Anticipation

This could be an exciting week here, at Casa Taming. I'm expecting major postal action which will transform the enjoyment of coffee, as we know it. My espresso gear is on its way, and I've got some brand new beans to play with, some specifically purchased for experiments in espresso, coming, too.

I've learned one has to be patient when my enjoyment is predicated upon the movement of goods through customs. In part that means accepting that nothing happens as quickly as it should. It also involves learning to enjoy the period of anticipation, rather than being irritated at the delay.

It's very grown up of me, and I think I deserve a great big pat on the back for being so mature about it all.

I have a feeling that my espresso infused life will be somewhat odd. Most people who take the plunge and cross over to "the dark side", have been enjoying espresso for years and have tasted the best, the middling, and the piss poor. Somewhere, buried in the synapses of their brain, resides the memory of the perfect espresso. They have a target in mind as they begin the adventure at home.

 Not me.  Nope. I am, in the grand scheme of things, an espresso virgin.

On the Home-Barista message board, there has been an interesting discussion about the intersection of home roasting and espresso making. Opinions vary widely, with some folks believing that most homeroasters are not producing good enough beans to be able to produce truly great espresso. Then there is the issue of what comes first, espresso geekiness, or roasting geekiness.

One of the posters made a roasting/espresso analogy with an athletic situation contrasting athletes who "work within themselves" to those who compete with others, or who look to some external authority against which they measure their own success.

As I sit in my house, in this relatively coffee deprived city in Central Alberta, I don't have much choice but to fall into the former camp and to work within myself.

I've purchased very good equipment, read widely about technique, and even watched videos on such esoteric things as tamping and latte art.  My hope is that all of this will settle into my brain, and I will, with practice, actually come up with something that I enjoy, and that other, more experienced folk, will recognize as espresso.

 Another possible scenario is that although I will enjoy the heck out of it, and get somewhat pride-puffy about it, the drink I produce will not resemble espresso except in the vaguest of ways.

I keep thinking about one of the (original) Star Trek episodes, The Omega Glory, where Jim and the crew end up on a planet whose inhabitants had their roots on planet earth but who had, over time, developed a culture that was no longer recognizable as being earth related. The episode ends with Kirk reading the preamble of the US Constitution to them, a document venerated, but entirely misunderstood.   

Somehow, I see myself holding out a cup of my hot brown liquid and saying , "espresso", only to have some visitor from far, far away saying, "poo".

 

posted by taming at 09:29 | link | comments (1)|
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They Call It Coffee

It's all over the news. Consumer Reports sampled coffee from Starbucks, McDonalds, Duncan Donuts, and Burger King, and gave clown coffee the nod as being "decent and moderately strong" although lacking "subtle top notes," whilst proclaiming Starbucks as "strong, but burnt and bitter."

Duh.

For those of us who are truly into great coffee, this is akin to comparing Budweiser, Miller-Lite, and Coors, all of them piss-poor examples of the brewers art, but among the most familiar of beers to most folks.

You like Duncan Donut (or one of the other brands tested) coffee, you say? How lovely for you, enjoy, enjoy.

It's all about context. The Consumer Report story provides what night be useful information to someone finding themselves in an average US city with a desire for coffee, no knowledge of the local coffee houses, and no particular familiarity with, or desire for, really great coffee.

The report, which will be published in the March issue, also compares cost, and Starbucks is the big loser there as well.

I don't drink any of those coffees. In fact, the last time I was in a McDonalds was June 2, 2000, the day before my wedding, when I was out and about finishing up some last minute things and suddenly needed to use the wash room. I tried a Starbuck's Americano at the Calgary airport a few years ago, but didn't finish it. I had a Duncan Donut's coffee when I was visiting a sick relative in a New York hospital, and I've never tried the coffee at Burger King.

I know I'm not missing anything when I bypass these outlets, but then, I'm not part of the target audience for this review. That's fine with me. After all, if the vast majority of North Americans keep drinking and enjoying that kind of coffee, there is more of the truly good stuff to go around.

 

posted by taming at 07:20 | link | comments (8)|
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Intermission at the Circus

 

posted by taming at 12:49 | link | comments (4)|
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The Coffee Time Circus

Blue, our Abyssinian, is quite a guy. When RT and I were dating on-line, I saw more of Blue on the webcam than I saw of RT. He's an eight pound bundle of energy and relentlessly curious.

He's also a one-cat circus from time to time.

Today he reprised the infamous "Flying Barfo" routine, bouncing from place to place, including (but not limited to) the top of one of our printers, RT's desk chair, and three widely spaced stair treads, as he quickly moved from the basement to the kitchen.

Although RT and I have been married for six and a half years, and share our house, our money, and all our possessions, equally, cat ownership has remained an individual responsibility, at least when one of them is vomiting his way through the house.

As close as RT and I are, we have very different ways of dealing with such things. When "my" cat (that would be Beanie) is making some sort of mess involving moist and lumpy projectiles, I prefer to stand silently by, hoping she will finish quickly and leave only one mess to clean up. RT prefers to yell, which inevitably results in the scenario referenced above.

I don't have any real objection to his methodology. In fact, it's amusing to see him (that would be RT) jumping around, waving his arms, and acting as the ringmaster in an out of control circus. And there is something remarkably satisfying in handing RT a roll of paper towels as I sip my coffee, with Beanie, for once the good cat, sitting quietly at my side.

 

posted by taming at 07:41 | link | comments (1)|
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Life On The Ant Hill

The coffee around here this morning is pretty damn good. It's Brazil Cachoeira da Grama Yellow Bourbon, a special screen dried lot, from Sweet Maria's. I roasted it Monday, in the garage, using my bread machine/heat gun set-up, and, as I said, its umm umm good.

I only have about three pounds of green beans left, two more of the yellow bourbon and a pound of the SM Moka Kadir blend. I am counting on Canada Post to eventually let me have the beans I ordered a few weeks ago, but you never know. I may rethink my decision to send RT to work with a thermos of homeroast until it arrives. A week or so drinking office coffee could make him appreciate the shtuff he gets at home.

Recently, there was a discussion about stash size on the home roaster list. Some folks have hundreds of pounds of greens squirreled away and others keep the coffee on hand rather low, as I do. My reasoning is that there is always another terrific coffee to try, and whilst I may regret reaching the end of one or another great bean, trying something new is more satisfying.

Life is more than coffee. Even I know that. But it sometimes seems that big things about who we are can be reflected in little things like this.

I live a small life. My presence on this earth is transitory, and I will not leave behind great art, great music, or anything beyond some fond memories in the hearts and minds of a few people who who will be here for awhile after my passing. Somehow, I don't see future generations talking about great-grandma Taming's wonderful coffee.

What I hope will live on in my descendants is a willingness to try something new, to think deeply and care passionately about the day to day details that make up our lives, without being so invested in the future, that they fail to thoroughly enjoy the present. I'd also like to think that they will have a commitment to something bigger than their own lives, as I have also done with varying degrees of success.

When I was younger, I didn't appreciate the notion that being one of many people living a small life that has integrity is important. I believed that if I didn't do something important enough to make its way into the history books, my time here on earth would have been wasted. And while I am open to the idea that I have adjusted this perspective only as a way to come to terms with the reality of how unlikely it is that I will ever do anything of "real" importance, in the end, that doesn't matter much either.

I am one of the ants of this earth. I spend my day moving no more than what I can handle from one place to another. Somehow, it's enough. 

 

posted by taming at 05:25 | link | comments (3)|
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