After a number of weeks of tasting tons of different espressos (both blends and a lot of single origin shots), this morning I pulled some shots of Hairbender.
It was like coming home. Like a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. You know what I mean?
I don't know if it is just that I'm used to the Hairbender or that it really suits my taste - but for me it's the espresso version of comfort food.
So... this challenges my whole "don't stress the consistency thing in blends" stance as well as my "we're looking for interesting espresso" thing.
I used to believe that:
Some people drink coffee for social reasons.
Some people drink coffee for lifestyle/brand reasons.
Some people drink coffee for pharmaceutical reasons.
And some people drink coffee for culinary reasons.
Now I've realized that the truth is that we all drink coffee for all the reasons above, and for that comfort, that sense of "here it is." At some points, one or more of the reaons dominates and for each of us the ranking of reasons differs.
What is your comfort coffee?
What are your reasons?
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My comfort coffee:
ReplyDeleteEither a can of Starbucks DoubleShotTM or a Grande Frappuccino, again from Starbucks.
Why?
Cuz I like 'em. Calling either of them 'coffee' is a stretch, but my mind is completely void of any thoughts of coffee quality, tasting notes, or freshness. 'Comfort coffee' for me resembles a cup of vending machine coffee at a rest stop on I-95 on the drive down to North Carolina more than anything from one of the 'usual suspects.'
'Comfort coffee' for me lets my mind shut-down and take me back to the days when I'd put cream and four sugars into my 12-oz cup of whatever.
Maybe it's because I always hated coffee while I was growing up. Maybe it's because most coffee is just nasty, vile liquid unfit for my consumption. Maybe it's just because I now drink some of the best damn coffee that's available on the open market.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm just not one of those people who can easily or readily take any coffee "just because". Sure, it's nice to know that, as I'm speeding across Interstate America, I can swing into any Turnpike Starbucks and get a Caramel Frappuccino and it will be like the Caramel Frappuccino at the Starbucks close to my home...
But why would I want to?
One of my girls recently told me that Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino was her favorite and that ours should be closer to theirs. I'm an adventurous chap who's not above going to Starbucks, so I ran down to the nearest competitor and purchased one. Vile. Vile and nasty. What's that heavy bitterness? Must be the coffee. Too much milk for my tastes now.
I've now come to the point where there is no comfort in any coffee other than our own.
Innocence lost.
Sad to say, I don't think I have a "comfort coffee". Coffee to me is challenging. No matter what, I am looking for ways to improve the roast, brewing method, or something like that.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I can't enjoy is music. Since I spent years studying, performing, and learning about music, listening to music has become an intellectual exercise for me. While other people can chill out and listen to Jim Croce on a saturday morning, I am either completely focused on the chord changes and lyrics, or annoyed by the fact that I cannot be completely focused on the chord changes and lyrics. I truly envy those who can just enjoy music for it's own sake.
I feel the same way about coffee. In exchange for having my dream job, it has become impossible for me to just chill out and have a cup of coffee without overthinking it.
Peter G
My comfort espresso...
ReplyDeleteI fall back on the Leftist blend for its depth. I think the ever morphing character of a deep coffee is like a door way to introspection and really great when paired with the classic "Bustling coffee house " scene...you know, people chatting, traffic just outside, grinders, claking, music...and one nice deep espresso. It brings me back to why I got into all this to begin with.
Cause I love it (sigh)
-cd
My "comfort coffee" is a spanish latte at Urth Caffe on Melrose in LA. That is a little touch of heaven right there. Their espresso drinks (lattes and such, not straight) is one of the first espressos that I found to be consistently good, and it always brings me back to "this is what I love about coffee." And such great people watching. Saw Selma Blair there on Friday when I was with Michelle. (Good thing Michelle noticed her cuz I never recognize those people right away.)
ReplyDeleteThe more I try other coffees, the more I realize how good our coffee (Stumptown) is. Its hard to match or top. Maybe I'm a little biased, but damn its good stuff.
