Coffee as a part of my life.

So I've been thinking over the past few weeks about how important coffee is to my life. It is among the most important substances in my life! I realized that I've reached a critical point in that java affair.

Recently, I accompanied my family to my local Denny's (hey, it was a Sunday and everything else was closed!) Now, it was around noon and I had just recently woken up (it was Sunday, stop judging me). I ordered a coffee (as per my routine, in life). I received and prepared my coffee (1 sugar, 1 cream); this is when I had my revelation:

This coffee tasted horrible! Devastating and undrinkable – I had two sips and left it…

Ya, not really a surprise to most of you; but to me this was a game changer! Because from this point on, there may be situations where I actively avoid my favourite beverage… Again, this is pretty obvious to most.

Let me try explaining this a different way: No matter where, no matter when, I’m game to try a cup of chicken noodle soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. It’s 2 am at a pub and they have CN soup, I’m in! Because I love it, and more importantly, I’ve never been burned (pardon the pun) by CN soup and GC sandwiches! They are my favourites, period.

Now back to coffee: I have no had coffee that disgusted me and I’ll have to be careful and selective in the future. Dennys’ coffee is now on my ‘no’ list. I’ve prepared a no list…

NO LIST
-Dennys
-My Workplace (it’s coffee from a machine…and it’s really quite horrible…free, but horrible)
-Instant (except at my Mother-in-laws, cheers Carole)
-Tim Hortons (unless I’m traveling or doing something with the Navy – it’s just not that good)
-Starbucks (I’m talking drip coffee, not espresso here. Although Starbucks espresso also leaves me wanting…)

And this logically brings me back to the Yes list:

YES LIST
-Anything that I make (hey, I’ve gotta support myself, right)
-My Mother-in-laws Instant Coffee
-Starbucks Vanilla Latte (sooo sugary…which is part of the charm)
-Tim Hortons when I’m traveling or with the Navy (it’s familiar)

It also means a subtle change to my routine, more coffee prep. If I don’t want the coffee at work, Starbucks or Timmies, then I suppose that I must prepare it myself. First, I might need to upgrade my aging Nissan Thermos (for one similar: http://tinyurl.com/dk3b2r). I’m thinking that I like the Stainless Steel, but that maybe a handle would be nice… I really like the look of the Element 5 Vacuum Insulated Hydration Bottle E40600!

Another solution could be workplace acceptable coffee makers; I already had a couple:
- Bodum Bistro Nouveau French Press Coffee Maker - 3 Cup
- 1 cup drip with built-in filter
- 1 cup automatic drip

The main challenge there is that noise, heat and aroma can be mixed blessings. Sure, I find the smell of good coffee intoxicating, but do my co-workers? Our office is also usually a good 5 degrees hotter than I would like it to be…a hot coffee pot wouldn’t help this situation. And finally, I can’t have steaming kettles or noisy drip makers at my desk disturbing my neighbors.

There is also another concern: what if someone else wants a cup? Sure this seems like an academic issue, but, none-the-less, I actually have work to do…I’m not a barista; I can’t be going around providing co-workers with delicious coffee (I’ll give away roasted coffee, but I won’t brew it for them).

Ok, so thermos to work – no big deal right…

What do I do about my home? That is a question for next time…

The coffee saga continues

After a bitter cup of coffee tonight, I decided that it was finally time to take the plunge and go for a better grinder. You see, the coffee that I was drinking had been ground to a fine grind...basically an espresso grind. It was very bitter from the over-extraction.

I placed my order tonight. The grinder (Solis Maestro Conical Burr Grinder) is my dream rig, I've been looking at it for a little over a year now. I almost talking Andria into getting me a Starbucks Barista Grinder (almost the same as the Solis..but different...vague, I know) around Christmas, but it didn't work out. With my birthday just past I decided to buy myself a present (Thanks Grandma/Grandpa!).

As an added bonus to myself -- like the grinder wasn't good enough -- I also sprung for a pretty cool coffee maker (Bodum Kona). It's just fun to watch it make me coffee and the coarse ground required should be easy enough with the new grinder.

Now I just have to wait for the next days till it arrives (14th Mar)...

Fingers Crossed !

One day at a time

Long time, no write (does that even make sense...meh, screw it)

So it's been a while since I made the time to type a little something out to the folks in cyberspace. So here goes:

The Big 27
So, I'm 27 now folks... "so what", you say? Well, it's weird, but I fully but a ton of pressure on my 27th birthday; it was one of those milestone years. What were my plans? Working: Check, Married: Almost Check, Kids: None that I know of, almost everything is perfect. So I'm super happy -- thanks everyone!

