It’s dirty.
It looks like watery sweet tea, usually has mysterious floaters, and is just kinda existing but making no impact. It’s, regrettably, Candace Coffee.
It sickens my Mister because, Hubs, he digs REAL coffee. Like, in a very major (and almost alarming?) way. He snubs the pre-ground flavored crud that sloshes out of my crusty mini coffee maker each morning. Not to make matters worse but I suspect that percolator of mine is harboring an army of composting coffee grounds and on the lam sea monkeys. Seriously.
In fact, Hubs considers my coffee making habits criminal and has been warning the far and near to not drink the “water”, for fear they’ll catch a Bad Case of Candace Coffee Complacency. Also, apparently I got on the Alliteration Train and never got off at my stop. Sorry.
So, want to see what really good coffee is all about? Let’s learn together (and get tshirts made so we can be reminded of this cherished time).
It starts with green beans. Not those. But, these ones:
I was tempted to put them in a soup with a ham bone but Hubs got agitated by the suggestion. He buys these wonderful beans from Sweet Maria’s – a great little company that hand selects the finest coffee farms (in a morally conscious way) and sells them to fanatics like my other half. He then takes these green nuggets of fortune and roasts them.
Today’s roast: Ethiopia Wet Process Guji Oromo
The roasting does a few things. It caramelizes the sugar in the beans, encourages the strong oils to journey outward and causes the moisture to escape. Also, the ‘husk’ of the bean (called the chaff) burns off.
And, that burning chaff, my friends, smells slightly disagreeable. No, actually, it reeks. It smells like burnt popcorn and has the tendency to linger like my break outs. That’s why I kindly request he does his roasting in our garage, which he finds very glamorous.
Ooh, they are all done getting their roast on. Now, they must rest. I rest too, just because.
After a little while and some trashy TV, Hubs packs his goodies away.
I know this may have caught you off guard, but you have just now time traveled to the next morning.
Hubs takes his freshly roasted beans and grinds them up. I admit, they smell ridiculously good.
Finally, the step our caffeine headache has been yearning for: making the actual coffee. This is an involved hobby, no?? Hubs uses the Aeropress. It’s like the French Press but from outer space. The difference (and why the Hubs decided to go with it) is the Aeropress has an extra filter for the cholesterol-raising oil that is known to sneak through the French Press. This makes me happy because I am planning on kickin’ it with the Hubs for a lifetime. And I want that lifetime to be long and cholesterol friendly.
The glorious sweet first sip!!
The moral of my story: Let the Hubs brew you up something special and politely decline if I wander in and offer to share the concoction living inside my travel mug.
But, love me anyway because sharing is still sharing, mmmkay?
