Coffee Posts 📝

As I write, I am in a comfortable armchair in an Edinburgh cafe, looking out on a rainy street. It has been rainy all day. I have been writing a lot of blog posts this morning, and an idea popped in to my head that I haven't thought about in a while: I would like for there to be a cappuccino emoji.

A few months ago, I reached out to Sprudge to see if they would be interested in an article on Edinburgh's coffee roasting scene. There are a plethora of high-quality roasters in the city and I wanted to spread the word about the great work they do. My article was published in Sprudge last week. In my piece, I talk about six coffee roasters located throughout the city and their place in the Edinburgh coffee scene.

I spent the weekend in York after making a somewhat spontaneous decision to visit the city this month. York is an excellent destination for people who enjoy history. There is religious, Roman, royal, political, governmental, and other roots of history to be found in the area. I am astounded at the age of many of the old buildings in the city. It's not every day you can say you saw a cathedral whose construction began over 800 years ago (York Minster).

I have been thinking a lot about pour over drippers over the last few weeks. I used to wonder what innovation was left in pour over drippers but recently my eyes have been opened to the opportunity left in this realm. There isn't a "best" pour over brewer and we haven't explored all of the design opportunities yet. As we understand the science behind coffee brewing more, I look forward to seeing more brewers that are based on the latest findings.

I was in Edinburgh last weekend for the first time in many months. It was nice to break out of my usual routine and do something different. I visited many coffee shops and two museums. If you are ever in Edinburgh, I would recommend visiting both the National Museums of Scotland and the National Gallery. If you happen to be reading this shortly before travelling, check out the Typewriter Exhibit at the National Museum. I saw not only a Lego typewriter in person (yes, Lego, and it works!) but many other interesting typewriters from history. Anyway, I digress.

If you talk to a coffee professional about how they can get the most out of their coffee, a common recommendation you will hear is to have the right grinder. Grinders impact one's ability to extract the flavours out of the coffee they have. When I first started drinking speciality coffee, I had a Hario Mini Mill. I made good coffee but I knew there was better. I could get much better filter coffee in a speciality coffee shop than I could at home. When I made a leap to the Baratza Encore, I realised a better grinder does indeed improve the taste of your coffee (as long as your technique is right).

For all of those that subscribe to my website in a feed or social reader, you may have been wondering why a few pages that do not look like my regular blog posts showed up. The answer to that is that I am now working on a new project: a MediaWiki for sharing breakfast and coffee recommendations to which you can post from your own website.

I haven't written about coffee for a while but I can assure you that I still drink coffee regularly. I am presently drinking Bale Mountain, this year's harvest of the same coffee that blew my mind last year and expanded my perception of what was possible in coffee. I love drinking coffee, talking about coffee, and meeting people who also like coffee. Recently, however, I have reduced my consumption to two cups per day, down from my usual three.

Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities. The architecture is beautiful, a mix of old and new. When I visit the city, I cannot help but be in awe of the buildings you can see. Some have been around for centuries. In addition, Edinburgh is full of hidden treasures. I often feel like I have only scratched the surface of what I can explore, despite visiting the city many times. One of those hidden treasures is the city's world-class speciality coffee scene.

Please note this project has not been tested, and is likely not going to be tested, on a real coffee pot. My implementation relies on an entirely fictional digital coffee pot. No advice is given on how to implement this protocol with a real coffee pot.