That is so great buddy. Right there, this is what coffee is all about. I'm glad you enjoyed that and thank you for taking the time out to share this sweet view.
-Mike
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Let’s talk coffee
- Thread starter jmattbassplaya
- Start date
-Mike
A fair few fires burning up there. Hopefully the high haze showing here was as bad as the smoke got.
Fire was a concern, for sure. The valleys were thick but up high wasn’t bad.
- Dec 21, 2007
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- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
Mike, I hear what you've been saying about the social/friendship side of coffee. For me it's mostly a morning solitary experience, and I try to go out into our garden (forest, really) to enjoy my cup and share it with the trees and animals who live there with us.
But it reminds me of a time, long ago before wars and tensions got as high as they are now, when I visited my sister who was studying in Israel. I was 14, so this was mid-70's. She took to to visit a carpet seller in the old city of Jerusalem, an old Arab man whose name was Ibrahim (I still remember). The college kids gathered there to listen to his stories, and he served coffee (the thick, ultra-rich stuff in tiny cups) and talked with them. He was a very welcoming and life-wise man. Not just a monologue, there was a lot of conversation. It was an beautiful experience, and coffee was at the heart of it. I was 14 without much coffee background (my parents drank instant), but that experience - the social aspect, the warmth and acceptance, around a coffee service - that has stayed with me ever since.
But it reminds me of a time, long ago before wars and tensions got as high as they are now, when I visited my sister who was studying in Israel. I was 14, so this was mid-70's. She took to to visit a carpet seller in the old city of Jerusalem, an old Arab man whose name was Ibrahim (I still remember). The college kids gathered there to listen to his stories, and he served coffee (the thick, ultra-rich stuff in tiny cups) and talked with them. He was a very welcoming and life-wise man. Not just a monologue, there was a lot of conversation. It was an beautiful experience, and coffee was at the heart of it. I was 14 without much coffee background (my parents drank instant), but that experience - the social aspect, the warmth and acceptance, around a coffee service - that has stayed with me ever since.
Great story @kesslari . For me coffee is usually solitary these days, but in a good way. We live in the city but have a gazebo in the back yard, and in the past few years it’s become a little green oasis with a few trees, a row of viburnums, flowers, and a fountain. Every morning I get up at 6 and grind the pour over, love on the cat and give her some treats, fill the bird feeder then take the coffee out to the screened in gazebo and read and sip the coffee while the sun comes up and the birds feed. It’s a pretty great way to start the day.
That is so rad buddy.
We have a similar experience with an Arab man, but his name was Tal and we were in Denver, Colorado. A wonderful man who, like you, left an impression on me that remains to this day.
-Mike
My story of Arabs and coffee is the golden Yemeni/Saudi style coffee I had when I was working overseas. Basically, the beans are pan roasted until light golden, then ground with cardamom and sometimes ginger. Then, it's placed in the carafe, and hot water is poured over it. You drink it in little ceramic cups (like shot glasses, basically).
It's delicious and I highly recommend everyone try it.
It's delicious and I highly recommend everyone try it.
My Zassenhaus Havana is 27 years old. I still grind with it every day. It is designed for fine grinding with dark roasts. I am grinding medium roasts ATM and it is quite a forearm workout!
I currently alternate between my 1ZPresso K-Ultra and ZP6 grinders depending on the beans/brewer/recipe as I mostly do pour over. They generate very consistent grinds and do not wake up the household early in the morning when I make my coffee.
I started with a manual grinder. I picked up a Zassenhaus burr grinder, which 25 years ago was top of the line, german burrs and so on. But I quickly grew lazy or tired of the constant grinding and moved to an electric setup.
. Especially when you are making two double shots each morning. It looked like this one:
Grind quality aside I’d enjoy just looking at that! I’m semiretired and find the morning hand grind meditative. But when I was getting up for work daily at 4am there were moments when going electric sounded like a very sane option.I started with a manual grinder. I picked up a Zassenhaus burr grinder, which 25 years ago was top of the line, german burrs and so on. But I quickly grew lazy or tired of the constant grinding and moved to an electric setup.
It looked like this one:
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Now that y'all are mastering your grind, check out my buddies at Kruve and step into the world of sifting. It's backed by science.
-Mike
-Mike
Wouldn't sifting reduce the complexity of the cup? That is something I like in a medium roast.
I would assume you would get better clarity of the main flavours and maybe less bitterness? Is there a clear pro to it? I have never tried it, so am open to it.
Hmm interesting question. Seems it would make a consistent grind all that more important. Being a meditative careful pour over guy the basic premise seems worth some experimenting. (sigh… I’m feeling very 1st world right about now)
In my experience so far, sifting has not resulted in a reduction of complexity. One thing it has done for us is more clearly define what we're tasting and smelling. We are 99% pour over at home with the occasional shots pulled from our la Pavoni.
Full disclosure, I don't believe the casual coffee drinker would notice the difference between a sifted cup and not sifted. Since this group here, of which all of you I have come to love for what you have shared here over the years, is more than casual I felt it was worth bringing up the sifting. This is though next level coffee, even for the enthusiast.
-Mike
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
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- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Interesting. One of the negative bullet points for my hand grinder was that it doesn't produce a lot of fines, which the (rather picky) reviewer claimed made it completely unsuitable for espresso. I've tried multitiered grind settings just for fun (i.e. a few Turkish level hits mixed in), but I was already very satisfied with the shots I'm pulling and keeping it simple seems to work just as well for my use case. But I've never even tried a pour over with the new grinder and that's a whole different thing. That same reviewer raved about my grinder for pour overs, FWIW. My wife is more into French Press and PO, so I may just point her down this particular rabbit hole...
Oh, and good luck with the move!
- Dec 21, 2007
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- 45,039
- Disclosures
- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
Those are beautiful and elegant in their ways.I started with a manual grinder. I picked up a Zassenhaus burr grinder, which 25 years ago was top of the line, german burrs and so on. But I quickly grew lazy or tired of the constant grinding and moved to an electric setup.
It looked like this one:
I appreciate the art that has gone into coffee.
