Please consider this inaugural coffee-post to be like the opening paragraph of a massive research paper. You know what I’m talking about.Those introductory paragraphs that set the tone for what you’ve researched.Those opening remarks that lay out the pattern of your thoughts and boringly(though apparently necessarily) include the phrase, “This paper was written in order to….” This is that. Only, this has no real deadline and definitely has no trigger-happy PhD students ready to mark it up with their red pens on behalf of their too-busy professors. That said, this blog exists as a place to examine coffee in Southeast Asia. More specifically, this blog exists as an in-depth, ongoing search to know and enjoy the best of Burmese coffee. To that end, I’ll be posting thoughts on current coffee shops. I’ll provide articles from other, better writers. I’ll conduct interviews with those “in the know” in Myanmar’s coffee scene. And I’ll even post some pictures and thoughts as I visit farms and chat with farmers.
I guess I should introduce myself. Why in the world would someone ask me to keep a blog about Myanmar’s coffee? Well, for one, I love coffee. My taste for and understanding of coffee has developed over the yearsas both an addicted coffee drinker and shift-manager at the world’s leadingcoffee shop. You know the one. It helps that I actually live in Myanmar, too. Hard to do a blog on Burmese coffee if I’m living anywhere else, right? But most of all, I love the Burmese culture and the people. And I want to see them succeed. I want to see them grow and change. I want to see them develop and be bettered. And if Indigdev can be a part of that… well… that’s pretty much fantastic.
My taste for coffee has definitely been refined over theyears. As a little kid on the way to the beach for a summer vacation, my familywould always stop at a McDonalds for lunch and a rest. My grandparents alwaysgot a cup of coffee. And it always smelled delicious. So I’d always ask for ataste. And, of course, it always made me want to vomit. It never tasted as good as it smelled. However, as I matured, I wanted to actually like coffee. I felt that was just a necessary part of maturing. So I did what any man would do. I started drinking sugary lattes with whip cream. And sometimes sprinkles. This got me hooked to the slight taste of espresso. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before my wallet began to shrink and I had to make decision. A little more gas in the car or another cup of espresso-ed sugar? I opted for gas in the car and the less expensive black coffee.
Once my taste buds matched those of my old grandmother(meaning I actually liked the taste of black coffee), I began to notice thedifferences in flavors. Notes. Characteristics. And I began to want the best.The different. The unique. This led me to local coffee shops to findsingle-sourced, locally roasted coffee. My ability to taste was changing, but I didn’t have much actual knowledge of coffee. That eventually changed when I got a job working for the big green circle. That was easily one of the coolest jobs I’ve ever had. Say what you want about big corporate coffee, but they take care of their people AND they gave me a ton of freedom and resources to grow. They encouraged me to drink, study, and slurp my way toward coffee enlightenment.
Roughly four years later, I left the United States to live andpursue work in Southeast Asia.
That work brought me to Myanmar… an unopened, enigmatic country that I’m confident most people couldn’t find on a map if they tried.But what a great place, right? Tucked between India, China, and Thailand. Aregion lush with coffee plants bursting with coffee cherries. IT MUST HAVEGREAT COFFEE!!! Right? Well. That’s the point of this blog... to delve deeply into this coffee scene and try to paint a few word pictures to help you understand what it is like here. All for the betterment of the Myanmar culture and coffee.