Starbucks and Arbuckles Not Much Has Changed
We’re not that much different from the cowboys in the old west when it comes to loving coffee in the Pacific Northwest. Starbucks has come to define the perfect cup of Joe, in the 1800’s it was Arbuckles. I’m Susan Allen welcome to Mondays Open Range, I’ll be back after the break, I wish was a coffee break! Friends of mine tell me they need their “Starbucks” to function in the morning, well some things never change, as many a cowboy in the late 1800’s remarked how he couldn’t function or ride unless he had his Arbuckles. You see up until the Arbuckle brothers revolutionized coffee making, right after the Civil War, coffee beans were sold green and had to be roasted in a skillet then ground and brewed. It was a pain and it took attentiveness because one burned bean could spoil the pot. Grocer John Arbuckle patented a way to roast coffee and seal the aroma by using eggs and sugar and like today’s gourmet coffee he sold it in an airtight pound package. It became the staple of the west with many a cowpoke not knowing there was any other coffee but Arbuckles. That handful of grounds in a cup of boiling water went a long way to changing a trail weary attitude, or making a newcomer feel welcome. Like Starbucks, Arbuckle was a savvy marketer using coupons that were redeemable for things cowboys needed like a razor , wild rag, even a wedding ring. Plus each package contained a peppermint stick . It was that sweet stick that enticed buckeroos to help the chuck wagon cook with the endless task of grinding coffee as even the toughest hand would man the grinder in exchange for that sweet little stick.
