Nice coffee day.

Today was just the type of coffee day I wait for.

I roasted a random blend of beans about a week ago that I'll never be able to duplicate and used 95% of that coffee for pourover. Looking at it this am I thought I had enough to pull a few shots so I clicked the little magic on button of the machine and set after it.

Somehow the first sniffs off the grinder I knew something cool was about to happen.

My intuition was right and the first pour came out like this:

Very well balanced shot and it didn't exhibit any singular dominant features it was just really good from start to finish.

I decided to have another go at it....less luck on the art this time at bat so you get the "artistic" look at this one. ;)

 

 With this shot I figured out what was going on. It is a delicate espresso in its punch into the milk. It's coming in on a very narrow slice of presentation that isn't super common. The balance of the shot itself and its balance with the milk is creating something of a super balance. 

These two shots made me really happy and I think most people would appreciate their expression. 

Half way into the first one I was thinking about how simple it was to make those shots and then I thought a bit on just how hard it really was to get to the point of it being so simple...

I thought about one of those saying that goes something like "it takes a lot of hard work to make it look so easy" or something like that. Maybe "luck is where hard work and preparation meet".

One of those things came to mind but really I was just enjoying those cups and instead of them being transportational type coffee they were more gravitational in that they really pulled me into the moment here and now.

The here and now of livin the dream that is. :)

 

 

Thank you Alton Brown

For about 50 things actually but today in particular I finally got around to making a steak the Alton Brown way.

I watched the steak show years ago but the reality is that I don't cook steak very often. Probably for these reasons:

1) The cuts of meat I normally had access to were never worth the effort.
2) My cooking techniques left room for improvement.
3) Adding the above points together = chewy leather steaks.

Some grass fed NY strips caught my eye today and I figured, why not? Might was well try the Alton method on some quality cuts and see what happens.

And I figured I'd place odds on my bet by crumbling a little Maytag blue cheese on top and throwing the dice.

Winner on the line!!  ;)

I did manage to fill up the place with a big cloud of searing steak smoke that wafted out the patio door and onto my neighbours so they could curse me for living the grass fed steak dream.

For sure the best steak I've ever cooked myself.

Light coat of canola oil, salt and pepper (I also used to Montreal).
Sear each side for 30 seconds in a blazing hot cast iron skillet.
Blast each side for 2-3 min in a 500 degree oven (in said skillet).

Easy, smoky, and pretty damn impressive results.

Thanks Mr. Brown!

My new obsession

Irish coffee.

And..

I've had Irish Coffee before...in an Irish Pub no less but I'm positive they didn't have coffee as good as this fresh roasted Papua New Guinea Peaberry I used, the organic raw sugar, the Organic cream that I whipped by hand 10 seconds before serving...

Most of the examples you get in a bar are probably using an auto drip machine and pre ground beans as well as a spray can of whipped cream.

To be honest I'd order an Irish Coffee as the last drink because I realized getting some coffee in my body was probably a good idea. It was as much a tactical move as anything not that I was digging Irish Coffee.

Well all of that changes when you control the ingredients and process.

I think this is a genius drink now and it's very enjoyable as an after dinner drink/event. The layer of cream is not only delicious it's actually a source of amusement in drinking the coffee through the cream and picking up the precise amount in each sip as you would want if you had some way of measuring it out.

Irish Coffee.... Genius!


I love it.