Joy has 2 coffee trees in her backyard that have never been used to make coffee before. I asked her if I could, and she was more than happy for me to try. Here's the whole process. And yes, this is my favorite post ever!
I picked the cherries off the tree. And because there were so few, I gathered some from the ground.
Each cherry has 2 halves. The cherry skin is on the right, the beans still encased with the slimy pulp are in the middle, and the dry "green" beens are on the left.
The cherry skin
Beans encased in the pulp had to be dried in the sun, and once dried I pulled off the dry casing individually.
The dry "green" coffee beans that have been de-pulped. Ready to be roasted!
The roasting process! I've been roasting coffee for a year and a half now. An easy (but not always consistent) way to do it is in a pan on the stove. Warning: open the windows cause they will be hot and smokin'!
The goal is to roast the beans evenly. This is much easier to accomplish with an air roaster, but when a flame is all you have, a flame is all you need. Just make sure to keep the beans moving around in the pan or they will have burn marks. And during this stage, imagine the coffee roasters of old, roasting coffee over their campfires, telling stories, and staring at the open sky while their flocks sleep.
All that work for this much coffee!
Just enough for one cup.
My nifty hand-grinder.
Meet the hand grinder.
And now, how shall I brew? It's Aeropress time! My favorite way to fully taste all the unique flavors of the coffee.
Meet the Aeropress. This little guy is the cheapest and easiest way to make an espresso style drink without lugging around a 25 pound machine.
And finally, yes! The tasting. Much better than I could've ever thought. I was waiting to be disappointed, knowing that I would still be proud to have done it all myself. But this coffee was the real deal! Smooth, sweet, almost honey-like, with some floral notes. Reminded me of some kind of sweet bread. As they say in Panama, "Tan rico!"
And to review:
1. Pick the coffee cherries
2. Remove the skin and let them dry in the sun
3. Remove the dried pulp
4. Roast the green coffee
5. Grind the roasted coffee
6. Brew in your favorite manner
7. Enjoy!
Thats so stinking awesome. Beats the hell out of my trip to Starbucks.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but at Starbucks they write your name on the cup. Anyone could have claimed Kyle's cup.
ReplyDeleteThat said, he might have attacked them if they did.
Kyle, that was fun. I'm glad you chronicled it. Something fun about seeing someone do something they truly enjoy. Lynea is a trooper for helping!
Remember when we talked about violence? Someone stealing this cup would have been the time to use some.
DeleteVERY cool! you guys will have to teach me the art of coffee someday when we actually meet up! :) Love coffee, don't know much about the elegant parts to the process. Love the step by step! and glad to hear the protesting is over!! Thanks for keeping us all in the loop it makes me anxious to get back out there and do something!
ReplyDeleteThis makes me really happy to see. I am jealous!
ReplyDeleteThat man look like Bill Clinton.
ReplyDelete-El Profesor Fondow
Someone Sometimes with visits your blog regularly and recommended it in my experience to read as well. water filter
ReplyDelete