A fine cup of coffee

Can it have been a week and a half since I posted? Bad, blogger! Bad, blogger! While I should be telling you the intricate details of my latest cup, I've been shying away from Coffee Cheek, dissapointed that my last post got deleted, losing all of my well-thought out writing. Research is hard and I don't like doing it?

Why am I doing this experiment again?

In my last post, I complained the the Nicaragua Segovia was a raunchy cup, leaving a dried leaf aftertaste and too many acid notes. Since I had a pound of the stuff, I kept on drinking, too thrifty to buy new beans. Mother likes the Nicaragua Segovia but interrogating her as to why leaves her furrowed, confused as to why I even care. Mother's opinion is very important to me. It is why I am 25-years-old and don't have a credit card.

With my new beans and new grinder, I haven't been focusing so much on the bean but finding a meathod to the maddness of brewing. The Toastmaster grinder is a bit frustrating, but I'm please I got it so cheaply, as equivalent grinders cost twice as much. That's internet shopping for you. The Toastmaster grinder grinds an uneven amount, producing very find grounds at the bottom and medium coarse grounds on the top. Also, I never know how much bean to grind to make my cups, always grinding too much or too little. Scooping the grinds from my grinder spills them all over the counter, annoying Father, since he hates coffee. He drank instant coffee while getting his master's degree and has negative associations, mainly of late night studying and failing the GRE several times before finally passing. But, I think I have it down. I like to brew about 16.9 oz of coffee, the amount in a Dasani water bottle. I scoop out 6 tables spoons of grind, giving me a cup that is perfect for me. I like my cup a little on the strong side. So every morning, I've been practicing the dance of grinding beans, scooping the grinds, filling the water bottle and brewing coffee. Habit makes perfect and I have a pretty fine cup, even though it's of funky coffee.

I got rid of my International Delight. I agreed with Mother that flavored creamer took away from the taste of the coffee and true coffee drinkers drank it black or with half-and-half. My International Delights gave the right amount of cream and sweetness to the coffee but, Mom is right, it has to go. I compromised with Coffee-Mate instead, but what's the point? Now I am creaming and sugaring my coffee. Weird, but the Nicaragua Segovia tastes better with out flavored creamer.

I am becoming more and more a coffee drinker. I drink coffee not only for the flavor, but to wake me up in the morning, keep my bowels regular (and I have probs with my bowels working right because of my brain-tumor. Oops! I didn't tell you about that, did I?) and to suppress my appetite, because since I work from home, I have the tendency to eat all day out of boredom. I'm headachy and grouchy with out it and wired with it.

I am a true coffee drinker.

Nicaragua Segovia - Full City Roast

I wrote a whole thing about the ins and outs of my new bean, mentioning the need for coffee education in California, Colombian vs. Nicaraguan but since I am new to blogger...

I EREASED IT ALL!!!!!

Sigh. What is the point of it all?

Dark Roast Colombian

With the new Mrs Tea arrived from eBay, my toastmaster coffee grinder in hand and a bag of dark roast colombian beans, I can continue my experiment. I brewed myself a cup of dark roast Colombian, my second official cup, as yesterday's cup, a makeshift brew with my carafe-less Mrs Tea and a large coffee cup, served only one function and that was to make my caffeine headache go away. Now I can truly enjoy my beans.

I chose the dark roast, as opposed to the supremo, because I like a bolder cup. The Colombian beans did not dissapoint me as my coffee was extremely flavorful. As to Mother's advice, since she delights in my journey into sophicate trancendence, I took a sip of the coffee black first, before quickly adding my flavored creamer (I really need to get rid of that crutch).

Colombia is rich and flavorful. It also tastes like coffee. Now, Colombian is the bean of choice for whole-sale blends. This is what you will find in your Folger's and Maxwell house coffee and at your local Denny's. I can taste the similarities, except my fresh-ground beans don't have the nasty bitterness that these swill coffees have. The flavor is a smokey flavor that floats up the palate and reminds me of tobacco smoke. It has a full body, which is pleasant to my tastes, and markedly different than the Mocha Java, which contained the lighter east African coffee (although coffee from the island of Java is supposed to be very bold). It is complex, with a smokey first taste, to a dry after taste on the back of your tongue. It's very coffee.

I think I prefere the Mocha Java.

Feeding my habit

At Mother's suggestion, I decided to place a coffee mug on the warmer of my Mrs Tea. Nervous and wary, yet excited to finally use my beans and grinder, I brewed myself a cup. It didn't turn out bad at all.

At least my coffee headache has now gone away. And by the way, the grinder and the new beans are GREAT!

I still can't drink coffee black, though.

Beans and a french press

I stopped by this local organic, whole foods store and optimistically bought some beans. Dark Roast Colombian this time, and some chocolate raspberry flavored beans for Mother. With my beans sitting in their air-tight containers, ticking like a time-bomb, and a Toastmaster coffee grinder waiting patiently to put him in use, I almost broke down and bought myself a small, three-cup french press.

It's wedding season and with wedding season comes the bridal registry. I'm not a fan of buying other people gifts for the fact that I never have enough money to buy other people things and still have time for something nice for myself. Case in point was the french press. With Father's day around the corner, my nephew's 8th birthday in the morning and an up-coming wedding, blast it, I had to deplete my checking account to buy gifts and couldn't afford the $12.00 press. Yes, I am that broke that I can't even afford a french press. Pretty sad. And I've been wanting to own a french press more and more since reading up on brewing meathods. Plus, a History Channel special on coffee sealed the deal.

The preferred meathod of brewing by master cuppers and coffee conneseurs (again, forgive my spelling) is the french press. This brewing meathod brings out the best flavor, the most complexity and produces the richest cup of coffee. Now that I have a grinder that allows me to control the corseness of my grinds, I'm primed for a press. But, the demands of my wallet are louder and I'm going to have to wait for Mrs Tea to come and make my life bright again. She still hasn't arrived from eBay, the fat thing. My migrane headaches are getting worse and worse in her absense.

I'll keep you posted and we can begin discussion on Dark Roast Colombian.