Had the pleasure of enjoying an excellent cup of coffee this morning, Papua New Guinea freshly ground by my personal barista, namely me. When I first took a whiff of the beans, I thought it would be sharp and acidic, but what do I know? Well maybe I know a little something, because a Sumatra came to mind which is in the vicinity. Still, I don’t have the nose or the taste buds of a professional cupper, but I do know what I like.

It was thumbs up from first sip, smooth and distinctly flavorful with no bite. You would have thought I was eating a good meal, making joyful noises after every sip.

Papua New Guinea, along with Sumatra, is located in Indonesia. Indonesia is made up of 18,000 islands—a formation known as an archipelago--located on both sides of the equator. The island which the country of Papua New Guinea shares, is mountainous with tropical rain forests--all the makings for a rich cup of coffee and rich it was.

Frankly, I didn’t expect much from this bag of beans. After all, I violated every real coffee aficionados rule of using coffee beans as soon as possible after the roast. This did not happen here and yet, probably because I regularly drink pre-ground coffee (oh the horror), I was able to appreciate the contrast of a great single origin coffee freshly exposed. Sometimes we don’t know what we are missing until we taste it.

In spite of this economy, we must still find the joy of living. The joy comes in small coveted treasures, not a constant barrage of meaningless things. Over-indulgence was over rated anyway. The bottom line is this: Don’t drink coffee that does not move you in some way, and when you can, treat yourself to something special.

Personally, I can’t wait for tomorrow to do it all again because alas it will soon be gone.

You too can experience Papua New Guinea by checking in with your local specialty coffee provider. My personal supply came from Fairway in Brooklyn, New York, but it is also carried by many other stores and even online.

Enjoy!