Monday, October 18, 2004


brace yourselves, or regional coffee culture, part xxv

"japan, once a tea drinking nation, is now the third largest importer of coffee, after the united states and germany," according to the international coffee organization.

once a tea drinking nation. think about that: 13 centuries of tradition swept away in 20 years by the passionate deluge of exquisite coffee.

more importantly what this article shows is that after oh, nearly 5 long years of squeaking about the importance of coffee quality to the average coffee lover, it's finally beginning to take effect. . .

specialty coffee leads the way out the coffee crisis! our model is working!

how clearly i recall standing in the boston sunshine with then-scaa prez steve colten of atlantic (a.k.a. the groucho marx of coffee). and what did he say in a rare moment of seriousness, the like of which i have never since seen?

he quoted himself: "quality begets price begets quality." it was just hours after renowned scaa consumer member, the great marshall fuss [with myself on right] famously took on the commercial coffee lobbyist, mr. "quality? what is quality?" robert nelson.

"why the adversarial thing?" colten asked. "our way is the better way and time will demonstrate that."

"time!" i said, thinking of the reports of drug growth, illegal immigration, the homeless coffee workers of nicaragua and their starving children under the plastic garbage bags spread to be their roofs. "who has time?"

maybe he was right after all. . .

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