Thanksgoating - Day twenty. Java Josh

capnjb posted some pics said
15

Today, I am thankful for coffee.

Occasionally my wife will ask me to make her a cup of coffee. It’s a pretty easy thing to do and I’ll walk you through the steps in detail so you can follow along at home!

First, you need to pick a coffee you want to make. Go to your stockpile of beans and pick one that you like. I’m a big fan of single estate, Kenyan AA beans. It’s a fun place to start.

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Today we’ll be going with this one!

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Uh oh! Those beans are still raw! Let’s measure out a pound of beans for the roaster. Thankfully I have this measuring cup that for some reason holds exactly one pound of beans.

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Now we need to take this show outside. Even though the roaster has a catalytic converter it does tend to set off the smoke alarms if you roast inside. You’ll need to baby sit it for about 30 minutes or so because it has “safety” features that require you to press a button every three minutes, because if left unattended, unpleasant fires can happen. It’s kind of like that computer in LOST.

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Once the cooling cycle has completed, shake the rotary drum for a few minutes to expel all the chaff. My wife doesn’t want that in her coffee! Then put the toasty beans in an airtight container and twiddle your thumbs for 14-18 hours while the beans de-gas.

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When your thumbs have bulked up, put your beans in a conical burr mill grinder. Preferable one with a low RPM motor. I think it’s an old wife’s tale, but the thought is that high RPM grinders create heat and over cook your beans while they grind them. I dunno… safety third.

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At this point you need to figure out how you want to prepare your coffee. Today, we are going to do a simple pour over. So get some water heating in a goose-neck kettle and grind enough coffee to fill the filter for your pour over.

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When your water is ready, pour just a bit over the grounds and let it sit for about 45 seconds to bloom. This just wakes up the coffee. Then slowly pour the water over your coffee until the carafe is almost full.

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Then let it rest a moment and collect anything you want to add to your coffee. My wife likes a little honey in her coffee so today we will choose one from the capital city of Ljubljana in Slovenia. Local is good too.

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When you are ready to pour, find the mug that your spouse hates the most. Significant others sometimes feel the need to complain about something. This gives them an easy out. Everybody’s happy.

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So. There you have it. A few easy steps about how to make a cup of coffee if you’re ever asked to do so.

My thumbs are tired.

Happy Sunday

JB