My Velvet Bumper: Stories That I Like to Tell: Cowboy Coffee

Since being a waitress at the Pie in the Sky Café I have found that there are a few stories that I REALLY like telling.

Me, Avana and Dad, true characters in a story, well, OUR story.

It’s not surprising that one of these stories has to do with coffee. Almost every breakfast customer asks for a cup upon being seated at our modest but quaint counter. And maybe about 1 out of every 10 customers says something about camping. How their stove broke, they ran out of fuel, it was a cold morning, or something of the like. But the end result is them ditching the camp style breakfast and treating themselves to a nice cup of joe at our café.

This is where I come in. Having never been a waitress before, and I will be the first to admit I’m a little uncomfortable behind the counter. Do you stay and chat? I mean it is an intimate little counter. Am I talking to fast? Are you even listening. Oh, talking too much, oops, your food is ready and you have no silverware. Did you say à la mode? I swear you didn’t. But none the less, I try. I try to always remember silverware, drinks, syrup, and maintain an appropriate amount of chatter. Oh you would like to see those earrings? Yeah, a real nice girl made them, she works here.

Well inevitably after the broken stove story the customer will bring up something along the lines of cowboy coffee.

So here is the cowboy coffee schpeal. I love telling it, complete with gestures.

I’ll say, “Oh it was SO funny. I took my dad camping out to Joshua Tree National Park and that was the first time I was introduced to ‘cowboy coffee.’ See, my dad is great. I woke up one morning and saw him drinking coffee, but noticed he didn’t use the percolator or the French press that we had broughten (I know it’s not a real word, but it helps the story).”

Isn't he great?

Dad at Bolsa Chica enjoying the bon inferno

“My dad goes on to say, ‘Yeah, it’s cowboy coffee, you just put the grounds right in your cup, pour hot water over it, stir, let is sit for a minute then pour about a table spoon of ice cold water in it and all the grounds will sink to the bottom… the only other thing is you have to curl your lip up like this and drink the coffee reeeal slow, making sure to strain the grounds through your teeth.’’

I love hearing the people laugh. I don’t even care if they are laughing at the great story or if they are straight up laughing at me, the fool behind the counter. Oh, you want cream with that? Sorry, I’ll be right back.