09 June 2016
Oh, what a wondrous world we live in filled with joy, sorrow, sunsets, laughter, hugs and glimpses of the moon smiling down upon us. And of course knowing that we live in a liquid world too, with oceans, seas, rivers, creeks, springs. Water all around us with our selves being made up to 65% of the good stuff that we are all connected with from lands to space to each other. But I am not here to ramble about such existential philosophy of our connection with the world and the large, wet mass that makes connects us to in in many ways. Just one way today! And that way I indulge in the grand body of life called water gives with a mix of the good stuff from the earth in the form of my favourite beverage: coffee.
If you know me, I love coffee. I have a set called "Latte a Casa" that I made with @cdo because I love coffee so much!
Coffee is a concocted liquid that is partial of one part being ground dried cherry seed matter and the other water, whether hot or cold. It takes quit a bit to make coffee, more so coffee beans, the way they come to you whether you buy them at your local grocery store, cafe, or get it in your double shot latte grande size morning treat. Coffee cherries, yes it is actually a berry, originated in Ethiopia but can be found all over the world! In the right climate of course, as it takes about six to eight months for arabica (nice smooth, high quality bean) or nine to eleven months for robusta (much sturdy and heartier bean).
After picking the coffee cherries once red and ripe, you dry them either by the dry process method, simpler and less labor-intensive as the berries can be strip picked to create a more flavourful coffee, and the wet process method, which incorporates fermentation into the process and creates a mild coffee. In the end after you have plucked away the skin, the fruit pulp, and only leaving the mucilage film to ferment the now green little bean and have dried it, now it is time to roast it.
Roasting is where you will get a bit of your flavour characteristics from, besides where the coffee was originally cultivated (as the soil of where it grows adds flavour to it too!!). I prefer a nice light roast as I prefer a balanced and naturally sweetened yet a little tart cup rather than dark roast being more bold and require a bit more cream to settle it down. Darker roasts are generally bolder because they have less fiber content and a more sugary flavor due to the caramelisation happening when applying heat to the bean and it's natural sugars within it. Lighter roasts are more complex and therefore perceived stronger flavor from aromatic oils and acids that would normally be destroyed by longer roasting times. Roasting does not alter the amount of caffeine in the bean, but does give less caffeine when the beans are measured by volume because the beans expand during roasting.
Now on to what I babbled about you upon in the first place: brewing. Brewing coffee can happened anywhere from again at that grocery store to your favourite cafe to even at home. Lighter roasted coffee tends to be used for filter coffee as the combination of method and roast style results in higher acidity, complexity, and clearer nuances. Darker roasted coffee is used for espresso because the machine naturally extracts more dissolved solids, causing lighter coffee to become too acidic. My preferred method of brewing the pour over method at home, by using a burr grinder (you can use a spice grinder though) to a 5 ounce cup setting/around 3 tablespoons and wet cone filtered pour over device straight over my cup to which I drink out of with joy. I heat water, the elixir of life and keeps us all connected to which we also very much depend on, in a specific kettle with a spout just for pour overs (it looks like something out of Alice in Wonderland with its long, crewed neck and fat chambered bottom). I let the water heat to 90 Celsius, just about to boil over, then carefully in circular motions drizzle the water on my freshly grounded coffee in the pour over device. I watch the grounds plume from dry matter to silky, shiny foam which also gives notes of the coffee's tastes and hear it all drip straight into my mug for consumption with delight!
Best practices from storing your coffee beans is in a tight ceramic or non-clear plexi container-never use metal, as it messes with the beans and its gases. Coffee is not just a drink that is enjoyed through out the world but is also plays a heavy part in our fair-trade industry, supporting workers all over the world and our world's economy. Also fun facts: did you know espresso roast means that is a dark, very strong coffee not a different bean at all! Some think it is a different type of bean but it just a way of roasting the bean itself as is light and dark roasts. Also decaffeinated coffee still has traces of caffeine in them; but a method is use along with solvent add in water process called swiss-water process that all these elements are added to remove the caffeine oils that are naturally in the bean itself. And if you ever visit the Bay Area and want to visit a coffee shop, please contact me-I will direct you to all your needs along or I can make you one at my art space with the five bags of different varies I have on hand!
Water makes the world, you and I, go round. But coffee makes my heart sing <3
I hope you enjoyed loves, make sure to let me know your thoughts here along with checking out my sets currently in Member Review such as "Bay View" by my love @merryboudoir (which I would love to see this set on the front page one day with your help please)
Thank you all for your support, thank you @missy @lyxzen and @rambo for the topic, and I hope you enjoyed my ode to water and coffee ;)
Xx
