Date: 04 Jul 2006 19:05:44
From: Randy G.
Subject: Gifting Coffee- Long
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I often bring bags (or, for special folks, jars) of roasted and ground
coffee with me, particularly when I am meeting new people or have an
appt., etc. This last week I had a medical appt, and I started a
conversation with the dor who had an obvious European accent. I
discovered he had an L.P. lever machine which he was quite proud,
instantly discussing its merits over a pump machine, as well as his
enjoying making Turkish coffee. So I did a little research on Turkish
and did my best to roast and grind a batch for him as a thank you
gift. I stopped by to give it to him, but the closed the office on the
3rd to make a 4 day weekend so I couldn't drop it off.
On my way out of the medical center I was disappointed that I was
still carrying the jar of talcum-consistency coffee, and after I
passed by another open office it hit me. I went in and was greeted by
two lovely ladies- in manners and appearance, and I told them the
story of the coffee. I also happened to be carrying a bag of
pre-ground Arabica sweep, and after finding out they liked coffee I
told them, "I would be glad to give you this bag of coffee I roasted
yesterday if you could get this jar of Turkish grind to the dor."
They not only accepted but we struck up a nice conversation about
coffee, and how fresh is most important, etc. It was a nice visit
indeed and brought me a smile on what was otherwise a long and tedious
day.
At my personal MDs office I have struck up a friendly relationship
with the receptionist. I had brought coffee to the office, again,
ground and in individual bags, and there was enough for everyone. We
had a long talk about coffee. Again, my talking about how fresh is
best and how grinding the coffee starts the clock ticking off the
coffee's last minutes of life, I must have impressed her, because on
my next visit she told me, proudly, that she had bought a grinder.
Interesting that they said that the coffee tasted really good , but it
didn't smell so good. Could that be from being "too fresh" and their
reaction was from the carbon dioxide which they probably have ever
experienced being that this was undoubtedly the freshest coffee they
had ever experienced?? Anyway....
To reward her efforts I brought her about a half pound of whole bean,
fresh roast. We talked some more and the conversation turned to
computers, and now she wants me to come to her home and help her out
with various tasks including purchasing a new computer (it's another
of my sidelines- computer tutoring and such). She was thrilled to hear
I charge over $100 an hour less than the Computer Geeks! A good turn
rewarded! One for the optimists!
On a second another visit to a different office I had seen that the
Dor's past experiences included service in Nam as a surgeon and
other military units so I had a pretty good idea he liked coffee. So
for him I roasted a blend of an Indonesian and Costa Rican. Upon
entering the office I asked if he liked coffee and he said, "If you
consider addicted, then yes." I gave him the coffee, he asked what it
was, I told him the blend and it's "roasted on date, which was
"yesterday" at the time), and he opened the jar and said, "There are
only two things that smell better than coffee, and they are both
women."
That quote alone was worth the time it took to roast and grind.
Randy
"educating the coffee-drinking public, one Hottop batch at a time"
G.
http://www.EspressoMyEspresso.com
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