Learn to Make Good Coffee!
By: Sasha Som
A little while ago, I shared one of my salves for a pandemic world’s unpredictability: the coffee ritual.
Today is March 365+, 2020 and I still need coffee as much as I need the ritual to make it. How emotionally attached am I to the process? My husband decided to be nice one morning, so he made me a cup. I exclaimed, “Thank you!” Except...
How. Dare. He.
I moped around about not having done my precise eyeballing of all the ingredients that normally go into my coffee. I concluded that if anybody who watches me in the morning thinks that they can do what I do, then I must make coffee brewing appear more complex.
In steps James Hoffmann and his seductive accent. 2007 World Barista champion! Author! Square Mile Coffee Roasters co-founder! YouTube COFFEE GURU!
Posting a video instruction is inherently diplomatic – and very kind. Hoffmann, an expert, gifts us a video titled, “The Ultimate V60 Technique.” The first time I applied the technique my coffee was noticeably more delightful, even though I didn’t follow the steps exactly. Curious about whether it was just my imagination, I made coffee with my old non-technique and found that it tasted amazingly not that good.
The old technique was simple: pour water onto grounds until mug is full. The new technique includes steps like: make a well in the grounds, pour boiling water gently to wet the grounds, swirl, bloom, pour to 60% of total brew weight, pour the last bit, and stir the grounds in the brewer in one direction and then the other direction. Give it one final swirl.
It sounds complicated. It’s not. There is value in learning how to do things better, no matter how seemingly insignificant what you’re learning - or doing - is. What a pleasant reminder that, sometimes, it’s okay to walk away from what you feel is “correct.”
In this new approach, a coffee expert helped me become more conscious about what I learn and how I choose to use that knowledge. The caffeine helps me plod along this earth, no doubt, as awake as possible, guiding my hands, feet, and words.
For about a week now, I’ve grabbed my hemp filter, my handmade brewer thingy, and some supermarket coffee that I grind myself and have incorporated steps that added mere seconds to my ritual. The coffee has been delicious. My husband seems deterred. And I learned that making anything the “easier” way yields results I never really want.
How satisfying.