Coffee stories

I got the news probably earlier than most, definitely months before the Turkish press. It was about the launching of a new Turkish coffee brand by an Italian company. It was a shiny late March day, the sky was as blue as could be, the sun strong and bright, the snow refusing to melt. We were right at the center of Villaggio Olimpico in Sestriere on the sun-deck overlooking the Agnelli Piste, trying to soak in as much sunlight as possible. The weather was too good to be true; just two days before, a blizzard had threatened to cancel the racing events. This was Sestriere, up in the mountains of Torino, for the annual meeting of SCIJ - Ski Club International des Journalistes coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Torino Winter Olympics. Just as I seated myself in a deck chair, Stefano from the Italian team grabbed my arm, dragging me to a young woman. That's how I met Carolina Vergnano, from the family of Caffè Vergnano, one of the sponsors of the SCIJ meeting in Sestriere. 

Carolina was already surrounded by the food writers among our group of journalists, speedily answering questions. She was vivacious, quick and sharp, her name could well be "Allegra;" I was soon to discover why.
 My Romanian colleague was clever to come up with one simple question: How many cups of coffee do you drink a day? The answer was as swift as it could be: Eleven. Then she continued: "One espresso at 6:30 when I get up; one an hour later, another one when I arrive at the office, and so on..." After so many cups of coffee, one could definitely not stay still - and thus the reason for her effervescent energy. I was soon to discover a well-kept secret of Vergnano's: They were planning to launch a new product, a Turkish coffee. 

Returning back to Turkey, I called Ülkü...