The Hague, The Netherlands
The same week my mother gave me the non-information about the perils of drinking coffee from a cafettiera, we took an overnight trip to Bremerhaven, Germany. The purpose of the trip was to learn more about our German ancestors who emigrated to the United States through that historic port town. On the way there, we stopped at an Ikea for Swedish fish and meatballs (my favorite seafood and balled meat), of course.
At the customer service desk on our way out of Ikea, I noticed a mug shot of our french press. My Dutch is still under-developed but I could tell Ikea recalled it. The sign said something to the affect of "Danger! Return immediately, not only will the pot malfunction and lacerate you, it will also burn you at the same time." It was poorly designed and highly believable that it could shatter.
Last week I finally returned the fugitive coffee pot from justice. The client services people balked at the length of time that it took me to return it. Apparently only going to Ikea once every 6 months is unusual. In the end, they fully-refunded my money.
This left the quandary of how we were going to get our daily coffee fix. I borrowed a drip coffee machine from our landlord. Unfortunately, it had an overly eager auto-off switch and would turn off after the first drip and I returned the machine to him. We switched to an over-the-cup-filter. I really like it after drinking from a press pot for so long, and we will stick with it for the rest of our time here. Although, it is a pain and not scalable at all but brews a really tasty, crisp cup.
Funny thing, coffee is not as taken as seriously here in The Netherlands. To be sure, there are cafes galore, that serve good espresso, americano/luongos and cappuccinos but it is not a regulated, cultural thing like it is in Italy or Germany or Sweden. The service is really nice. Usually with a toll-house bar and sometimes a glass of water. You pay for it, though.
When you want a latte in The Netherlands you say "koffie verkeerd." Verkeerd literally means "wrong." A while back, some friends and I were out at an eetcafe. I finally had the nerve to ask why it is "verkeerd." The woman explained that it has something to do with the color being so lite, as opposed to zwarte "black" and that somehow makes it seem like coffee, but "wrong." Right or wrong, I am looking forward to heading back to the States and to the Northwest to find right, wrong and everything in between.
