Lot 42, an experience of a lifetime

Bob here, drinking espresso. Mel’s sleeping part way across the world, and I have something to share.

Have you ever had a meal that changed the way you think about food? Early experiences that shock you, and twist your perceptions of goodness? A meal that brings far more than crude sustenance? And decades later, the residue of that experience – the pure emotion, the childlike innocent joy – remains?

I’ve spent much of my life traveling across the US, Western Europe, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and now the river delta of southern China. And occasionally, rarely, I share a meal or experience a taste that I will never forget.

1981: A 17-course tasting presented by four of the world’s very best French chefs. At the quite naïve age of 23, I was completely unprepared. Decades later I don’t know what I ate.  But I can tell you that I remember the experience. Deeply, like it was yesterday. That it was stunningly good!

I can think of a very, very few others like this. 1986: Profiteroles, Montebelluna, Italy. Instant pleasure.  1997: China Club, Hong Kong. Handmade noodles thrown tableside side by the Chef, Peking Duck tacos on the side. Like nothing I’d ever had before. 2001: Bassano del Grappa. A simple Cappuccino, with steamed milk foam so thick, so sweet, so perfect.

The local roast: These days, there are good, even great, local coffees, the raw beans imported and roasted in almost every home town around the world. Part of the morning routine, and something to look forward to each day. Consistent and comforting.

And then… there are third wave coffees, curated by specialists who roam the world. They work directly with the growers, import the washed fruit, and roast rare, hand selected, single origin lots. Some are so different, I’m not sure I can call them coffee. They are that outstanding.

Lot 42, Yemen.  Notes of Tamarind, Orange, and Lambrusco.  Grown by farmers in the high hills, members of the Port of Mokha collective. Imported by Mokhtar Alkhanshali, and distributed in extremely small quantities by Blue Bottle Coffee, Oakland, CA.  Words do not do it justice, though they can try.

The following timeline is a slow roasted blend of Blue Bottle’s “Coffee’s Story –Abridged” * and a bit of historical fiction on Bob’s part. To get you in the mood.  To warm the senses for what’s to come.    (* based on legends, secrets, facts, and unearthed texts. So they say).

1683 CE:  Europe’s first coffee house, The Blue Bottle, Vienna, serves coffee from Yemen. Bob misses their grand opening due to future obligations.

1986 CE:  Bob drinks a true Cappuccino while racing bicycles in Italy.  He’s transformed. Perhaps the difficulty of the race, but surely the coffee as well.

2002 CE:  James Freeman opens Blue Bottle Coffee in Oakland, California.  Of course, Bob misses that opening, too.

2007 CE:  Bob and Mel share a Christmas gift, a very serviceable Jura semi-auto, and drink very serviceable, industrial espressi for 11 years.

2011 CE:  Curious, Bob tries Blue Bottle’s Hayes Valley espresso coffee. Inexperienced and ignorant, he doesn’t understand them.  Realizing he has no idea what he is doing, he reverts to his supermarket blend. Typical.

2013 CE:  Not long after, in another part of the world, Mokhtar Alkhanshali travels to Yemen and finds the historical fields in disrepair, farmers growing Qat to survive. He promises to help. Through civil war, imprisonment, and escape, Mokhtar carries samples back to the States that score in the 90’s in a national Cupping Competition. Yes. That’s really good.

2018 CE:  Serendipitously, the Jura breaks down, it’s now time to learn to make coffee the right way. Bob discovers Dave Eggers account of Mokhtar’s adventures, The Monk of Mokha, and soon thereafter, finds a very limited edition release of Yemen’s Lot 42 whole bean coffee while browsing the Blue Bottle site. Luck? Or Destiny. You decide.

THE EXPERIENCE

$100.00 / 100 grams, with a signed copy of Mokhtar’s book thrown in for good measure.  That’s five 20gm. espressi. Crazy? Possibly. Or perhaps these five small tastes fuel a life changing experience.

I invited a friend and his son to the Lot 42 Opening, Casa Bob. Amateur coffee aficionados much like myself.

Breakfasting at the unholy hour of 7:00 AM in my kitchen, we tasted Intelligentsia’s Agua Preta Brazil, a single origin espresso, to season the buds. In their words the Agua Preta displays ‘notes of dates, orange, and butterscotch’.  It’s mild, and delicious.

Next, we peeled the lid from the Lot 42 tin and took in the gentle, soft, fruitlike aromas of the freshly roasted beans. Interesting, subtle, and beautiful. It did not smell like ‘coffee’. It smelled different. Better. New.

Grinding added depth to the first impression. Some grinds smell of smoke, others of black walnut shavings. Some smell of sharpening pencils, or charred, over-roasted beans. A rare few smell like sour citrus, and frankly, are a bit odd. Lot 42 displayed none of these characteristics.

The Lot 42 grinding process was a joy. Ground by hand, slowly, through a conical burr grinder. Zen-like moments breathing in the first aromas, reminiscent of childhood’s warm summer days, family picnics, laughter.

From my notes dated 15 May 2018

• 18 grams of deliciousness!
• Subtle aromas of sweet melon and peach when grinding. Quiet, peaceful, eye-closing happiness.
• Pulled from my anxious thoughts directly into the present, savoring the brief, fleeting, short lived experience. The aroma is here, then gone.
• The first streams form a dense, near-black crema, morphing slowly into a complex, multi-hued chocolate. Visuals of damp, dark, earth toned mosses.
• The first sip is a thing of wonder – a subtle hint of bitter as the edge of the mottled crema passes my lips. Complex, new, hard to understand.
• The second sip coats the tongue with tastes of late summer fruits. No acids. No bitters. Mellow, mild, port-like flavors. Delicious.
• Not to be rushed, a swirl over tongue and teeth, soaking the taste buds to take in all that is there.
• Eyes closed, smiles intact. A near mystical experience.

If you have the chance, the will, or simply the luck, experience Blue Bottle’s Lot 42.  It’s that good.