Friday, June 13, 2003


arrest that substance

this green crime is exactly the reason i'm such a virulent agitator for slow food.

but despite the disgusting weather -- new york this year may top mark twain's quip that the coldest winter he ever spent was august in san francisco -- i do have one moment of sunshine. . .

this morning i was in my office drinking some of don schoenholdt's lovingly roasted yrgacheffe from gillies. the grounds had a wonderful caramel aroma out of the grinder; it poured from the press with mild brightness, medium body, and surprising tones of hazelnut and cinnamon or allspice (that woody spicy thing). . .

please remember that i usually avoid this ethiopian coffee in what people were always telling me was its "classic" form: too-citrus, overly bright, offering some kind of junk-store-dusty-maiden-aunt-potpourri gig with a nasty rubbing-alcohol-dry-finish. ("ooh, it's so wild and winey, people would exclaim!) the only good thing was that this finish was really short and the quick drink of water it left you begging for would cure it.

often this coffee just seems thin and medicinal to me. but people are always trying to give it to me and insist how lovely it is, just the best, most distinctive. . .since everyone raves about it so, however, i keep this taste crime to myself. i was thrilled near tears to hear don sort-of agree with me -- as he said: "if that's what i wanted, i'd just drink a bottle of iodine!"

however, don's was once called the best yrg by none other than ken davids himself. and don's yrg was perhaps the only thing that kept my heart from breaking on this dreary day. it is truly the first yrg that i not only liked, i couldn't stop drinking. this automagic-reach-of-the-hand-for-more is a hallmark, i find, of all don's best coffees.

as i keep saying -- don's coffees are just the most amiable. they are like talking to an old friend about good times. the afternoon simply speeds away in their company, and you feel like you have rediscovered a part of yourself you had long misplaced without realizing what you were missing. speaking of which, i hope to have an updated gillies price list to post here shortly.

posted by fortune | 3:03 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments