Senior Citizen Roulette 5: The Wheel Keeps Spinning!

Plus! Eric Adams Watch!! Qishr tea two ways!!!

Hello everyone,

Welcome to Issue #110 of CAFÉ ANNE!

So in last week's feature, "I Saw the Future of Coffee and I'm Buzzing," I wrote about the NYC CoffeeFest trade show, where a Bronx exhibitor originally from Yemen tried sell me on qishr, the national tea of his homeland. It’s brewed from coffee bean husks. "I don't want to hear about tea!" I told him. But he gave me a pouch of husks to take home, and I promised try it for this week’s issue.

First, I did some research. According to the internet, the drink is either spelled qishr or qisher or quesher or kishr or gishr. I'm going with qishr because that's what the trade show fellow said.

Online, I also found three million recipes for qishr. Some said I should brew the bean husks whole, others said I should grind them to a fine powder. A few specified ground coffee rather than coffee husks—but wouldn't that just be coffee?

Some preparations called for an infuser, others said the husks should be boiled in a sauce pan, or steeped in a French press. 

Sugar was the one universal—but recipes called for anywhere from one to four teaspoons per cup. Some added ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice or heavy cream. I could mix just about anything with hot water, it seemed, and call it qishr!

In end, I opted for the easiest preparation—I threw some husks in a cup, added boiling water and sugar, and let it sit. Then I nuked it in the microwave to heat it back up.

I took a sniff. It smelled wonderful! Like coffee and cherries. I took a sip, and another, and another. It did not taste like coffee. It was tea-like and tangy, with fruity notes galore.

I brewed a second cup, this time boiling the husks in a saucepan and straining the liquid before adding sugar, spices and cream. Not bad.

But you know what's even better than qishr? COFFEE!

Moving on, huge yellow-daffodils-everywhere-in-the-city shoutouts to this week’s new paid subscribers, Nick P. and Jay S. That’s enough $$$ for 20 bodega bouquets! Thanks, Nick and Jay, for supporting the newsletter and helping me keep CAFÉ ANNE paywall-free.

I am very excited for this week’s issue, of course. We’ve got new installments of both Eric Adams Watch and Senior Citizen Roulette! Please enjoy.

Regards!

Anne

SHOUTOUT TO MY TRIVIA TEAM!

Eric, Jessica, Varun, Sydney, and Brandon. <3 Christy

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ERIC ADAMS WATCH

On Grinding, Jesus and George Jefferson

Mayor Adams appearing last month with the NYPD Dance Squad

I continue to enjoy the exploits of Eric Adams, whom my friend Aharon refers to as “New York City’s first AI-generated Mayor.” As a profile in Politico put it, “In a city of weird people and weird mayors, Adams is maybe the most idiosyncratic figure to ever hold the office.”

Here, round-up #22 of the mayor’s doings:

February 6: At a town hall meeting in Brooklyn, according to the New York Post, Mayor Adams once again compares himself to Christ, “likening his ascension to the mayor’s office to Jesus cleansing the temple.” He goes on to introduce his five black deputy mayors, adding, “Have you ever seen this much chocolate lead in the city of New York?”

February 8: Visiting a Harlem school on World Read Aloud Day, the Mayor shares his personal motto with a classroom of seven-year olds, and has them sweetly repeat after him: “No distractions, stay focused and grind!”

February 14: For Valentine’s Day, Mayor Adams tweets his take on the holiday’s traditional candy hearts, bearing another of his pet phrases:

February 29: To celebrate Leap Day, according to Hell Gate, the Mayor attends a ribbon cutting at a new weed dispensary on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn. He congratulates the store’s Black owner: "To have a shop open here on Fifth Avenue is really—you're like the modern day George Jefferson, movin' on up!"

March 13: Responding to recent political strife in Haiti, the Mayor expresses his support for the nation’s people by tweeting, “We call New York City the Port-Au-Prince of America.” The platform clarifies: “No one other than Eric Adams has called NYC the ‘Port-Au-Prince of America.’”

Senior Citizen Roulette 5: The Wheel Keeps Spinning!

Last week I set out to play another round of the game I invented last year, Senior Citizen Roulette. For new subscribers who aren’t familiar with the rules, it works like this:

First, readers send in questions they’d like me to ask NYC oldsters. I type these questions up, number them and print them out. Currently, there are 40 questions on the list.

