Tag: coffee

The Ritual

ruminator
The makings for my morning ritual. Shot with Fujifilm X-E4 and a Voigtländer 27mm f/2 at f/2.8 using the HP5+ film simulation. SOOC.

Every morning, my day starts with a mug of Joe (or cup of coffee for non-aficionados). There is a ritual associated with my coffee and the tools (most of them) are displayed in the image. The tools comprise a kettle to heat water, a scale and cup to weigh beans, a press, a hand grinder, and a mug to receive the goodness from the press.

My process is:

  1. Fill the kettle with cold water while allowing hot water to flow to the faucet to warm the press and mug.
  2. Place a new paper filter into the filter ring.
  3. Weigh the beans.
  4. Moisten the beans with a fingertip dipped into the warming water of the mug.
  5. Grind the beans in my hand grinder.
  6. Empty the press of warming water and place the coffee into the press.
  7. Pour hot water into the press.
  8. Stir the mixture to wet all of the grounds.
  9. Place the filter ring onto the press.
  10. Set a timer for four minutes.
  11. At the appointed time (or a little after), invert the press onto the mug and press out the newly extracted coffee.
  12. Add some cream to the coffee and top off the mug with hot water.
  13. Utter the required assent (Ahhh…).
  14. Enjoy!

I have been using an Aeropress for a number of years now. It is easy to use and cleans up far more easily than a regular press. It has another positive characteristics — it is nearly indestructible. (Hat tip to DiL.) I generally use the inverted approach instead of placing it filter ring down on top of the mug. I think I get a better brew that way.

My current grinder is a Knock Aergrind with stainless steel burrs. It is a precise grinder that can grind very fine if desired.

My current scale is a Hario I bought from The Evil Empire. (Amazon…)

With the Peet’s dark roast, I am using about 15gm of beans to make 300ml of coffee. I am currently running 200ºF water (the boiling point at my elevation is about 205F) and four minutes for extraction. This gives me a nice rich dark roast that is very tasty with a bit of heavy cream.

I am grateful for coffee. It adds quite a bit to my life. Life is good.

One-Cup Melitta

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I bought this little one-cup Melitta to wean myself off coffee singles (expensive) and open the variety of coffees I can sample.
I bought this little one-cup Melitta to wean myself off coffee singles (expensive) and open the variety of coffees I can sample.

Many years ago Battlestar Galactica aired for one season. I was excited about another science fiction series after the demise of Star Trek. A couple who were a few years older than Wife and I were also interested in the series. Herbie was a Ph.D. student and his wife, Marsha, was an environmental engineer. They were close friends through our ties to Christian organizations working on campus.

They were also interested in the new series and so the date was made. We would watch the pilot together at their place that first Sunday evening airing.

On the appointed evening, we arrived. Herbie and I made fresh coffee with a maker similar to the little Melitta pictured above (which is what brought the memory). We then popped corn the old-fashioned way — in a heavy pot with oil and heat.

The preparations made, we gathered in their living room to watch the show together. Their cat adored me and approached me sitting on the floor (yep, I sat on the floor then) and I enjoyed his company too.

The program was just alright. The general audience will never have a taste for hard science fiction. But the company was enjoyable, the coffee and popcorn was good, and BG was good enough to provide entertainment.

The little Melitta coffee maker reminded me of those times. I adored Herbie and Marsha and lost contact somewhere along the way. They were gracious and loving people. I remember them fondly.