An Ode to Fresh Coffee

Here's a poem from a man with good taste, who also happens to like my coffee. Thanks Mike.

Brookland's Jumpin' Joel!

When the yawns have got you

and everything's low

Not even the bugs annoy you

'cuz you're just too slow

At the Brookland Market you've got to stop

try out some Jumpin' Joel's Neuropop!

There are flowers and veggies

Politicians too

A stand with cupcakes

Topped wth sugary goo

But the jewel, the place you've got to hop

is Jumping Joel's Neuropop!

Now, I'm not being droll

The honey and jam are swell

Love the challah and bread roll

the sticky buns as well

But it just doesn't fly without the best crop

of Coffee - at Jumpin's Joel's Neuropop!

The Fine Art of Cupping

I am writing from murky coffee in Clarendon after spending an hour in the cupping room. Murky holds two cuppings every Friday. Although space is limited, the cuppings are free and open to the public. It's just one way in which murky has been working to spread the gospel of good coffee. For anyone who wants to learn more about coffee, it's a great way to spend an hour.

Cupping is not unlike wine tastings, but the coffee is not brewed in the traditional sense. Finely ground coffee is first assessed by it's aroma. It is then steeped in hot water for 4 minutes, and cuppers assess the coffee for fragrance, brightness (acidity), flavor, body and aftertaste. When you are dealing with really great coffee, freshly roasted, it is amazing how many flavors you can begin to detect. Coffee has more than 700 flavor constituents, far more than wine's meager 150. Different brewing techniques will bring out different flavors, but only cupping brings out the full pantheon.

Why I Hate Auto-Drip Machines

Okay, so I don't really hate auto-drip machines, but after months of research and testing the models I had at hand, I have come to the conclusion that the convenience they offer comes at too high a price.

So here's the litany of cons: The vast majority of auto-drip coffee makes simply don't brew at the right temperature, yielding weak and/or sour brew. The few that do brew to the right temperature are either very expensive, hard to get or aren't built very well. If you do manage find a good machine at a price you can afford, they are all built to brew a fixed quantity of coffee, usually 8 to 12 cups at a time, a bit much for the average household.

Another problem I have found is that the machine are not designed to be used with fresh coffee, which releases a considerable amount of CO2 during brewing. If you put in the right quantity of coffee in and it is less than two weeks off the roast, the foam or blossom from the CO2 is likely to back up into the water spout.

Suddenly, the convenience of an auto-drip doesn't seem all that great. For the same money or less, you can purchase a decent kettle, some manual drip cone filters in a couple of sizes and a nice glass-lined thermal carafe, giving yourself total control over your brewing. Others may prefer a French press (in which case I would recommend a grinder upgrade if you are still using one of the chopper variety).