"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...
So, while I appreciate discussions of the fine points and the arcana of
food and beverages (it's probably no secret that I love spending time in
the kitchen), and such talk is never out of place in any setting (ya gotta
stop fishing to eat and drink once in a while, right?), I've never really
been a great fan of hard liquors. I don't mind that talk of various
single malt whiskies crops up here from time to time, but it doesn't
resonate for me. Beer, I know something about, having sampled more than my
share and even brewed a bunch of my own for a few years, but I can't drink
it anymore.....gives me a headache every time. Wine, I like, but I've
found that I'm not interested enough to spend the time and money needed to
learn about it in depth. Besides, the ten dollar a box stuff works well
enough for my daily needs with supper.

No, my concern is really more for the other end of the day. For years now
(many years) I have been dissatisfied with the pitiful trash that passes
for coffee in this country. I've always known, of course, that something
can be done about it but never got around to doing it. That just changed.

One day last week, Becky stopped by with some freshly roasted and ground
Colombian caranavi. It got lost under a heap of something or other for a
day or two and then I brewed up a pot when it turned up again. Hey, this
is GOOD! Becky says talk to my dad, he sent me the roaster and a bunch of
coffee for Christmas. Becky's father has been roasting his own coffee for
25 or 30 years. He'd talked to me about it a couple of years ago but at
that time it just sounded like too much to get into in a life already
crowded with many other things. But now I'd tasted the result. It was
time to talk to Rodger again. So, Friday night I talked to him for about
an hour and ended up going he

http://coffeeproject.com/index.html

and ordering a roaster and a couple of pounds of coffee, Ethiopian harrar
and something listed just as Bolivian shade grown organic (I wanted the
caranavi but apparently it's only sold bundled with other things in some
sort of sampler).

This morning I roasted and brewed my first pot of the harrar. WOW!

Anyway, I've done a bit of research on line in the past couple of
days....there is a ton of stuff about coffee. But I'm wondering if anyone
else here has played with this and if so, I'd appreciate hearing about
your experiences, preferences, etc. If not, any true coffee lover should
definitely look into the do it yourself thing.

Wolfgang