Some Thoughts on Coffee, About Which I Know Nothing

Cafe Sign, GetreidegasseIn the last month I found myself chatting with two coffee roasters while they worked, one at Mt. Hood Roasters in Rhododendron, Oregon, and one at Java Kai in Hanalei, Hawaii. I did not admit to either of them that the coffee we drink the most of at our house is Trung Nguyen, a mass produced Vietnamese coffee that we buy ground in big quantities from our local Asian supermarket.

We buy this stuff because, well, we like it. I acquired my first package out of desperation. I was in Seattle’s International District and I needed coffee, stat. When I opened the can — it was still in cans then, it smelled of chocolate. Brewed up it tasted very smooth, not bitter at all, and it held that nice deep aroma. It’s cheap, too, really cheap, compared to anything else I like.


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Honolulu, I Am Coming Back Again

The sand on Ha’ena beach is coarse and golden and it’s scattered with chunks of coral and broken seashells. Little crabs dance in the line the foam leaves on the sand while the sun goes down and in the morning, the sand is piled in pyramids along the tideline, the remnants of little crabs digging …


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Mistakes Were Made

Local people, they give you advice. As do the guidebooks. And you should totally listen. You should not be all, “Meh, whatever. We’ll just deal.” Because then you will have been to Oahu, what, twice, three times, and STILL not seen the wonder that is Hanauma Bay. It is your own damn fault. Pay attention, …


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Tiny Bubbles

We’ve been watching stuff get made, lately. We are a regular, uh, what’s that show called where you get to watch stuff get made? I can’t remember, but we’re like them. We visited an olive oil press and a coffee roaster in Oregon and today, we went to the birthplace of the KoAloha Ukulele. The …


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