The Coffee Trade

The owners of Mount Auburn Street's two coffee house regard each other's establishments with polite airs of reciprocal contempt. Harl Cook of Tulla's commenting on "the place 'down the street," says, "Oh I wouldn't call them competition. They get a different crowd." George Wilson '59, part owner of the Capriccio, suspects Tulla's purchases their coffee from Cahaly's

Actually, the kitchen procedures have a rough similarity in both coffee houses. Besides an old stove and some silexes, the Capriccio boasts an expresso steam percolator for its Italian coffee. As Wilson watched his brew jet out of this continental loking apparatus, and surveyed his bubbling silexes, he noted that up the street they run everything through one old pot.

Tulla does use "chemex" percolators, however, besides the venerable copper arrangement, through which she filters the basic grind for many of her blends. "Salesmen have offered me modern replacements," she notes, "but I wouldn't change it. Tulla herself is a product of European coffee hospitality, and Cook tries to maintain the "civilized tradition" of the European coffee houses.

As for the blends themselves, in both Tulla's and the Capriccio the many varities come from five or six staples. Tulla explains that she uses Colombia, Brazilian, Javanese, Luziane, and a "secret" blend of Cuban coffee. Most she orders from New York wholesalers, but the Luziane is shipped from New Orleans. To hurry it along, Tulla occassionally resorts to urgent dispatches like the card she sent last week: "Help, help! We ordered six pounds of Luzaine several weeks ago. Wha hoppened?"

The Capriccio blends American Spanish, French, and Italian coffee. Wilson gets his coffee from Boston wholesalers. He finally settled for La Touraine for the American coffee after trying more prosaic brands. Each establishment uses the pulverized Turkish blend, the daddy of the instant coffees.

Both coffees manage to create more than a dozen exotic varities from the basic grinds. Cappucino and Mocha are the most popular at the Capriccio. To make the cappucino, a cinammon stick is mixed in the coffee. Tulla prepares an `"angel's bosom" which is sugared Cuban blend topped with a mound of whipped cream and a maraschino cherry. Neither place has a license to diverge into to inviting mixtures of coffee and rum or whiskey. Cook regrets this and notes, "A lot of good drinks are missed that way."

Although both places have a fairly faithful clientele, the presence of the "other shop" keeps each place wary and leads them to keep security measures. Cook says he has not had time to sample the Capriccio's service, but either for purpose of reconnaissance or a busman's holiday, the Capriccio's owners have dropped in to their competitor's for coffee.

Yet in spite of mutual back kitchen disdain, each coffee house serves its demitasse and mocha in a civilized setting of folk music, artiness and urbanity. And for only 50 cents a cup.