Good morning!
Taking it easy at the "Coffee and Slow Bar" after picking up some produce from the local morning market. 
This outdoor "slow bar" epitomizes the laid back spirit of Chiang Mai. After selecting from light, medium or dark roast you're given a huge hand cranked coffee grinder to grind your own beans. The process takes several minutes, but it makes you appreciate the final result!
After the coffee is ground down the proprietor shows you how to pack the grinds yourself. He gives you extra beans anticipating that you'll probably spill them all over the place haha.
The grounds are then put into an old timey tin coffee pot and brewed over a portable gas stove.
It's a slow, but rewarding process. By participating in the ritual of coffee making yourself it really makes the coffee taste better. Taste is more than just a chemical process in your mouth!
The resulting coffee was really rich. Very concentrated rocket fuel!
Look at how nice and dark and heavy this coffee is!
The coffee beans themselves were also from a local roaster. Thailand isn't historically known for coffee, but Chiang Mai is probably one of the best coffee cities in Asia.
I enjoyed the rich brew with a croissant I got from my local French bakery. A perfect combo!
This Slow Bar was run completely by one dude. Talking to him for a bit I discovered that he's only been doing this for a year. He had been an alcoholic for most of his life before this. He's since given up alcohol and embraced coffee and now runs this successful business.
One of the best things about Thailand is how easy it is to start a business. I'm vastly simplifying, but basically all this man needed was his bike, his beans and a small space in a parking lot. He was able to turn his life around without much capital. Real "bootstrapping" here!
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