I’m a coffee geek. Back in college, if I was in a library (which was most of the time), I had some sort of espresso beverage nearby. I don’t drink nearly as much as I used to, but it’s a daily ritual, at the least. I spent many hours in Clemson’s Cooper Library writing lit crit papers with a tall mocha from Java City sitting beside my laptop. In 2003, during a summer at the College of Charleston for a couple of Latin classes (Clemson didn’t offer them at the time), I spent much of my time in the old library.
Fast-forward to today. My wife & I stopped by the local Starbucks. We prefer independent joints, but the spring semester is finished at Clemson and the hours of other (independent) coffee shops are spotty. I ordered an iced mocha. I haven’t had one of those in quite some time, having developed a taste for the simpler iced latte. As I sat and enjoyed the drink, I started thinking about the summer of 2003.
Why? There’s a Starbucks across the street from the old college library in Charleston, and I would often walk across Calhoun to get an iced mocha. The taste became forever associated with that summer, those hours in the cool library studying Latin and listening to classic Chicago, then walking out into the sun and muggy air of Charleston. Iced espresso beverages vary in taste, and I know I’ve had an iced mocha between now and 2003, but not one from Starbucks. Taking that first sip from the straw really brought me back to a great summer.
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Two of my favorite things in one link: The Atlantic Monthly and coffee. Jerry Baldwin, of Starbucks fame, has written a concise manifesto for those of us who use the French Press, or press pot.
Read more…
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This is from my old personal blog, back in October 2008…
It looks as though I’ve forgotten about this blog. Not really…I knew it was here, I just didn’t have much of anything to say. My time has been consumed with my work. Consequently, my work blog (jonathanfowler.blogspot.com) has fared much better than this one.
Earlier this month, I bought a French Press for my coffee. I love it. The big 12-cup Mr. Coffee has been whisked away to the pantry shelf, waiting for company to come and the need for 12 cups of coffee at 1 time to be brewed. Truth be told, though, I’ll probably buy a 12-cup press for that.
I have taken a low-tech approach to many things…shaving with vintage (sterilized) DE razors, writing with fountain pens and vintage ink, and now, coffee. I have moved from a monster Mr. Coffee and Krups espresso machine to a Bodum press (two, actually) and a moka pot for espresso. The Krups gets used for steaming the milk, but I’ll find a better way soon.
Coffee from the press is one of those great things that you thought you knew but rediscovered. Beans I had used for a long time tasted different in the press-–more crisp, more alive, more intense-–and I chucked the Mr. Coffee after using the press just once. In the absence of machined mediocrity, I realized what the press had removed from my coffee. Plastic aftertaste. Burn, brought on by the warmer. Flat flavor. The press simply pushed these mistakes out of the way and allowed the simple process of water and coarsely-ground beans to come alive.
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