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GUEST EDITOR

From The Desk Of The Sharp Things’ Perry Serpa: Coffee

Having actually included MAGNET as one of my favorite things (and I promise that’s not sucking up, I really love the publication), you can imagine how chuffed I was at the prospect of a guest editorship. Over the past, well, several years of the Sharp Things‘ existence, Eric Miller has been a friend and an advocate, even when no one else was, so I’m honored to be able to ramble on a bit about a bunch of shit that I dig, because I want everyone to know about it and, more significantly, because it makes me feel important. 😉 Over to you, me …

Coffee

I am not a snob. In fact, I not only find coffee snobs to be insufferable (much like folks who can’t stop talking about wine), but I also think that they’re limiting themselves. The other day, after my daily Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, the only complaint of which is that they persist in putting the medium size in Styrofoam cups, (which does affect the taste), a good friend with whom I was having a home-meeting pressed me some imported Italian coffee. I loved both equally, but for different reasons, much like I love my sister for different reasons than I love my wife, and so on. And I felt compelled to take the pressed café pure black, not even with sugar, while I drank the DD fully loaded. I get the objective “good” cup vs. “bad” cup, but it’s a matter of effort, not entitlement. I could get a great cup of coffee from the truck on the corner of 25th and Sixth avenue, and a shit cup of coffee at a the brand new, well-advertised joint up the street, and I would not be in the least bit surprised. It’s happened many times and it’s pissed me off each time because the purveyor of the weak coffee always comes with the expectation that I should like the shit solely on the basis that they’re a café. Come to think of it, it’s a lot like wine labels. The pricey vineyard had better taste like an orgasm feels, cos that glass of inexpensive Mark West Pinot Noir is pretty freggin good.