yemen moka matari

I was getting my car washed a few weeks back, waiting in the waiting room at TLC up north of the river, flipping through way-outdated magazines, when I spotted this dumb little article about roasting your own coffee at home. And I was like Bing! new hobby. But then I went to Broadway Roasting Company to buy a bag of beans and I got to talking to the scraggly dude behind the counter, asking whether he'd sell green beans, and he said no, and I was disappointed at first, but within two minutes I was convinced I don't need to roast my own damn beans, in fact, that's the last thing I want to do.

It was like this: He was talking all connaisseur like, describing the subtle sub flavors of various beans, telling me how coffee is best three days after it's been roasted because that's when the gasses release, or something like that, and, so long as I have a Ziplock, the beans'll be damn good for a couple of weeks, which is longer than a pound lasts in our house anyway.

So I go there today and I ask what's good. That's the cool new thing for me, the hobby part of it, going into an awesome "locals only" type place, asking what's good and knowing I'll be walking out with something exotic and exciting.

Guy says, "Yemen moka matari."

Real smooth, he says, with a chocolate aftertaste and "a hint of blueberry," no kidding, he said that.

So I buy a pound. Fourteen bucks. It's rare. They don't get it in much.

Yemen is on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Some say this stuff is the oldest coffee on earth, though others say it's second oldest, after Ethiopian. The "moka" name comes from the name of a shpping port in Yemen.

I brew it up. And I'll be damned if I can't taste those blueberries. Very smooth. I've gulped down two cups already and I don't feel the least bit paranoid.

Life's alright, sometimes. Especially when you take a break from the news. I'm releived to have the first draft of the book done. But, truth be told, I've been suffering a little PPD, if such a thing is possible. All I know is I've felt a little down. But I bought coffee today and I made my first trip to the best nursery in the metro area, Longview Gardens, and I got a heep of seeds and a dozen brooccoli plants. Tomorrow it all begins again. It's sunny and warm and I had Kanye West blaring real load in the car with the windows down. "Family Business," over and over again. Beautiful song. I wish we could get Stevie out of jail.