Saturday, August 16, 2008

Tasseography (link) in the Middle East

uses the sediment left in a cup of

Turkish coffee to tell one's fortune.

click to enlarge

The first picture was our busy-ness in 1999.
This was before the outside of the building
was painted and our parking sign was up.

A post Nov 23 last year has more.

The ad, written by L and submitted to the local paper.

It gives you an idea of what we attempted to provide
for the locals and people passing through.

Since we were located on a road leading N & S,
people that traveled would find us a special
spot in the middle of what seems like nowhere
with a big city attitude.

Do you see Boba listed in the ad?

That's Bubble Tea.

Before it became a semi infamous fad drink
here in the usa, we made an attempt to sell it.

We even had the pearls you drink through
the straw. It came and went, but was a fun
addition and great to watch peoples reaction
to the drink.



17 comments:

Bobby D. said...

I sincerely wish I could time travel. I would have visited your coffee shop as often as possible.

I still haven't tried Bubble Tea.

Anonymous said...

Not long ago I saw our neighbor and two of her friends on the porch reading fortunes in their little Turkish cups. They are Assyrian. I longed to go ask them about it, but didn't want to intrude. Someday I may have a better chance.

mouse (aka kimy) said...

how sad that your shop is no longer...it looks and sounds like a jewel for the community....

I enjoyed reading the nov piece which provided more background.

small world that you found the equipment in nyack! perhaps you still have the equipment and when it's time and if you still have the desire .....

I would be with ched as she time travelled for a cuppa.....in fact, you'd probably have a hard time getting rid of us!

bitchlet said...

Your shop looked so much more alluring than those look alike chains. I hope someday in the future its possible again.

tony said...

Bubble Tea! I have never even heard of ir before! I will investigate..Thanks For The Tip!

tut-tut said...

I'm with the time travelers! Sounds like it was a wonderful place to slow down and just be for a while.

Bob Dylan said...

I always wondered what it was called... tasseography
tasse is cup in German, I think. I had a one-legged Turkish grandma who read the sediment.

Bob Dylan said...

Oops I think Tasse is cup in French...or maybe both?

Coffee Messiah said...

ched: I'm sure you easily would have a been a "regular" we looked forward to seeing. ; )

g-man: You need to ask to take a few photos and either put on your blog or ask if I can put them on mine. I'd like to see it. There's an African rest. in Indy that does an incense something or another that we still need to experience.

kimy: Sadly, we didn't keep the equipment, although we really wanted to keep the Cimbali. It would have had to be plumbed and we've moved twice since then. I'm sure we'd have welcomed you both as regulars! ; )

bitchlet: Thanks. We tried to make it old fashioned, upscale compared to the newer spots these days. Once was enough,unless we didn't have to experience taxes etc. ; )

tony: It's the rage, or was in Japan.

t & t: It was a new experience for the locals. They wanted us to have a drive-thru and all we could say was, if that's what they wanted, they didn't need our place.

bd: Either way, it's an interesting study and a way to stretch your coffee/tea experience and have fun also. Always a plus. ; )

edward said...

bubble teas sound like it's for me.

Mary said...

It's funny...I was just in NYC yesterday and walked through a street fair. One of the vendors was selling bubble tea and my daughter asked about it. I thought it had something to do with tapioca and thats what I said. Wish I had been braver and tried it. Tapioca isn't my thing.

Coffee Messiah said...

edward: I'm sure the pearls would be great fun for you.

mary: The Tapioca Pearls are kinda tasty, and fun when you slurp them through the thick straw. Green Tea Bubble Tea was our favorite.

; )

dennis said...

Dennis is happy to report that his favorite coffee shop now serves breakfast meaty things. Sort of like buns, but with meat.

Kurt said...

There was a time in SF when every third business was a tapioca tea place. My fave record store was turned into one.

dennis said...

Dennis remembers a song called Tapioca Tundra--or was it a whole album?

Fred said...

콧구멍. bubble tea tickles. Extremely good.

Coffee Messiah said...

dennis:I still rather have a nice pastry with my espresso. ; )

kurt: Was that in the Haight, Noe Valley or where? What was the name of the store?

dennis: You're thinking of the Monkees song.

trustees: Oh yeah.