COFFEE: Nicaraguan organically-grown beans from the Matagalpa region, via Fara Coffee. Austin-based Fara Coffee roasts mostly beans from the owners' family estates (fincas) in their native Nicaragua. Most of their coffees are dark roast. Interestingly, these "Organic" beans don't seem to be listed on their website.
NOTES: First, the Good News (always). The coffee is a surprise. I thought I'd give it a try after seeing it in the bulk coffee bins of my local HEB-Plus grocery store. In the past, I have been favorably impressed with coffees from Nicaragua, but the various coffees I have tried from this store have been a resounding disappointment. Overly roasted (see the oily beans in the picture above), the taste remains mostly smooth despite the cruelty of too much heat for too long. I long for a Full City roasting of these beans.
Now the bad news. It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of an old friend. An inspection on the photo above will reveal the horror that my fingers first revealed... a crack in the recently unpacked mug's handle. This mug is one of the original set of four mugs I bought in Dallas upon moving from Austin in 1976. The crack appears to be in the structural ceramic, not just the glaze.
These mugs, in the natural slip color I like so much, have been out of the manufacturer's offerings for so long that a factory representative told me they'd never made mugs this color, physical evidence to the contrary (stupid young person). Another one bites the dust (leaving me with two, plus an inferior Spanish-made alternate).
A repair will be attempted, but...
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