With all due respect to Juan Valdez and Montana, and their obviously hidden deep esoteric connection, I think you have not had coffee until you have tried the Arabica now grown by the "hill tribe peoples" (Akkha, Lisu, etc.) in northern Thailand, and which is slow roasted on bamboo slats. And may I add the opinion that the best way to have it is flavored by letting it linger long with a few fresh green cardamom seeds (imported from India, about US $6 per 100 grams here) whose powerful flavour makes white cardamom just so wimpy. And, of course, a hint of star anise. Mixed with soy milk to which has been added a small amount of milk whey solid for smoothness. And then there's the honey of the Kapok tree which is now so rare here that it costs about US $18 per 500 grams. Or sweetened with the butterscotch-tangy mud of the distilled exudate (almost certainly could not be imported to the US is my guess since it often includes bodies of insects) of the female palm sugar tree which is less than US $1 per kilogram. :) best, Bill
"The greater the social and cultural distances between people, the more magical the light that can spring from their contact." Milan Kundera in Testaments Trahis
