Monday, May 16, 2005

Soy bean coffee...

I'm almost recovered from being depressed for close to 24 hrs. I got some 'get happy' emails sent my way from friends and family, and they made my day!! Thank you!!!

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As you can tell from the title of the post today, the answer to Sunday's "Guess Me" post was Soy Bean Coffee! Clea, my favorite French blogger who is currently living in Japan, was almost right, but I think I might have misguided her with my hint. I thought it looked a lot like chocolate nibs when I first opened my bag of soy bean coffee.

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I picked this up at the market in Kyoto with all the bean-related products. And let me tell you - soy beans make great coffee. The soy ground was assisted by a small amount of Brazilian coffee beans (according to the package), but the scent of the fresh brewed soy coffee was predominantly soy.

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Brewed as recommended, soy bean coffee was fragrant and distinctively lighter in shade than regular coffee. It was also a bit more murky. There was no hint of bitterness. The general impression was a gently, warm drink with a roasted soy bean aroma - very nourishing and motherly. The chicken soup of the coffee world.

coffee
Unfortunately, I've used up my Kyoto stash of soy bean coffee, but I just found out that there is a US retailer specializing in soy bean coffee!!! I was wrong in reporting earlier that I thought Kyoto was the only place one could get this stuff... I think I'll order a batch from Well Bean Coffee and see how it compares to the Kyoto stuff. Stay tuned for an update!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, it must be much better than shiitake powder ;)
I'll look for it and try!

Alice said...

Claire,

Shiitake powder sounds very good in its own right. I think I might have to try it for one of my dashi's. My favorite Japanese ramen comic says konbu powder packs a punch as a secret ingredient for ramen broth - shiitake powder could be the next hip thing in broths!