［一人壹文］第1期

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一座小小的城，点缀着风格各异的咖啡店

在即将离开城市的时候

约起朋友，去探索那些隐藏的小店

单一产地的咖啡豆，经过烘焙，研磨，手冲

最后变成一杯给人奇妙能力的饮料

而伴随着咖啡香的

是一个个有趣的故事、惊喜的发现

在一个城市中关于咖啡的探险

算是我对这座城市的最终告别

注：中文翻译参考见下方

Coffee.  Awaits. The One

Preface

A year ago at this time, my friend Loretta and I were both about to leave DC, the city in which I’d lived for a year and she, for six years. All of a sudden, we felt a pang - so many places yet to explore, so many friends yet to say goodbye to, and so many stories yet to listen, and to tell. And, as both of us are coffee enthusiasts, there seemed no better way to reminisce over a cup of good coffee.

The stories and the photographs were taken over the last ten days of my stay in DC. If the omnipresent chain stores have become the default option for most coffee drinkers, the local coffee shops are the guardians fighting against homogenization. The old-fashioned coffee houses are the place to bond people together. The modern funky-artsy cafes brew a mixture of vigor and style. Altogether they guard the authenticity and characters of a unique cultural scene.

The First Sip

"Kafe Bohem. That’s where you gotta start. They have the Ethiopia Mocca Sidamo, said my colleague Zema, upon hearing my ambitious super-caffeinated adventure. He sat in a cubicle across the aisle from mine in the office. Making a 360-degree turn on his swivel chair, he leaned forward and whispered, You gotta start where coffee starts.

He was right. The coffee plant,Coffea arabica, was said to be discovered in Ethiopia in the ninth century. Legend has it that a goat keeper was the heroic discoverer, when he noticed his flock got high after chewing on that plant.

As a result, Ethiopians switched to coffee much earlier than the Europeans, whose daytime beverage of  choice was alcohol around that time.The beans were the start of western enlightment, claimed the French Symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud.

So it’s settled - the coffee adventure kicks off at Kafe Bohem.

Zema seemed even more excited than me, and he should. As a dapper coffee insider hailing from Ethiopia, he had such a love in coffee the way that a New Yorker has in a bagel. You can never have it enough.

Thirty minutes later we popped into Kafe Bohem, located at a lively corner in the funky Shaw neighborhood. It was lunchtime, but not many people were around. We picked a nice spot on the patio, with a wooden table and long wooden benches. It was at the first breath of spring, the sun beaming mindlessly. Not waiting for the waiter to bring us the menu, Zema went straight to the counter.

What did you order? I asked after he come back.

The single-origin Mocca Sidamo pourover, of course. he said with a galvanic smile, and went on to pass on his wisdom on Ethiopia’s coffee history.

For a long time we were only chewing the beans. That the beans were crashed and concocted into a beverage came much later. The first coffee beverage was brewed not from the roasted beans, but rather, from the fresh-picked green coffee leaves. In fact, it was said that the liquid coffee was made due in large part to the introduction of tea. When tea became inaccessible later, the coffee leaves were used to replace tea leaves.

The waiters came, bringing two porcelain cups brimming over with the steaming pure black drink. The dark-roasted pourover had a bold, hit-you-in-the-face bitterness, yet it was smoothed out by the bright floral flavor of the beans itself. That’s it, downright delicious, my first sip of this coffee adventure. Zema, inhaling and exhaling as if he was performing some sort of ritual, slurped the liquid and turned his face up to the sun.

You know, in Ethiopia, serving and drinking coffee are a ritual. (ah I guessed it right!) After the host roasts the beans in a frying pan, the smoky beans are passed around, so that all the guests can smell that aroma before the beans were grounded and brewed.

That’s interesting. But you seemed quite nostalgic.

Just a little bit. he said, still smiling. Born and raised in highlands Ethiopia, he has a deep bond with the land and culture. The sun gave his tanned skin a lighter tint, the light glinting on his big dark blue eyes. Then why did you leave the land? I asked.

Oh, that’s a long story. But to make it short, he leaned forward and pretended to muff his voice, it’s for the sake of love.

Then, in the midst of the bitter-fruity aroma of our coffee, he recounted his tangled story on the pursuit of love. It turned out that not only had I become his disciple of the coffee industry, I had the rare opportunity to take his 2-in-1 instant lesson on online dating and the long-distance relationship.

