"The walls at Beth’s Cafe in Seattle drip with crude crayon drawings of Seahawks logos and random cartoon characters, and the oily odor of 12-egg omelets crammed with bacon lingers in the air. There’s a late-night frenzy radiating from every booth, as partygoers refuel between shindigs or, inevitably, crash out before making their way home. At the center of the early morning — or late night, depending on how you look at it — madness: a steaming cup of bitter coffee, an anchor in the chaos. As I cradle the cup for warmth, a flash of guilt etches across my mind: Unlike the locally roasted single-origin coffee I might brew at home, this cup — courtesy of national distributor US Foods — is likely neither organic nor ethically sourced. At Beth’s and most American diners, the odds are high that the coffee comes from a vacuum-sealed tub stashed behind the bar. It’s the kind of commodity coffee processed in a big factory where the folks on the floor — and, for that matter, back at the farm where the beans were grown — may or may not get fair pay. Still, at diners and casual restaurants all across the United States, it’s bottomless carafes of the stuff that keep truckers, journeymen, service staff, and, frankly, anyone looking for a zip of strength chugging along. And at an affordable price." - Paolo Bicchieri
