avoided the complicated language and costly ingredients common in elite cookbooks of the time and instead offered clear instructions using foods available to everyday families. Because of this practical approach, her book quickly became one of the most widely used household cookbooks in England.
Copies of Glasse’s book traveled across the Atlantic with British settlers and were widely used in the American colonies throughout the mid-1700s. Colonial households — from merchants to farmers — relied on such books for guidance in preparing meals from available ingredients. Molasses (then called treacle) and ginger were common pantry items, often imported from Caribbean sugar-producing regions such as Jamaica. Recipes for gingerbread and treacle (molasses) loaves became familiar staples in both British and colonial kitchens.
The influence of Glasse’s work lasted for decades. Although first published in London in 1747, her recipes remained in active use well into the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The first American edition was printed in 1805, confirming how long her methods continued to shape everyday cooking in the early United States.
What made Glasse’s book enduring was not luxury or sophistication, but practicality. It was a working book — meant to be used in kitchens, not admired on shelves. Meals prepared from its pages fed families, travelers, and households on both sides of the Atlantic. Many traditional ginger and molasses loaves baked today trace their roots to the kind of straightforward household recipes found in her pages.
In that sense, baking a simple gingerbread or molasses loaf today connects directly to a tradition that stretches back nearly three centuries — from English hearths to colonial kitchens, and onward into modern homes where practical cooking still gathers people around the table.
I would like to think that Thomas Jefferson might have known of such cookbooks and perhaps enjoyed gingerbread or something like what was often called Jamaican molasses ginger cake. We once had such a delicious cake from a man who grew up with it in England. It was memorable — rich, fragrant, and deeply satisfying. I later made my own version, and it made me think of coffee and led me to try making something with historic roots.
As you know, in Boston, what became known as “taxation without representation” led to tea being thrown into the harbor. During the Boston Tea Party — December 16, 1773 — 342 chests of tea were thrown overboard into Boston Harbor. Three years later, during the hot summer of 1776 in Philadelphia, the doors were often shut so delegates could speak their minds in privacy. At night, when the air cooled, Jefferson might have sat at his table working late into the evening writing the Declaration of Independence, perhaps with a piece of gingerbread — and maybe even a cup of coffee.
Years later, Jefferson expressed his appreciation for coffee, writing:
“Coffee — the favorite drink of the civilized world.”
Before modern ovens, before printed recipe cards, before spiral-bound kitchen notebooks sat beside flour jars, there were books like this — worn, flour-dusted, and faithful to the work of feeding people.
In 1747, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy helped bring practical cooking into everyday homes. The recipes were not fancy — they were meant to nourish, sustain, and gather people around the table.
My loaf carries that same spirit.
Not copied word for word, but carried forward in memory — in molasses, spice, warmth, and the slow patience of baking.
Somewhere between that old book and this modern kitchen… the loaf remembered. So let’s make some.
Cover of The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1747), a classic English cookbook from which many early loaf traditions were recorded. Public domain image via Internet Archive.
Original recipe page from Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (London, 1747), p. 210. Public domain. Source: Internet Archive.
🍞 The Gathering Place Maple Molasses Ginger Bread
(Fresh Jamaican Ginger • With Cloves • English-Style Loaf) By Dahni
🌾 Dry Ingredients
1¾ cups All-Purpose Einkorn flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1½ tablespoons fresh grated Jamaican ginger (or what you have on hand)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
🍁 Wet Ingredients
½ cup butter (softened)
½ cup moist dark brown sugar
½ cup Jamaican molasses (or whatever you have on hand)
½ cup real maple syrup
1 large egg
½ cup + 2 tablespoons hot water
🔥 Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease a 9×5 loaf pan(I used a buttery spray).
Cream the butter and brown sugar until smooth (not whipped).
Add egg, molasses, and maple syrup.
Mix until fully blended.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour.
In that same bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
Add dry mixture to wet ingredients and mix gently.
Add hot water and mix until smooth.
⏱️ Baking
Bake for 45 minutes.
Check with a toothpick at 45 minutes. If it comes out clean, it is done.
I left mine in for another 4 minutes, checked again with a toothpick, and it came out clean.
That made a total of 49 minutes(most loaves take about an hour).
Remove from oven and leave in the loaf pan to cool on a rack.
With a regular butter knife, go around the edge of the loaf and the pan to separate.
Using insulated gloves, turn the loaf upside down onto a plate.
Turn loaf right-side up onto a rack and allow it to cool about 10 minutes before slicing 3/8″ to ½” slices.
Flavor deepens and texture improves overnight.
