For a long time, my wife and I would buy Dunkin Doughnut Hazelnut 

ground coffee for our morning coffee only because we thought it was smooth.

Then I thought we will give a chance with Kirkland Signature 100% Columbian Coffee

in a can only because it was much cheaper, a half-price at a larger container, and

I was pleased not only with the price but with taste as well and never went back to

Dunkin Doughnut.

I was pleased to find this article to prove my point.

I am NOT a coffee connoisseur nor dare to want to be because my taste level still remains at almost 100% Koreanische taste level to need the coffee mate, powder for hot coffee and liquid one for the iced coffee, and artificial sweeteners like Equal or Splenda. So according to my wife, there is no need to waste genuinely good coffee since I will spoil it with all this junky stuff to add.

But oddly, quite a few friends of Colombia never fail to bring such expensive ones as a gift like Chinese friends with fresh teas whenever we get together. So literally they spoiled my wife’s, not mine, taste to consume quite an expensive one like ‘Mesa de Los Santos Organic Coffee’ or at least Gevalia brand. But I sneak out to Trader Joe to buy their own exclusive brand of Colombian coffee, Supremo, medium roasted, which seems to be as good as Gevalia's one to me. And I often mix them up and she often fails to detect the different tastes. 

But one thing we both agree on is we always use the bean to grind every morning which I feel No.1 privilege to enjoy as the price of retirement to brew fresh coffee- we keep the ground coffee as an emergency like powder coffee! -. And despite my wife laughs at my non-sophisticated taste buds, I save the leftover coffee to make an iced coffee to drink in the afternoon.

But one thing I found out from Latin American friends was they consider Guatemala coffee as the best of best, especially of Antiguan origin. Indeed, even to my overreacting(?) taste buds to the bitter taste, I really enjoyed the coffee with nothing added for the first time while I was on the road one morning on way to Antigua from Guatemala City.

I was once invited to Guatemala to give talks to their/Central American Society of Transplant & Nephrology Society and they arranged for me to visit famous Antigua as a day trip since it was my first visit to their country. On our way to Antigua and the lake region, we stopped over at one roadside restaurant to have breakfast and the coffee they served had such flavor and no bitter taste at all - 구수해!- so that I asked for the third cup. The owner was so impressed with my appreciation that he insisted to wait 5 extra minutes to brew a fresh cup of coffee and I really enjoyed it with no sugar or any additives added! To surprise me more, one morning soon after I got back home, I received one small package with no address written. But I knew who sent it because it was two bags of coffee beans!

A year later when I went back to Guatemala, I never forgot him and brought one cap with the world cup logo for him and delivered to him to pay back to his gratitude on way to Antigua with my wife this time. And my wife also admitted Guatemala coffee is the smoothest one ever she tasted.

Interestingly, only one place as I know of in the Washington DC area, where we could taste this Guatemalan coffee is the mini-cafeteria next to the library of USUSUS (Uniformed Services University of Health Science) main campus at Bethesda, Md, and my mentor, Leonel Villavicencio never failed to stop over to have it with a cookie- I was told the owner was a Guatemalan! - on way back to the office after the lunch.

BB Lee

P.S. I heard ‘Hazelnut’ flavored coffee is the most favorite one among Koreans! How do I know? One Mexican patient family sent Hazelnut flavored coffee as a Xmas present, saying that. If it were true, what's the reason? I also heard Dunkin Donut's coffee is better than the one served by Starbuck. Is that true?

That is truly quite a story all the coffee drinkers can enjoy reading, Professor.

I learned a few things and thank you for that.

Ever since I had TURP for BPH some 20 yrs ago, I've learned to make the diluted

coffee with some original coffee taste leftover. My diluted coffee reminds me of 구수한 숭늉,

and adding coffee cream or milk automatically kills the faint taste of coffee so there is 

no need to add anything.

What's important is that my prostate can handle it without having me tethered to the bathroom.

