Lingering over breakfast with a french press

I enjoy drinking coffee. I'm not one of those people that needs coffee to function first thing in the morning; my first coffee will often be 5 to 6 hours after I wake up. I drink coffee for the flavors of the beans and for the art of making coffee.

I recently attended the 2015 International Food Bloggers Conference (disclaimer: this post is one of three posts I'll write in return for a discounted ticket) and a pre-event sponsored by Sur La Table and KitchenAid. I'm all about gadgets and cool kitchen cookery, so it was a great to visit the Sur La Table's test kitchens and see the new products coming out this fall. And I was quite pleased by the new Kitchen Aid Precision French Press that we were given.

If you've seen my Instagram photos, you know I love coffee and geeking out about it, maybe half of my pictures are of coffee in the making. Not only is the Precision French Press beautiful in it's stainless steel glory, it has a scale and timer built in so you can get your coffee just right every time. And because a French Press says lingering over breakfast or a baked good, the double wall construction keeps the coffee warm longer.

Photo by Parker Raines

Using the press is quite simple, especially given that it is self-contained.  I warm my press with boiling water, empty it and measure the coffee with the integrated scale. The manual comes with a table for a 1:16 coffee to water ratio, so no early morning math is needed! Tare the scale and fill with water to the target weight and then start the timer, all right there on the handle.  I like a 4 minute brew time and after a stir to break the crust, a gentle press of the plunger makes great tasting coffee.

Keep in mind that brewing with French Press does require a slightly coarser grind coffee, otherwise pressing the plunger will get pretty tough.  I've had glass presses break on me as I've been pressing and its quite a mess, but with the strength of stainless steel, I'm not sure how this one would fail - no matter what it would be a hot mess. So, just make sure you use an appropriate grind, which is nicely pictured in the manual, as well.

Personally, I'm quite happy that the art and science of making coffee is becoming more prevalent. It's no longer the brown stuff from the can that my grandparents would drink; like wine and chocolate, the subtle flavor nuances are now being appreciated.

How do you like to make and drink your coffee? Are you on board with the craft coffee movement or does coffee help you survive the morning?

September is going to be awesome

September is shaping up to be an awesome month.  For one, I'm writing on my blog again after an almost 3 month hiatus.

End of Summer Backpacking Trip

September started off (well, really August ended) with a 2 night backpacking trip with my son in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area. He said he wanted to go backpacking during the summer and this was the last weekend of summer. What started out being planned as an overnight, turned into a 21 mile, 2 night, multiple lake extravaganza in the woods.

We started out Friday afternoon at 4:25pm with 4.5 miles and about 2000' elevation gain to get to Melakwa lake before the 8pm sunset. We made it just in time to set up our tent in the twilight and enjoyed dinner in the dark.

During the nights (both of them), the wind and rain were both hard, but we stayed warm and dry. It sprinkled during the day were we weren't necessarily dry, but we weren't cold or wet either. Though there was some suck factor, we both had a great time.

I took my Aeropress on this trip, with the grand plan to take some of those camp stove, Aerpresss, coffee pictures against the beautiful lake backgrounds. Sunday morning, I had a great backdrop for it - we camped at Rainbow Lake and our tent door opened up to look out across the lake. If it hadn't been raining so much while I was making breakfast, well let's just say I didn't have any coffee that morning.

New Job, New Computer

I'm getting settled in my new job and learning the ins and outs of using OS X.  In my case, its not such a big deal, because I usually have 4 terminal sessions open anyways. I love the fact that underneath the polished GUI is some form of 'nix.  And I'll say it - "why didn't I do this sooner?"

Swim practice has started up and as I write this post, I made this tweet:

I am officially one of those people using a MacBook at @Starbucks

— Beau Raines (@beauraines) September 5, 2015

So, don't be surprised if you see more more geeky tweets in the coming months.