🍁 Garnish
Using a mortar and pestle:
Grind about 2–3 tablespoons natural sugar into a fine powder
Finely chop about 2–3 tablespoons crystallized ginger
Rough-grind about 2–3 tablespoons espresso beans (RESET Blend- directions to follow)
To serve:
Dust lightly with powdered sugar
Spoon a bit of crystallized ginger on top
Add a few pieces of espresso grind
Drizzle a small amount of maple syrup
Serve with black coffee and enjoy.
🍁 Closing Reflection
Maybe Thomas J did relish the flavor 250 years ago. We enjoyed ours 250 years later.
Flavor deepens and texture improves overnight? Absolutely. Here is the chemistry if you will—
Molasses deepens overnight — flavor compounds settle and mellow.
Spices bloom — ginger, cinnamon, cloves become rounder and less sharp.
Moisture equalizes — crumb becomes more tender.
Cold slices concentrate flavor — especially with strong coffee.
“Tastes great cold with RESET coffee.”
This morning the gingerbread tasted deeper than yesterday — cold with coffee on the porch — while an osprey balanced on the telephone pole with breakfast of its own.
From English hearths to colonial kitchens to The Gathering Place Somewhere… the loaf remembered.
RESET™ Blend
From The Gathering Place Coffee Roasters by Dahni Hayden / I-Imagine Press
Most connoisseurs and experts of coffee would agree that coffee originally came from Africa. Specifically, Ethiopia. Then there are those even more exact, Yirgacheffe. Today it is still being grown and likely roasted at home in a skillet over a hot stove, stirring the roasting beans with a wooden spoon. I have tried this and it works great and especially if you are going camping and want to roast your own coffee over the romance of nature and a campfire. The history of roasting coffee over a fire, is all over these United States.
From the lengend of a goat herder observing his animated dancing goats, supposedly invigorated after having consumed the coffee cherries (beans) with caffeine, he took some of these beans to his local priest and the priest said it was evil, tossing it into a fire. Well, as the story goes, the fragrance filled the air and drew all the other priests to find this lovely aroma. True or not, coffee spread by trade routes even arriving in Europe. The then Pope, supposedly tried it, loved it and gave his blessing to it. So then by Protestants or Roman Catholics it spread. Cafe’s dotted the landscape everywhere. Even the word cafe is from an Arabian word, which literally means, coffee. Oh, by the way in this story of its origin, Muslims to this day, still drink coffee.
Back to Europe, coffee became so popular, even the famous composer Bach, of the Baroque period, wrote something special for coffee. One of the more unique works that he composed at this time was the secular cantata Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (literally “be still, stop chattering”), better known as the Coffee Cantata (BWV 211). Composed probably between 1732 and 1735, the cantata is essentially a miniature comic opera that tells the story of a disgruntled father, Schlendrian, who argues with his caffeine-obsessed daughter, Lieschen, about what he perceives to be her bad habit of indulging in too much coffee.
Unless I leave off this important information, if Ethiopia was coffee’s origin, its transmission was from Yemen, where to this day, Mocha Java is known and distributed, all across the world. Whereas Ethiopia was coffee’s Origin, Yemen was its Transmission. So what was its Settlement into the New World?
A frenchman took plants to Saint-Domiique (colonial Haiti) and this became the Settlement in the new world and formed a particularly compelling history.
Saint-Domingue (colonial Haiti) was once one of the world’s great coffee producers
Haitian coffee spread through Caribbean and New World trade networks
coffee cultivation radiated into parts of:
the Caribbean
Central America
Mexico
South America
after the Haitian Revolution and later economic collapse, production declined dramatically, and the new center became coffee from Brazil. Not only is this still mostly true in 2026, Kona coffee in Hawaii, originally came by way of plants from Brazil. And the plants from Brazil, came from the plants that spread from Haiti.
Thomas Jefferson most assuredly had coffee roasted, brewed and consumed from Haiti. This was likely so since 1773 when a lot of tea was thrown into Boston Harbor. From that point on, many believed it unpatriotic to drink tea and coffee became more popular.
What I found intriguing and to make the RESET- Blend I had to get beans from Haiti. In order to get their industry back on track, they had to import coffee plants from Jamaica to help revive the industry. So what is RESET-Blend?
RESET™ Blend Formula
Origin → Transmission → Settlement
Coffee
%
Symbolic Role
Ethiopia — Yirgacheffe
45%
Origin
Yemen
30%
Transmission
Haiti
25%
Settlement
Note: To yield 16 ounces = 1 lb. Start with 20 ounces. This is 9 oz. of origin, 6 ounces of transmission, and 5 ounces of settlement = 20 ounces. One final note, beans from Yemen are often difficult to come by. After I ordered some, the supplier listed them as not available. So check.
