TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Coffee! Soda! Chocolate! Call Us Caf-Fiends

ADVERTISEMENT

By JEFF HOUCK | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 8, 2007

TAMPA - The survey released Wednesday was clear: The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area is the second most caffeinated metro area in the United States. Only Chicago ingests more.

Coffee, soft drinks, tea, chocolate, pain relievers, energy drinks, caffeine pills. We love it all, if HealthSaver discount health care service's survey of 2,035 people in the country's 20 largest urban areas is to be believed. HealthSaver did the survey, a spokesman said, to "stimulate awareness of caffeine consumption and to shine a light on the numerous health benefits of caffeine."

News wires buzzed Wednesday about the survey. Bloggers stirred up discussion.

The idea that Tampa would be a runner-up caffeine mecca was a revelation to morning TV anchor Diane Sawyer, who was taken aback at the news during Wednesday's broadcast of "Good Morning America." Many assumed Seattle, home to Starbucks, would be No. 1 on the list, but it only got to No. 9.

This information did not exactly surprise 69-year-old Danilo Fernandez.

Sitting Wednesday afternoon at a small table inside El Molino coffee shop in Ybor City, he had just emptied a foam cup full of espresso when he heard the news. Only the beverage's golden crema residue was left clinging to the sides of his cup.

It was his third of the day. He starts with a cafe con leche for breakfast with his Cuban toast. Then there's one at lunch and another for a midday sip. There's usually two or three more by the time he hits the pillow at night.

Drinking six cups a day "does not affect me at all," Fernandez said. Espresso is a dark roasted coffee with less caffeine than a regular cup of American coffee, he said.

It's a daily routine born from a family legacy. His grandfather, Carlos Menendez, opened Naviera Coffee Mills in Ybor City in 1921. The company still roasts beans in the warehouse behind El Molino at 2012 E. Seventh Ave.

Fernandez started working there in 1949. Now retired, he still visits the operation on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. His wife, Millie, started the gift store and coffee shop. Their son, Danilo Jr., runs the company now. He's the fourth generation to do so.

Most of the coffee Naviera makes is shipped out of Tampa. Tourists who stop in the coffee shop frequently become mail-order customers or buy their supply through ElMolinoCoffee.com.

Fernandez took Wednesday's survey results in stride.

"If you asked me, I would say that Tampa is a good coffee town," Fernandez said.

The coffee in Tampa's veins has historical roots.

The influx over the decades of Cubans, Italians and Spaniards initially fueled the town's coffee appetite. Back in the 1920s and '30s when Tampa was full of cigar factories, coffee was delivered to tables where workers hand-rolled tobacco, Fernandez said. At the end of the week, they settled up with factory bosses, who took coffee fees out of their wages.

A dozen coffee roasters mass-produced beans in the city at that time, Fernandez said. Now, only a handful remain.

But during the past 10 years, espresso sales have again taken off, he said. That's fine by him.

"It relaxes me," he said. "It's a habit, but I wish more people would have it. That way I could sell more coffee."

Reporter Jeff Houck can be reached at (813) 259-7324 or jhouck@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT