It’s here! It’s been here for a couple of weeks now, and, in a couple more weeks, it will be gone…. we are not talking about the elusive summer weather that has been slow to make an appearance here in Portland, Oregon. No, we are talking about World Cup soccer!
Coffee and World Cup soccer could almost be the same thing….really! You can’t talk about either of them without talking about Brazil. Some say the best in the world. Dominant and celebrated by all, and who could ever forget their first cup of Pele? Then there’s the flamboyant and passionate Central Americans. We love the Guatemalan, the Nicauraguan and the El Salvadors of the world. Never as dominant as the Brazilians, but they’ll always have memorable moments and they’re cup winners in their own right.
The African nations are as commonplace now in the World Cup as African coffee is in the world cup. It is said that on a good day, the Ethiopians are world class side.
Tanzania could become world beaters and expect to see Kenya and Burundi on the world stage in the future.
Indonesia — Sumatra, Java and Flores provide the league action. Might just be that the folks there enjoy their coffee so much that their soccer is merely an after thought. Can’t imagine how good the soccer would be if it was half as good as their coffee.
Then there’s the Europeans. You could be forgiven for thinking that Italian and French having been around for so long have the divine right to be in the finals but this year both blends failed to impress the judges and the weary beans went home to reinvent themselves and find a new blend profile. They’ll always be there and we’ll always love them but right now we’re drinking and loving the Dutch! Smooth exciting with the beans blending well together producing impressive notes and exciting flavors.
England — looks like years of importing beans from all over the world for their signature Premier league blend has left the national game’s flavor as exciting the freeze dried instant granulated leftovers they call a cuppa. Maybe they should stick to tea instead.
Coffee and World Cu[ soccer go hand in hand, and every few years someone new comes along and stirs it up. We’ll be wowed by this varietal and that blend, this flavor and that profile but our goal here at Portland Roasting is always to bring you the best of the world’s cup.
