BY BETH KAISERMAN

A Coffee lecture and Tasting at 92Y, NYC

Ethiopian coffee beans image from Flickr

Francine Segan created some buzz last night with a coffee lecture and tasting at 92Y.

After avoiding caffeine all day, I enjoyed tasting four different coffees, from mild to darker roasts. We also tasted Caffuccino, a creamy coffee-flavored liqueur. All of these were accompanied by delightful chocolates from Eataly and Corsini biscotti. Segan, a cookbook author and food historian, encouraged us to place chocolate in the hot coffee to let it mellow into the beverage – the Italian way.

Fueled by sugar and caffeine, an all-female group listened and learned as beans brewed and Segan discussed java’s background, why it’s called java in the United States, and types of coffee. She also mentioned renowned New York City coffee shops, including Roasting Plant Coffee Company, Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee, and Joe the Art of Coffee.

Among the interesting facts that Segan shed light upon in her lecture was the history of coffee and how it was consumed. Coffee originated in Ethiopia, but its seeds were planted in Indonesia in the 1600s, and  then on its large island Java, where exporting began. (This is where the slang term comes from.) Today, Brazil is the #1 coffee growing country.

While today people use flavored creamers, soy milk and other additions to coffee, butter in coffee was popular in the U.S. until the late 1800s. The English were the first to mix whiskey in their coffee.

All of this coffee talk brought me back to this amazing coffee I had at the Bedouin tents in Israel in 2006. Adding a pinch of cardamom for the first coffee we tasted Wednesday night brought back the memory immediately, since that was how they made it at the tents. Coffee is an important part of Bedouin hospitality. Eating dinner and spending the night there, I felt truly immersed in their culture and loved every minute.

Everyone left 92Y feeling caffeinated and  otherwise stimulated by at least a new fact or two about our beloved coffee. Though I lost precious hours of sleep due to java-induced excitement, I took home a few tasty bits of knowledge and enjoyed the experience with fellow coffee enthusiasts.