Making Coffee in Seattle

I wasn't really a coffee drinker when I lived in Seattle for grad school. Then I moved to L.A. where the 'best' coffee around was at Starbucks, and I rarely drank that. After moving back to Seattle a few months ago, I stopped at a coffee shop on my way to work (Zoka's on Fairview) and had one of the most beautiful cups of coffee in my memory. I've been sampling the occasional cup of specialty coffee at the various coffee shops, coffee bars, and coffee shacks around town ever since.

For Christmas, I was given ground coffee by multiple non-Seattle dwelling friends. I had never really spent that much time making coffee at home, even though I own a lot of coffee making paraphernalia. One of these friends was telling me about the fancy Italian espresso maker he got over Christmas, and it made me think, "Hmmm, can I make a good cup of coffee at home without the fancy machine?" So, I've experimented over the past few months with a couple of coffee making methods and materials to see if I can make a decent cup of mocha espresso without fancy equipment. Why mocha espresso? Because I had to start somewhere, and I like mocha espresso.

My base recipe for mocha espresso was as follows:
1. Brew espresso coffee.
2. Mix coffee and chocolate.
3. Taste.

Not too complex, huh?

Best brew recipe so far:
1. Make coffee in a stovetop espresso pot with distilled water.
2. Place 1 Kinder Milk Chocolate bar (second best is 3-4 Hershey's Bliss Milk Chocolate Meltaway) in the cup and pour the coffee over it.
3. Mix thoroughly and Enjoy!

If you're interested in the nitty gritty of my experimentation, or just feel like wasting a few minutes, read on for the details.

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Disclaimer: This is not a rigorous scientific study. This is me, messing around in my kitchen in the morning. These are my observations, and if you try these methods and get different results, then feel free to post your observations. I have no known commercial interests in any of the companies providing these products.

METHODS:

Coffee
I first set out to brew a decent espresso coffee. Only one type of coffee was used for these experiments: Illy Dark Roast for Drip Coffeemakers. I'll experiment with other grinds in the future.

Brewing Equipment
I've tried the following brewing methods so far: Drip Coffee, French Press and Stovetop Espresso Pot.

The Drip Coffee, which I'm calling the baseline, was made with 2 cups hot water passing through 1 TBSP coffee in a filter (per directions on coffee can). It was weak, watery, and pleasantly bitter.

I brewed the French Press coffee like tea. 1 TBSP of coffee grounds were mixed with 1 cup hot water (directions also per coffee can), then you separate the grounds from the water by pushing down the plunger and forcing all the grounds to the bottom of the pot. For those not familiar with the French Press, it looks like this:



I took two sips of the coffee, then threw the rest of the pot away. The filter didn't work well so I was drinking a coffee slurry. Plus the coffee was watery and bitter. It was stronger than the filtered coffee, but not in a pleasant way.

The coffee brewing method that worked best, and that I used for my subsequent testing was the stovetop espresso pot:



These pots work closest to those fancy machines. Basically, the water in the bottom chamber is heated to steam which passes through the coffee in the middle chamber, then the coffee infused steam is condensed back to a liquid in the top chamber. To make this coffee I put one heaping teaspoon of coffee into the filter and filled the bottom chamber with approximately 1 cup water. Then I assembled the device and put it on the electric stove over high heat. The coffee was done when about a cups worth was collected in the top chamber.

Water
I experimented with various types of water multiple times. The best taste seemed to come from distilled bottled water resulting in an even tasting coffee. The worst came from bottled spring water which resulted in a strong bitter taste. Tap water was more acceptable than the bottled water-- though the chlorine does make the coffee a little sour.

Chocolates
The chocolates that worked from best to worst were:
1. Kinder Chocolate Milk (German) which I happened to get at Christmastime
2. Hershey's Bliss Milk Chocolate Meltaways
3. Hershey's Kiss Meltaways
4. Trapa Supremo Milk Chocolate (from Spain)
5. Perugina Milk Chocolate (Italy)
6. Endangered Species Chocolate All-Natural Supreme Dark Chocolate (USA)

I also tried Hershey's cocoa powder, but the result was so impalatable that I don't even think it should be on the list. I was also surprised to find that the 'fancy', i.e. expensive, chocolates weren't that great mixed with coffee. They taste great as solids, but clump and don't go into liquids that well. The exception was the Kinder Chocolate Milk-- but that is hard to find and not that attractive as an everyday home-brewing option. The Hershey's Bliss chocolates were surprisingly good. The only issue is that they leave a slightly waxy film in my coffee cups.

