Old-School Coffee

For some South Louisiana coffee drinkers, little has changed since the beverage’s eighteenth-century arrival via the Port of New Orleans. It’s prepared a certain way and at certain times (a morning jolt to start the day; the afternoon cup with cake and conversation; and the after-dinner, digestive cup), and nothing tastes more like home than a good cup of coffee and chicory from an enamel drip pot, served black or with steamed milk and sugar. 

Beans came to port from the Caribbean and South America to sate French palates in the 1700s, and the culture lingered. During the Civil War, coffee shipments were stifled by the Union navy, and New Orleanians, veritable caffeine addicts by then, stirred chicory into their cups to extend the supply. Chicory is the roasted and ground root of a plant in the dandelion family; it’s not caffeinated but does taste like coffee, with a nutty, earthy flavor. It’s also inexpensive, and people grew to like the addition, particularly for café au lait.

However, long before chicory made it to the pot, Louisianans were “parching” (roasting) green coffee beans at home, in small batches, for brewing in French enamel drip pots. In her Cajun cuisine history book, Stir the Pot (co-authored with Carl A. Brasseaux and Ryan A. Brasseaux), beloved food and culture writer Marcelle Bienvenu explains: “Before the availability of preroasted grounds, south Louisianans purchased ‘green,’ unroasted coffee at the local mercantile retailer.” Further direction for coffee-making is seen in the 1932 edition of Mary Moore Bremer’s New Orleans Creole Recipes. Quoting “an old Creole Lady,” for proper coffee preparation, she notes, “See that the coffee beans are of an even size so that, in parching, the small beans do not burn, or the large ones be left unparched. Parch just enough coffee for one day. When the beans are of an even brown color, grind and then make your coffee.”

However, long before chicory made it to the pot, Louisianans were “parching” (roasting) green coffee beans at home, in small batches, for brewing in French enamel drip pots.

Community Coffee, who opened their doors in 1919, was among the first commercial producers of bagged coffee and chicory, helping to create a specific taste-of-place that’s signature to the region. Bob Arceneaux, a thirty-year industry veteran and owner of the more contemporary Orleans Coffee, acknowledges Community’s historic importance. “Over the years, a lot may have changed in the coffee industry, but the special taste of coffee and chicory endures,” he said. Along with Orleans Coffee’s impeccably sourced beans and various roasting styles, Arceneaux has always sold coffee and chicory. “Right now we have two different coffee and chicory blends as well as roasted chicory by the pound.” While many coffee and chicory blends are 70% coffee, 30% chicory, every roaster has their own mix of coffees and roasts for their blends. “We sell a good amount of coffee and chicory, mainly for making into cold brew. Coffee and chicory is great for cold brew, because it tastes great with milk and sugar.” Founded in New Orleans in 2012, French Truck Coffee roasts, bags, and sells Nouvelle Orleans Chicory Coffee along with other blends and single-origin beans; and their cold brew concentrate (also made with chicory) flies off store shelves. For hot cups of café au lait, Arceneaux believes places like Café du Monde and Morning Call keep coffee and chicory alive with both locals and visitors. “Ever see those lines?” he asked with a laugh. “There’s a reason for that, and it’s not just for the beignets.”  When asked about the best brewing method and pot, Bob said, “Well, I’ll tell you this: you can make a really excellent cup of coffee in many ways, but recently I pulled out my grandmother’s old enamel drip pot, and that works pretty darn good too.” 

For hot cups of café au lait, Arceneaux believes places like Café du Monde and Morning Call keep coffee and chicory alive with both locals and visitors. “Ever see those lines?” he asked with a laugh. “There’s a reason for that, and it’s not just for the beignets.”

The French began infusion-brewing coffee around 1710 and developed drip brewing at the end of the century. Count Rumford, born Benjamin Thompson in rural Massachusetts but living abroad after he opposed the American Revolution, invented the insulated French drip pot in the early nineteenth century—no wonder he didn’t care about taxation on tea—and the process for drip brewing has changed very little since then. Using an old drip pot is similar to the contemporary pour-over method. From Ms. Bremer’s book: “After putting the grounds into the pot, pour in to them just enough boiling water to moisten well, and immediately put the top on and stop up the spout. In a minute, pour a little more water on the grounds and again hastily put the top back in place; and so on...till you have made all you want. To keep the coffee hot, set the pot in a pan of water.”  Of course there are electric drip machines that mimic the old stove-top style, and modern tempered glass pour-over coffee makers (Chemex) that require a paper filter to hold coffee grinds, but the old porcelain-coated pots, known as “gregues,” are still around, totally usable, and collectible, too.

French enamel drip pots typically come in four parts: the lid, the dripper, the basket, and the pot.  Every now and then there with be a fifth part in the form of a matching enamel cup. Finding complete sets is possible, though not easy. Scouring flea markets and second-hand stores will usually uncover a French drip coffee pot or two, in various conditions. Sometimes finding a good pot is a matter of luck. On a recent coffee pot hunt, I found a white enamel pot with all its parts, including a slightly retro-fitted dripper, for $30. A quick check of the Internet revealed a few French enamel coffee pots for sale, ranging in price from $13 to $99. 

And once prepared, there are rituals around how and when to serve the coffee. “The stimulating beverage played a major role at large functions such as gumbo parties, bals de maison (house dances), as well as intimate conversations between friends or relatives,” writes Bienvenu in Stir the Pot. In the home, “high coffee” was served to favored guests, in the living room, from the hosts best demitasses and saucers, as either “Cajun coffee” (black with sugar), “Creole café noir” (black coffee and chicory), or “café au lait.” At breakfast, café au lait might be accompanied by beignets or “croquignoles” (diamond-shaped donut-like cakes slashed in the middle). In the afternoon, while entertaining guests, there might be a slice of gâteau de sirop or tarte à la bouille to go with the coffee and conversation. In both Cajun and Creole homes, another French tradition spilled into local culture. Following a large meal (at a restaurant or at home), black coffee (with or without chicory and sugar) was served, sometimes accompanied by a cognac. It was thought to counteract the sleepiness, aid digestion, and provided an extended opportunity to stay gathered around the table. Anything that encourages more eating and talking was sure to be—and still is—a hit in South Louisiana. 

Find a recipe for Gâteau de Sirop here and Tart à la Bouille here.