The Elysian Games

Next weekend, I am competing in the Elysian Games at Seattle Center. Taking advantage of my age, I'm competing in the Masters ( > 40) division. I didn't finish last last year, so I'm going to do it again. It's going to kick my butt, but I'm going to have fun at it.

International Food Bloggers Conference

The 7th annual International Food Bloggers Conference is the following weekend 18 - 20 September.  I'm looking forward to seeing old friends, making new friends and getting re-energized about my blog. Oh, yeah and tasting some really good food.

With the legalization of marijuana in Washington, there is even a breakout session on edibles. Truthfully, that breakout is not for me, but I know that lots of people are looking forward to that session. 

This will be my third year in attendance and its a fun filled, tummy filling experience.

MBA Reunion and Cal Football Game

It's been 5 years since I graduated from the Foster School of Business with an MBA and its reunion time. What's kind of cool about this reunion is that the football game that it is paired with is against Cal, our alma mater.  It'll be my families first UW football game, so it'll be pretty cool to see Cal too. 

September is going to be jam packed... It's funny how we had a quiet summer and then pack it all into the very end. Hopefully, I can keep writing during the month. 

Starbucks Grande Plan For Great Coffee

I've think I've figured out Starbucks grand, or should I say grande, plan. For years, I've maintained that Starbucks is great because you can get a consistent cup of coffee, just about anywhere. Recently, I've come to the conclusion that I want to consistently get great coffee. For me, this has meant independent cafes and brewing my coffee myself.

I brewed 248.6g of Nicaragua Laurina #coffee from 20.7g of beans with pour over. I couldn't quite pull as much of the lemon notes out as I got at the roaster. @starbucksroastery @acaiacoffee #singleorigin

A photo posted by Beau (@beauraines) on Mar 29, 2015 at 8:42am PDT

Starbucks recently opened their Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room, where they roast rare and small batch coffee beans. Its an experience because the tasting room is built around the roastery, you can chat with the roasters as they work. They sell beans that you'll only be able to find there, some of them even roasted the same day!  There are great single origin beans and some that come from a farm smaller than a football field.  Unlike a normal Starbucks, you can get your coffee from a whole slew of brew methods and if you find a new favorite, you can pick up all of the coffee gadgets you'll ever need (or want).

While this is a great coffee experience, it is only here in Seattle. But Starbucks is up to something. Starbucks has done a great job of exposing American's to good coffee, but they're going to take it up a notch. With the roastery and a few other efforts, they're exposing American's to great coffees.

I've recently started seeing Starbuck's single origin beans at the grocery store. I've not picked any up because they've always been pre-ground and I know that is sub-optimal, but its getting the idea out there in front of consumers.

Last weekend, I was driving a carpool for swim practice and was in a shady neighborhood where the Starbucks is my hangout while waiting for practice to end. I was surprised to see that they had one of their espresso machines loaded with single origin beans from Kenya. They had little signs suggesting that people order their espresso drinks with the single origin beans. I decided to have a tasting and compare the espresso made with the two different beans. It took a while to get my order right, two single shots of espresso, not one double, but the differences between the two beans were incredible and easy to notice.

Having a #coffee tasting this morning. @starbucks is offering #singleorigin in their #espresso. Kenya vs. the espresso roast. Huge difference. Kenya #ftw

A photo posted by Beau (@beauraines) on May 16, 2015 at 9:24am PDT

At most Starbucks, instead of their drip coffee sits in the urn for up to 30 minutes, you can order a pour over. They'll use any of the beans in the store for it, opening a package from the shelf if necessary. At no additional cost compared to their drip coffee. It's definitely slower and does have an impact on the customer queue, but its one more way that Starbucks is upping the quality of the coffee that they make available.

Starbucks has been successful at getting coffee in front of almost all Americans and even convinced them to shell out big bucks for a drink with very little coffee in it. Now, with these introductions of better brew methods, distinct flavor profiles and single origin beans, they're working on stepping the American coffee drinker up to a better coffee experience. In the long run, this is great for coffee growers and the coffee industry. Its actually interesting from a business perspective where the big player in the industry is working to make the market better rather than just drive costs out.

