Saturday, June 11, 2005


coffee as a health food, as always

one of the many ironies of life is that i am often questioned by well-meaning dead leaf people -- i.e., tea drinkers -- about the supposedly well-known harmful effects of coffee. and of course at the head of this false list of dread is always cancer.

so i always revel in yet more credible, peer-reviewed scientific evidence that disproves this kind of talk. because as long-time readers know, coffee actually appears to protect against many kinds of cancer.

and from japan we have another such study; drinking even just one cup of coffee a day appears to offer the body aid against liver cancer, even in those with diseases that pre-dispose them to it.

as a result, being concerned for the well-being of even the dead-leaf lovers, i always encourage them to try a little coffee, and consider finding a nice, regular yoga class that challenges them.

because without your health. . .

it's true the last few days have been unseasonably hot and humid, very late august. this kind of weather is native to me from my childhood in kansas, so i actually revel in it.
i realize this makes me unusual. perhaps one of the reasons i do so well, practically flying through the muggy days, is due to the fact that i live on iced coffee.

many people are reluctant to try coffee this way, probably because they've suffered through weakly brewed, overly watery concoctions.

but the iced coffee you can make at home is a superior and refreshing beverage. many people who don't otherwise enjoy iced coffee do like some version of thai iced coffee.

i recommend you brew a pot of coffee at 60 or even 65g. (about 2 oz.) of ground beans to 1 liter (about 32 oz.) of water and chill in a closed container.

if you like, brew another pot and pour into ice cube trays and freeze to create coffee ice cubes, which help keep the beverage from being too watery.

in a 12 or 16 oz. iced tea glass, pour 8 or 10 oz. of coffee, add flavored or unflavored syrup with splenda (long-time readers know i favor da vinci or routin), a few coffee ice cubes, and as much condensed milk as you prefer.

it's really that simple! but you can of course fancy it up with liqueurs, stalks of lemon-grass to stir, etc. etc.

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