This isn’t your mother’s coffee!

Remember when buying a cup of coffee meant … buying a cup of coffee. Sure you had a choice of what type, regular or decaf; skim or regular milk; sugar or sugar substitute, and hot or iced. Then came the flavored coffee creamers, followed by flavored coffees. You could have made it at home, or bought it at a luncheonette, candy shop or coffee shop, which was basically a mini restaurant that served breakfast and lunch along with coffee.

Today, coffee is no longer just coffee. You can order it spiced; full fat, low fat; topped with mounds of whipped cream, and flavored with chocolate, vanilla, mint, coconut, pumpkin, hazelnut, almond, mounds and cheesecake. It can be frapped, blended or whipped, or swirled with your favorite ice cream or frozen yogurt along with your favorite cookies added to the mix (which by the way, I’d like to inform those having it made with low fat yogurt does not mean a huge serving is low calorie, just saying). Today’s coffees also come in an abundance of sizes from small to about the size of a bathroom in Manhattan.

And of course, today there are special coffee chains to choose from. True, some of the different coffee beverages are $5 or $6, but, hey, a specialty server is preparing your drink — and not just one. You order the drink from one person, who will ask your name so that when your coffee is ready they can call out your name. The second person takes your payment and the third person prepares your coffee. Give yourself enough time. This isn’t the same as the old days when you ordered a coffee and the waitress comes by and pours you a cup. This, my friends, is a whole different experience. I’ve seen people at Penn Station flying out of the store and almost knocking over little old ladies to catch their train.

I was never a serious coffee drinker. I like the taste of coffee but actually prefer the instant as I find the store bought coffees a bit too strong. All my friends know I order half a cup of coffee, the other half boiling water, and then add skim milk. I can’t see spending $5 on something I can make myself for a fraction of the price. My daughter had her friends over years ago and I made them flavored iced coffee. They remarked, “Wow, Judy, how did you get it to taste just like the ones we buy? Can you teach us how?” I smiled and said “sure, make a cup of flavored coffee and add ice cubes and milk” — they were amazed.

I must admit, though, I did end up buying a small skinny mocha latté one day when I was about to board the train. As much as I wanted to say “this isn’t worth the exorbitant price,” I loved it (don’t tell my daughter!)

The next time my husband Jerry stopped to pick up a coffee when he was on the road, I asked him to order one for me. I thought I was clear, I asked for a skinny mocha latté, with the sugar substitute frothed in the hot milk, made extra, extra hot. He said, “I’m going to mess the order up, why don’t you come in and order it.” I was too lazy, which was too bad because once on the road again I took a sip of what turned out to be a regular cup of lukewarm, very light, very hazelnut coffee.

Since then I learned how to make my own skinny mocha latté and my other new favorite, light mocha frappuccino. Before I share my recipe with you, I thought I would share some coffee history and legends.

The history of coffee goes at least as far back as the 13th century. The original native coffee could have come from Ethiopia, Sudan or Kenya, and was cultivated by Arabs in the 14th century. The earliest evidence of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the 15th century, in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen.

The word “coffee” was heard in English in 1582 via Dutch koffee, which was borrowed from Turkish kahve, which in turn was borrowed from Arabic qahwa.

There are several legendary accounts of the origin of the coffee, including this one: A Yemenite Sufi mystic was traveling in Ethiopia. He observed birds who seemed to have a lot of vitality and noticed they were eating a type of berry; when he tried it, he experienced the same vitality.

Once coffee found its way to Europe, many felt the Pope should ban it, calling coffee the drink of the devil. To their surprise, the Pope, already a coffee drinker, blessed coffee, declaring it a truly Christian beverage

From Italy, coffee spread to Paris. The first French café was opened in 1686 by Italians. By 1700, the English were drinking coffee.

Around 1720, one of the French king’s mistresses gave a coffee plant to a French lieutenant; on an ocean voyage to the Caribbean, he protected the plant from storms and pirates. He planted it on the island of Martinique and plantations soon grew from French Guyana to Brazil and Central America. By 1790, half of all the coffee in the world was grown in Haiti by African slaves.

Instant coffee was invented in 1906 by Mr. G. Washington, an Englishman living in Guatemala.

Today, coffee is a giant global industry employing more than 20 million people.

Non Fat Low Cal Mocha Frappuccino

Makes three 16 oz. cups

Ingredients;

n 1 16 ounce cup of ice

n 2 heaping teaspoons of instant coffee

n 2 teaspoons of bittersweet (baking) cocoa

n 4 ounces boiling water

n 6 packets artificial sweetener of your choice

n 14 ounces skim milk

n Add coffee, cocoa, sweetener and boiling water into the blender and let dissolve

n Pour milk and add ice cubes

n Cover and blend for about a minute or until ice is crushed well

n Pour into 16 ounce glasses and drink immediately

Oh, and smile because you just saved yourself about $5 on each serving!