Maybe its not a grande plan, but a Venti. What do you think?

I'm still going to get Specialty Coffee

I wasn't able to attend this year's Specialty Coffee Association of America's Event in Seattle this weekend, but I've been getting my fair share of specialty coffee and have been living vicariously through the #SCAA2015 Instagram feed.

Did You Know…? #SCAA2015 pic.twitter.com/BZ511A35qz
— SCAA (@SpecialtyCoffee) April 11, 2015

Over the year's I've realized the benefit of slowing down and enjoying life's experiences, even if they're the small everyday things. Coffee is one of those things for me. I used to drink 6 -8 shots of espresso a day. Along with some other lifestyle changes I'll drink one coffee a day, but it will be a damn fine coffee.

There is a lot of mediocre coffee available today and people drink it up. But what is great when you can find people that really love coffee and it shows in their product.  I've found a small cafe in Burien, Washington that makes excellent coffee and love the fact that at most Starbucks, you can get a pour over.

With a little searching or good friends you can find great roasters. A friend of mine from work brought me coffee from Bend, Oregon from Backporch Coffee Roasters which I've quite enjoyed of the last few weeks.

Sure, I've geeked out a bit with my purchase of a grinder and love my acaia coffee scale, but they all aid the experience in bringing out the best of the coffee.

What a difference a grinder makes! New grinder brought out so many more nuances from my @backporchcoffeeroasters #coffee
— Beau Raines (@beauraines) March 6, 2015

Starbucks has done something wonderful with coffee, too. And I'm not talking about the fact that you can get a consistent cup of coffee just about anywhere in the United States (or right across the street from you where ever yo u may be in Seattle) - Starbucks has opened a roastery just for their own Reserve beans.

A great afternoon checking out single origin #coffee and small batch roasting @starbucksroastery

A photo posted by Beau (@beauraines) on Mar 28, 2015 at 4:35pm PDT

They have rare beans and they roast them in the same space that they make your drinks. Its not just machine pulled espresso drinks - they have all types of different pour overs, siphons and cold brew. Now that Starbucks has gotten everybody hooked on coffee, they're going to upgrade everybody to good coffee!

Ironically, the Starbucks Roastery is right down the street from Victrola Coffee Roasters. While they've been on Capital Hill for a long time, I wonder how many people walk right past them, not knowing the wonderful coffee that has been available since the early 2000's.

A photo posted by Beau (@beauraines) on Mar 29, 2015 at 11:12am PDT

Take a little time, make an investment in your coffee experience and really enjoy it. You can have Specialty Coffee right in your own home.

Slowing down to enjoy the moment, old skool style

Yesterday morning, as I was making coffee, my wife asked me why I was using a hand grinder to grind my coffee beans and not using a machine. I recently purchased a burr grinder and its taken my coffee making to a new level. Her question made me think some - sure the hand grinder is one-third to one-fifth the price of an electric machine, it appeals to my price sensitivity, but there is something more to it.

My answer was that I could take the grinder with me when I go camping or traveling, continuing the idea that I could make great coffee anywhere. But more and more as the day went on, I realized that it was about slowing down to enjoy the moment.

Over the last few years, there are a few old skool methods and technologies that have re-surfaced in my life. I've started to make coffee with fewer machines, just different manual brew methods. It takes more time than just pushing a button on a super-auto espresso machine or popping a K-Cup in the machine and I get to enjoy the act of making the coffee.  The grinder was just another step in that direction, only adding a minute or two to the process, but allowing me time to think about where the beans came from and how they were ultimately turned into the drink I'm about to enjoy.

The same thing with shaving. Yes, shaving, something I've been doing almost every day since my late teens. I've always hated shaving, but I hate been un-shaven even more. I'd shave while I was taking a shower, taking advantage of the fact that the hot water would have already softened my beard (yeah, it grows that fast). It just became one of those things I'd do.

