Postcard from Bishkek

It depends who you listen to – but yesterday, (29th September), was International Coffee Day in places like the United States, Canada, Malaysia, Ethiopia, (from whence it is thought that Coffee originated), and England … but in Japan it’s commemorated tomorrow, (1st October), and perhaps Japan should take precedence because International Coffee Day may have its origins in Japan back in the early 1980′s.

For the record: Although the exact origin of the day is unknown, it seems that the All Japan Coffee Association first marked the occasion in 1983.

Although China seems to have promoted the idea towards the end of the 1990′s – but they tend to celebrate the day in April.

Some countries mark the day on other dates in September: Costa Rica on the 12th, Ireland on the 19th, Germany on the 24th and Switzerland on the 26th.  Other countries celebrate, (if that is the right word), in May, (for example, in Brazil – the world’s largest producer of coffee … by far! …more than double that of it’s nearest rival, Vietnam – so perhaps we ought to mark the day in May), in August, October and November.

Now I like my coffee … I drink a lot of coffee and many people tell me that I drink too much, or that I shouldn’t drink it in the afternoons or at night because it will keep me awake, or that I shouldn’t drink Cappuccino after lunch as all that “fatty” milk will play havoc with the digestion … but I dutifully ignore them all and I don’t suffer from caffeine poisoning, sleep well and cope well with Cappuccino and Latte quite happily in the late afternoon or even following dessert after dinner in a restaurant.

Mind you, some purists would say that I don’t really drink coffee … and I have some sympathy with them.  When I first came to Bishkek the only coffee that could be had was jars of instant coffee, freeze dried powder or granules … and most of that was just one particular brand so that even today, (when there is a far greater range available for the consumer to choose between), instant coffee is still known everywhere as Nescafé.

Although I like and enjoy a cup of Turkish, (incidentally – despite the name … Turkey doesn’t produce any coffee), or Espresso, or starting the day with a Grande Café Crème, Cappuccino or Latte … I make no pretentious claims to be afficiando and I freely admit that most of the time I drink “instant” coffee.  It would be simple to explain this away as laziness; after all, a cup of instant is sooooo much quicker and easier to make than brewing a pot of percolated or filter coffer and requires no special equipment as in the case of espresso or cappuccino.   Back home in Britain, however, I would perpetually have a pot of coffee on the go and instant would reserved for those occasions when time and circumstances did not allow for anything other.

The reason I tend to drink instant coffee these days is purely down to the practicalities that I encountered when I first came here seventeen years ago … when there were only the jars of Nescafé available.  I well remember searching a tiny shop in the cellar of an apartment block down a dimly lit side street because there was a rumour circulating on the ex-pat bush telegraph that they had taken delivery of a stock of coffee beans.  I found the shop and, yes, they did have some … but not a large stock – they had simply bought a few packets because they had received some new fangled German kitchen electronic equipment such as food mixers, liquidisers and … coffee grinders.

Another aspect of Coffee drinking when I arrived here seventeen years ago which took some getting used to was the fact virtually everyone drank black coffee sweetened with several spoonfuls of sugar.  Like moist Brits, when I came here I was used to drinking coffee with milk, or cream, … and ever since the “sugar shortage” in the early 1970′s when prices rocketed, I had taken unsweetened coffee.  Here the cup that was handed to you was black, (sometime thick – but not as thick as morasses – and sometimes weak and watery), and sweetened with several spoonfuls of sugar … whether you wanted it like or not.  Anyway, I did become used to it and can now drink milky coffee or take it without milk, sweet or unsweetened – depending upon how the mood takes me.

Nowadays, of course, things are quite different.  It began to change with the appearance of supermarkets, although back in the UK we would have called them Mini Markets.  Small shops, slightly larger than the usual grocery store where the assistant would stand behind a counter and fetch and carry provisions at the request of the customer; where goods were displayed on shelves and customers could walk round and pick things off the shelves for themselves.  The first of these that I remember was the Sary Chelek on the corner of Molodaya Gvardia and Moscovskaya and as well as representing a new concept in the presentation of goods and customer service … it was Turkish owned and stocked a lot of imported items – imported from Turkey, of course!  The range and quality of goods on offer was increased … including that of coffee.

With the arrival of another Turkish supermarket, BETA Stores, (pronounced “Betta Stories”), the situation improved even further.    This acted as a stimulus and the appearance of chains such as Narodniy, Kanekei and Seven Days means that greater and greater choice is available.  The shelf space given over to coffee doesn’t quite match that devoted to Vodka, but it is getting close.

Another notable development has the appearance of the Kofeinya – the Coffee Shop.  The regency institution which served as a trading house, a gossip factory for the period’s movers and shakers – and not forgetting the reporters of the yellow press – may have had more in common, however, with bars and Public Houses than with the more genteel establishments that currently grace Bishkek’s streets.

At first small establishments appeared with five or six tables, offering a range of coffees, cakes and pastries.  They proved to be quite popular with the foreign community and Bishkek’s young and upwardly mobile, attracting customers by offering free WiFi internet access.  Now there are numerous establishments – there are three within a radius of a block of where I live and work … and even more within two or three blocks.  Most of them are quite large, bright and airy, spacious and versatile.

I was sitting on one of these Kofeinya and hearing how the landlord had insisted that the proprietor of the coffee house was not to serve alcohol … which led to a general feeling of bewilderment … but in all probability he was simply pointing out that a Kofeinya doesn’t serve alcohol .  It might seem a nit-picking point but it reflects a strong tendency here to categorize … whereas we might have a general feeling for what to expect in a Tea Rooms (fsuch as you might find in a seaside town in  Devon or Cornwall, or a small Cotswolds village), a Transport Cafe on a long distance trunk road, a cafeteria in a department store, a Cafe in the city centre, a refectory in a school or college, a dining room in small private hotel, or a restaurant – even if they all offer “Cottage Pie” in their respective menus.  Here, there is an expectation that there will be a definition for each type of establishment.  The definition of Kofeinya is simple – it specializes in coffee but may serve Tea or other similar beverages or soft drinks – but will not serve alcohol - if it does then it becomes a Kafeisi - a cafe – or a Bar.

 

Some of the Coffee Houses in Bishkek serve a variety of functions … a “cafe” and meeting point, offering light snacks and sweetmeats, (sandwiches, cakes and pastries), a “library” with books which can be read – and perhaps even borrowed, and even as a shop.  One of the more recent additions to Bishkek is the Sierra Coffee Shop which imports its own supply of coffee and is more than will to sell it on to the public.  Importing high quality green beans, (at the moment Brazilian and Columbian),  roasting the beans themselves, marketing the resulting coffee not just in house but also through a range of outlets.  For more details, see their website: SIERRA.KG

 

For the record: It is thought that Coffee originates from Ethiopia.  More than 50 countries grow coffee worldwide and they all lie between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.     Brazil is bar far the world’s leading producer.

Consumed in moderation caffeine can have beneficial effects, including: incresing attention and memory performance, a lower risk of both heart and liver disease, increased physical performance and muscular recovery.  However, it is also well known that caffeine consumption is not without its side-effects which can include: blurred vision, dizziness, dryness in the mouth, flushing, cold sweats, changes in pallor, a fast heartbeat, troubled breathing, diarrhoea, changes in hunger patterns, anxiety, confusion, irritability, insomnia, hyperglycemia, muscular tremors, nausea, increased urination … in fact, looking at the list, it often seems to be a wonder that we drink any of the stuff at all.

 

Tags: Expat, Food and Drink, Life_in_Kyrgyzstan