Coffee Royale

To the Editor:

Re “At Last, a $20,000 Cup of Coffee” and the Clover type of coffee maker (Jan. 23):

I am in my 70s, and I remember my parents had a coffee maker that did not cost $11,000. The coffee maker had a glass base, where the water was heated, and there was a glass globe that was inserted into the base. The coffee grounds were put into the globe and the heated water would rise into the globe and make the coffee, which would then drip back down into the base.

The only difference is that the old-fashioned one used a stove to heat the water.BARBARA EGAN

Livonia, Mich.


To the Editor:

For most of last year I lived on a small coffee plantation in rural Guatemala called Comunidad Nueva Alianza. Since gaining control of the land three years ago, the workers there are now able to pay themselves $3.20 a day. I often send them news articles related to coffee and its place in the global economy. To do so in this case seems obscene.




Swiss Science

To the Editor:

Re “A Little Nostalgia, a Long Fork and Lots of Cheese” (Jan. 23): Melissa Clark wonders why cold white wine is the exception to the rule that bans cold beverages with fondue. Had her cookbook provided the full Swiss wisdom on this subject, she would know that alcohol’s cheese-dissolving properties counter the ball-of-cheese effect produced by the cold, thus making wine an ideal accompaniment to fondue.


San Francisco

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