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As a kid I would go into the kitchen after waking up and make a freshly brewed pot for my parents. The best part was putting the grounds in the filter. The aromas wafted out and danced all around me. It's the smell I associated with mornings. I hit brew. The process of making coffee was as attractive as the end result. The common conceit of coffee is to use as a means to begin a productive day. But it can be so much more than just a energy boost.
I would find my way to the drink after high school. Where the simple black coffee wasn't just my fit. Add cream. That's the way. It was a learning process and I was in the beginner's stage. Folgers, then Starbucks. A place I can never go back to because of how much they burn their beans.
Then espresso was added to the equation. This created more questions on my journey. What's the difference between a cappucino and latte? What is an americano?
Or if you want to dive down the rabbit hole, what country is the bean from?
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The history of coffee can be traced back to Ethiopia. It was spread to the world by Somali merchants who exported the coffee to the Ottoman ruled Yemen. The Turks became enthusiastic about it at Constantinople. The beverage's eventual introduction to Europe was through war and trade. In 1565, The Ottmans attempted to conquer the island of Malta. They were defeated however by the Knights of St. John. They took the Ottomans as slaves who would introduce the coffee to the continent.
All across Africa, coffee crops are grown. Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Zambia. Each country has its own particular varieties, creating a diverse selection for buyers. When I think of Ethiopian coffee I think of fruit forward flavor notes like berries. The acidity is high. It's juicy and sweet.
But it doesn't stop there. Asia has a rich history of coffee with Yemen being a key country in the early development of the drink. Indonesia, Philippines and Papau New Guinea offer up their own takes. The last continent on our journey is Latin America. Rich, chocolatey and robust coffee comes from Bolivia, Brazil, Guatamala, Ecuador, Honduras, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico.
Where the coffee grows and how it is processed can have a dramatic result on the resulting cup. Firstly, the coffee bean is grown inside of a coffee cherry. The coffee cherries are grow on Arabica coffee trees. The altitude from which the coffee cherries are grown along with different varieties of Arabica coffee trees have a distinct impact on the taste of a cup of coffee.
After the coffee cherry is picked by the farmers, it is then harvested. Many experts agree that the harvest is the point in which the quality of the coffee peaks. Everything that happens to it after is more about preserving it. There are a number ways coffee is harvested. There is natural, where the coffee cherries are spread out in the sun and turned regularly to avoid fermentation taking place. This process is the oldest and traditional in most places. It tends to create fruity flavors in the coffee.
For washed process coffee, once harvested, the cherries are depulped in a depulping machine. The beans are then put in a tank of water where a fermentation process removes the remainder of the flesh. They are then dried. As a result the characteristics of the coffee bean itself are going to be in the cup. It tends to be more acidic with a cleaner mouth feel. These are just the two more popular processes. There is still the honey process and other ways processing the coffee cherry.
Anytime I go into a cafe, if I see a coffee I haven't tried, it's the one I go to. I've found what flavor profile I am simply by repeating this process over and over. It's where I go to relax and read. Taking in the atmosphere and sounds. The steam wand on the espresso machine hissing like an angry serpent, the grinder churning its metal gears, the baristas calling out orders to the customers. I've been introduced to a number of memorable cups through my exploring different cafes.
Getting complicated? It shouldn't be.
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Everyday I wake up, I give myself a present. I go to the kitchen fill up a kettle with water. Put it on the stove. Measure out how many beans to match up the water to coffee ratio. Put the filter in the chemex and wet it. Grind the beans and put the ground coffee in the filter. Wait until the water is just off of boil and take the kettle off the stove. I pour in concentric circles until the coffee blooms and it measures out twice the amount of coffee I put in. I wait until the bloom is over and then I put the rest in.
Process is something that has always fascinated me. Brewing coffee offers up several processes. Making coffee on a chemex, a Hario V60, a Kalita, a French Press. Or making espresso and milk based coffee drinks like lattes and cappucinos. It's a modification of what I used to do before I had any knowledge of coffee or the flavors it offered.
I'm gonna let you in on a secret: every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair or a cup of hot black coffee. And if you're in the avenue for trying out something new, try a specialty coffee from one of the many countries mentioned. You're in for some serious gourmet shit!
