Hallelujah!

One doesn’t have to know me very well to know that I believe that there are few things in the world better than a well brewed cup of coffee, brewed with freshly ground beans.  And that I prefer African coffees generally over South Pacific coffees over South American coffees.  Yes I am unashamedly a coffee snob, which is matched perhaps only by my beer snobbery (face it, I wrote two articles for the UofO law newsletter - both about beer!).  Then again, I think I am more of a coffee snob than a beer snob because I never tire of my favorite coffee of all time - Equator Coffee’s Ethiopia Mocha Harrar (the numbers “5554” will forever hold a special place in my heart - but that is another story!), so why even bother trying anything else unless I have to.  I can’t say that about beer, even my beloved Deschutes Black Butte Porter.

So yesterday I received my first package since I’ve arrived in Liberia.  And what did my very dear Ann (have I posted lately how she is the absolute best wife a man could have, and that I love her dearly!) enclose in my package.

Not just 1 bag, but 4.  Ann, you are a goddess!

Now, I have to explain a bit where we buy this coffee.  Astute readers that you are, you probably guessed (and guessed correctly) “at Equator Coffee.”  Where we buy it is really less important than how we buy it.  When we’re running low on beans, we call Greg (usually his voice mail, but sometimes Clyde answers and even sometimes Greg answers) and tell him we want a 5 lb. bag of Ethiopia Mocha Harrar.  Usually that’s some time fairly early in the morning, but I once forgot and called at 11 am.  Then usually some time between 1 and 3 pm we head on over to West Eugene and pick up our freshly roasted coffee beans and some engaging conversation with Greg and/or Clyde.  It’s hard to beat beans roasted to order, especially this particular coffee.

With that as background, you might, just might, be able to appreciate my jubilation when you learn that what I’ve been drinking since I got here was this:

So to put it mildly, I was desperate!  Liberia is a third world country - there is no Starbucks or, as we have back home, latte stands in every parking lot along the street.  I’ve been living on freeze dried for two weeks.  I mean, which of these would you rather make your morning cup of coffee with?

If you can’t figure out which is which, try guessing from this shot:

If you need a hint, my friend David thinks I’m a liberal, because I’m almost always left of center in my preferences, political or otherwise (so why am I right handed . . . .).

Unfortunately, I don’t have all my coffee gear with me.  It’s not a total loss of course.  My colleague Tammy volunteered to grind me up a pound of coffee (which is almost sacrilege - you should always grind beans just before you make your coffee, it’s the one thing in proper coffee making that makes the most noticeable difference).  So I have ground coffee (which, even though the rest sits ground for a while, is worlds better than freeze dried).  Sadly though, this is the brewing method included in my “welcome packet” from housing to use while my stuff is getting shipped here:

Though miles better than freeze dried, it’s a far cry from fresh ground, to the proper grind, coffee seeped in a french press for 3 minutes.  

I can’t wait for my unaccompanied baggage with my grinder and french press to arrive!