PART I: Buying the Coffee
I recently used up all the ground coffee in my cupboard. I still have K-cups, but I like to make a pot of coffee on weekends and when I am working from home. When I went to Whole Foods to buy my favorite lotion, I walked right into the coffee aisle. Who am I to say no to such a serendipitous situation?
There was a nice coffee selection at Whole Foods, including a whole bunch of locally roasted coffees. The one I chose is from Caffe Ibis, the Columbian Huila.
My friendly co-worker, Marta, has told me that her favorite coffee is from Caffe Ibis. This is the coffee served at Dancing Cranes, a funky store in the Sugarhouse area. I was pleased with my choice, and excited about having a cup of this coffee on Monday morning.
PART II: Seeing the Problem, Solving the Problem
On Monday morning, with great anticipation, I opened the new, fresh bag of coffee. The aroma wafted out of the bag before it was even properly opened. I pried the seam apart, closed my eyes and took a deep sniff. It smelled so nice! I opened my eyes, and what did I see? Beans. Whole coffee beans. In my excitement, I didn’t notice that the bag I bought was whole beans, not grounds.
At this point, I have two options. I can take the beans to the local grocery store and use the coffee grinder there, or I can go ahead and purchase my own grinder. Was I ready to make a commitment to own a grinder? I have heard that freshly ground beans are the absolute best (more words of wisdom from Marta), but am I a coffee drinker who owns a grinder?
The answer, my friends, is yes, I am that coffee drinker. I recently received an Amazon gift card, so I decided to use it on a fairly inexpensive Black & Decker coffee grinder. It would arrive on Tuesday. The coffee would have to wait until Wednesday.
(Don’t worry! I still had a cup of coffee on Monday. I have the K-cups, remember?)
PART III: The Happy Ending
I got up early on Wednesday morning. My plan was to sit out on the deck with a book and some coffee for a few minutes before I logged in for work. I’d read the grinder instructions the night before, and I was ready to go.
The grinding part is pretty easy. You put the beans in, you put the lid on, you press the button, you give a little shimmy-shake to the grinder, and repeat until you have a nice medium grind. I put the fresh grounds into the coffee maker, and added a pinch of salt.
Wait. What? Salt?
Remember my friendly co-worker, Marta? She told me about adding a pinch of salt to the coffee because, she said, it cuts the alkalinity. My other friendly co-worker, Wendy, said that her doctor recommended putting a pinch of baking soda in the coffee grinds because it cut the acid. Of course I had to GTS. Click here to read about salt in the coffee, and click here to read about baking soda in coffee.
It seemed like it took forever for the coffee to brew that morning. I was standing next to the machine with my cup in my hand. Finally, the dripping stopped. I poured the coffee into my mug. I added a bit of milk and some sweetener. The first sip is usually bitter, but not that day. The first sip was smooth and flavorful. The rest of the cup was so good that I even mentioned to MT, “Damn! That’s a good cup of coffee!” The next cup was just as good, and so was the third cup!
And yes, I did go out on the deck with the coffee and the book. What a great way to start the day! I think I’m getting used to this coffee drinking thing.
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