All hobbies

Coffee

My daily science experiment.

For most of my life, coffee meant kopi. Then I started working full time, and caffeine became less optional.

I bought a V60, and what should have been a simple morning drink turned into a small daily experiment. In theory it’s coffee and water in, coffee out. In practice there’s a lot to get right:

  • the coffee-to-water ratio
  • grind size
  • water temperature
  • how fast you pour
  • how long it brews
  • the brewer itself

Change any one and the same beans taste different. So every morning I make a guess, change one thing, brew, taste and decide what to change tomorrow. Some mornings I learn something. Other mornings I’ve just made worse coffee, which is also data.

A V60 dripper, server and hand grinder on a kitchen bench by a window.
Three specialty coffee drinks on a counter beside their tasting notes.

Since the V60 I’ve tried the AeroPress, immersion brewing and a few other ways of making filter coffee. Espresso is the next rabbit hole.

Drinking from a small cup in a cafe with a weathered wall behind.
Holding a glass of milky chai on a terrace looking out at green mountains.
Chai in the hills. Different rules entirely.

The best espresso I’ve had was in Venice, which has unfortunately set the benchmark rather high. Until I get close, I’ll keep changing the numbers every morning.

An espresso and a camera on a table beside a canal in Venice.
An espresso and a slice of tiramisu on a metal table in a narrow alley.
Venice.