Coffee: More Than a Morning Routine

Okay, I’ll admit it: I am completely in love with coffee.

 

I love drinking it. I love the smell of it. I love grinding, measuring, pouring and experimenting with coffee. The quest for the perfect cup of coffee will never end for me.

 

If you feel like your coffee routine is stuck on auto-pilot, it’s time to breathe new life into your morning cup. Visit your local coffee roaster or neighborhood market and buy beans from a part of the world you’ve never tried before. If you’re a drip coffeemaker fan, use a paper filter instead of a gold tone filter and taste the difference. Try a new brewing device such as a French press, or the Hario pour-over system. Whatever you do, fall in love with coffee all over again.

 

Here are a few things to keep in mind when experimenting with new ways of drinking coffee:

 

Preparation

I love experimenting with finer and coarser grinds to achieve a variety of flavors. Try using different brewing devices — the Technivorm drip brewer, Chemex, Hario, Toddy or French Press (yes, I own and use all of these!). I love tasting the difference between a cup of coffee brewed with a paper filter, and the same coffee brewed with a permanent filter.

 

Origin

With every sip, I like to contemplate where the bean was grown, what the weather was like, and even what exotic animals may have been in the vicinity. I love to explore new roast profiles and origins, tasting the differences between coffees from Brazil, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Kona, Java or Sumatra.

 

Care

I also like to think about the people who harvested the crop and those who selected and roasted the beans to bring out its best characteristics. I have a tremendous respect for the coffee plant and the people who grow and cultivate this wonderful crop (did you know that coffee is the largest commodity in the world behind crude oil?). Coffee demands the same careful care and attention that goes into creating an exceptional bottle of wine.

 

Many of us spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year on wine (and some even pay this for a single bottle), so why don’t we treat coffee with the same reverence? I don’t have a glass of wine every day, but I do have at least one cup (pot?) of coffee every day.

 

For these reasons, I’m fine paying a bit more for my coffee beans because I believe that the best beans come from producers who spend the time to get to know and understand their beans and how to roast them properly. Not to mention — grinding and brewing coffee from a freshly roasted bean source is truly an uplifting experience. Stay tuned for another post with advice on grinding and brewing coffee!