Having made this several times I will suggest this. Roast to just medium. The color will be reddish brown and not dark like you may be used to. You will just either have to try it yourself, but medium tastes better than darker roasting. Store un-roasted beans in a vacuum sealed container before brewing. Whole beans stay fresher longer, than ground. Get yourself a good bean grinder. Roasting method is as you prefer. I just use either a lidded popcorn popper with a hand crank over an open flame, an induction cooktop, or sometimes in a skillet with a wooden spoon to stir them over an open flame or campfire. About that.
True story. During what people know as the Civil War that I call the Conflict Among the States, every soldier, both North and South had so many pounds of coffee as part of their provisions. No coffee, ot likely would not have even marched, let alone gone into battle. Without coffee, no way.
But if after a long battle and your were still alive and maybe even under your own power and you were able to get back to your camp, that very night, the hillsides of both the North and the South were aglow with campfires. Soldiers were roasting their coffee beans in a skillet, stirring them with a wooden spoon, over the fire, for their morning coffee.
Now let’s go back to another conflict around eighty-five years earlier. It was July. It was hot. It was in Philadelphia, PA There, many of our founders met, with closed blinds to protect their privacy so that all were free to speak their minds. Candles for light burning, made the temperature rise even more as did their clothing and powdered wigs.
Thomas Jefferson was tasked in writing this Declaration. Now I imagine he did a lot of drafting and writing in the cool of the evening. I would like to think he had accommodations somewhere near the Town Hall and he worked with windows open to let in any breeze. Since he would have likely experienced Jamaican Gingerbread cake and had coffee from Haiti, I would like to think that while he finished his work on the Declaration of Independence, he would have had a slice of my cake and a steaming cup of hot RESET-blend coffee. Beads of perspiration formed on his brow, cooling the skin as they evaporated.
From possibly the desk of Thomas Jefferson in 1776, to the imagination of 2026, Somewhere… the roast remembered.
From the quill of Thomas Jefferson, every signatory and participant of the Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln, every signatory and participant of the Conflict Among the States, every signatory and participant of The Constitution of the United States for America, RESET “An Un-aliens’ Guide to Resetting our Republic” (2012 retired), and fourteen years later, RESET-Revised & Expanded (2026), COMING SOON, Somewhere the pen (quill) remembered.
Yes 5/5 was days ago. But there is always room for a margarita. This could be the best one you ever made/had.
🍋🟩 ‘El Cinco de Maya’ 🍊 (The Fifth of May)
Libatious’ #169 bonus drinks beyond 100
Ingredients
Juice of 1/2 fresh lemon 🍋 Juice of 2 limes 🍋🟩 Juice of 1 mandarin orange 🍊 1/2 jigger bergamot liqueur 1/2 jigger ginger liqueur 🫚 1/2 jigger blue curaçao (for color — turns the drink a lovely green) 1/2 jigger agave syrup 4 jiggers tequila 2 jiggers Grand Marnier or orange liqueur
Directions
Pour all ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend well.
Transfer to a hand shaker and chill in refrigerator until needed.
Rim two margarita glasses with lime juice, then dip into coarse salt. Set aside.
Prepare garnish:
two lime wheels
two strips lemon peel
two strips orange peel
two small pieces of crystalized ginger
Thread garnish through a knotted bamboo skewer and refrigerate until needed.
Remove shaker from refrigerator. Add ice 🧊
“Shaken not stirred, Bond, James Bond, 007.” 🤣
Pour into previously rimmed margarita glasses 🍸🍸 half-filled with ice.
Add garnish.
Makes two libations — one to share and one for you. 😀
Why yes, there’s a lot of alcohol in this drink… but you could find Margaritaville — and perhaps your last jigger of salt! 🧂 😂
Makes two libations — one to share and one for you.
ENJOY! 😉 Drink your ‘El Cinco de Maya’responsibly! 😂
Today, for this week’s Drink of the Week, I thought to do something a little different.
Below is a YouTube video featuring a drink that, although not in the present offering of Sips with Susan, could certainly find its way into a future volume.
Makes two libations, one to share and one for you.
ENJOY! 😉 Drink your “Sips” responsibly! 😂
From Sips with Susan — A Gathering Place Companion 🍸
Susan and I filmed and uploaded another video to The Gathering Place podcast. In it we share how to make a new drink— ‘A Pistachio Moment’. Pistachios have become a favorite, especially in winter and early March. It is used in perfumes, colognes, other fragrances and even mixed with coffee and served as lattes. So I made an orginal drink the other evening. My wife Susan said, “You can make this anytime!”
