terroir: the “sense of place” that geography bestows on the wine, coffee, or tea grown in that place.

My formative years as a coffee drinker were spent at the Coffee Connection in Harvard Square. George Howell, the founder of the Coffee Connection, advocated a lighter roast to bring out the flavor of high quality beans.

When I graduated and moved out to Northern California, I fell under the spell of the darker roasts favored by Alfred Peet. Driven by availability more than choice. And dark roasts were all I drank for the following 20+ years.

So I was thrilled to learn that George Howell was back in business at Terroir Coffee. I ordered a couple of bags and I was very pleased to see that they were roasted only 2 days before they arrived via UPS - apparently roasted the day they were shipped.

The taste - well, I’d have to say that my taste buds are seriously confused. I’ve been drinking dark roasts so long that my decaf La Lapa didn’t really taste like coffee. That being said, I find that I’m actually finishing my coffee rather than dumping out the last third. And I found this morning’s decaf Pike Place espresso quite bitter.

I’m plan to give my taste buds a month to relearn the taste of coffee. I’ll let you know how things turn out.