Here, is where my friend Zema and his love first met, ten years ago. Native to a Christian community in the highlands of the Tigray Region in Ethiopia, he speaks the Ethiopian Saho as his mother tongue. Since the dialect was only spoken by a handful of people, Zema had been very proud of his cultural heritage, and felt obliged to edit his tribe’s language on Wikipedia. However, a few days after he successfully published his edits, his authority was questioned by someone from the United States.

It turned out to be a girl, whose family belonged to the same tribe but had immigrated to America a few decades ago. She was born and raised in Maryland but has a great interest in her cultural origin. The two had a overheated discussion on the Wiki talk page. One year later, with Wikipedia’s true spirit of mutual respect and cooperation, Zema boarded a plane to the States.

At that time, America seems a so far-off place to me. I have no idea what is going to happen whatsoever.

Wow. You are so cool! You see, for you strong-willed coffee-drinker, love can happen anywhere, even through Wikipedia! I couldn’t help but saying.

Hah, I wasn’t even close to that. Cool sort of means, that you don’t need to try hard. But me, I was trying very hard. I was betting my life.

So what happened then? I asked. How did you find her? How did you propose to her? Did you marry her in the Ethiopian traditional ritual? I had a zillion questions to ask my new mentor.

No. I didn’t marry her. She turned out to have been married. He said, but it’s another story. Zema said, sipping the Arabica to the last drop. A breeze slipped through, spreading the aroma afar in the air.

To be continued

等一人咖啡 • 初尝

前言：

一年前的这个时候，我开启了对一个城市的告别。而我的朋友Loretta，也将离开那里，离开那个对我来说只是生活了一年，对她，却是已经待了长达六年的地方——华盛顿。离别接踵而至，我们这才恍然惊觉：竟有太多太多地方，还没有来得及去走走；有太多太多朋友，还没有好好地说一声再见；有太多太多故事，还没有听他们一一道来；太多想说的话、分享的事儿……

还有什么比一杯美味的咖啡能更好地拿来回忆这个城市呢？——作为同样为咖啡痴狂的两个人，这也许是我们缅怀这个城市点点滴滴的最好方式。

于是，在华盛顿的最后十天，我开始写下这些关于咖啡的故事，拍下这些照片。我想，如果随处可见的连锁商店都成了大多数人喝咖啡的首选，那么根植在这片土地上的咖啡馆，作为最后的守护者，一定从骨子里透着对这种认同的拒绝吧。那些老旧的咖啡馆，一直是人们愿意紧紧相聚的存在；那些时尚现代的咖啡馆呢，则永远散发着一种混搭着自然活力与人工巧设的迷人气息。而我相信，恰恰是那些风格各异的咖啡馆，无时无刻不在彰显着这个城市最独特的文化气质，绽放着这片土地最真实的性格色彩。

初尝

去Bohem咖啡馆吧。

乍闻我兴致满满、咖啡味儿十足的探险之旅，Zema表现得相当踊跃:第一站一定不要错过这家店，他家可是有正宗埃塞俄比亚产的摩卡西达摩诶！当时，我的位置与这个同样来自埃塞俄比亚的同事，还隔着一条过道呢。没等我回过神的时候，他已经绕过隔间，把旋椅转了足足一大圈，然后探过身子、故作神秘地悄声对我说：你得回到咖啡最开始的地方启程。

他说的没错。据说19世纪时，阿拉比卡咖啡树被发现种植的地方，正是埃塞俄比亚。传说中，这名伟大的发现者其实是一个养山羊的人，机缘巧合下，他注意到羊群吃了这种植物以后，会变得很兴奋。于是从药物食用到烘培饮用，咖啡这才逐渐走进千家万户。所以，埃塞俄比亚人喝咖啡的时间要比欧洲人早得多。毕竟，对于那时候的欧洲人来说，酒才是日常饮品。法国象征主义诗人亚瑟.兰波还曾说过，西方启蒙运动萌芽自咖啡豆呢。

既然如此，那就这么定了——咖啡探险就从Bohem咖啡馆开始吧！

Zema看起来甚至比我还兴奋，当然，他开心也是理所应当的。作为一个来自埃塞俄比亚、还仪表堂堂的咖啡行家，他对咖啡的执念之深，可一点儿不亚于纽约人对百吉饼的热爱。没办法，就是好那口啊！

半个小时后，我们便迫不及待地奔往Bohem咖啡馆。它就位于时尚街区Shaw附近，热闹繁华的一隅。虽是午餐时间，但附近并没有多少人，我们特意选择了有木制餐桌和长椅的露台。早春的气息就这么在呼吸间自如回转，恍惚间阳光也漫不经心地铺洒开来，一切都惬意得恰到好处。不等服务员拿来菜单，Zema已直奔柜台。