About a year ago, I got a double edged razor for my birthday - old skool, like your grandpa used. It takes a little longer, but the slowing down gives me the time to listen to the sound of the whiskers being cut, enjoy the smell of the shaving cream or feel the soap lathering on my chin and neck. I look forward to shaving now; it's a calming experience.

This year, for my birthday, I got a few cast iron pans. I find it amazing that cast iron pans cost less, last forever and cook better than the modern, copper, stainless steel and non-stick pans. I don't know why its taken me so long to start using them - I love them. The trade off comes in that they need to be seasoned, heating the pan and oiling it down, and entirely dried to prevent rusting. But with slowing down when taking care of these pans, the food browns better and still doesn't stick to the cookware. Fried eggs have crispy bottoms and beautiful runny yolks.

There is something to be said about returning to the classics, the old skool ways of doing things and stepping away from the push button automation or the arms race of how many blades can be squeezed into a razor. Slow down and enjoy the moment even when you're getting things.

Acaia Pearl - Art and Science of Making Coffee

To the true aficionado, making coffee is both an art and a science.  Different beans have different taste profiles, based upon their origin, elevation, drying and processing methods and how they were roasted. Different brew methods will bring out different characteristics of the same beans based upon the extraction time, the flow rate and water temperature. Those are the artful components of enjoying coffee. The science is in making it repeatable, once you've found the bean, roast and method that you love (or find appropriate for the moment you are in).

The Acaia Pearl Coffee Scale helps make it repeatable. The scale is Bluetooth enabled giving you full control and all the display on a smart phone application, for both Android and iPhone. The high precision scale is combined with a stopwatch time to ensure you get just the right extraction time, measuring your water and beans to .1 grams.  Combined, it also reports the flow rate, so you can have a consistent extraction during a pour over.  It is also beautifully minimalist, fitting in at any cafe or your own home coffee making station.  Your smartphone does need to support Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) which is available on iPhone 4 and 5 and recent Android devices running Kit Kat.

Minimalist device, minimalist packaging

The team behind the Acaia Pearl are all coffee lovers and sought to connect design and and technology in their coffee.  In fact, I would love to be on their team, because their Instagram feed shows them always trying out new coffees.  The project was successfully funded on Kickstarter and earlier this year, they started shipping product.

Getting my pour over technique right.

I first saw the scale when I was at the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) symposium. As you entered the conference, there was a display case of new and innovative products and I knew I had to find out more about this scale. Their booth was unfortunately in a hard to find back corner, but I persevered until I found them.

The SCAA event is neat in that all facets of specialty coffee are represented. Growers have booths along side industrial roaster manufacturers. Innovative packaging solutions are next to artisan cafes. SCAA brings together the art and science of specialty coffee. New products like the Pearl are introduced and renown baristas compete and wow with their creations.

After talking with Rex, their president and founder, they sent me a scale to review and geek out with. While its a really cool gadget, I had to figure out exactly how I liked my coffee. I had my method down pat for the Aeropress (inverted method, 1 minute extraction a la Stumptown), but it was years since I had made a pour over or French Press.

The scale is quite simple to use, you measure your beans, enter your bean to water ratio and it will calculate how much water you need.  Then, you reset your scale with your pour over cone or what ever your brew method is, start the timer and with a 3,2,1 countdown, start pouring.  You're provided feedback on your flow rates and a way to rate, record and share your brew.

Not very consistent with my pour, but I'm getting better.

If you don't know what you like, you're given starting points for French Press and Pour Over that you can customize and save and you can even create a custom recipe and set your own time check points.

It's a pretty cool scale and deservedly, it won the  Best New Product of SCAA 2014 and the People's Choice Winner of Coffee Accessories. Check out their website for more details or to pick one up for $129.00

Disclaimer: I was given one of these scales to review on my blog and share my opinion of it. I was not otherwise compensated and now my coffee is far more consistent and I get to geek out in the mornings!

