Telluride Times, July 9, 2026

“Police work wouldn’t be possible without coffee,” Wallander said.
“No work would be possible without coffee.”
They pondered the importance of coffee in silence.”
― Henning Mankell

My mother was a drinker of Sanka, the brainchild of a German coffee merchant who anecdotally stumbled upon the beginnings of the process of decaffeination in 1905 when a shipment of his coffee fell into salt water, effectively leaching out the caffeine. Of course, my French mom didn’t know any of this or the real story; she just loved her Sanka moments – a teaspoon of powdered coffee in 6 ounces of boiling water, usually accompanied by the music of Mozart.

Our family didn’t do European style coffee; but across the pond, the French family held firmly (they’re French, after all) to their long-standing routines: coffee with hot milk in the morning and espresso in the afternoon. Certainly, if they had been offered what we were calling coffee, they would have tasted the watered-down bean juice and answered, “Non, merci.”

But today, in addition to that same bean juice, we also have a magnitude of coffee talking points and choices so vast it’s hard to keep track. Is it mold free? Swiss water processed decaf? Dark roast, light, or somewhere in between. Floral, fruity, chocolaty, earthy, spicy. Smoky, toasty or caramelized. Bright? Light? Winey? Syrupy? Drip, pour-over, espresso, press pot, instant? Cold or hot. With dairy, non-dairy, sugar, flavoring, syrup, protein, mushrooms, foam, whipped cream. Do you want the two-calorie version (black) or the Krispy Kreme Mocha Dream Chiller, a 20-ounce glucose explosion weighing in at 1,050 calories?

In the face of all this choice, it’s easy to beeline it back to the fascinating world of plants themselves, many of which are medicinal, even seemingly magical. The coffee plant, native to Ethiopia, is a shrub that existed for hundreds of thousands of years before humans began using it. Its fruit, which is red when ripe, houses the seed under a couple of shell-like layers.

Rewind history a thousand years, when the Oromo people of Ethiopia were already working with the coffee cherry, mashing the whole fruit and mixing it with clarified fat (like butter) and forming it into portable energy balls to sustain focus and work.

In Yemen in the 1400s, Sufi monks took the imported cherries and began isolating the seed, roasting it, and turning it into a communal drink for long nights of chanting and prayer. From there it spread outward—through the Ottoman world and its coffeehouses, into Europe and India, and eventually into colonial cultivation in the Americas.

Today, however concoction-based the beverage has become for some, coffee remains a widespread ritual — that most of us have our opinions on! Alongside coffee’s enduring popularity and diversification, however, has come a surge of fascinating research, especially over the past ten years. Many now see coffee as a kind of functional food for longevity that is associated with a lower risk of heart and liver disease and type 2 diabetes. In other words, it may be linked with improved antioxidant activity, modulated glucose metabolism, and better vascular function.

Where does the health clout of coffee come from? From plant compounds called polyphenols, which help reduce inflammation, support healthy aging, activate the body’s natural repair systems, and influence gut bacteria to improve mood and brain function. For many Americans, coffee is often one of the largest sources of dietary polyphenols, largely because of its high consumption volume.

This is not to say there are no potential negative side effects! As we know, coffee can reduce sleep quality, over activate the nervous system and heighten gut reactivity. We can become dependent on caffeine and suffer withdrawal; and we can easily by lured by marketing to overdo the added sugars or fats.

Here at altitude, I know from personal experience that caffeine feels more potent. If we consider that our bodies are already “activated” by reduced oxygen and hydration, and that sleep may already be compromised, it’s easy to understand why. Personally, as an extreme lightweight regarding sleep, especially as I age, I have to be very careful not only with caffeine but with vitamins and supplements, as well.

Having said all this, I am owning up to my own DIY a.m. coffee concoction, which you might like to try in a version that appeals. For me, it consists of quarter-caf French press coffee, a non-sweetened coconut and almond based vegan creamer, a teaspoon of organic cacao powder, a couple flakes of salt, and a half teaspoon of local honey.

My husband calls it a candy shop. I just call it delicious.