Another popular thing is Charcuterie (pronounced char + que + ter + ee). Charcuterie is often a combination of meats, fruits, nuts and cheeses and etc. served as appetizers on a wooden board. To really make something even more special, I added pear wood chips and cinnamon and smoked both ‘A Pistachio Moment’ and our charcuterie.
We will be sharing with you original recipes from the Gathering Place cook book I’m writing. This includes entrées, soups, salads, side dishes, garnishing, butter molds, plating, table settings and even napkin folding. Of course there will be deserts like pies tarts and ice cream and drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), and even roasting your own coffee. This is all designed to turn you into a 5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Chef from your own 5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ restaurant (your home).
Come Gather with us and bring everyone you know. It does not cost anything, but your time. You might enjoy it and learn something? Don’t forget to like it here and on YouTube. Subscribe for free. Much more to come!
In the ‘The Gathering Place Cookbook,’ There will be over 200+ original drinks, homemade liqueurs and simple syrups, recipes for salt and sugar rims for your cocktails and smoked cocktails. Yes, cocktails with real smoke flavor.
Come share share ‘Sips’ with us so you too can, ‘Carpe Drink-em’ (seize the drink). 😂
Susan and I filmed and uploaded another video to The Gathering Place podcast. In it we share how to make a new drink— ‘Aperol Spritz’. This is a favorite drink in Italy. Its unique bittersweet taste is derived from a secret and original recipe. It is a fusion of orange, herbs and roots in a perfectly balanced combination. It’s alcohol content is abouts 11%, which is lower than most spirit drinks, but very close to that of wine. It has a bright orange color. The classical Aperol Spritz is traditionally made as follows:
Fill a white wine glass with ice
Pour 3 parts of Prosecco (I do not like prosecco, so I use another sweet white wine)
Followed by 2 parts of Aperol
And 1 splash of soda
Garnish with an orange slice
In this video, I also make what I call, ‘Ham Slam Sammichs’ (sandwiches). It uses ham, cheese, nice hearty bread, horseradish, fresh spinach leaves or spring mix and the real secret is red currant jam. Grill it and have an Aperol Spritz beforehand or while makimg it and why not, when you eat and enjoy it!
We will be sharing with you original recipes from the Gathering Place cook book I’m writing. This includes entrées, soups, salads, side dishes, garnishing, butter molds, plating, table settings and even napkin folding. Of course there will be deserts like pies tarts and ice cream and drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), and even roasting your own coffee. This is all designed to turn you into a 5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Chef from your own 5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ restaurant (your home).
Come Gather with us and bring everyone you know. It does not cost anything, but your time. You might enjoy it and learn something? Don’t forget to like it here and on YouTube. Subscribe for free. Much more to come!
In the ‘The Gathering Place Cookbook,’ There will be over 200+ original drinks, homemade liqueurs and simple syrups, recipes for salt and sugar rims for your cocktails and smoked cocktails. Yes, cocktails with real smoke flavor.
Come share share ‘Sips’ with us so you too can, ‘Carpe Drink-em’ (seize the drink). 😂
Hot or cold, love is in the air. The Italians call it, amore (love). Heading to the spa or hot tub with your love? Why not a couple of Amore-tinis and watch Jupiter in the night skies or the poetry in motion, in each other’s eyes! 🙂
Spa Side Amore-tinis By Dahnini or Dahnitini
Amore-tini
By Dahnini or Dahnitini
Juice of 1 small fresh lime
2 jiggers Amaretto almond liqueur
1 jigger of vodka
1 jigger or apricot juice or nectar
Add ice
Pour into hand shaker and shake
“Shaken not stirred!” -007, Bond, James Bond” 🙂
Pour back into martini glass
Garnish with a stick and a skewered piece of dried apricot, dipped in lime juice and sprinkled with mix of almond flour and raw sugar
ENJOY! Drink your ‘Amore-tini responsibly! 🙂
Notes: Amore is Italian 🇮🇹 for “love” Amaretto (also Italian 🇮🇹), means “little bitter” and is often made with almonds and pulverized apricot shells which also taste like almonds.
One dancing goat, the other one is drinking coffee- click for larger view
From Kaldi and his dancing goats from Ethiopia, to Kenya and Yemen, coffee spread across the world where today—
• Coffee locations on the map all share similar characteristics: tropical and high elevation (among others). The climate must be perfect, for coffee to be grown and thrive!
