The Coffee

Served black, in all its full-strength, muddy, bitter glory. Ideally topped up with a dollop of creamy New Zealand butter.

And what would you know but the sap is rising and all ( ok, many ) things seem possible on  a toasty South-East Asian morning.

Last month I was riding 5 minutes to a local eatery, and fidgeting while the Help took its sweet time brewing up the elixir. One morning, I finally decided that 20 minutes’ wait was beyond the pale. There had to be a better way.

And there was. My brother in NZ, a bit of an aficianado, gave me some advice about finding the Good Beans, and even found a local shop which ground their own beans. Imported no less from Myanmar, and Chiang Mai, and cheap at about 150 ฿ . That worked.

But my equipment, I suspect, was letting me down. A cheapo coffee maker from Tesco Lotus ( ‘low-TAR’ in the local lingo ), which does the trick, but doesn’t quite have the same kick. Or the same taste.

 

After a few words with the other NES teachers, one suggested the 7-11s, many of which contain an ALLCafe. They brew surprisingly good coffee, only 25฿, and delivered fast and hot. See above.

So the weekday morning routine is now one with the Good Beans, and the shoddy coffee-maker, above, and one from the 7-11, further above.

On a weekend, I’ll travel to a locally-owned and run cafe ( mother and son I assume ) where they make spectacular coffee. As no doubt do many cafes around town.

Trouble is, none of them open til 7 am, which is way past twitching time.