My Experiences with Bulletproof Coffee

People are putting butter and coconut oil in their coffee. And they say its the greatest thing - more focused, more energy, feeling satiated. I read it on the internet and like many things, I took it with a grain of salt.  Then, a few weeks back, I decided to give it a try. I'm a morning person. I like to get up, work out and then eat breakfast.  My regular wake up time is 5:20 AM, so, usually within 2 or 3 hours of getting up I'm eating breakfast.


My daughter has an early morning swim practice which starts at 5AM on Wednesdays, which means we're both up at 4:20AM. I can still go to my 6AM CrossFit, but that really messes with the eat breakfast within 2 or 3 hours. The same week that inspired me to try Bulletproof Coffee (aka butter coffee), I had some changes to my morning schedule and I was going to go to CrossFit at 8AM. But I still got up at 5:20, which didn't quite leave enough time for breakfast to digest - and no one wants to go to CrossFit with a full stomach.  So I decided to try Bulletproofing my coffee, and see if it was worth it.

Bulletproof coffee is simply your morning coffee with a tablespoon of coconut oil and a tablespoon of (grass-fed) butter.  The clean fats provide calories (energy) and really make the coffee creamy. Drinking something is easier and quicker to get down than eating something, so its a way to kickstart your day. You can read more about it and get a recipe here.

My first day trying out Bulletproof coffee was an early morning swim practice day. I made my coffee with my Caffe Vita Theo Blend beans after dropping her off at practice. I used the blender to mix it all in, some people just let the hot coffee melt the fats. The coffee had a nice frothy top and boy was it creamy tasting.

Now here is a little something about me, I like coffee for its taste. I drink my coffee black, my drink of choice is an espresso. But no cream, no sugar. If I drink an espresso, its so dry the foam just stays on top. Its all about the flavor of the coffee.  And so much fat in the drink covered up the coffee flavor. It was like a super-creamy latte. So, it loses a few points for covering the taste of my coffee.

I drank it on my way to CrossFit and was feeling quite energized. My workout went well and I wasn't really that hungry when I came home, but I ate a small breakfast because... Well because you're supposed to eat breakfast, aren't you?  I felt pretty good all day long, but I was also wearing my Captain America t-shirt - he's almost bullet proof.

But that day, I was so thirsty. I couldn't drink enough water. I even emailed some of my friends who've bulletproofed their coffee and they drink 32 ounces of water before drinking their coffee. Lesson learned.

The next day, I got up at my usual 5:20, but wasn't planning on CrossFit until 8AM. So I drank 32 ounces of water and made my butter coffee.  I then sat down and worked on an edX.org class I was taking.  And I felt really focused, considering I was studying big data analytics at 6 in the morning.  CrossFit at 8AM was alright, my energy levels great considering that I hadn't eaten anything and I wasn't all that hungry when I got home and then didn't eat anything until lunch time.

Those two days were a pretty successful test and I've continued to bullet proof my coffee when I have early mornings or planning on going to the later CrossFit sessions. Its been working out well for me. Its almost like a meal replacement - it has enough calories for a meal.  I'm energized, focused and satiated.  My two big lessons are:

1. Don't use your great tasting, special beans or single origin beans. The nuances will be lost under the uber-creaminess.
2. Drink lots (32 ounces) of water before your coffee. I guess it has to do with how the fats are processed by our bodies.

So, what do you put in your coffee and would you put butter in it?

Meeting Alan Adler - My Rockstar Moment at SCAA 2014

For the last two days, I've been wandering the Washington State Convention Center enjoying the sights, smells and tastes of the Specialty Coffee Association of America's 2014 Event.  The entire spectrum of specialty coffee is represented here, from growers to roasters, cafes to food processing and packaging companies, repair parts to purveyors of tea. But I ran into Alan Adler, the inventor and designer of the Aeropress coffee maker.

I was first introduced to Alan's products when I got an Aerobie for Christmas during my childhood. If you're not familiar with the Aerobie, it was a bright orange, unique ring shaped frisbee that could be easily thrown long distances.