• Coffee is exported from around 70 countries and imported by most countries in the world! The United States, is one of, if not the biggest importer of coffee in the world! WE the People of the USA, like our coffee!
• Mexico is likely the largest exporter of coffee to the United States! Think about that! Where did your coffee come from? Is it a blend of Mexican and some other(s)?!
• No coffee origins (varieties), are exactly like any other! Even the same origin will not always be the same, every time. Correctly roasted coffee reaches a peak then falls off in about 7-10 days! Coffee in those 7-10 days is always subtle, unique and their nuances different, each day! Some believe that the ONLY place to roast coffee is at the same location where the plants are grown, the cherries are harvested and the green beans (seeds), are processed! If this is true, then wouldn’t the best place to drink coffee be, at the same place where it is roasted? Personally, I am not financially independent, not that particular and not this patient!
• They are not really beans, they are seeds! They are called ‘cherries’, before they become ready for our coffee. They are very odd as, not every “cherry” will produce a seed! It takes around two thousand (2,000), cherries (the ones with seeds), to make our one cup of coffee!
• Because of all the above conditions and more, most cherries are still picked by hand, throughout the world! The terrain of most areas where coffee is grown, prevents most beasts of burden and modern equipment, from reaching the plants to extract the “cherries”!
• Arabica beans are the most desired, but they are also, the most fragile, compared to Robusta! Generally, Robusta beans have more caffeine and are larger beans! Robusta are often used in “blends” and to lower costs, while still charging us more for what they tell, are their, “signature blends”! Arabica beans account for sixty percent (60%), and Robusta, forty percent (40%), of all coffee beans!
• Coffee is the second (2nd), most traded commodity in the world!
• Coffee is the fourth (4th), most consumed beverage in the world, following in order: water, beer, wine and coffee!
• Kona Coffee from Hawaii (one of the most expensive and most popular in the world), is about the only place where commercial and mass quantities of coffee, are grown in the United States!
• One of the reasons (among many), Jamaican Blue Mountain (another expensive, popular and my favorite coffee), is so expensive is because, Japan (yes Japan), has had a trade agreement with Jamaica, to purchase ninety percent (90%), of their beans (roasted or green), for maybe well over a hundred (100), years!
• Political unrest and instability, could potentially halt the export of coffee, from that country, at anytime! Think about that and ask yourself what you would do, if tomorrow morning, your favorite coffee was no longer available??? This is another wonderful reason to order green beans at a current price and not at a higher price in the future and green beans can keep for years, in a cool dark place! Need I mention the importance of trying new coffees and educating your palette? ROAST YOUR OWN COFFEE!
Brewed Coffee and Beans
Brewed Coffee
The most obvious thing to do after roasting your beans is to grind them and brew, and have a cup or two or a few. If you have never had coffee this fresh and that it’s not over-roasted, you just might be tasting coffee as it was meant to be enjoyed, for the very first time??!! If you usually drink coffee with cream, sugar or both, you may be surprised how great your roasts taste, drinking it black??!! Enjoy the flashback ‘Percolator ‘ song, from the YouTube video to follow. 🙂
OK, what next?
What to do with those grounds? Do you have roses or hydrangeas? Share your grounds, they like coffee too. One of the reasons for this is due to the acidity in the coffee that plants like. OK, what next?
Decaf? There is no such thing! Most coffee marketed and sold as decaffeinated is around 97% caffeine free. Well, that still leaves around 3% caffeine doesn’t it? What I’m calling it is, Locaf (lower caffeinated) Coffee.
Locaf or Lower Caffeinated Coffee
Sometimes, you or your others, may or would like a cup of coffee before say, bedtime. Maybe you don’t need the energy or the buzz from caffeine and you don’t want to stay awake all night. 🙂
To remove caffeine, it begins with green beans ONLY! There are only 2 ways to remove up to about 97% of the caffeine from coffee:
1. Chemicals- Not for me!
2. Water- The most natural and organic! For anything and everything you may or may not want to know about so-called decaffeination (lowered caffeine, but never all), click here
Want it? Need it? Well, you have three choices:
1. Buy whole beans or ground decaffeinated (Locaf), coffee. But if you are a home roaster or want to be, why would you?
2. Buy green beans that have most of the caffeine (never all), removed and roast yourself. NO PROCESS CAN REMOVE ALL OF THE CAFFEINE! But I would only choose green beans that use the water process, to remove caffeine (whatever amount is removed)! Where to get them? Click here
3. Do it yourself! How? Well, it will take some time!!! Place your green beans in a bowl. Pour hot water onto the beans and cover them with the hot water. Let them soak, for a few minutes. Drain and rinse. Repeat. Each time you do this, more of the caffeine is removed. When finished, roast the beans to your satisfaction.
