Coffee Tawk

It's hard to come back to reality after vacation, have you noticed?  Last week our family - our extended family - was in Phelps and it was heavenly as usual.

I miss it already:  waking up without an alarm, prepping an awesome meal, biking those hills or running the dog on the trail, then reading or playing scrabble on the dock all afternoon, alternating with water skiing, sailing, or swimming in the lake.  Sigh.

But when I got to my office on Monday morning, in addition to the pile of emails I had to wade through, I had a fantastic new toy to play it.  An Aeropress coffee maker.  And going back to work just got easier, boom. 

Let's backtrack.

I adore coffee.  I love everything about it.  In addition to the obvious benefits, like, say,  caffeine, I also love the ritual of coffee.  I love the smell. I  love the way you can create so many delicious concoctions from this berry that was supposedly discovered by a goatherder in Ethiopia who noticed his goats, after feasting on them, became animated and didn't want to sleep.  He reported this to the abbot of the local monastery, who brewed up the first batch and voila, the word started to spread.

I lived in Italy my junior year in college and the soundtrack to that year, without a doubt, is the hiss of the steaming wand, the rap of a spent portafilter being emptied of its espresso, and the clank of a tiny spoon hitting the saucer that contained your perfect shot of espresso.  Those sounds, and that ubiquitous smell of espresso, bring me right back to Firenze in 1987-1988.

After I graduated from UVA with a degree in Art History and very few people beating down my door to hire me, I stayed in Charlottesville for a year to learn some office skills (and to stay in Charlottesville), then moved to TX to be with Doug.  I worked in TV/Radio for a year, which was super fun but ultimately led me to decide I wanted to get some straight business experience and perhaps try sales. But I knew I couldn't sell anything I didn't actually enjoy or believe in, so I thought about the things I liked and would want to sell and came up with food or coffee.  Doug had a boss who mail ordered with a tiny coffee company in Seattle called Starbucks and we both loved the product and started to do the same.  When we moved to Chicago in 1993 and I saw Starbucks stores around, and read about this up-and-coming-company, I knew I had found a good match.

Starbucks in 1993 was still very small and little known, with only TWO markets:  Seattle and Chicago.  I remember getting a job with them and calling my dad to tell him.  His response was, "You're going to work in a coffee shop?"  No one had heard of Starbucks.   It was an exciting time to get in with this fast growing company.  And, much as they've become a punching bag, I am still a huge fan of the company and their product.  No one touches them with quality control and consistency, and they treat their employees extremely well.  I stayed with Starbucks through two more moves and two kids and they accommodated my moves, my limited availability with each child and made room for me even when we moved to El Paso.  I finally left the company in 1998 after Noah was born when, financially, it just didn't make sense to stay.

So..... I'm a coffee snob.  Unless I'm absolutely desperate, I'd rather drink no coffee than awful coffee.  Bad coffee actually just pisses me off. When I worked in a store in Lincoln Park I used to be amazed that these young moms would come in every day and drop five bucks on a drink.   Now I'm the sucker, but I get it:  it's extravagant, but it's a huge treat and sort of an affordable luxury.  I can't afford a new car or a vacation home, but I can have a delicious overpriced cup of coffee made just for me on a cold day and it makes me happy happy happy.

I approach coffee the same way I approach food and alcohol:  it's not that I eat or drink that much of it, but I want it to be perfect.   So finding the right coffee brewer is key.  I've had a Barista espresso machine since the days I worked behind the espresso bar.

 If you want good espresso at home (good being defined as having enough pressure to produce crema, the brown foam indicative of a good shot of espresso) you need to invest in a pump-driven machine.  They're expensive but they're worth it.


And for standard coffee, the french press is pretty much the gold standard.
It makes outstanding coffee, but I confess that for my first cup of the day, when I'm getting out the door at 5:15am to get to CrossFit, it takes too much time.  So we've rotated though a series of drip coffee makers that all produce adequate, if not phenomenal coffee.  (For drip coffee makers, it's all about getting the water to the proper temperature (just off the boil.)  Starbucks' machines do, Bunn machines do and so do Mr. Coffee machines.  I'm sure others do, too, but these I know.)

Coffee at work, on the other hand, especially since I started my new job, has been, let's say, suboptimal.  The office has a small Keurig and it produces a very disappointing cup of coffee.  So some days I'd bring in my mini french press pre-loaded with coffee and simply boil up some water in the microwave to make a good cup.  One of our professors here at Northwestern, Mark Sheldon, saw my french press a while back and said, "have you ever tried the Aeropress?"  (cue angel chorus)  I said I hadn't, but of course proceeded to go right down the rabbit hole of where to get it, how much it costs, user reviews and YouTube videos on how to use it.

And oh my land, people.  It is good.  Incredibly good.  It makes an amazingly delicious cup of coffee in less than two minutes, with ridiculously easy cleanup, and the whole shebang costs only $30.  Here's how it works:

The Aeropress comes with a scoop and stirring paddle.  Grind some coffee to the consistency of table salt and grab a scoop.

 Place a paper filter in the bottom and screw the bottom chamber on it.  Dump in your scoop.

Place it on top of your favorite adorable mug.

  Heat up some water to a boil and let it sit for a second, then put in enough water to just cover the beans and give it a stir with the paddle.  Then add water (to the "2")

Put the plunger piece on top of the canister and pull up a bit to create suction and an airtight seal.  Let it sit for about a minute (Aeropress says 30 seconds, some like it longer - I do a minute).  Then slowly plunge until the canister is all the way down.

 

Clean up is amazing - you  unscrew the bottom part and this little coffee puck pops out with the filter.  

This is espresso/concentrate quality so you might want to add a little more water from your kettle.  Add some half-and-half and you are in business.  It is rockin good coffee. 

Ahhhh.  

Can't wait for tomorrow morning.