Coffee Subscriptions and a Dream

I have previously written on my blog that I am incredibly passionate about good coffee. I particularly favor light roast coffee due to its high caffeine content, crisp taste, and acidity. I have gone through many coffee subscriptions and different roasters over the years. I would like to share some of my favorite ones with you.

The most recent roaster that I have been subscribing to is Atomic Coffee Roasters in Massachusetts. I discovered this roaster by chance during a Google search one day. I typed in "coffee," "subscription," and "light roast," and this roaster popped up. Usually, when I search for coffee subscriptions, roasters send me various bags without distinguishing the roasting level. However, I have been extremely pleased with Atomic Coffee Roasters because they offer only light roast selections. Another great thing about this particular subscription is that they rotate the beans every month, so selections are always new. It is always exciting to try different beans from different regions, stimulate my taste buds, and adjust the recipe every day. By the time I find the best brewing recipe and method, I enter the following month's selection, keeping me entertained. This month, I am enjoying the Bali Kintamani.

Another interesting roaster that I have tried is Proud Mary Coffee USA. I chose this roaster because they offer experimental selections. They categorize the beans into four different categories: deluxe, mild, curious, and wild. Deluxe is their premium limited beans, and wild would be something that you wouldn't normally find at your local cafes, such as coffee from obscure regions, unconventional blends, etc. They rotate the selections based on their inventory and the crop quality, so I was able to try many interesting beans that intrigued my curiosity.

A friend of mine recommended Coava Coffee Roasters in Portland. I ordered Las Capucas and Meaza from them. They were solid and produced a great cup of coffee. My friend specifically recommended Coava for their consistency.

One of my lifelong dreams, besides music-related ones, is to roast my own coffee beans to my liking. There are shared roasting plants in the city where I can learn about it, but if I could simply do it at home, wouldn't that be even better? The fulfilling emotion I get when I equip my coffee corner with freshly roasted beans is something that one can't explain unless experienced.

P.S., share good roasters if you have any!

A Simple Skill

It’s been a while since I wrote here.  I have been back in the U.S., and things look a lot better now than when I left New York.  In March, I did not anticipate a global lockdown.  Nobody did.  No one was prepared for it, so everyone panicked.  I keep hearing that there is going to be a second wave late October or sometime in November.  All I can do at the moment is stocking up sanitizers, dry food, wines, and etc. 

But during the initial lockdown in March, I realized that having some kind of skills would enhance my indoor lifestyle.  A commercial-spec espresso machine was a panic buy in late March, but I did not get to play with it since I left for Korea for a few months right after the purchase.  Since I got back, I have been seeing a slight daily progress on making espresso.  It is not a big progress, so from time to time I have been pretty frustrated.  But knowing that I do not need to go to a cafe for espresso shots makes me feel better, and eventually saves me from spending money.

I am not a big fan of espresso based drinks with milk.  So I mainly focus on espresso, especially extracting as much flavor as possible.  At the moment, I have achieved getting the consistency in taste, but still more work is needed for luscious crema on top — given that the beans are at their freshest condition.  I watch videos of baristas and aficionados talking about their experience of mastering the technique. 

There’s a unique espresso drink I have been obsessed with.  It is a perfect summer drink.  Espresso Tonic.  It’s an interesting variation of Americano, but you mix espresso with tonic water instead of still water.  My initial imagination to this drink was not very positive.  But the bubbles of tonic water bring out freshness and crispness, and eventually add an extra kick to the espresso.  A nice way to kickoff my everyday indoor life.  

Tonic water’s bitterness can enhance the sweetness and nuttiness of espresso.  Unfortunately, the commercial tonic available in the market is too sweet because of added sugar.  So I am playing with craft tonic waters with or without flowery, herbal or smokey aromas.  Little extra notes can add another layer of complexity to the espresso.  The fizziness contributes adding refreshing crispness, and that is why I find espresso tonic is a wonderful drink for summer.  

A great and easy variation of espresso tonic is Cold Brew Tonic.  I always love making cold brew at home.  I love the tasty silkiness, and the boldness.  The silkiness definitely carries throughout the tonic water.  If you want to make it much silkier, then consider using sparkling mineral water (with relatively lower fizziness like San Pellegrino.)  I really enjoy the combination of cold brew with San Pellegrino.

I find that a very simple skill to brighten a daily routine would become very useful during a difficult time like this.  The skill will be still handy even after the pandemic.  

drug of my choice

Introduction: It's been a little over a month since I started leisurely drinking coffee again. I am back on the journey of visiting my favourite cafés and bean shops in the city. Every trip has been filled with a great pleasure of re-visiting those good ol' places and discovering new ones to call emotional home. All suggestions for good coffee places are welcome.  

1.1: I never disliked the taste of coffee. In fact, I loved it and I knew exactly what kind of coffee I wanted to drink. I, however, was never a fan of caffeine crash: jitters and multiple rollercoaster rides of random thoughts. Caffeine crash was one of the main reasons why I decided to give up the joy of drinking coffee. I chose not to drink coffee because I wanted to avoid those symptoms. I picked a better performance in life over coffee. 

1.2: My story sadly does not end here because of

2.1: A dilemma I faced: I need caffeine in the morning, oy.

2.2: Someone who's go-to beverage is not coffee recommended me drinking black tea in the morning. I wasn't sure whether my issues were coming from caffeine or psychological reasons or whatnot, so I decided to give it a go. Yes, and! 

• Black tea of my choice (English, Irish or Scottish Breakfast / Blend / French Lavender Earl Grey)

• 1 tsp of cane sugar

• 2-3 tbsp of whole milk

3.1: It worked. It really did. Black tea instantly became something I ...

• worshiped

• adored

• lived on

• mentally relied on

3.2: So I started labeling myself as a tea person until I came to the realisation. 

4.1: My consumption of caffeinated tea was increasing day by day that I started having the caffeine crash.

4.2: Two things from this experience:

1. I can prove that my issues were coming from caffeine overdose, duh. "Too much is as bad as too little."

2. In the past, I didn't commit myself to giving up coffee; and I proved that the full-time tea drinking habit also has the same effect on me just like coffee. It's not about the source of caffeine, it's about how much I consume. Psychological comfort was given when I falsely believed that drinking tea might not have a negative effect on me whatever the reason was.

5.1: That's my story. The conclusion is that I love coffee, and I still love tea.

5.2: You will be hearing me saying "Espresso please!" more often though. But do stop me when you feel that I start drinking too much coffee or tea.

Postscript: all suggestions for good coffee/tea shops are welcome! 

Molto espresso!