New Yorkers love their coffee. From diner coffee to fine dining coffee, and everything in between, large segments of our population drink loads of the stuff for work, play or both. But how much do we know about the beverage that led David Letterman to remark, “If it weren’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever”? Join Francine Segan, an accomplished author and foodie, for an informative and entertaining event, Coffee Tasting and History, on February 4.

Discover coffee’s origins and checkered history. Learn why it was eaten and not drunk in ancient Africa, why it was first considered a wine and how it traveled to Java and beyond. Learn how to make a perfect cup of brewed coffee and how to cook with it. See raw and roasted coffee beans, taste several types of coffee and sample various roasting methods.

And here’s a tip we don’t often like to give, as those who have their lights turned on will often do their own extrapolation, extending the math to other commodities such as housing—and truthfully, we’d rather they choose Bushwick or Greenpoint first—but a regular coffee will only set you back fifty cents at a bodega in Harlem. If you want a seat to go with your coffee as well, at any of our favorite restaurants in Spanish Harlem, a café con leche will double your cost to one dollar.