Because I've run out of the Kinder chocolate and am too lazy to go to the gourmet store to get more, I've been using the Hershey's chocolates which I can buy at a regular grocery store with my bread and bananas.

Mixing
I tried both (1) Placing chocolates into a cup and pouring coffee over it, and (2) Pouring coffee into a cup and placing chocolates into it. I wasn't expecting much of a difference, but method (1) seems to result in a smoother consistency.

Future
Now that I've got an acceptable base recipe for the mocha espresso that I've been able to make at a consistently decent quality over a few weeks, I'm going to try cappuccino without a fancy machine. I'll also try different coffee grinds once the can of Illy runs a little lower-- I don't want too many open bags of coffee at one time since it doesn't last that long.

Once I've got my experimental parameters worked out a little more, I might host a taste test. Wouldn't that be fun?

Snow Day!

I woke up early this morning and checked my work e-mail. At the very top of the list was an e-mail that announced that work is closed today due to the weather. I have a snow day!



I sent out an e-mail to tell the instrument service engineers not to show up to work, posted the 'snow day' status on Facebook, then got dressed and went outside.

The last time that I played in the snow was on my birthday of this year. My sister and I specifically drove to Palm Springs and took the aerial to the top of the mountain. We hiked a bit in the half-melted ice-snow amongst the hundreds of other Los Angelenos who were slipping and sliding on the snow. Growing up in Wisconsin, we took snow for granted. In Southern California, we treasured the snow.

Not only do I get to play in the snow today, but I get a SNOW DAY! I feel like a little kid again. I don't have forgotten homework due, and I don't have anywhere to be today. I feel like I won a day of absolute freedom!

First thing outside, I was an adult and headed out the door with a broom and an ice scraper. I swept the snow off the stairs and front stoop. There was a layer of ice underneath the snow, but I'm hoping that the sun will melt it and dry the sidewalk today.



Then I brushed and scraped the ice and snow off of my car, and ran the engine for a few minutes to make sure it was still okay.



Then I walked around the neighborhood. I saw people walking their dogs and salting the parking lot.





When I got home, I made some warm cereal. It was something my mom used to make for my sister, brother, and me after playing in the snow.

While uploading the photos that I took today, I found the following photos on the same memory card. I took them in Florida exactly two weeks ago from today:







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What a contrast, huh?

Nomadic Living

I'm currently in Florida at a conference and I've been here long enough that I am homesick and exhausted. The problem is that I'm not sure where I am homesick for.

I was initially homesick for Seattle because it is where my current life is centered. But as I sat there with the sun and the tropical beachy environment I realized that I'm also homesick for California, Wisconsin, and a lot of other places that I have lived. I'm homesick for the coziness of living in a place where I have a history AND a future. I'm not homesick for a where, I'm homesick for a what.

I have planted and uprooted myself too many times over the past 20 years and this move to Seattle was supposed to last me a while. I planned on digging in and establishing my life in Seattle, but now I'm not sure that I can (or should). So if you move from place to place like this, where is home?

There was a reality tv/documentary type show on television about people working with the Big Apple Circus a few nights ago. Circus people move from place to place all the time, but they move with all their things and their community. Leaving the circus and living in one place for a long period of time is their version of moving away. I imagine it's the same for the nomadic people in Mongolia. The trauma doesn't come from the moving, the trauma comes from leaving the tribe.

So I guess part of my feeling is the homesickness for MY tribe. My tribe is spread out throughout the world and I am in touch with most people through e-mail, facebook, twitter, and the phone. I can 'reach out and touch someone' with my multi-function internet accessible cell phone. But that small cell phone device is a poor substitute for a real human.

However it seems right now that having a tribe is not enough to fully comfort me. I think what I really miss is a feeling of certainty and stability in my future. The truth is this feeling is all an illusion because we never REALLY know our future, but I miss feeling like I do. There are certain things that I have control over in my life, and other things that I don't. I accept this, but it would be nice if the cosmos would cut me a break every now and then.

Settling on land

I've been so busy with moving and unpacking that I neglected to post the following photo of the neighbors' houseboat that was decorated for Halloween:

From Houseboat

I've now lived on land for a few days and though I miss the scenery and easy commute, I really like my full (grown-up sized) kitchen and worry-free toilet. I also love the feeling of warmth and solidity of living on land.

