Archive of posts from 2021/04 📝

This post is about two or so months old but I think this post is worth sharing nonetheless.

Every so often I sit down and watch a documentary about coffee. From watching documentaries I have learned a lot about coffee. For instance, the Aeropress documentary made me aware of all of the prototypes that were developed before the Aeropress design was finalised.

World Aeropress Championships are renowned in the coffee community for being a fun, light-hearted competition, but with a serious side too. Competitors aim to brew the best cup of Aeropress coffee they can. Aeropress championships are open to anyone, from beginners who have never used an Aeropress before (as you will see in the interview!) to seasoned coffee brewers.

About a week ago, my cloth Aeropress filter arrived from The Cloth Filter Co. I bought the filter because I was curious about cloth filtration and also because a roaster from whom I was buying coffee, Glen Lyon, happened to sell one. Cloth filtration was on my mind for a while, to the extent that I seriously considered purchasing a Nel dripper, and I thought a cloth Aeropress filter would be the cheapest way to try cloth filtration.

Over the last few weeks, I have been brewing using almost exactly the same recipe when I choose to use my Aeropress (which has been my go-to brewer recently). There are times when I really want to explore brewing variables but at the moment I just want to make some good cups of coffee. I have arrived at a recipe which I can use to make good cups of coffee consistently and that's what matters to me the most right now.

Standart Magazine is a print publication that writes about coffee, from coffee culture to issues facing the industry. The publication is aimed at anyone who loves coffee, not just industry professionals. I have quickly grown to appreciate the depth of content in Standart and have read many issues this year.

I have been thinking a lot about accessibility in coffee and so I have been chatting with people about how they share their coffee knowledge. I recently spoke with Jordan Harvey, a barista support representative and trainer for Grumpy Mule. Jordan is also a volunteer for the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA) and a committee member at the Kore Directive, a coffee community of feministic diversity allies.

Written by Durian Sukegawa, Sweet Bean Paste is a book I struggled to put down, filled with twists and moments that made me ponder isolation, being a member of society, and pursuing an interest despite the challenges ahead. The book starts by setting the scene, where Sentaro, a man who makes dorayaki, a sweet pancake made with sweet bean paste, sees an old woman staring at the shop where he works, Doraharu. Over time, Sentaro engages with this woman, finding out that she was a confectioner capable of making sweet bean paste.

This article is a few months old and has been in my drafts for a while. I think there's some interesting insights in this post so I thought it would be worth publishing this article.

I used to think that you needed at least one piece of equipment—like a Hario cold brew bottle—to make cold brew at home. I recently tried to brew cold brew in a "chilly bottle," which I kept in the fridge for just over 12 hours to brew. The result was a delicious cup of coffee.