Across Europe, plants named after Mary can be found in many places. Among them, the lily of the valley is one of the most famous. A small white flower, tucked shyly beneath its green leaves, and yet it carries a scent strong and sweet enough to fill the air around it. People, sensing the gap between the flower’s modest appearance and the strength of its fragrance, felt it couldn’t possibly belong to this world alone. Legend has it the flower bloomed from tears Mary once shed, and so it came to be known as “Mary’s tears.”

In the world of perfumery, countless attempts have been made over the years to recreate that scent artificially. Even the finest perfumers, trying again and again, have never managed to reproduce the exact scent of the natural lily of the valley. What has to happen inside those small petals for a fragrance like that to emerge? The only answer seems to be: a blend that only nature — through climate, soil, and time — could ever have arrived at.

Stories like this aren’t rare. Many of the world’s flower and fruit fragrances are combinations that nature stumbled upon over spans of time almost too long to imagine. And still, every time we encounter such a scent, we find ourselves struck by a precision that feels as if it were designed on purpose. This coffee is one of those small miracles too.

In the face of something you cannot fully explain, words fall short — the only fitting response is quiet wonder, and a bow of the head.

Let’s give thanks for everything we have.