There's coffee, and then there's coffee

Sunday J and I headed to Piassa where Tomoca Cafe is located. Tomoca is one of the oldest and certainly the most revered coffee dealer and cafe in Addis Ababa, and thus possibly all of Ethiopia. For a country that claims the origin of coffee itself, it is always a bit of a thrill to visit the fifty-year old cafe and enjoy a small glass of their buna (the word for coffee in Amaharic). We entered the cafe and I paid about 0.30 cents for two regular buna, took the yellow plastic chips over to the barrista at the back of the shop, and a moment later was carrying two glasses of their rich brew to a standing counter where J was waiting.
The coffee was strong and bitter, which suited me just fine, and J decided to add some sugar to hers. I usually avoid adding sugar to a good coffee since it can easily become too sweet and drown out the taste of the coffee, but tasting hers I was amazed to find that the sugar didn't dilute the taste of the coffee at all, it just balanced the acidity so that it was a little smoother to ones taste buds. Naturally, this has to do with just how much sugar you add, but I also attribute it to the quality of the coffee beans and the brewing method.