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Cowboy Coffee: Arbucklesby CB Miller With Comstock’s wild west heritage, we thought it only fitting to say a few words this month about Cowboy Coffee, and the brand that became synonomous with coffee ‘round the campire, Arbuckles. Cowboy coffee was not a brand, but a brewing method developed, naturally enough. by the roaming cowboys of the prairie out of necessity. It is surprisingly similar to the ancient practice of Turkish coffee, however not as refined. Cowhands expected their coffee to be ‘brown gargle”, hot, black, strong and thick enough to float a six shooter in.
It is ironic to realize that, whatever you think about the taste, before 1865 cowboys drank fresher coffee than most Americans do today. That was because, though preparing coffee on the range was a tedious and time consuming task, cooks had no choice to buy green coffee and roast it fresh in a skillet themselves before brewing. Contrast that to most of today’s supermarket brands -coffee roasted months in advance, kept stored in cans, then finally appearing in your cup. Yeehah! Like today’s consumer though, for the cowboy on the range convenience was the key, and in 1865 when Arbuckle's Grocery in Pittsburgh developed a special roasting and coating technique that kept beans tasty for long periods it soon became the cowboy’s brand. Arbuckle had devised a special egg and sugar glaze that sealed flavor in the roasted bean. Soon cowhands were asking for Arbuckle's at cow camps and ranch houses across the prairie. Recipe for COWBOY COFFEE
Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan or coffee pot. Add coffee grounds and egg shell to boiling water. Return to a boil, remove from heat and let stand for 2 minutes. Slowly add cold water to settle grounds to the bottom. Let stand for 1 minute to allow grounds to settle. Use any remaining coffee to extinguish camp fire. Now don’t be surprised if, in a wave of nostalgia for the days of the pioneer, you attempt to brew your own Cowboy Coffee and find it less than palatable. Our suggestion is that you add some sugar to this potent brew, or take your chances. We suspect that is what made Arbuckles coffee so popular: their egg and sugar glaze probably added just enough sweetness to satisfy the palate without offending the big tough ranchers ‘taste for adventure’. Also, unless you normally go through a gallon of coffee, you might want to scale the recipe down a bit. Yippie Oh Kiay, podnuh!. About the Author BetterBeans.Com: Our Reason for Be'an |
