What Is and What Will Be

If you haven't guessed from the title of this page, you have stumbled (accidentally or otherwise) upon what will come to be an outlet for a college student's musings about one of the most important beverages in existence.  Perhaps primarily due to its abundance of caffeine, coffee has come to be a staple of the college student’s diet, and yet I have found that many college students, perhaps even a majority, are in the dark as to what they’re actually drinking.  Millions of people walk into chain-cafés every day and overpay for weak, stale, and/or foul-tasting swill, and few ever complain.  Millions of people are perfectly content with their bitter medicine so long as it helps them to wake up in the morning, to get through the day, or to keep them awake through the night.  I can’t hope to help millions of people, but if I can reach a mere handful of people and show them what they’re missing out on, this blog will have been worth the effort.

First, let me quickly introduce myself before I outline my goals in creating this blog.  My name is Eric, and I am currently a freshman at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.  I have no idea what I’m going to major in, so please don’t ask (unless you want to hear me ramble for an hour or two about why I can’t make up my  mind), but if I could minor in coffee, I would.  I grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and I still return every so often to visit my family during vacations, and my girlfriend every other weekend.  I started drinking coffee during my freshman year in high school primarily for the caffeine, but I would learn to appreciate the drink in Europe during the summer before sophomore year.

It seems that all of my peers took something away from my high school choir’s tour through Austria and Germany.  Some were inspired by the incredible history, or the grand architecture, others found themselves never wanting to leave the surreal splendor of the Alps.  Although I appreciated these things, I don’t think anything made quite as lasting of an impression as my morning coffee one breakfast in Innsbruck.  I had been up late the night before and had rehearsals scheduled all through the day, so in order to wake myself up, I poured myself a mug of coffee.  As I lazily took that first slurp, a host of flavors washed over my palette, the likes of which I had never before experienced.  For once, my coffee wasn’t weak nor was it overwhelmingly bitter!  It had taste and texture and I found myself not needing to sweeten it with sugar or thicken it with cream.  Perhaps it was partially the romance of being in Austria, but I swear those cups of coffee may have been the best I can remember.

For years I tried to recreate those sensations, those tastes.  I discovered the french press sophomore year and started grinding coffee coarse with a blade grinder.  I tried coffee from grocery stores and coffee shops, and slowly but surely found myself recognizing new flavors in every cup.  Finally, the Summer before college, my girlfriend gave me a Bialetti Moka Express for my birthday and I found myself closer to that Austrian cup than I had ever been before.

These days, I brew coffee one of two ways: in my Bialetti Moka Express or in my Bodum french press.  I always grind my beans immediately before brewing using a small Zassenhaus coffee mill (both pictured above), and I try to only brew with beans roasted within a week or so.  Trust me, if you can grind your beans fresh and acquire them freshly roasted, the taste of your coffee will improve 200% regardless of your brewing method.

Now then, a few quick goals of this blog include:

1. Improving the quality of coffee of all who read this blog by sharing what I have learned in my coffee exploits.  I intend to do this by reviewing different coffees (blends and single origins) from a variety of stores and geographic locations, sharing brewing tips I have picked up, and offering more general suggestions on the topic of enjoying coffee.
   
2. Saving college students (and others) money!  You don't need to spend $1000 on an espresso machine to completely replace starbucks!  You can make superior tasting coffee for far less!
   
3. Generating discussion about coffee farming.  I hope to discuss the issues facing coffee farmers, and the issues of sustainable and eco-friendly coffee growing.
   

Alright, well, that's enough for now.  Later on tonight or tomorrow, I'll start things off with my first coffee review.

Looking forward to getting this thing going,

Eric