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Alaskan Postcard No. 7: Discovering
coffee in the land of two jobs and midnight sun
By Ginger Warburton
November 15, 2006 | Once I started working my second
job, I was told that now I could be a real Alaskan.
All real Alaskans have two full-time jobs apparently
(at least in the summer). My schedule on some days had
now become waking up at around 5:30 a.m., going to Grayline,
working about 11 hours driving around the delightful
cruise ship passengers. Next, I would jump in my trusty
1985 Dodge D-50 and drive across town to The Cape Fox
Lodge, changing uniforms in the locker room and running
upstairs to begin my night of running back and forth
between the hottest kitchen imaginable, to the dining
area to the bar. I would do this usually until about
midnight. That is about an 18-hour day of almost straight
working with about five hours of sleep.
What am I getting at, besides that I'm crazy as are
many Alaskans? Well, as you might imagine, coffee becomes
a very close ally with this type of lifestyle.
That is why Ketchikan, located on an island with a
population of about 14,000, has three of its very own,
local coffee roasters -- not including the new Starbucks,
which I never even once stepped foot in. It seemed blasphemous
to waste the calories and money on Starbucks coffee,
when I had so many other delicious choices. The choices
are Raven's Brew Coffee, Refiner's Roast, and The Green
Coffee Bean Company.
Raven's
Brew Coffee is probably the most famous, winning
many awards and supplying the local restaurants with
coffee. Cape Fox Lodge served it in the restaurant and
coffee shop. It even had a location on the dock, for
the cruise ship passengers and bus drivers. Citrus and
Sage on First East in Logan, Utah even serves it as
its main brew. Raven's Brew Coffee commissioned the
artist Ray Troll to design the art for the packaging
on each of its brews.
My friend Darby a fellow van-driver, only buys Refiner's
Roast Coffee. I guess her best friend's family owned
the company so for her to buy anything else would be
traitorous. Refiner's Roast also became one of my favorites,
I think mostly because the baristas were excellent at
making my latte's not too sweet, and there was a cute
bench I could sit at sometimes if I had a second between
ships during the day. I could also go through their
drive thru at another location on my way to the dock
in the early morning.
My first experience with the coffee in Ketchikan was
at The Green Coffee
Bean Company. I never could remember the full name
though and called it the "Green Bean" for
short. I think this may have slightly offended the owner,
a very sweet man from Seattle. One day I was completely
exhausted; I had been taking "long blinks"
at the wheel of the company van. I had to do something!
So I stopped at the Green Coffee Bean Coffee Company
next to Ward Market at Ward Cove. The owner and I chatted
while he made me a Mexican Chocolate Mocha, made with
the most delicious chocolate from Mexico. I was instantly
in love (with the coffee, that is).
I have always loved coffee, but tried to keep it out
of my life. It's so acidic it hurts my stomach, it stains
your teeth, and caffeine! Caffeine is only for the weak.
Right? At least that's what I've believed. In Alaska
I began having at least two cups of coffee a day.
Back here in Logan, Utah, where coffee is essentially
the center of all evil or at least those of us that
drink it should be shunned by everyone and all people
that are good or holy, I only enjoy the occasional cup.
Now I have it as a special treat. I sip it while I listen
to live music at Café Ibis. I also love sitting at Citrus
and Sage and remembering the rainy work days in Ketchikan,
where all I needed was a hot cup of coffee to keep me
going.
MS
MS
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