Did you know, there are over 1,200 complex compounds in coffee, which contribute to their flavor profiles?? There are!!! Uhh, why then, would anyone want to over-roast and mess up any of these flavor compounds??? Just Don’t!!! Sugar is just one of the compounds. Caffeine is another. But it is odorless and colorless, though it does contribute acidity, which does affect, the overall taste of some coffees.
Note: There is more information available on this to class participants or online subscribers. See classes- click here
OK, what’s next?
Blends or Blending
Blends could be something you might like? Blends are for two real reasons, in the coffee industry:
By using inferior beans and over roasting, costs can be cut and it can be marketed and sold as a signature blend and charge more for it.
You really want to produce a signature blend with something unique. Or, maybe you had no choice? Look back to the South during the Civil War. The North was often blocking the southern waterways and prevented or disrupted the supply of coffee. They either had to make some dark beverage from roots and other stuff besides coffee or they stretched the coffee by adding other grains and etc. to it.
Chicory was once such grain and it is still popular in the south, particularly in Louisiana. Have you ever heard of Cafe du Monde? It is world famous and started in New Orleans in 1862. They are open seven days a week; year-round, except, for Christmas Day or if an occasional hurricane forces them to close. We still have a can of this in our freezer (not a good idea to store this way, but it’s done). My wife Susan, actually had this coffee in New Orleans. I first tasted it in Japan. Yes, it’s all over the world. But in a can? How fresh can [pun-ny], that be? What if you made your own? Yes, yes you can!
Coffee blended with pine nuts
Another blend I liked and tasted, is roasted in New Mexico, USA. It is coffee made with pinions (pine nuts). It is very unique, but how long can it stay fresh in a can or even a nitrogen packed can or foil bag? When was it roasted? How many months ago was that? How many months hence, from the date of roasting, does the package read, “Best is used by [some date way into the future]”. Why not roast this blend yourself? I will be, as soon as possible!
Blends and Dark Roast
Do you like or do your friends and family like espresso, latte, macchiato, capuchino and other dark roasted beverages? Then roast some! It is easy to do. Any coffee, if dark roasted, can be used for any of the beverages above. But here is where blending or blends come in. I wanted to try this and I mixed three (3), different coffees from different countries. One was from Ethiopia. By now you know that Ethiopia is likely, where coffee began. In our classes, we use Ethiopian coffee to roast. Class participants get to sample some fresh brewed, from fresh ground, and from fresh roasted coffee beans. And they each receive a 1/4 pound of fresh roasted beans, they can take home and enjoy the next morning. Now by “fresh” I mean, coffee beans that were roasted 24-48 hours before shared. Two of the class members will each receive 1/2 pound of the coffee, I roast at the actual class. Chosen by having the winning ticket selected, one receives from the popcorn popper roast and the other from the skillet roast. Obviously, I cannot make these available online and I do not have the means or the desire to be roasting around 7 pounds of coffee beans (what is needed for a class of 14), more than once or twice a week! But also, in class and by way of a special password required protected location and for a limited time ONLY, class members will receive the actual recipe I used, for making my dark blend, for espresso and etc. For more info. on classes and etc. click here Again, Ethiopian is the coffee used for classes, for obvious reasons. It was probably the “FIRST COFFEE”, many people have never tried it, it is one of the most popular and it is great in a blend, for espresso and etc.
Various beverages from dark roasting-click for larger view
This could be your dark roasted beans- click for a larger view
Note on Blends/Blending: Technically, each coffee used in a blend, should be roasted separately and then blended. But I only made a 1/2 pound of dark roast and I roasted all three (3), different coffees together, at the same time. You are probably expecting this, but you will have to take my word for it (or take a class, learn the recipe and roast it yourself), but it made the freshest and best cup of espresso, latte, macchiato and cappuccino, my wife and I have ever had! Then I did another, not-supposed-to-do thing. I put it in a plastic sandwich bag, in a sealed black plastic container and stuck it in the freezer. Oh Noooo! 🙂
If needed or desired, I have my dark roast on hand, for anyone that comes to ‘The Gathering Place’ (what we call our home). I will be roasting this again, if/when needed, but especially for, the winter holidays! OK, what next?
Roasting for espresso? Have you ever had or do you like eating espresso beans? How about chocolate covered, espresso beans?! I have recipes for these too! Take a class and/or become a subscriber. Click here OK, what’s next?
