PSA: Coffee Magic

On the way back from Thailand I had one of the best coffee experiences of my life thanks to the dude next to me on the plane (and anyone who knows me knows I have had a LOT of coffee experiences, seeing as though I drink more coffee than water).

When I boarded the plane, Dude Next To Me was unconscious in the window seat. An hour into the flight, Dude wakes up, asks the flight attendant for some coffee in broken English, takes a little plastic bag with a grey-ish looking powder out of his backpack, and sprinkles it in his cup. He then wordlessly handed the bag to me. As I held it away from me, wondering how I could explain to Dude that contrary to what my clean-cut-Midwestern-girl-next-door look might tell you I'm not exactly the type to huff some weird drug from a stranger in a public place, he rolled his sleepy eyes and said, "Not Drug. Coffee Magic." While I again wondered how I could explain to Dude that contrary to what my wide-eyed-fresh-out-of-church-look-of-naivety might tell you I've actually read Urban Dictionary enough to know what Coffee Magic really means, he lifted his coffee cup to my nose and said, "Smell." The heavenly aroma wafting from the crappy cup of plane coffee threw my inhibitions to the wind and before I knew what I was doing, I was sprinkling the grey-ish powder into my coffee and guzzling down the glory. 

"Please," I asked Dude, "what is this? I have to find some when I get home!" He smiled smugly and took my pen and notebook from my tray table. He wrote the following in my notebook:

Hawaij for Coffee
1T ginger
1T cardamom
1/4t cinnamon
1/4t nutmeg
1/4t cloves

I've since looked it up, and discovered it's a Yemeni spice blend that makes your coffee taste like Christmas in a cup and can definitively say that Dude has changed my life. I've been sprinkling a little into my coffee grounds before I brew them, and have been carrying around my own plastic bag of Coffee Magic in my purse to throw it in the crappy coffee in the office. 

Moral of the Story I Will Pass on to My Children Someday: if a stranger offers you grey powder on a plane, don't think twice.