Cowboys, Campfires & 'Arbuckles' Coffee:

Just about every cowboy story has the six-gun toting heroes drinking coffee at a camp fire:

Actually - I'd rather a cup of Twinings Tea Please

 - Brewed with Fresh Spring Water, Milk & One Sugar.

Cookie's Sock Method:
Also known as “hobo” or “open-pot” coffee, this calls for putting the grounds into a (clean?) sock and chucking it into the coffee pot. - Bring to a slow boil; immediately remove from fire (allowing coffee to boil will result in an acrid, burnt taste),- and steep for one minute. Add eggshells if there are loose grounds, - and allow grounds to settle. Right before serving, add a bit of cold water to the pot to further settle grounds.

Flat white, Latte or Mocha? - Naah, As it Comes.

- But where did the Frontier coffee come from? - earliest records for coffee drinking are from the 1400s in the Yemen area of Arabia - with the coffee having been introduced from East Africa. - By 1640 the first European coffee house was open in Rome - coffee was smuggled into India to be planted & grown in 1670 and was established in Brazil by 1727.

Independent Americans made-up their minds not to drink any more "English" tea after the Boston Tea Party tax protest of 1773 - so turned fairly exclusively to coffee on the Frontiers.

Green (un-roasted) coffee beans were bought in 100 pound sacks from Arbuckles Company - and after roasting on a skillet were ground in a hand turned grinder fixed to the side of the Chuck Wagon.

But after the Civil War in 1865, Arbuckles developed pre-roasted beans in airtight packages - each packed with a peppermint candy stick. One hundred packs per wooden crate. John Arbuckle, The King of Coffee owned the ships importing coffee from South America.

The cooks shout of "Who wants the Candy?" would result in a brawl for the rights to grind the beans .. and munch the sweet peppermint.

Industrial Complex Behind The Chuck-wagon.

Their roasted beans were glazed/coated in egg white and sugar to seal in the flavor into the airtight packs. Ground coffee was later sold in small metal containers.

The name "Chuck Wagon" comes from 17th century English 'chuck' for meat - you can still buy 'chuck steak' for stews etc.

Marty K

P.S. The most expensive coffee in the world is KOPI LUWAK. - The coffee berries are fed to caged  palm civet cats to eat - and the part digested beans are collected from the scat (feces). The $30 plus a cup coffee is said to have a rich, slightly smokey aroma and taste .. Go for it Cowboy.

M.K.

P.S. It's rumored that somewhere near Brokeback Mountain there's a "Starbutts" that offers cold leftover coffees .. Are you ready for your enema now Ennis?