Coffee
I continue to prod along roasting and drinking tiny batches of coffee...and I think that I just may be getting the hang of it. I've been talking to other amateur roasters, I've been looking into new and exciting roasting and brewing techniques, and I've been pouring over literature on the subject. I'm currently trying to locate a reliable source of green coffee, so I'll add something soon to give you more background.

Moral: Hobby's are completely unique...and a hobby about something that you drink that isn't booze is weird to most people

Food Crisis
It turns out that I'm basically sick of processed food...which is pretty terrifying actually. I mean, how do I find meat that isn't factory-farmed, corn-fed, brutalized, etc; how do I find veggies that are pesticide free, herbicide free, and not Genetically Modified?
Farmers markets help....but do they really? Maybe....
In any case, I'll keep you up to date on the process.

Moral: Eating "right" means a lot more than following the diet-du-jour, it means research, time and effort to do this RIGHT!

Wedding Planning
So as most of you should be aware, Andria and I are currently planning a wedding. Everything is on track, mostly due to Andria. But I thought that it might be fun to tell you one pretty funny issue that's been facing us. Now I would consider Andria and I to be somewhat intelligent, so you can imagine our confusion when we have noticed that most of our wedding providers have numerous spelling and grammar errors throughout their documentation. Are we just being really sticky or should people follow basic English rules if they are looking to have our business. I mean, nothing is worse than reading something and getting stuck on a "than" which should be a "then" or words like "ceramony" or "piiano". I feel like it is very difficult to get past.

Moral: Learn to friggen spell if you want my business

Coffee from a Popcorn Popper?

As most of you may not know, I have been experimenting with roasting my own coffee beans. Why, you ask? Uh... er....

Lets ignore the why and instead start with the how:

The how all began with a few hours of misspent time on the internet. I found out that it was possible to roast coffee via a standard hot air pop corn popper. Since I'm neither good with my hands, nor an electrical engineer, I thought that this would be a great way to spend some time...

So far, it's been an adventure:

Oct 31, 2007 marked the first night of this ill-conceived hobby. I arranged the tools of my newly chosen trade: Oil Popcorn Popper (I hadn't gotten an airpopper yet), green coffee beans (ordered via the internet from Toronto), metal mesh collander, wooden spoon, candy, chair, extension cord. Candy?! Well yes, I chose Halloween as the first night for this endeavour for two reasons: 1) There would be a lot of people around to help extinguish fires, 2) I would have a good reason for the strange noises coming from the open garage (screams, cracks, metal on metal grinding, etc). I turned the popper on and waited and waited and waited. I'll post photos later. 1/2 hour later, the coffee was brownish....so I assumed that it was done.

2 days later, Andria and I tasted my creation. We both agreed that it was bitter and generally gross. I gather this to mean that it was under-roasted and over-cooked. Ouch, was this the end of my new hobby? No, I hadn't lit anything on fire yet.

Late November/Early December, I thought that it was time for Round 2. By this time I had purchased a hot air popcorn popper (a Toastess Model, $18). I had read that there was a chance that this popper wouldn't get hot enough, so I took the machine apart (pictures soon).
I think that I fixed the safety shutoff to no longer shutoff safely, but there's a chance that I didn't do anything. I enlarged the holes in the machine to emit more hot air, which I assumed would allow for a more balanced heating surface for the beans.

Now, December is pretty cold here in Kingston, so I needed to make sure that the machine would get hot enough. I figured that if I placed the machine in a cardboard box and lowered a tab or two it would make sure that the air recirculated, thus keeping the machine warm.

With my idea and my materials at hand, I headed out into the garage. I had asked Andria to give me a hand this time, I thought that we would both enjoy this. She decided that folding clothes was a more enjoyable option.

I set the modified popper into the cardboard box, placed the collander into the box to catch the chaff from the beans and prepared to get started.

This time I had a journal to keep notes in, a stopwatch to time the roast, my camera, and a step-stool for a chair.

I fired up (fire being the key) the popper and let it run for about 15 seconds to warm up. I gently dropped in the beans and lowered the box flap to keep the heat in.

I timed it, taking a picture every minute and taking notes fast and furiously. 2 minutes in it was getting pretty hot, their was smoke billowing out of the box. This is what is supposed to happen, at least that's what the internet says. About 4 1/2 minutes in, I can't take the smoke any more, I need to open the garage. About this time, Andria decides to peek in -- this decision would result in a stale, burnt coffee smell lingering in our house for weeks.

Needless to say, this coffee was burnt. Now, being an optimist, I assumed that maybe I had just roasted a "city roast" or ultra dark-roast. So I bagged it for later.

The next day I brewed the coffee in a french press and then managed to convince Andria to try some with me. It was pretty much like drinking ash mixed with the taste of hate.

I haven't roasted any coffee since then, but I feel like tonight might be the night... I'm going to try for something between the first and second experiences -- nice, roasted coffee.

I'll let you know how it goes.

-Colin