Coffee

I sort of gave up coffee many years ago.  I was drinking too much of it and it was exacerbating my anxiety issues.  So I switched to tea.  I immediately got into loose leaf tea because that is the best tea out there.  At first I drank no coffee, and then, over the years, started to drink it whenever I went on vacation.

Recently we purchased a tear drop trailor.

I knew we would be vacationing in this, and I wanted my vacation coffee.  So I started thinking and researching online.  I discovered home roasting.

I've roasted beans in the oven, on the stove top using cast iron, using a heat gun, using a heat gun and hot plate.  My favorite way to roast is with a modified air popcorn popper.

Besides the obvious stainless steel sheet metal modification, I also bypassed the thermostat cut-off so that it can achieve temperatures high enough to get to second crack - look it up.  I can roast 85 grams in less than 4 minutes, but I usually prolong the roasting by switching the air on and off, while stirring to develop the flavors more.  So my average roasting time is closer to just shy of 8 minute.  If I want to roast a super large batch, then I need to use the hot plate/heat gun combo.

I get my beans from Sweet Maria's.
Great service, fast, wonderful selection.  Variety is the spice of life.

Grinidng:

Great little hand grinder hooked up to my drill.  I've since moved on to

It gives a more consistent expresso grind, and greater volume in case I ever need it.  I like immersion methods of brewing, but didn't want to use a coarse grind and so French Press was out.  I went with an Aeropress.  It can handle really fine grinds. I wasn't thrilled with the plastic or paper disks, so I replaced the paper with a stainless steel screen.  At least the plastic is BPA free.

Some roasted and unroasted beans:

I stopped drinking tea.  I limit myself to two cups of coffee a day, and that seems to work.  It is really good coffee, better than I ever had before.  The coffee in France, and Italy don't even come close.  If you love something enough, and you are willing to put in the effort, you can almost always achieve better results than any commercial application.

A cute dog:

A cute but camera shy dog:

Some Kimchi

The basil/cilantro combo is crazy good.
I brew beer

An Irish Ale.  Next blog post?