Fast forward to a few years ago, and I got more and more into coffee. While I really love espresso, I've always been interested in how I can get excellent coffee while hiking, another one of my passions. While learning about different methods to make coffee, I read about the Aeropress in online forums.  I'll admit, I was a bit of a skeptic that something as simple as that could make great coffee.

Fast forward a few more years, when I had stopped telecommuting and worked in an office in downtown Seattle (read: no longer working at home with my espresso machine), I was getting fed up with the coffee provided in the work kitchen. Yeah, even though I work in the coffee mecca of the Northwest and have more than 5 excellent cafe's within blocks of my workplace, the coffee in the office just wasn't very good.

One of my co-workers had an Aeropress and he made me a cup of coffee one day. He was deliberate about it, carefully measuring the water temperature, brew time and the amount of water. And the little plastic plunger coffee maker really did make excellent coffee.

I was hooked. A low price, easily portable coffee maker that makes great coffee.  Thoughts of fresh brewed coffee while backpacking were going through my head and I bought one. I make coffee almost every work day with my Aeropress and bring it home with me on the weekends. I've even found the cafe that will sell beans and grind them for me.

So, back to SCAA 2014. When I was walking through the Expo Hall, I was totally excited to see Alan Adler at the Aeropress booth. I even got my wife to snap our picture while I was having my geek out, meeting a rock star moment.

While chatting with Alan, he shared that his preferred Aeropress brew method was straight up, which is neat because all of the people of I know use the inverted method.  He also keeps the brew time to a minimum. I'm going to have to try the straight up technique next time.

He wouldn't share what his next big thing was, but he did assure me that there were ideas on the burners!

Who are the rock stars that you'd want to meet that reveal what kind of a geek you are?

Bring your tablet into the kitchen with a Tablet Chef Stand

I enjoy cooking and I enjoy technology.  Probably the only thing better than combing the two is cooking while hiking.  But I digress a little.

I'm a recipe clipper. I read several newspaper's cooking columns, I subscribe to Sunset magazine, a bunch of cooking newsletters and I follow some awesome cooking blogs. I've got 1,232 notes in my Recipe Notebook in Evernote, my largest notebook.

Almost always, I read the recipe I'm following on my phone.  I have a 3 inch ring binder with recipes printed out, but many times, I just go back to the website on my phone.

My phone usually has coconut oil smears and spices in the case.  I've even learned that drips of water (yes, dangerous) are read as a finger touch on my phone's screen.

I was given a Belkin Tablet Chef Stand + Stylus to use in the kitchen and an tablet to try out with it. It's pretty awesome, it holds the device two ways and the stylus helps keep my messy fingers off the phone. And to make it even better, it all wipes clean, maintaining its shiny finish.

It's great having my recipe from some of my favorite Paleo cooking blogs, like Nom Nom Paleo and PaleoOMG on a big, easily readable device, angled so that I can best see it while cooking.  An internet connected device is a great cooking tool, it ranks up there with my Santuko knife.

Paloe Pumpkin Pie Granola Parfaits from PaleOMG.

Another one of my foodie passions is coffee. I recently purchased an Aeropress and attended a workshop at Caffe Vita for different methods to brew coffee. There is a lot of science to the art of brewing, but brew time is an important factor.  My phone has become my kitchen timer and the stand works great for that!

Using my phone as a kitchen timer.

And with the right recipe, I'll even eat squash! 

Recipe clipped from a magazine photograph.

And if any of Santa's Elves are reading this, that Galaxy Note 8 in the pictures was a loaner. I don't actually have a tablet but AT&T offers $100 off any tablet with two-year service agreement. Hint, hint!

What are your favorite online recipe websites or cooking apps?

Disclaimer: While I've got to return the Galaxy Note Tablet, the stand was mine to keep for reviewing it in this post.  I think its pretty cool and wouldn't have written about it if I didn't really think that was cool.