Latte Art
Have you ever seen or had one of those extraordinary and barista artist created designs with cream, on top of your dark beverage?
Latte Art- click for a larger view
Latte Art You Could Make at Home
Do you think these might add to the cost of your cup? Why not make your own? They do not have to be complicated and so detailed and complex, that you regret destroying the art when you or someone drinks your cuppa! I’ve seen some that are so detailed, they look like famous people, animals and all kinds of stuff! Do you you think these might add to the time it takes to get a cup, and drink it and that your coffee may not be as hot as you may like it, depending on how long it takes to make and get it to you?? Please do not misunderstand me. I like, admire, respect and appreciate art and artists. But as a former chef, there is a line I just won’t cross. That line is in the middle of Impress and Bless. There is nothing wrong with presenting food and drink in a beautiful or visually pleasing manner. It actually aides in digestion, promotes good conversation and increases enjoyment or JOY! But If I want to, have to or feel the need to impress you, I have crossed the line over my desire to simply, Bless You! And, like anticipating and expecting and waiting on a good meal or beverage to come, I just don’t have the patience to wait for say, da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ to be made with cream, on top of my coffee. And as a former chef, I don’t have the patience to wait to see your reaction to what I’ve prepared especially for you! Still, latte art is cool. You can learn to do some really simple, gorgeous, beautiful (find your own adjectives), latte art which will bless your guests and not take forever and a day to make. The word bless means, “Highly Favored!” For more information, to take one of our classes and/or become a subscriber. Click here Or wait until I finish my book (see below). OK, what’s next?
Cold Coffee (iced) or Cold Brew
Cold Coffee-click for larger view
Have you ever had or do you like, Cold Coffee or Cold Brewed Coffee? What’s the difference? Cold coffee is just like it is written. It is coffee that has been brewed and allowed to cool. It is served at room temperature, cool, cold, ice cold or with ice. It is served, with or without cream and or sugar. Cold Brew is just like brewing sun tea in a glass jar, in a filter (or a tea ball), and allowed to sit in the sun (or even on your counter-top). I call this, ‘Sun Coffee’ 🙂
Each (Cold Coffee or Cold Brew), have their own unique tastes, and depend on the origin of the coffee they are made from.
Sun Coffee- click for a larger view
One of a grandfathers (a proper man and a highly educated man), liked cold or cooled or chilled or room temperature coffee (whatever was his preferred temperature). He would make coffee in a glass-top metal percolator, on top of his stove. Then he would pour some out into a nice teacup, which sat on a matching saucer. He would let this cool, pour some into the saucer, set aside the cup and raise the saucer and drink form it. I never saw him do this in public. I do not know if it is civilized or acceptable in public or how Emily Post or Miss Manners (two culture, class and etiquette champions), would view this, but it was his home, his castle, his private time and it made him happy! To be honest, I was not a fan of coffee that has any other temperature than hot enough to burn my lips! Hosting others and serving others is a responsibility and should be a joy to all chefs. Seek to bless and not impress! But I concede these (Cold Coffee or Cold Brew), have a place and FYI (for your information), I am warming up (or cooling down), to the idea! 🙂
You can add some spices and (natural flavorings), to either of these, to really transform your summer-cool-off beverages or whenever you want your coffee to Chill Out! 🙂
I’ve recipes for these too, also either available from online, for class participants, subscribers only or when completed and published, in my book—
‘The Gathering Place Feast Book’ (“How anyone can turn their home into a 5 star restaurant!”)
By Dahni
Note: If you like Nitro (nitrogen treated), Coffee, I cannot help you. I don’t care for it and I certainly do not have the necessary equipment or nitrogen sitting around in my mad-scientist lab in the basement! And there will not be one in the future, either, EVER! 🙂
OK, what’s next?
Other Beverages with Coffee
Other beverages with coffee? Like what? How about Adult Beverages (alcohol or non-alcoholic), for your Libations and Happy Together Hours! Coffee Liqueur made by you? Absolutely! How about a home-made ‘Coffee-tini’ by your’s truly, Dahnitini, mixologist; drink meister extraordinaire! 🙂
Desserts With Coffee
Coffee ice cream, coffee cake, tiramisu, coffee pie, coffee cookies anyone? We’ve got em’ and a lot more. Make your own! Make up your own.
Coffee as a Spice
Ground coffee as a spice? Sure, why not? Use as a rub, or part of a meat sauce for hamburgers and etc. The possibilities are endless. Use it. Make up some great stuff!