Next, I target random seniors found in the wild—in city parks, bus stations and outdoor cafés. When I find a person who is willing to play, I have them pick a random number. Then I ask the corresponding question and record their response.

And how does someone actually win Senior Citizen Roulette? It’s just like real life. Nobody wins! Ever!!

These interviews have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Louis Terry, Brownsville

Mr. Terry, a 69-year-old retired tile and textile worker, told me that over the years, he’s quit alcohol, smoking and coffee. He was enjoying the spring morning with a cup of tea on Fulton Street.

So I have 40 questions that my readers sent in. If you could, pick a number one through 40, and I’ll ask you the question that goes with that number.

I’ll pick twelve.

Okay. What is wrong with the world today?

They need to stop making bombs and sending missiles and puttin’ man on the moon and start taking care of the earth. If God meant for us to go up there, he’d have made us a ladder!

Hahaha!

There’s nothing going on up there, on the moon. The moon is not bothering you. You can send a satellite or something up there, but all the billions of dollars—the people down here on the ground need it for food. Stop building so much about war. Stop having animosity against this country, that country, and start taking care of all the people. It’d be a better world. I’m a Vietnam Vet.

If you had a lot of money to help people, what would you do?

I’d get an airplane, fill it up with money and go to the poorest countries and let it flow out.

Out of the airplane?

And then they can get it and use it the way that they want it.

I like that idea—they get to decide how they spend the money.

Right!

What denomination would the bills be in?

It’d be hundred-dollar bills, twenties, fifties—whatever they need, whatever would help them and their families. That’s what I would do.

Would you fly the airplane?

No, I’d have somebody else to fly it!

Kathleen Rugger, Brooklyn Heights

Ms. Rugger, 81, is a retired high school teacher and assistant principal. She was relaxing on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. She thought the idea of Senior Citizen Roulette was very funny, which made me like her an extra lot. She picked question #38.

Who is more weird—Eric Adams or [former mayor] Ed Koch?

Eric Adams!

Why do you say that?

Ed Koch was more of a New Yorker, a union guy. Eric Adams, I don’t get him. Ed Koch knew more about the city.

Do you like Eric Adams as a mayor? Do you think he’s doing a good job?

I—I can’t tell. (Laughs) I can’t tell!

Bill, Flatbush

I spotted Bill, 67, enjoying a turkey sandwich on a park bench outside Brooklyn Borough Hall. He had just gotten a haircut. He told me he spent twenty years driving a truck and then two decades serving time in an Upstate prison. He was released ten months ago and is looking to regain his commercial drivers license so he can resume his career. He asked that I not include his last name or photo.

I’m glad you’re out. That’s great! So do you want to pick a number one to forty?

How about eleven?

What is the most rewarding thing you’ve done in your life?

One of the most rewarding things I’ve done in my life is when I was in prison, I helped other men get their high school diplomas. I was a teacher’s aid for many years.

When I first went to prison, I was very depressed, as you can imagine. And I read Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, and it inspired me to do something with my life. God blessed me with a good brain, and I decided I was going to use that to help other people.

There is a real issue with people not being able to read and write. I discovered that. There was a fellow there, he kept asking me to fill out his name to go to church. After a while I said, “Why don’t you just write your name? What’s the big deal?” He said, “I never learned to read and write.”

I had never met anyone who was functionally illiterate before and I decided to do something about it. I spent the next two decades trying to help people. And I succeeded! I helped quite a few men get their high school diploma.

Wow.

When a man comes up to you and has tears in his eyes and shakes your hand and says, “Thank you, I couldn’t have done it without your help,” it’s a really great feeling. That was my purpose. It was very rewarding.

How did you come across the Viktor Frankl book?

I’m a big reader. I read whatever I can get my hands on. Someone mentioned it to me—”You should check this book out.” And then I did. I’m a history buff. I picked it up and read it and it was fascinating.

Anybody who is looking at being incarcerated should read something like that. It put things into perspective for me. No matter how bad things were, there were people who had things a lot worse, and they overcame them. It gave me inspiration. Helping other people really lifts your spirits.

Have a question for NYC seniors? I’ll add it to the list! Please email your query to annekadet@yahoo.com

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