I didn't know Koreans like Dunkin Doughnut hazelnut coffee. That proves I am Korean.

You, as I said before, are not only a food connoisseur but also a coffee connoisseur as well

There is no need for you to deny it. We will love to hear all your interesting experiences 

as a world traveler. 

You really boosted my ego, Dr. HanJoong, to believe I know how to enjoy the foods/drinks, which has been regularly crushed by my wife. Indeed, I do NOT have such discriminating tastes to become a connoisseur but I enjoy the exotic foods and drinks so that whenever the colleagues invite me to their countries, they always promise they will let me taste their best(?) traditional foods to lure me to accept the invitation.

Indeed, last August 2019, I had a chance to go down to Oaxaca after I gave a workshop to Mexican friends at Mexico City, to have one full week vacation with my friend Fernando Vega's family and tasted Oaxaca traditional dish serving three different types of worms/insects, one is a kind of smaller sized grasshoppers, to make my wife almost walkout, I enjoyed enormously.

So I always study on the ‘local’ foods before I visit any country as a part of their history so that I could enjoy the venture to taste their traditional dishes. Indeed, my mentor, John Bergan who regularly traveled with me to many different countries to deliver the lectures encouraged me to publish my experiences on the foods and drinks I enjoy wherever I am invited though my wife thinks I am crazy to consider.

Anyhow, the coffee you mention reminds me of crazy Italians in particular to have confused me with so many different types of coffee like latte, espresso, or cappuccino, etc and different kinds of serving tools like cups and glasses besides the size. Indeed, down in Sicily, they serve coffee in a huge bowl with no handle, literally a 사발 to frighten me. So, it took a long time to choose the right one at right occasion and also learned the difference between the one you would drink while standing versus sitting, etc.

I still recall it used to be a major disaster whenever we requested ‘American coffee’ to let them go panic whenever we went to countryside Italy in particular until pretty much lately. Now they know what a stupid Americano wants and simply dilute the espresso with hot water and some milk to make Americano happy.

But through last 10 years, the coffee serving has been changed throughout Europe. Even in Italy, they no longer brew the coffee at home! I used to stay at my buddy Raul Mattassi’ house whenever I drop by to Milan and Nicoletta spent extra attention to brew genuine coffee in the morning but no longer! They now use Cuisinart coffee machine with coffee concentrate cups to make a morning coffee, to have disappointed me.

But one thing good about this coffee make machine with the concentrate cups especially for the espresso is I no longer need to worry about such notoriously bitter, awful looking coffee at the hotels whenever I visit to the U.K. No sir! They could serve same good(?) quality coffee for the breakfast even in London, God bless!

BB Lee

Another great true story, indeed!

Reading your stories beats watching CNN's exotic culinary tours

around the world program.

As someone suggested to you, you ought to consider writing a book

which may indeed become a best seller. That should please Mrs.

What a compliment, Dr. HJ, but I can't drive my wife crazy again since quite a number of food-related episodes I generated are rather involved to stupid event like having the Polish soup, not same but similar, for five times, all evening, nothing but the soups, when we were invited to Zacopane, southmost village/resort town along the border to Slovakia by Polish Society of Vascular Surgery, to have made my wife so mad- the story was spread by my buddy, Prof. Hugo Partsch of Vienna to have made me a laughing stocking among the colleagues for good one year to have embarrassed me and my wife-.

So I could causally share with the friends over the dinner/drinks but not worthy to publish.

BB Lee

P.S. As I always say, Polish food is the best suited to Korean sharing same taste buds in my opinion! Anyone who loves 김치찌개 or 김치(밥)국 should not miss a variety of Polish soups which include Polish sausages. You simply can't miss them- 둘이 먹다가 하나가 죽어도 모른다!!! Indeed, one of ethnic food grocery stores we make a regular visit, seldom passing, is Polish grocery store we luckily have one though a bit far from our house but worthy!