This last is a tip from Lifehacker, and it’s a winner. Herself did this last year, and we both found it useful.

When’s the last time you had a blonde coffee? What’s that, you say? Never? Well it’s about time that changes…

Okay, so maybe it’s not really a blonde roast… that stuff’s most often halted before first crack (and the ginger-colored grounds brewed with sugar and cardamom; it tastes like chai.) No matter what you call this extraordinary light-roasted, natural process Sidamo — cinnamon roast, New England roast, maybe — it’s spectacular.

Special Prep = Joy

Fresh from the grinder this coffee will fill your kitchen with the aromas of fresh strawberries and blueberries. Its flavors are a tremendous expression of fruit — sweet strawberry, blueberry and tart cherry — with an undercurrent of Cavendish tobacco. It’s body is mild (a fair trade-off what with that roast and all) and its finish is long, graciously tart and a teensy bit dry.

All in all it’s one remarkable coffee, and, I think, a testament to the  skills on display at the roaster. A coffee this light could be a disaster! But this one’s a dream.

Highly recommended and a steal at under $17.00 a pound. So go get some while the gettin’s good.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

A parcel from Jeff Taylor at PT’s Coffee in Topeka (you probably remember Jeff; his crew were recently awarded Roast Magazine’s Roaster of the Year) was sitting on my doorstep and — while I wouldn’t have time to do any serious tasting today — I had to take a peek to see what was inside.

Long story short — ’cause I don’t have a lot of time, really — just opening the box I was wowed with the aroma. Sweet, very sweet aromas; think rich molasses, or dark maple syrup. The culprit — the bean responsible for this just outrageous aroma — was PT’s Reserva del Mandador - Finca Los Planes Pacamara, a Direct Trade bean from the Ticas family’s Los Planes farm in El Salvador. All peaberry. All Pacamara.

Again, not time enough for full-on sensorial effort here, but this bean is sweet, warm and juicy. Very clean, nicely balanced. Did I mention sweet? Caramel, maple sugar… a bit of mandarin orange. Nice. Very nice.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Go get you some now… I’ll have more — and write more — when I get a chance.

It would be a mistake to think this is anything but the beginning of a long road that will be filled with every obstacle that an opposing party — and some very evil people — can think to put in our path.

Oh my, but what a beginning.

Morning After Update: See John Scalzi’s Reality Check for a bit more grounding than I can offer at the moment, myself.

Whatever your conclusion — and whomever your candidate — please exercise the rights that were won for us all.

Vote.

Update:

I voted today.

No line to speak of in Williston, Vermont, ‘cept for a flock of white-headed old-timers getting chatted up by some of the local candidates over their thermoses of coffee (white, two sugars.)

No silly electronics to trip up the unwary, either… just fill in the oval with the felt-tip pen and drop your card in the tabulator. Sure, somebody could rewire the tabulator and make it count electric blue sheep instead, but there’s still all those cards with ovals on them… so no worries.

Oh, and on the way out, make a selection from the vast array of baked goods made fresh by your neighbors.

Ah, Vermont.

Notes and Links

1. If you’re an invertebrate, not only should you not be reading this post you probably shouldn’t be reading, period. Unless of course you’re a creature from outer space, in which case, you’re not eligible to vote in the U.S. elections. Sorry.