I never knew about the coffee part, Laurie! I know my mom made it, and I just figured she took the grease from the ham, added some flour and maybe water and that was red eye gravy! In fact, it always looked to me like it was just the grease! My dad always "floated" it on the grits!!! Once again, I found the answer, Karen, at www.grits.com!! Here's what they say:

Red Eye Gravy

Here's another:

Red eye gravy

Here's the best descriptions I could find:

Red Eye Gravy

You have proceeded to make me crave country ham and red-eye gravy! I see some grits, eggs and country ham (with red-eye gravy) in my menu over the weekend!!!