Searching for My Beloved: From Yemen’s Fields to Costa Rica’s Volcanic Highlands
I am extremely fond of coffee. My upbringing in Damascus has shaped my preferences for coffee towards the city of Aleppo. The Aleppo coffee, which its people have forgotten today, suits my evening mood much better than the morning Damascene coffee. Aleppo’s coffee is light beige with no bitterness or additions. It has a refreshing, tart taste that doesn’t leave you with any bitterness. It requires sweetening for connoisseurs of music, except for those accustomed to the subtlety of wine flavor.
My tastes are also fond of bitterness. I have taken to Arabic Arabian coffee beans in the evenings, since I do not like the flavor of sugar in my coffee. Single-seed Mocha beans offer me a coffee the color of my beloveds brown eyes if I treat them with care, passion, and attention. A noble chocolate taste, starting with a delicate bitterness, before leaving a subtle sweetness on my tongue and heading for my heart.
It is the gentleness deserving of its Arab origins that makes Arabica coffee worth waiting for. Then it flows calmly and purposefully from within, bringing forth the aromas of peace and contentment in my cup. This unique flavor originates from Yemen alone, originally. Since Yemeni products are not easily available in Germany, I searched for farm products worldwide until finding my stray. I now regularly order it from Amazon.
What feels closest to my heart are the Peaberry volcanic coffee beans from Costa Rica, which are harvested at high altitudes from volcanic soil, which lends them a bright, sweet unique flavor. The next coffee from Stumptown Coffee Roasters is Jordan Colombia, which has red apple, brown sugar, and grape aromas as it roasts. Blue Bottle Coffee has a blend of high-quality Arabica beans from three African nations. It makes a delicious cup without any added sugar, with a vibrant and satisfying taste. Then, There are touches of caramel, dark chocolate and red cherry in the Corsica blends from La Colombe.
The catastrophe I am currently facing is that all of these varieties have suddenly and very mysteriously disappeared from Amazon Europe recently and are no longer available for me to purchase. This concerns me greatly. I couldn’t resist ordering a kilo of Melitta Barista Classic Crema, a medium-roasted Arabic coffee that’s not quite as good as Costa Rica’s volcanic coffee. Is there anything that can be done? As a single person living alone, I am unable to store such large quantities, so I prefer to purchase kilo by kilo through Amazon. I have a coffee supply that is almost empty. The city of Heidelberg lacks coffee shops that cater to the preferences of coffee connoisseurs.
In the end, the highlands of Costa Rica and Colombia, along with the African Three-Way and Corsica, will return to Amazon Europe. My peaceful evenings are filled with the scent of coffee inhaling the air. Until then, I’ll treasure the sweet memories and memorable moments associated with each cup.
Coffee is more than just a beverage — it’s a life partner, the friend who cheers us up when we’re down, the partner who shares in our happiness and sadness. It’s one of the things we do every day, and it’s part of who we are and what we’ve done. I’m hoping the next dawn will bring fresh coffee flavors to taste and appreciate. Until then, I will continue to explore and experiment because coffee is an endless journey of discovery and pleasure.
I wish you all happiness and enjoyment with every sip, whether you prefer your coffee strong and black, creamy with milk, or sweetened with honey and sugar. Remember that coffee has plenty of different flavors and smells that, just waiting for you to discover them. There are two beautiful gifts of nature for us all: coffee and enjoying life.
