The official Sebastian Junger community

Sebastian's Coffee Fix

In Sebastian's book WAR, he goes into great detail about finding a cup of coffee at COP Restrepo.

"Coffee at Restrepo was a problem because no one drank it so you were more or less on your own in that regard. Certain MREs include packets of coffee, powdered milk, and sugar, but I found it hard to remember which ones they were --as opposed to, say, the breakfast tea or cider mix --and that meant pawing through the garbage to find enough ingredients for a good cup. Once the precious powders were in hand, I'd go to the command center and empty a bottle of water into the electric kettle and plug it in. The command center was a dark, secure bunker next to Gillespie's bunk where the radios were stacked, and there was usually so little light that finding the kettle required some feeling around."

To ensure Sebastian didn't have to hassle with this the next time he embedded, I gave both him and Tim little packets of Nescafe during the DVD launch party for RESTREPO last week. Tim let the cat out of the bag by telling us that Sebastian used to take a packet like this, sprinkle it on his tongue, and swish a gulp of water around in his mouth. A coffee gargle, as it were.

"¡Donde Queiras, Cuando Quieras! It's soave!" said Tim, reading the package. He loved that the package was printed in Spanish. But considering where I live --well, what isn't? File this under "Fun."