The painter's coffee — the fuel drink taken from morning to night, alone at the cabaret table
The Studio's Black Coffee
DrinkDocumented☕facile10 min
A black coffee, strong and bitter, prepared the old way and drunk without sugar, the companion of all working hours and all sleepless nights.
The painter's coffee — the fuel drink taken from morning to night, alone at the cabaret table
A black coffee, strong and bitter, prepared the old way and drunk without sugar, the companion of all working hours and all sleepless nights.
I'll tell you frankly: I have nourished myself on coffee and tobacco more than on bread, and I know it is unwise. But when work grips me, when yellow and blue fight on the canvas, something must keep me standing. You make it black, very black, bitter like the night of the Arles café, and you drink it boiling hot, without sugar, standing before the easel. It is not a gourmet's pleasure, friend — it is the fuel of a man who has only his painting to live for.
Ingredients
- •Ground coffee (or mixed with chicory) — generously (bitter base)
- •Water — a saucepan (infusion)
How it was made : In the 19th century, the poor often stretched their coffee with roasted chicory to save money. It was prepared by decoction or in cloth-filter coffee pots, and was the universal drink of workers and impecunious artists.