Today we get plenty of ways to obtain that sweet caffeinated beverage. Today we accept coffee as a day-to-day necessity. However, when coffee arrived into Europe it was quite a commodity at first. Then, we can make an assumption that the consumption of coffee contributed to the renaissance. Since at the same time people switched from wine and beer to mostly coffee, this resulted in everyone not getting plastered every day.
Since making great no-sleep juice takes practice, skill and effort, let us discuss takeaway coffee first. The first brand that comes to mind has to be a lady in a dark green circle. They face the similar problem a lot of hotel coffee machines encounter. The coffee comes out without character, some people might describe it as too silky or even plasticy. For this reason many cafes resort to fancy stuff like caramel drizzles and similar crap, not to complement the natural taste of the coffee, but rather to create a tolerable flavor. There are however very interesting things one can find in these shops, so as a coffee aficionado don’t go around assuming to be better than everyone around.
I went to Lithuania for Christmas. In my birth city of Vilnius I would constantly visit a coffee shop, right after visiting a bakery with best brownies, another Spillology writer recommend. The shop had this special called Snowman Latte. It was a hot Latte with gingerbread spices, brown sugar and caramel, also something else, unfortunately I have no idea what precisely. To put it short, that coffee was so great I would come there every day of my visit.
A similar thing happened to me in Prague. The hotel machine had terrible coffee and one day I stumbled upon this bakery that sold some great croissants. Next to them they offered something I have never heard before. “The Caramel Pride” cappuccino with caramel, topped with marshmallows and sprinkles. Sounds ridiculous I know, but that coffee tasted amazing.
In essence what I am trying to say is, there are many places that see coffee as an addition to baked goods that are the focus, or places that have poor coffee, but try to make up for it with varieties and additions. However, do not make the assumption, which I also was guilty of, that all coffee places are like that: uninspired, boring, poor quality and without any character. In truth, a lot of great places, like the Lithuanian “Caffeine” can be just as mainstream and still deliver a great product.
But let us assume you do not want to pay as much money for something you might consume every day. So let us talk about the making of wakey wakey eggs and bakey elixir.
Starting off with our beans. Do not bother to learn all the types of coffee beans like the subtle differences between Arabica and Robusta. You can look into them to get a rough idea of what you might like, but it all comes down to flavor. As with cigars, same with coffee, flavor is the combination of taste and aroma.
If you pick coffee beans, I would strongly recommend getting them whole and grinding them down into powder yourself, ideally as close to brewing as possible. Also try finding out when they were roasted, since the prime qualities of roasted coffee manifest themselves for roughly 15-30 days after roasting.
Now I will assume that you own a stovetop espresso maker or at least a kettle, if not get both. First let us talk about the espresso maker. You simply fill the bottom chamber with water. The middle part, the filter, gets filled with ground coffee. Be careful and add plenty of it. Under-filling may cause brewing issues or even worse, weak coffee. Now put in on the stove and wait for the contraption to start spitting that sweet, sweet coffee. Be careful and do not turn the heat too high, because than you will burn the coffee. It will become less enjoyable and very noticeably bitter. Similar process goes with the kettle, but you want to use a separate filter, and let the coffee get more acquainted with water, also minding the temperature. But make sure you use enough coffee. When you pour the water, the brew has to be foamy, if foam stops building up, that is enough water. Now, enjoy your coffee with a bit of sugar, or, my personal recommendation, a bit of honey.
Now turn off your device and enjoy some coffee, please.