Coffee tasting.

There was no rainbow. No fairies. Or buckets of gold. There was coffee though. Tons of coffee, much of it free. From Honduras. And Ethiopia. We were at the Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea factory tour - Amy, Bridget, Dave, Myles, and me - and it was magical. Well, if not magical, very cool anyway. We learned about roasting. Direct trade. We drank coffee. And we visited the tasting room, where the staff rate the new coffees. Our guide told us that the best coffee tasters have tried many different things, that their palates are expansive, and that this is what makes them so good. I was struck that it is the same quality that makes for the most interesting writers and artists - it is the associations and experiences that make it into their work which enriches what they are trying to convey. This is kind of cool I think, as is the fact that Intelligentsia actually has a Director of Coffee who travels the world for seven months a year visiting coffee growers. Not bad. So, who needs rainbows any way?