Sharing stories about coffee, stories, and stoke
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Brew Methods
You’ve seen them. Perfectly edited photos of beautiful people exploring and adventuring outdoors. The sun perfectly peeks over the ridge and kisses the now illuminated figure who wistfully stares at the valley below. The flannel shirt is perfectly tied around the waste, trucker hat is on backwards, and the colors of the whole image look too good … too real to be real.
Trends and fads are ever-changing. As soon as you seem to catch up they move right out from under you … with the ferocity of getting the rug pulled right out from under you. You land on the ground with a dull thud. Ouch. Sometimes these fads last but a few weeks. It was like a radiant comet shooting across the night time sky, but it vanished as quickly as it came. Some trends last a few years. You may have held out (and still do) of the whole skinny jeans thing. Finally after resisting for years you bought a pair of slim (not super skinny, mind you) pants from Old Navy, but all of a sudden you’re noting baggy is trickling back in.
For many, coffee is a utilitarian substance in the same manner as gasoline is for our cars. Both are meant to provide fuel and as far as associations that is the beginning and the end of it. Sure, depending on the type of engine we have, it may necessitate a higher grade fuel. But it is still fuel. Why is coffee viewed that way?
I drink coffee every morning. I have my routine. I measure out 18 grams of coffee and grind it using a hand grinder so as to not wake anyone up. I brew with 280 grams of water at 202 degrees using a v60 pourover set-up. I love it. It’s great. It tastes wonderful. But … when that same routine is done outdoors? Wonderful turns into A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! What is it about drinking coffee outside that is so rewarding?
Is there such a thing as the PERFECT cup of coffee? I’m sure many would argue there is, particularly those within the coffee roasting world which is replete with cuppings, scoring, rating, testing, extracting, and more. But what about the “commoner?” You know … us. Where we know what we like in coffee, how we like it, and more. I was thinking about this recently.
I had it all planned out. A family hike, a new trail (to us), and all of the essentials to make trailside coffee. Coffee (check). Grinder (check). Water (check). Scale (check). GSI Java Drip for pourovers (check). Coffee mug (check). Camera to document our excursion (check).
Looks good right?
But … I forgot my Jetboil to heat the water (slaps forehead).