One thing that I did take from houseboat living is the need to live with fewer things. I have been purging stuff and it has been relatively easy so far. However, I haven't gotten to my books yet. Purging books is always really hard for me. Would anybody out there like a contribution to your library?

Cleaning up and moving on

I'm on the houseboat packing up my things and cleaning up after myself. I took the sheets and towels to my land apartment yesterday and washed them this morning. I debated whether I should wash the duvet cover and table cloth too, but I'm not sure if they are machine washable so I'll leave them for the homeowner to clean. There is a clothes washer on the houseboat, but they have no dryer so the owner usually hangs the wash up in the bedroom to dry.

It is raining again. I'm going to miss the calmness of sitting at the table and watching the rain through the houseboat windows. I'm also going to miss watching and hearing the seaplanes take-off and land.

Did I get the peace that I wanted out of houseboat living this month? Yes, I think that I did. What surprised me was that it wasn't the quiet and tranquil peace that I expected at all. It was the kind of peace you get when you feel awake and life surrounds you and you feel full.

This was a great experience to distract me during the transition at work. I was able to escape (at least a little) from the day-to-day emotional turmoil there. A month later, people have resigned themselves to their worst possible fate and the roller coaster is moving more slowly now. I still don't know what is going to happen to us, and I'm still trying to decide what I will do IF they offer me a job on the East Coast.

Regardless, this experience was a part of Seattle that I will always cherish regardless of where I land.

I've now wasted too much time blogging, I've got to get back to sweeping the floor!

I am the slayer

At one of the floating homes I looked at for rent, the homeowner pointed out that a beaver was chewing-up the flagpole. In the week since it was erected, at least 3-4 inches deep of wood had been gnawed off. A duck floated by as the homeowner said that they saw wildlife all the time.

I assumed that I would see some sort of wildlife this month-- at least a duck or goose or fish. But all I have seen around here are spiders.

I've been fighting a constant battle with the spiders since the beginning. There were at least 20 spiders that I counted inside of the houseboat. I vacuumed and cleaned every day that first week and they seemed to stay away... or so I thought.

This evening I came into the second floor bedroom and turned on the lights. Hanging right over the pillow on the bed was a big spider (1 inch long body). I shooed it over to the desk with a piece of paper, but when I lifted the bedspread there was a big spider trying to run away. I'm not sure if it was the same spider or another, similar looking, spider. I couldn't stand the thought of spiders dropping onto my head while I slept so I got a paper towel and killed it (with apologies to you Buddhists).

I am not going to miss the spiders in this place at all. I thought they were all gone with the cold weather. I guess not. Spider kingdom: Stay away from me if you don't want to be squished or vacuumed into oblivion. I *am* the Spider Slayer! Oh, and Happy Halloween too!

My month of houseboat living is almost over. The weather is relatively calm again so I am going to spend tonight on the boat. It isn't stormy, but it is cold. It's 42 degrees and falling according to the marina thermometer. Those little space heaters are working hard, and it's probably in the upper 50's inside the houseboat right now.

It is funny how I have completely adjusted to the quirky features of houseboat living. I rarely notice the boat moving anymore even though I know it is moving, and that feeling of constant rocking when I am on land is starting to go away. I am also proud to say that I have had no problems with the marine head all month!

Would I live on a houseboat again? Yes. This has been a great experience. I'd even do it again in the winter--even though the storm the other night was a little unsettling. My experience has been fun, calming, adventurous, and really beautiful. It wasn't perfect-- which made it perfect for me.

Houseboat living isn't for everybody. I wouldn't live on a houseboat with small children or if I weren't able to crawl up stairs and hop over boards easily. I also don't think it's the best place if you are not already in good health since the exposure to the elements is sort of taxing. And as I've noted before, it's not for claustrophobics, arachnophobics, pack-rats, anti-socials or privacy-seekers, extremely tall or big people, people who get motion sick easily, and skittish people.

But besides that, houseboat living isn't as off-the-beaten-path as you'd think. It feels more natural and human than the 30 story concrete high-rise I lived in before the houseboat. Most of my high-rise neighborly contact was limited to small-talk in the elevator and the concrete insulated me from hearing other people. My houseboat experience has been the opposite. In fact, I hear my neighbors when they use their toilets. You can't get much more natural and human than that!

In a turbulent and crazy time of my life, houseboat living has turned out to be a good distraction.