-Brent
Crema
For me, a comfort coffee is something smooth and thick, like a flat Brazilian (no, not without breasts). It takes me away from all the tasting subtle notes and just gives me sweet, thick, comforting espresso.
ReplyDeleteRight now my perfect comfort is enjoying the results of a perfect CCC Tuscano blend at the right age. Then prepaired so delightfully that when I drink I emmerse myself. The coffees richness envelopes me like I'm falling into a velvet cloud. I really feel it hold me somehow and that's been a real real pleasure to experience. Now if I could just team that with some great vista and an endless dawn or dusk while comfortably perched in a hammock I'd be set for life. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHey Peter, I know the feeling on not able to enjoy all your rewards. Being deeply rooted in technology I find it hard to not either overanalyse, deconstruct, be critical, etc of most everything digital I put my hands on. As well as having a computer animation background it is hard to watch 3d work and not to just let go and have the experience. That's exactly what I am working on though and with practice you get better at it. Just.. Let... Go, and breathe. ;-) It's like in meditation, you really need to shut down the left side of your brain so that you can be allowed to have an experience. The way I calm my left is to tell it that it can analyse what has happened in full detail once the session/experience is over and most of the time that saites me. Practice makes perfect right?
Anyhow, on comforts, I am a creature of comfort. My home is full of couches, my walls are warm, we like to cook comfort foods. Whatever waveform comfortable is I gravitate towards it.
-a
My comfort coffee is a macchiato at my "home" shop in Victoria BC. That place has incredible coffee and with the loud funk music playing in the background, it's hard to beat in my mind.
ReplyDeleteOr, if I'm in Calgary, give me some of the local micro-roaster's Papua New Guinea, and I'll press it. Oh yeah.
my comfort coffee kinda changes, but it usually revolves around a balanced central....uh, and it's always a slow brew, thanks very much.
ReplyDeleteSo right now, a killer Nicaragua is edging out the Guatemal.... but my husband will always pick Guatemala somethin-er-another.
For espresso, it's gotta be a single (Crescendo by Mocca)macchiato.
pure delicious coffee is the epitome of comfort.
ReplyDeletea little extra added comfort in coffee? thats the time for a touch of cream or a few ounces of silky steamed milk. a pinch of raw sugar.
all this vanilla frappaccino and that can of crap...
JUNK FOOD.
TOXIC CANDY.
its not coffee!
starbucks is a beverage corporation, not a coffeehouse.
as you confess to your SICK INDULGENCES, nick and jay, my faith in you is slip sliding away.
alistair
NESCAFE RED CUP.
ReplyDeletewhen i badly need caffeine, anything will comfort me. even a sip of nescafe.
"as you confess to your SICK INDULGENCES, nick and jay, my faith in you is slip sliding away."
ReplyDeleteSick indulgences? We'd better not get to know each other more than we do now, Alistair, cuz if you think that a Frapp is anything close to the sickest of my indulgences...
a breve macchiato. Its a rare occasion that I kick back and enjoy one without overanalyzing it, but when I can its slow bliss.
ReplyDeleteOn work days my first coffee is from roast cupping (anywhere from 15 to 30 roasts on the table). Hard for that to be comfortable as there is so much to examine and always the potential of ambient chaos in our tiny, busy space. But inevitably some coffee on the table will surprise me with its beauty, draw me in, and for a few freshly caffeinated moments all is well in the universe.
at what point will the fucking pretentiousness end?
ReplyDeleteMy comfort coffee:
ReplyDeleteStart with a dark-roasted somethin'... a bean that's really been toasted; but not to the point of being turpeny.
Brew it strong.
Add lots of heavy cream.
Mmmm.
three shot 10 oz. latte with metropolis redline blend. the perfect levels of milk and espresso, just the right size for sipping and not getting cold while i'm working.
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