Common Grounds

"I never drink coffee at lunch; I find it keeps me awake for the whole afternoon."

~Ronald Reagan

Somewhere in my teens, I started to drink coffee. Probably for the same reason I started drinking beer and smoking cigarettes; to look "cool." Since then, my relationship with coffee has matured. For a while, I worked as a barista during the 90's coffee craze. I learned a bit from the experience, having prepared hundreds of gallons of espresso based beverages. For every method of making coffee at home, there is someone who will swear theirs is the best...  

I started with a banal Mr. Coffee drip brewer, because it was given to me. Traditionally most non-Starbucking Americans drip brew their morning joe, probably because it requires the least effort. “Coffee makers” come with tons of options like timers, grinders, clocks, and warmers. (for ruining already questionable coffee) Thankfully for me, I dropped the glass carafe one morning and shattered my coffee expectations for good.

I purchased a little moka-pot made by Bialetti as a replacement. I had seen then for years, not knowing exactly what they were. Using the proper grind of coffee and a gas stove, they make wonderful coffee!  At the time I was teaching high school, so I would brew a pot and transfer the entire volume (about five espressos) to my thermos, top it off with cream, sugar, and hot water.  


If I consumed that much caffeine these days it would probably look something like this:

I was having no problem maintaining my energy in front of my classes, and everything was fine until we moved. Our new place had an electric stove, and it changed everything. The Bialetti doesn't work well on the electric range. Cooking is a matter of regulating heat, and electric stoves do a piss poor job. They take too long to get hot, don't get hot enough, and stay hot too long. Gas vs. Electric is another post.

Back to coffee. The biggest problem with most coffee makers is waste. They simply brew too much for one or two people, especially when one of them is caffeine sensitive.

Exhibit A: my morning coffee on the left, hers on the right.

400ml on the left, 38ml on the right.

We found the solution among the single cup brewers that have become recently available. The Keurig machine is great. It offers a single cup of good (not great) coffee quickly, and there are literally hundreds of K-cup varieties to choose from. Downsides; most K-cups brew a weakish cup of coffee, the machine is physically large and doesn't handle hard water well, and the K-cups are comparatively expensive. The Keurig is a great machine, but better suited to the office, or doctor's waiting room.

Around the same time, I bought an enamel percolator style coffee pot. I knew them from classic westerns where cowboys used to hang them over the fire on sunday afternoons on TBS... perhaps my recollections are foggy, but you get the point.

I bought the campfire coffee pot for good reason. My friends and I had discovered true backcountry hiking and camping. Instant coffee doesn't satisfy like the real thing, and cooking over open fire offers novelty. Like all the tough cowboys, I pitched the aluminum percolator in the trash and simply dumped grounds into the pot. Now that was coffee. The pot was bulky and heavy, but some hiking necessities are. Water. Batteries. Sidearm... I digress. As we became more seasoned hikers, the heavy metal pot was replaced by the lightweight, efficient Jetboil and handy french press attachment. 

What's a french press you ask?

As with most food and drink, the French figured this one out long ago. Enter the cafetière à piston, or French press. I had bought one a while back, intending to give it as a gift.  When we ran out of K-cups one day, I dusted it off.  Here's a novel idea; pour hot water over ground coffee, wait, and sequester the grounds in the bottom of the pot with a fine screen. Make as much or as little as you please, simply. Did I mention the cafetière à piston makes great coffee? While other methods filter out the essential oils or destroy them with too much heat, the french press robs you of nothing. I now enjoy my coffee more than ever, both at home and on the trail. All it took was a desire to improve the results of my efforts by exploring different options, methods, and perspectives.

I humbly suggest you let that last part simmer...
With some luck, it may help you improve more than your morning coffee.