You wine snobs out there are going to like this. I got it from National Public Radio. The words are mine but the topic is pure NPR.
This is about one of my favorite beverages. Listen to this.
Hmmm, for a low altitude variety this fills the front of the mouth with a bold chlorophyl tingle reminiscent of an early morning dew. It is vibrant without being violent and doesn't hide behind chocolaty sweetness. By the time it works its way down the laryngial passage it has suffused the sinuses with the energy of the sun chasing low hanging morning clouds from the horizon. It provides the esophogal passage with the comforting massage needed to awaken the mental capacities and prepare them for the challenges of the day.
So much for the low altitude stuff.
Hmmm, an olfactory ecstasy. This high altitude terroir variety is a symphony of redolence vibrating with the tones of rosemary, lavender and suffused with the smoothness of the neighboring fruit. The grassy relationship has been broken and the gentle passage from the front of the tongue to the epiglotis is like a sweet massage of an angel's fingertips. With all of this gentleness and silky comfort, it retains the ability to set up internal vibrations in the upper chest cavity, thus preparing the heart for the rigors of the day. This beverage, I have to admit, with its chocolaty spine just has to be the best damned coffee that I have every tasted.
I kid you not, this was a real life interview (you do remember that I said that the words are mine) about the finer points of coffee. I did not make up the part about the altitude. The truth of the matter is that the wider spread between hot air and cold air at the higher altitudes produces coffee beans that make better tasting coffee than the beans that thrive at the lower elevations where the temperature tends to be more stable between night and day. The coffee buyer who was explaining this said that this trend toward more discriminating tastes in coffee is not that old. Maybe only about 25 or 30 years or so.
He told the story of when he and his friend went to Guatamala to meet some coffee farmers for the first time. The farmers had never met anyone who was interested in talking to them about the finer points of growing coffee. They grew it. Harvested it. Threw in into a truck. It was weighed. They got paid. Went out and got drunk one night and went back to the hills and waited for the next harvest. End of story. There was one family of coffee growers who were nice to these buyers. No one had ever come to talk to them personally about a business relationship. They learned a lot from one another and the family stopped selling their coffee through the co-operative and selling it directly to these entrepreneurs, for bigger money.
Now, since then, we have developed coffee tasters and snobby language descriptions of how it tastes.
I like coffee. I drink it hot and black. I do care how it tastes, but these days I have to confess that the best coffee comes straight from Mexico, roasted, ground and canned and $7.50 for 34.5 ounces.
It's not too fancy in the taste department. It just kinda goes down, shivering and scratching all the way down, finds your ass, gives it one swift kick and you're off and running for the rest of the day. Ole!
This is about one of my favorite beverages. Listen to this.
Hmmm, for a low altitude variety this fills the front of the mouth with a bold chlorophyl tingle reminiscent of an early morning dew. It is vibrant without being violent and doesn't hide behind chocolaty sweetness. By the time it works its way down the laryngial passage it has suffused the sinuses with the energy of the sun chasing low hanging morning clouds from the horizon. It provides the esophogal passage with the comforting massage needed to awaken the mental capacities and prepare them for the challenges of the day.
So much for the low altitude stuff.
Hmmm, an olfactory ecstasy. This high altitude terroir variety is a symphony of redolence vibrating with the tones of rosemary, lavender and suffused with the smoothness of the neighboring fruit. The grassy relationship has been broken and the gentle passage from the front of the tongue to the epiglotis is like a sweet massage of an angel's fingertips. With all of this gentleness and silky comfort, it retains the ability to set up internal vibrations in the upper chest cavity, thus preparing the heart for the rigors of the day. This beverage, I have to admit, with its chocolaty spine just has to be the best damned coffee that I have every tasted.
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| IS THIS BUCK PRIVATE COFFEE OR FIVE STAR GENERAL COFFEE |
He told the story of when he and his friend went to Guatamala to meet some coffee farmers for the first time. The farmers had never met anyone who was interested in talking to them about the finer points of growing coffee. They grew it. Harvested it. Threw in into a truck. It was weighed. They got paid. Went out and got drunk one night and went back to the hills and waited for the next harvest. End of story. There was one family of coffee growers who were nice to these buyers. No one had ever come to talk to them personally about a business relationship. They learned a lot from one another and the family stopped selling their coffee through the co-operative and selling it directly to these entrepreneurs, for bigger money.
Now, since then, we have developed coffee tasters and snobby language descriptions of how it tastes.
I like coffee. I drink it hot and black. I do care how it tastes, but these days I have to confess that the best coffee comes straight from Mexico, roasted, ground and canned and $7.50 for 34.5 ounces.
It's not too fancy in the taste department. It just kinda goes down, shivering and scratching all the way down, finds your ass, gives it one swift kick and you're off and running for the rest of the day. Ole!
Ahh !! As I sit hammering out this note of appreciation to my mentor of the metaphysical !!
ReplyDeleteI am drinking a good cup of my replica of the juice that helps keep our Oceans safe from
foreign invasions, Aliens, and pirates. Yep !! The Black Tar of the US Navy, which is found
in almost every corner of our USS Fighting Fleet !!! Being of the rating of the ‘Mess’, I do
remember the amount of tar to put per cup of filtered oil fragranced water !! Yes !! The Isles of the Caribbean still have the *Best Beans* and will brew the best *Black Tar* ever !! Just a Little addition !!
A guy sitting at the breakfast bar in his favorite diner complains to the waiter, "Hey, this coffee tastes like mud." The waiter looks at the guy and says, 'Whaddya expect? It was ground last night."
ReplyDeleteDarn it Paul. And I thought you were talking about wine! I was always impressed with people who drink their coffee black. I thought if you like the real kick take it raw. Smetimes in one of my trips to Palau, I saw a bottle of instant coffee on the kitchen table. I did not bother to read the label. I fixed mine and sat to chat with my niece, the coffee was so smooth and so unlike any instant coffee I ever tasted.
ReplyDeleteI stood up and went back to the kitchen picked the bottle up and read. Pablo in bold black letter. I asked her where this thing came from. Thinking Mexico product here? She said that it came from the Philipines. Your mother likes it so I been bringing it every time I visit. All 3 months Mom and I drank Pablo. Taster Choice would you not say? However, I will try and find this Mexican coffee that really impressed you and see for my self. What store?
Justa