点了什么？回来后我问他。

当然是摩卡西达摩手冲单品咖啡啦。笑得一脸灿烂， Zema兴致颇高地继续抒发才情、将埃塞俄比亚的咖啡史与我娓娓道来。很长一段时间里，我们只是把咖啡豆拿来咀嚼的。过了很久之后，人们才开始把咖啡豆研磨、调制为一种饮料。第一杯咖啡饮料也并不是由烘焙的咖啡豆做成的，而是用刚摘下来的绿咖啡叶煮成的。实际上，据说咖啡饮品的制作，很大程度是由于茶的引进。当茶变成当地的稀缺品之后，咖啡叶就被逐渐用来代替茶叶。

正说着，服务生就端着两杯黑咖啡进来了。升腾的热气氤氲着咖啡本身固有的纯粹浓香，一丝一缕地从瓷杯中溢了出来。啜吸一口手冲的烘焙黑咖啡，一种强烈而厚重的苦味扑面而来，但是这种苦味又很快会被咖啡豆自身的植物原香所巧妙缓和至浑然一体。对，就是这样一种让人感到痛快的美味，彻底成全了我的首次咖啡探险。Zema呢，正对着手中的咖啡近乎虔诚地轻呼慢品，好像在进行某种神圣仪式一样，每啜饮一口，便扬起脸来，沐浴着阳光煞有介事地咂摸一番。

要知道，在埃塞俄比亚，为客人做咖啡和喝咖啡都称得上是一场仪式。（我还真猜对了！）主人在煎锅上烤完咖啡豆后，就会把还在冒烟的咖啡豆递送给客人，让每个人都能真真切切地去感受咖啡豆被研磨、冲泡前的香醇味道。

听起来真有意思。看样子你似乎有点儿想家了。

有一点吧。Zema仍然微笑着回答我。他在埃塞俄比亚高原出生长大，自然对那片土地和根植于土地上的文化都有着解不开的深情厚谊。阳光下，Zema的棕色皮肤似乎变得浅亮了些，那双深蓝的大眼睛下隐隐有亮光闪烁。那你为什么会离开那里？我问他。

啊，那说起来会是一个很长的故事诶。简单来说呢，他探过身来，故意矫情地变了个腔调：都是因为爱情啊。咖啡的苦涩香味还在空气中蔓延，他又重新讲起那缠绵的追爱故事来。结果到最后，我不仅成了他咖啡专业大讲堂的好学生，还有幸听了一堂速溶咖啡式网上约会和异地恋二合一教程指南，真是难得啊。

十年前，居然就在这间咖啡馆，我的朋友Zema和他的曾经的恋人第一次相见了。他原本来自埃塞俄比亚提格雷州高原的基督群体，说起埃塞俄比亚的Saho语如母语一般自然。由于这种方言只能供极少数人交流，Zema从来都对他的文化传统感到由衷的骄傲，觉得自己有义务把这种部落语言编辑到维基百科上。然而，就在他顺利完成编辑后的几天，其权威性却被某个来自美国的用户质疑了。

后来才知道，这个美国女孩儿的家人也是部落里的人，只是几十年前移民到了美国！虽然生长在马里兰州，但是女孩儿对本族文化的起源有着极大的兴趣。于是，两个人就这样在维基百科聊天页上热烈地讨论起来。一年后，秉着互相尊重、共同合作的维基百科精神，Zema登上飞机来到了美国。

那个时候，美国看起来真的是一个离我很遥远的地方。我也没有想到将要发生什么，什么都没想过。

哇哦，听起来蛮酷的诶！看到没有，正因为你是一个执着的咖啡爱好者，所以无论在哪儿都能遇见爱，即使在维基百科上。我忍不住说到。

哈哈，我才不是一个酷男呢。‘酷’这个词呢，有种不需要太努力就可以实现目标的意思。但是我当时真的很拼，几乎算是赌上了人生啊。

所以接下来发生了什么呢？我问，你怎么找到她的？你怎么向她提出求婚的呢？你们的婚礼是按照埃塞俄比亚的传统仪式举办的吗？我有无数个问题想问我的新晋导师。

不是的，我并没有和她结婚。在相遇之前，她已经结婚了。

那是另外一个故事了。此刻他也并没有停止对手中这杯阿拉比卡的细细品味，直到最后一滴。而咖啡的醇香还在空气中氤氲着，随早春的微风越飘越远，仿佛呢喃着没说完的故事，渐渐逸散在人群中。

未完待续

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