Coffee in Art & Literature
Yes! I’ve used coffee as a water color background, for some of my photograph turned paintings. Remember, Thomas Jefferson loved coffee and said it was the most civilized drink in the world. He may have had coffee when he was working on the drafts, to the Declaration of Independence. Maybe our Founders of this wonderful Republic of Ours, consummated its signing, before, during or after, with coffee. Poets and authors wrote and write, while consuming coffee. I have a cup of coffee beside me, as I am writing this. Now maybe this is not literature, but I am writing and I am drinking coffee, while doing it!
I’ve already mentioned using your used coffee grounds, on roses and hydrangeas. It’s great fertilizer. Coffee grounds contain several key minerals for plant growth — nitrogen, calcium, potassium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium and chromium. Compost with 40% coffee produce less green-house gas and contributes greatly, to some of the best quality compost. Coffee around your plants help create a barrier that slugs and snails do not like to crawl over. Coffee grounds contain compounds that are toxic to many insects. You can use your coffee grounds to repel mosquitoes, fruit flies, beetles and other pests. Coffee grounds contain nitrogen, which helps eliminate odors. Try placing some roasted beans in your refrigerator or really, anywhere you want to neutralize odors. Place some grounds by your sink for scrubbing your hands, after handling onions or garlic. Take some roasted coffee beans in a plastic bag with you, when you go shopping, especially for fragrances, perfume, cologne, scented candles or anything scented. and etc. After sniffing a few fragrances, your ‘nose’ can become overwhelmed and you can hardly sense another scent’s attributes. Open your bag of roasted coffee beans and sniff them for a few seconds. Your ‘nose’ for new scents will come back to you! Do not worry about what others may think about you sniffing coffee beans at the store. I have found many places offer this technique (service with coffee beans), and I always recommend it to the stores I shop at, if they don’t already offer this. It really does work! Try it! There are seemingly endless and countless ways to use coffee!
Coffee for Your Health and Wellness
Do some research and you will find that coffee consumption has many health benefits. My sister makes a fabulous shower scrub with coffee! My wife, Susan, loves it! Not to get personal or anything, but coffee is a diuretic. It helps eliminate salt and well, it helps you go. Coffee is excellent for constipation, it keeps me regular! Some people use coffee as a laxative. Some use coffee for enemas, to clean-out their digestive tracts and rid it of a buildup of toxins and poisons. Many people who do this, report feeling healthier, happier and much more energetic. That being said, personally, I would rather drink and consume my fresh coffee! There are so many things coffee can do, for us and that we can do with coffee.
Coffee for Conversation
In my book, I will have a section on making your own home made ‘Beverages’. I call this section, ‘Sips with Susan’ (my wife). Whether it is during our Happy Together Times (Happy Hour), or our morning coffee, we sit and sip, enjoy one another’s company and converse about little things, no-things of great importance or great things, which truly matter. This is what conversations are for and I truly believe, coffee promotes good conversation. Even if you are a tea drinker, have you ever invited someone or have you ever been invited to, ‘Have a Cup of Coffee’? I’m sure that you have! Even if you are having tea, saying you are having a cup of coffee with someone is a good-feeling, friendly, civil and cultural thing to do!
Coffee as Gifts
Almost everyone loves and craves for, “A Taste of Home,” “Home Made”, “Home Cooking” or just going or being Home! You could help provide these wonderful and good feelings, by giving away as gifts, some of your roasted coffee beans. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and on and on, a gift of your coffee would be like any other special gift, but it’s made by you and it’s FRESH. What about coffee as a home warming gift? The new house owners may be living out of boxes, for awhile, but I bet they have found their coffee maker and it’s in their kitchen. Imagine them sitting around and sipping your coffee, while they decide where to put all their furniture, where to hang or put this and that. How about your coffee for a baby announcement? Think about the new mom and dad, sitting around and enjoying your fresh roasted beans that they ground and brewed, while they think about names for the baby. A coffee gift of thanks, appreciation, friendship and love? Yes! The possibilities are too numerous, to even try and list! The greatest gift that can ever be given is said to be, the gift you give of yourself! You are and your own fresh roasted beans are synonymous. You and your beans are one! Give the gift of yourself! 🙂
Where to Go from Here?
Coffee, it’s Not Just for Waking Up!
This concludes our series on roasting coffee, ‘Toast the Roast’. Remember this, it is really simple to roast your own coffee! I hope like me, you enjoy learning. I hope you have learned something!
Learning is, an Exciting adventure!
I hope you are excited! I close with raising my cup to you, to…
gatheringplace.blog 