Passing of the Espresso Machine

My Jura-Capresso E9 espresso machine started acting up a while back. It told me that it required cleaning and I would dutifully clean it, only to be told that it still wanted to be cleaned. After running out of cleaning tablets, I started to call their customer support. After a few calls, the outcome was the the brew unit was clogged and the machine needed to be sent into them for repairs. However, I had purchased it as Williams-Sonoma, so had a lifetime warranty from them.

While doing some research on the topic online, my wife learned that Williams-Sonoma had changed their return policy and no longer sold nor accepted exchanges on the Jura machines. Luckily for us, I had purchased my machine just before their change in policy. With few difficulties, we were able to return the machine and purchase a new one.

I had returned my first machine to Williams-Sonoma too, because it had been recalled. Like before, everytime I exchange it, I spend a little more and upgrade.




I am now the proud owner of a Gaggia Titanium super-automatic espresso machine. It was delivered last night and I found it on my doorstep when I was heading out to the store. I returned home with fresh (from tthe store) beans and started to setup my machine. The machine was packed inside three boxes, but in short order, I had a shiny new espresso machine on my counter. At 6:45pm I made the first shot and dumped it in a cup so I could walk to an event at the kids' school.

This machine is cool. On top of having a stainless case, which Heather really likes, the top of the machine is actually a cup warmer, which I think is really neat.

This morning, before taking the kids to swim practice, I was got one shot out it. I'm back in business, fueled by espresso.

Never too many cups

You already know, I enjoy espresso. But you don't know, that I also like collecting demi tasses. A few weeks ago, Heather made some snarky comment about how many I had, so I figured that I would make a photo collection.

www.flickr.com

Yep, I'm like an old lady with a spoon collection, a japanese teen age girl with Hello Kitty thingys.

I've got a collection of espresso cups. I try to rotate through them, but there are a few that I like a lot, like my MINI cup, my stainless ones, my red one and the stackable one (though I only have one of them).

Do you have any collections, strange or otherwise?

Yesterday was a rough day

Yesterday was a rough day. Not because of work or school or kids. I was out of coffee beans for my espresso machine. Barring one sip of my wife's drip coffee, I had none.

And though I claim not to be an addict, at about 11 am my head started to ache. As much as I tried to deny it, I knew it was from a lack of caffeine.

How could someone living in the greater Seattle metro area where Starbucks are so prevalant as well as many better, independent cafes, run out of coffee beans. That I blame on the day before. It was a rough work and school day. They two just flowed together with a brief family dinner in between.

I really intended to buy more beans, but at 9:45 pm I was ready to call it quits. I should have known better.

I bought beans last night and have enjoyed many an espresso today. Today is a good day - no work, not too much school and I've got coffee!

Espresso, every day, all day

I've been drinking lots of espresso lately. I've done it in the past, but one of the differences is that now, I'm drinking over the course of the day. It's now 7pm and I just heard the espresso machine go through it's cleaning cycle - its been 2 hours since my last shot, father.

Lifehacker had a post on the benefits of small, frequent infusions of caffeine rather than a large blast and the link to the full, article on Wired is Caffeinate With Care: Small Shots Do a Brain Better Than Big Blasts

But I guess, I'm doing the right thing! The article refers to "frequent, small doeses" to "maximize alertness and minimize jitters." I have no issues sleeping or shakiness at all. Some of the people in the study even reported " periodic small shots made them feel clearheaded and calm." Zen through espresso any one?

I read an article about a UW researcher who has found new evidence that caffeine applied to skin might help prevent skin cancer! I found an article on Web MD dated 2002 saying the same thing, but hey, I wouldn't mind some young, cute barista rubbing espresso over my body to help protect me. Maybe Starbucks should offer that as a service to get people into their stores!

Thanks to CameoSteph on flickr for the picture.

Coolest Coffee Mug

My Dad made me the coolest mug for my birthday. Since he has retired, he has really gotten into woodworking. He made the kids kaleidoscopes for Christmas and I got this super cool mug.

