"Janice" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Wolfgang" wrote:


"Steve" wrote in message
ews.com...

What was it you liked about the Harrar?
Assuming it was brewed at the correct temp, was it the flowery notes?
The spice? The acidity?

Ah, now THIS is where it gets interesting! As I mentioned, I've been
doing
a bit of reading. This morning I found this site:

http://www.lucidcafe.com/homeroast1.html

One of the things the author mentions is that if you're going to talk
seriously about coffee you need to learn the vocabulary (just as in wine,
whiskey, beer, olive oil, etc.). I haven't yet. The story of my
attraction
to Harrar goes back several years to a local independent coffee shop I
used
to frequent. I went in there for the first time after picking up some
stuff
at an Italian market next door. Not expecting much, I was pleasantly
surprised to discover that they actually made drinkable coffee. So, I
used
to go in occasionally to get a decent cup of coffee. I would order
whatever
they had on tap that day. One day is was Harrar. It was the best cup of
coffee I'd had since my aunt used to grind stuff she got at Kuhn's
delicatessen in Chicago with her old hand mill back in the late 50s.

What did I like about it? Well, it wasn't sour. I frequently hear
people
talk about coffee being bitter if it's left on a burner too long (if it's
brewed into a pot on a hot plate it's already too long before the brew is
finished) or brewed too strong or if it's roasted too dark. Never did
understand that. Coffee IS bitter....it's supposed to be....to one
degree
or another. The above mentioned ****ups make it SOUR. So, acidity? I
think maybe I don't know enough about the nuances of coffee to say just
what
it is I like about this one. I THOUGHT it was the LACK of acidity. But
the
descriptions of the East African coffees at the site above make much of
their acidity being one of their stong features. I dunno. Got a lot
left
to learn, I guess.

If the answers are yes, you will probably enjoy most of the East
Africans. If it was primarily the acidity, that lemony tang, move over
to the Kenyans.
If it was the spiciness, try the PNGs, or a Latin American with a
review that mentions that aspect.

I'm going to have to do a comparison tasting to get any kind of idea at
all
of what I'm looking at and for. And I'm going to have to have some sort
of
score sheet that lists specific characteristics to evaluate. I've done
that
with wine and learned a lot about why I preferred some over others.

You're going to enjoy this journey.

Oh yeah, of that much I am sure!

Wolfgang
and thanks for the help.

Person who molests little boys.

Well.....gosh.....I sure wish I had as much excitement in my weekends as you
do!

Wolfgang