I adore good, filter coffee. I have tended to find it at its best in the
cortados so beloved by Spaniards and have been gravely disappointed by
nations which are granted unwarranted credit for their coffees. In Northern Italy and
the US, I have been consistently disappointed. I have found France a tad
overrated and Germany rather under-praised. (Please do not get me started on the giant chains!) Even at its best, when coffee makes me almost purr with pleasure - there is
still an element of profound dissatisfaction lurking in the background. The
problem is the smell.
The fragrant odours are always better than the taste. In similar fashion, I
have always loved the smell of cigars and yet, on those extremely rare occasions
when I have ignored my asthma to indulge myself, the same kind of mismatch
between fragrance and taste has been encountered. Odd, innit?
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