Tomahawks favorite drink - Coffee

One day in Antigua Guatemala, I needed a bit of exercise so I headed toward the volcano/mountain in the distance and stumbled onto a coffee plantation. It was a pretty place and and very tranquil.

I sat on a cedar log and watched some horses grazing in what looked like a polo field for a while, after taking a few pics of the horses and the surrounding hills I dragged my ass over to take a look at the coffee plants. I had never seen the plant my favorite beverage comes from before. I was surprised at the shiny/waxy looking leaves and the size of the beans themselves.

After looking at the plants and beans for a while I walked over to the shop to see about buying some locally grown and processed coffee to take with me on the trail. I was hit with the greatest aroma of coffee that I have ever been witness to.  Inside the shop I was surprised to see many types of local coffee for sale, I mean you could get the stuff  green, whole bean or in grinds of different coarseness.

My favorite way to brew coffee is the Montana guides style. I have heard it called "Guides coffee" "Cowboy coffee", "Shepherds coffee" etc. but I call it Montana Guides Coffee because that is what it was called when I learned to make it at Montana guides school.

Take a couple good fists full of coffee, chuck it in to a pot of some type throw in a pinch of salt, bring it to a boil then take it off the flames. Give this brew a quick stir, pour in a little cold water to help settle the grounds. Then imbibe heavily this brew. Great stuff on a cold mountain or desert morning, hells bells, for that matter ,it's good stuff in a steamy South East Asian jungle. In fact, my buddy Jing in Cebu likes his with a splash of vinegar in it

Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted seeds, called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. Coffee beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees in over 70 countries, cultivated primarily in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. 'Green Unroasted' coffee is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. Coffee can have a stimulating effect on humans due to its caffeine content. It is one of the most-consumed beverages in the world.

Coffee has played a crucial role in many societies. The energizing effect of the coffee bean plant is thought to have been discovered in the northeast region of Ethiopia, and the cultivation of coffee first expanded in the Arab world. The earliest credible evidence of coffee drinking appears in the middle of the 15th century, in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen in southern Arabia.From the Muslim world, coffee spread to Italy, then to the rest of Europe, to Indonesia, and to the Americas. In East Africa and Yemen, it was used in religious ceremonies. As a result, the Ethiopian Church banned its secular consumption, a ban in effect until the reign of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia.It was banned in Ottoman Turkey during the 17th century for political reasons, and was associated with rebellious political activities in Europe.

Coffee berries, which contain the coffee seed, or "bean", are produced by several species of small evergreen bush of the genus Coffea. The two most commonly grown are the highly regarded Coffea arabica, and the 'robusta' form of the hardier Coffea canephora. The latter is resistant to the devastating coffee leaf rust. Once ripe, coffee berries are picked, processed, and dried. The seeds are then roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor. They are then ground and brewed to create coffee. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways.