Coffee Experiments

I guess I should update the ‘blog?¹

Not an easy thing to do these days, since even finding the time to do something as self-indulgent as public journaling probably just means there’s something else I could be doing instead, but maybe it’s an experiment I would like to continue? In any case, there’s a lot going on at the moment and it is probably beneficial to me to try to document some of it.

Where to begin? For the last 8 months or so, I’ve been working for a startup, and it’s just as fun as the stories would have you believe. We’re building something awesome that can help a lot of people, the codebase isn’t too large to keep entirely in one brain, and the people are all amazing and talented and committed and driven. We’re starting to see the “fruits of our labours”, technically-speaking, and I am able to shift my role from “fixer” to “architect²” more and more with each passing sprint. Good times and good fun!

But let’s talk about coffee.

For the last few weeks I’ve been “keto”, which means butter-coffee for breakfast, and so I’ve been experimenting with different ways to get a decent cuppa. I started with grinding some supermarket beans, which was fine, but then came across Lonsdale Roasters and grabbed bags of both whole beans and pre-ground. So far the (Aeropress-sized) grinds have been good – in a Delta press – and certainly better than the supermarket option, so next will be grinding my own “Assassin” beans. The pre-ground stuff is running low anyway … I haven’t been entirely scientific (i.e. repeatable) with the process, but have settled mostly into a 90 second “bloom” of 45g of coffee grinds, followed by either a press or a “slow drip” if I’ve forgotten about it. It certainly makes a satisfying kaffe but does take quite a bit longer than an instant – worth it?

(For butter, I’ve tried a couple but not yet settled. Certainly the Mainland organic stuff tastes a little “light”, but I don’t necessarily want to buy the most expensive hipster butter since I’m using a tablespoon every morning – it adds up. I do have Bulletproof Brain Octane® which I highly recommend, but there’s also a “generic” MCT oil in the cupboard which I should probably mix in at least. Butter, oil and coffee go into the blender for a 20 seconds and it’s the breakfast of champions.)

This morning I tried something different with a second pour (i.e. through the same grounds) and literally stirred coffee into the water chamber, like a combination French- and Aero-press. I did add milk(-substitute) but it was still pretty decent, if a little cold, and is probably something I’ll try to do during the week³.

Next up: a projects run-down!