The Journey of Coffee - Entry 15
D15.M5.Y19.
To Spiti Mas
Writing Challenge - entry 15
Up until ~'04., coffee was my go-to stay awake juice for getting through things that needed to be gotten through and quality sleep wasn't in the cards. In the following years, the use of coffee has expanded to also include lubrication for daytime quality conversations, filler between tasks and cheery on the cake after a solid night out.
Then something magical happened circa 05.'10. A few friends and I embarked on a vaguely orchestrated and excellently executed month long trip to some deserts and an ocean. I can't even remember what the purpose of this trip was originally, but it ended up being, among other things, a coffee tasting tour. It was this trip that really cemented my appreciation of great coffee. Up to this point, I mostly drank Turkish coffee when it was available, or filter with cream and sugar when it wasn't. On this trip I discovered siphon coffee. I wasn't able to tell the difference in taste between the siphon and filter, but I was thoroughly amused with the setup. Once the trip was over, my roommates and I got a siphon coffee set. In order to make any use of it we decided it best to also get a coffee grinder and source out fresh beans from local roasters. This started a semi-snobbish obsession with quality coffee. Over time, I developed the taste and flavor for different beans, different brew methods and also different ways to spice it all up.
There once was a time I went to a chocolatier with my family. They made all sorts of different chocolates, mignons, hot chocolate drinks and various other sweets. They also served this very thick hot beverage. It was a shot called Elixir of Gods. Most variations of this beverage that I've seen are advertised as Mayan hot chocolate. It is full of exotic spices, chilly peppers, cacao and lots of magical goodness. My father was also very fascinated with this drink and bought powdered version they sold in the store. He was never able to reproduce the results from the chocolate shop, but it had set us both on a path of trying to achieve similar levels of euphoria with coffee. I've experimented quite a lot with different spices, cacao and spicy peppers in my coffee in efforts to improve it. Now days, I sometimes make my coffee Turkish with a good amount of nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cacao and maple syrup; but without losing appreciation of a cup of really good plain black coffee.
A side effect of coffee fascination is that travel to just about anywhere results in excellent coffee discoveries. It was the trip to Italy that taught me to appreciate bubbles in coffee. In particular, I really began to appreciate a good cappuccino. Trip to Nepal was a nice introduction to the Himalayan coffee. Many other trips included coffee hunting detours which led to discovering many incredible cafés. These detours became an essential part travel.
My favorite thing of all about this black gold is the morning meditation. In the silence before the day comes to life, people start roaming the streets, cars and buses crowd the roads and sirens deafen local communities, it is the most tranquil experience to sit with a warm brew and smell the proverbial flowers for a few minutes.
To Spiti Mas
Writing Challenge - entry 15
Up until ~'04., coffee was my go-to stay awake juice for getting through things that needed to be gotten through and quality sleep wasn't in the cards. In the following years, the use of coffee has expanded to also include lubrication for daytime quality conversations, filler between tasks and cheery on the cake after a solid night out.
There once was a time I went to a chocolatier with my family. They made all sorts of different chocolates, mignons, hot chocolate drinks and various other sweets. They also served this very thick hot beverage. It was a shot called Elixir of Gods. Most variations of this beverage that I've seen are advertised as Mayan hot chocolate. It is full of exotic spices, chilly peppers, cacao and lots of magical goodness. My father was also very fascinated with this drink and bought powdered version they sold in the store. He was never able to reproduce the results from the chocolate shop, but it had set us both on a path of trying to achieve similar levels of euphoria with coffee. I've experimented quite a lot with different spices, cacao and spicy peppers in my coffee in efforts to improve it. Now days, I sometimes make my coffee Turkish with a good amount of nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cacao and maple syrup; but without losing appreciation of a cup of really good plain black coffee.
My favorite thing of all about this black gold is the morning meditation. In the silence before the day comes to life, people start roaming the streets, cars and buses crowd the roads and sirens deafen local communities, it is the most tranquil experience to sit with a warm brew and smell the proverbial flowers for a few minutes.
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