It is the neatest thing. It's made of mahogany (a log aged 16 years from Peru, evidently) and oak reportedly from Andrew Jackson's home. I didn't take a picture, but it is even signed on the bottom.

How cool is that? Its got a stainless liner and a travel lid and a shiny finish that shows off the wood grain, but providing some protection from moisture. And on top of all that, it kept my tea warm enough to drink yesterday afternoon. Yes, tea in the afternoon to rehydrate myself after all the espresso in the morning.

And since for the last three weeks, I've been the only one respecting the kids' basketball league request of not bringing beverages to the games, I'll be bringing my coffee is the coolest mug ever now!

Not enough coffee

Last night, I didn't drink anything with dinner. A beer would have been nice with the take out burrito from Chipotle, but we didn't have any at home and I didn't pick up any on the way home. But I didn't drink any soda, water, lemonade, wine or cocktail either.

This morning, I woke up with a splitting headache which I attributed to dehydration. My lips aren't as soft as they used to be, either. So, I decided that I wouldn't drink my usual quantities of espresso and I would substitute water.

I had been drinking cup after cup of water, which is a rarity for me, but the headache was still there. Figuring that I had made a good effort to counter the dehydration, I had an espresso con panna. One shot with a little whipped cream and kapow - no more headache.

Before you go and suggest that this was a lack of caffeine induced headache, I maintain that the water finally took effect. And there is water in espresso, too!

It got here - and early too!

My replacement espresso machine arrived yesterday afternoon. I would have blogged about it then, but I got sidetracked setting the machine up and drinking espresso. I was pleasantly surprised because it didn't take the full two weeks that Williams-Sonoma promised.
Here it is in all its glory.

Kneel before it. Worship the espresso machine and the elixir of life that it provides.

Don't stand between me and my espresso

For too long at least.

Today, my espresso machine passed away. It still makes espresso, but it just throws it out with the grounds. I'm not desperate enough to drink it from there. Yet.

And in actuality, it shouldn't be too long. My wife bought it for me at Williams-Sonoma and they have a lifetime guarantee on the stuff they sell. So, even with out a receipt, I can take it in and they will credit me the last recorded price for the item as I replace it with a new one.

But, while talking to the store manager on the phone, the manager suggested that it had been recalled. Sure enough, it had been. For risk of fire, no less.

So, what strange fortune. Who knows what risk we were taking by my drinking espresso several times a day.

Tomorrow, when they the company comes back to work, I'll be calling them. I've got to figure out how this recall thing will be working and I'll be wanting my espresso tomorrow!


Note: I apologize for my lengthy absence. I've been sucked into work for the last 7 weeks and have only now begun to pull myself out of that black hole. My project is coming to an end and doesn't need as much babysitting. Thank you to all you have kept coming here in my absence and I'm back on the posting path!

How to tamp for espresso

I really enjoy espresso and if I had a little cash, just laying around, I would have more MINI mods and a new espresso maker. But I digress, as I am oft to do.

I periodically read CoffeeGeek, a website targetted at lovers of all things coffee. They target both the professional barista, home consumer and that in-between pro-sumer categories.

With some of the project work I've been doing, I've been going into the office a lot recently, where there is a lovely, little used manual espresso maker. When I first moved to Seattle, I downloaded the manual and learned how to use the machine. I was never successful at making good coffee. It was drinkable, sometimes. I mastered the mechanics of making espresso, but not the art. With my trips into the office and working with new people on my team, I was able to get an education on the art points.

We have a new demand planning diretor, Chris, who is a pretty good guy (good taste in music, enjoys coffee and has a tech geek leaning in him). It turns out that he too enjoys coffee and has a manual machine at home. I took advantage of his presence and got him to show me how to tamp - something I knew to be my weakness.

My shots had a dramtic improvement just from his lessons (it turns out that I was seriously over-tamping).

The ironic thing is that CoffeeGeek had recently published an article on tamping. And many of the points that Chris offered up are in this same article.

I like irony.