I have not always been crazy about coffee (but who has been that?) I didn’t understand why you would drink something so bitter and actually enjoy it.
It has since gained momentum, and my attitude has changed drastically. I will talk a little about the passion I have for these dark drops from heaven today.
From disgust and necessity…
In my early teens, it was a mystery to me how “the adults” could drink something that tasted so bad Not even with milk and sugar did I find it particularly inviting, the few times I tried.
Only when I got a regular morning job shortly after high school did I find out the necessity of coffee.
It actually helped to get some caffeine, I experienced. But that was something to be overlooked.
As I got more used to the taste, I was able to take in less and less milk and sugar, to drink it black eventually.
In the beginning, my hunger for coffee was probably a necessity in the early mornings, but almost as much a social element.
When I was at family gatherings etc. it has been safe as Amen in the church, that coffee was served in larger quantities.
It made me drink more coffee, and with more coffee, I also quickly found a big difference between the different coffee brands in regards to taste.
And this particular conclusion aroused my interest in coffee and how I could brew delicious coffee myself, which was not necessarily bitter and, at times, a bit rancid in taste.
… To interest and passion
I started slowly with a cheaper espresso machine from Kenwood and pre-ground beans from the supermarket. I thought it was enough for me at first, but I was wrong.
Because as I sit and count today, I can conclude that it has turned into a more expensive hobby – yes, almost passion. The one “Aha” experience in the coffee world made me want to search for a new one – and it quickly gained momentum.
Today I have been through the first three espresso machines (Kenwood, Rancilio Silvia, and my current machine is the Sage Barista Express).
Also, I have been interested in the old-fashioned brewing method, pour-over with the Hario V60, which gives a slightly more clean and elegant taste than espresso (everything of its time).
It is also a bit more hospitable, understood that I could brew larger quantities of coffee faster than on the espresso machine.
Beans and roasting
But one thing is the brewing methods, and another is the beans.
They almost certainly have a significant influence on the product you get in the end. So the geek in this area is also allowed to come out and play.
In the beginning, I used to use ground coffee from the supermarket.
In comparison, I then tried the whole beans, which were not entirely freshly ground.
Already here, I could taste a significant difference. If the whole beans, which were several months old, could taste so much better, I wondered about the taste of completely freshly roasted beans.
It gave me the courage to explore the possibilities of roasting my own coffee.
Here, too, I started quietly toasting in a popcorn machine, which actually worked fine (Until it literally melted). An okay uniform roasting of the beans was obtained, although it was not well suited for dark roasting.
The deciding factor for me, however, was its capacity of approx. 75 g. per roasting.
This I found was the limit, and I had to shake too often.
If you are interested in starting to roast your own coffee I recommend you check this out on Amazon, where you can see some great options.
The result was the investment in a semi-professional coffee roaster, Gene Cafe, which can handle about 200-230 grams per hour. Roasting.
It fills a part of the kitchen cabinet, but it does the job really well, and with its heat and time settings gives good opportunities to vary and “nerd” with the individual bean (in good collaboration with the app “Roast Buddy”).
With a price of approx. USD9 per 500 g. It may be more expensive than “ordinary” beans from the supermarket, but the taste is also then, and you can always have fresh beans on the shelf at home.
The enjoyment of drinking coffee
In the beginning, I mainly drank coffee for effect; today, I do it more for the enjoyment and taste.
The coffee at my office is, by comparison, scarily bad, and I would rather wait to drink coffee until I get off work in the late afternoon than drink it at work.
Because then I know that I can get significantly more quality in the taste than the “old” office coffee.
Yes, you get a little nerdy (someone calls it the “coffee snob”), but why settle?
I usually argue that they also do not take a several days old slice of bread if there is freshly baked one from the bakery next door.
I can easily see what they mean, to be honest.
Because, as I said, I was even startled at the fact that you could drink something “that tasted so bad.” So, I know it’s mainly ignorance. For the same reason, I try to tell a little about the coffee and how to make things more delicious – without necessarily having to make it as expensive a hobby as mine.
You can get relatively small money making your coffee much better.
If you want to spend some time on it, a popcorn machine and a grinder for the filter coffee does not cost the “white-out of the eyes”.
Here we are talking about a starting price of USD75-100 (excluding the raw/green beans), and so you already have a better cup of coffee. I have also tried to sample my colleagues and offer them to shake and possibly.
The grinders for them (for the price that the green bean cost me), to open their eyes to the better cup of coffee and the passion I have around it.
I really like to share it, because I’m glad I went exploring in the coffee world and discovered (and still discover) the many subtleties in it.
For the same reason, I have written all of this for you, and for more inspiration, you can go on further exploration on the blog here, where I am continuously posting articles from the coffee world.
