[bedir than average]

Yesterday I was very disappointed in a partner at one of our highest volume stores in the country.

I had a few hours to kill in Kirkland after driving the wife to work and before getting my teeth cleaned. So I thought to myself why not just enjoy a press of my favorite coffee with a newspaper and a notebook?

I'm a fan of the French Press or Plunger Pot method of brewing and without a doubt my favorite coffee is Arabian Mocha Sanani (both for flavor and historical signifigance). At Starbucks in the Seattle market you can purchase an 8-cup press for in store use for 3$ or so. Freshly prepared coffee, real coffee - straight.

This partner didn't know what I was talking about, not a clue. She didn't know that she had served me only a half hour earlier and she struggled with my instructions as to where the button was on the register. She also failed to give me my discount even though I handed her my partner card. Frustration all around, well up until the prepared press was in my hand and at my table.

Sanani is a tempermental beast. The trees are often nearly wild as Yemen's coffee industry has degraded over the past century due to civil war, drought and being underpriced from Latin America. This combined with the natural dried processing method lead to intricacies in the cup that most coffees don't have at their highest quality levels.

Yesterday it had a biting acidity without the tart berry notes. The flavor was more like cloves and cardamon. Body was the traditional and expected mocha powder texture, it felt a little heavier than usual though. This coffee should not have the heavy body, nearly syrupy of the Asia/Pacific origins. Sipping this coffee, reading the P-I and watching Kirkland hurry to work while I enjoyed an off day was a pleasure.