# Cowboy shows and coffee. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** coffee\ **Created:** [May 1, 2018, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383 "2018-05-01T01:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383/41 "2018-05-02T03:33:53Z")
Can we have some more beans, boss? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383/42 "2018-05-02T06:08:57Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I think it was when an Arab goatherd noticed his flock went hyperactive after they’d gobbled some berries off a coffee plant. Questionable. Do coffee plants grow on the Arabian peninsula? I believe they grow in tropical highlands – don’t think there are many of those in Arabia. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383/43 "2018-05-02T10:59:45Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Questionable. > Do coffee plants grow on the Arabian peninsula? I believe they grow in tropical highlands – don’t think there are many of those in Arabia. Coffee was first cultivated in Yemen, then spread to Arabia, Egypt, Syria and beyond. > **[Arabic coffee](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_coffee?wprov=sfla1)** > > Arabic coffee is a version of the brewed coffee of Coffea arabica beans. Most Arab countries throughout the Middle East have developed distinct methods for brewing and preparing coffee. Cardamom is an often-added spice, but it can alternatively be served plain or with sugar. > There are several different styles to brewing the coffee depending on the preference of the drinker. Some methods keep the coffee light whereas others can make it dark. Arabic coffee is bitter, and typically no sugar is adde... ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383/44 "2018-05-02T11:59:19Z")
[About coffee in the Old West.](https://truewestmagazine.com/cowboy-coffee/) > [@](#): > > … Many diaries and letters confirm the importance of coffee to Western pioneers. Josiah Gregg, a trader who made eight trips to the West in the 1830s, marveled at the pioneers’ love of coffee. “The insatiable appetite acquired by travellers upon the Prairies is almost incredible, and the quantity of coffee drank is still more so,” he wrote. “It is an unfailing and apparently indispensable beverage, served at every meal.” … Cowboys were undoubtedly the most devoted group of coffee drinkers in the West. As a rule, they liked it strong, scalding hot, and barefooted (black). … When they worked four-hour shifts all night, they needed coffee before they left the campfire and coffee when they returned. … > > … Before the Civil War, many settlers were forced to drink mock coffee made with rye, parched corn, bran, or okra seeds because good coffee was expensive and hard to find on the frontier. This changed in the 1860s, when new technology revolutionized the coffee industry. … The trope may not be far off from what the reality was. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383/45 "2018-05-03T02:03:48Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Questionable. > Do coffee plants grow on the Arabian peninsula? I believe they grow in tropical highlands – don’t think there are many of those in Arabia. You’ve been watching too many Juan Valdez commercials. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383/46 "2018-05-03T02:12:37Z")
_Why am I asking you?_ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383/47 "2018-05-03T02:51:11Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > You’ve been watching too many Juan Valdez commercials. 😛 Arabica coffee (_Coffea arabica_) actually comes from the mountains of Ethiopia, and it prefers cooler temperatures (but where it never freezes). It’s mostly grown in tropical highlands. Yemen has mountains over 12,000 feet, which is why coffee was cultivated there. Robusta coffee (_Coffea canefora_), which is more bitter but has more caffeine, grows in tropical lowlands. It’s the main coffee grown in Brazil. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383/48 "2018-05-03T04:20:00Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Arabica coffee (_Coffea arabica_) actually comes from the mountains of Ethiopia, and it prefers cooler temperatures (but where it never freezes). It’s mostly grown in tropical highlands. Yemen has mountains over 12,000 feet, which is why coffee was cultivated there. > > Robusta coffee (_Coffea canefora_), which is more bitter but has more caffeine, grows in tropical lowlands. It’s the main coffee grown in Brazil. Now this post is why I can’t ever leave the Dope. I learn stuff here. I never knew there were two types of coffee beans, with such different properties. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383/49 "2018-05-03T23:52:16Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Now this post is why I can’t ever leave the Dope. I learn stuff here. I never knew there were two types of coffee beans, with such different properties. I’ve recently had to learn a lot about coffee since I’m working on a new [Museum of Coffee](https://www.museocafe.com/english) scheduled to open in Panama later this year. Last year I did an exhibit on coffee for a visitor center in Panama’s western highlands. (Panama doesn’t grow a lot of coffee, but it does produce [the most expensive variety in the world, Geisha](https://angelscup.com/blog/buy/most-expensive-coffee-panama-geisha/). (The name has nothing to do with Japanese geishas - it’s named for a district in Ethiopia.) Nearly all coffee you would buy for its taste is arabica. Robusta is used mainly for instant coffee and filler, although it is also used for espresso. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2018, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383/50 "2018-05-06T13:44:33Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > We also make our coffee a LOT stronger than folks did back then. Coffee beans were dear, and had to be carried a long way. Even today, every cup of coffee I’ve bought West of the Mississippi and East of the Sierra Nevadas has been really weak. One lady warned me when she heard my accent “Now, this is coffee for people who drink coffee all day. If you want it strong order a double espresso.” Strongest coffee I ever had was in Iceland. When ordered there instead of a cup you get a carafe with about a liter in it, kind of like some coffee shops here do. Now, being in the Navy, I knew something about coffee (see post 21) and, not being snipes, never did the salt thing but we _did_ make it strong. After a carafe (or a bit less) of Reykjavik coffee about one in the afternoon, I’d still be vibrating at ten that evening. ---
**Author:** ![half-elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@half-elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/half-elf)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2018, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383/51 "2018-05-06T18:12:01Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Robusta is used mainly for instant coffee and filler, although it is also used for espresso. What is filler (in terms of coffee)? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2018, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383/52 "2018-05-06T22:33:09Z")
> [@half-elf](#): > > What is filler (in terms of coffee)? Less than premium beans that are used to stretch blends with better beans? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2018, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383/53 "2018-05-06T22:38:18Z")
> [@half-elf](#): > > What is filler (in terms of coffee)? > [@terentii](#): > > Less than premium beans that are used to stretch blends with better beans? [Correct.](https://dailycoffeenews.com/2012/01/10/large-roasters-using-robusta-beans-as-filler/) From 2012: > [@](#): > > With the stretched supply and high cost of arabica beans, some large coffee roasters are using an increasing amount of lower-quality robusta beans as filler, according to sources in a recent Wall Street Journal report. > > Although Brazil’s arabica crop is predicted to potentially break records this year, it’s still months away. Meanwhile, arabica output in Colombia and Central America has been limited in recent months by rain-damaged crops. > > The result is that large roasters have been forced to test which responses consumers are most willing to accept: rising costs for better coffee or diminished quality from the addition of cheaper robusta beans. > > “Because the arabica-robusta [price] disparity is so wide, it naturally makes sense to use as much robusta as possible,” an unnamed executive who works with major U.S. coffee brands told the Journal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboy-shows-and-coffee/813383.md?page=2)