Tag Archives: Coffee

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What I’m Drinking: Anodyne Coffee, Colombia La Pradera

Coffees You Should Try

Colombian coffees are low on my list of favorite regions. That preference has been tested since I joined Trade Coffee. This is my third installment from them, from Anodyne Coffee, and the second coffee from Colombia that has surprised me with its flavors.

Anodyne Coffee, Colombia, La Pradera

This is currently what I’m drinking… mostly. I still have a subscription to Angel’s Cup Coffee, which sends me blind samples, helping me to refine my palate enough to determine origins and even regions of the coffees I try. That has been a very helpful resource for me.

But Trade Coffee sends me full bags instead of samples. And most recently, this coffee from Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co. has been very impressive.

When I received this bag, I wasn’t sure what they meant by the name ”Anodyne.” Fortunately, they put a series of definitions on the back of the bag. Adjective: 1) Capable of soothing or eliminating pain. 2) Relaxing. Noun: 1) A medicine that relieves pain. 2) A source of soothing comfort.

Sounds like they have a high view of the medicinal properties of caffeine!

Regardless, their coffee was an excellent example from a region that may be growing on my little by little. I have stated before that Colombian coffees are not high on my list of preferential coffees to drink. And yet, this is the second roaster that has challenged that opinion.

This particular coffee is a washed bean from the Santander region of Columbia, from Hacienda La Pradera. I tried various methods of brewing as I worked through this bag, and found that my Hario V60 pourover produced the most pleasing results.

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What I’m Drinking: Ritual Coffee, Los Gigantes

Coffees You Should Try

You may know that I’m a pretty big fan of coffee. I began this journey many years ago after having the opportunity to visit a coffee plantation in Costa Rica. Over the years since that time, I have explored and learned a lot about this amazing drink.

Los Gigantes, Colombia - Ritual Coffee

I have also discovered several amazing coffee resources, tools, roasters and more. I hope to share many of these resources with you, and even more as I discover new things myself. With that in mind, I’m starting a something new that will be a regular part of things around here. I’m calling it, What I’m Drinking.

Through these articles, I will share with you my current coffee, and what I think of it. I’m not planning on overwhelming you, but you can expect to see something along these lines once or twice a month.

Right now, I am enjoying a bag of beans from Ritual Coffee in San Francisco. In the inaugural episode of Random Ramblings, I talked about a coffee subscription service that I have joined, called Trade Coffee. This coffee from Ritual is the second installment from that subscription: Los Gigantes, from Huila, Colombia.

And I am very impressed with it. I have tried it various ways, but keep coming back to the Chemex for this particular bean.

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Coffeelogical

Because Coffee Always Makes Sense

If you know anything about me at all, you know that I love coffee. I love everything about it. It started off with an innocent fixation with certain second wave coffee vendors that shall remain unnamed. Soon I started seeking better coffee, and then buying it in bean form, and finally moving to various methods of brewing it, such as the Chemex or the Hario V60. I was hooked.

It wasn’t long before I began to venture into the arena of home roasting, using an air popcorn popper, with excellent results. This is where I have maintained my coffee enthusiasm… Until recently.

Coffeelogical Logo 

During the summer, I decided to see if others liked the coffee I was roasting as well as I did. So I started passing around a few samples, and the feedback was great. So I began to seriously consider launching my own coffee roasting company. And the result is Coffeelogical.

As this idea took off, I wanted a place where I could write and blog about coffee specifically, and display pictures of coffee and brewing methods, and more. But I also wanted to have the freedom to talk about other things as well, things that I like to talk about while drinking coffee, like God and theology. So coffee… and theological discussions… Coffeelogical.

As I was describing this to my wife, and before I could explain the meaning of my new name, she asked, “Coffeelogical? Is that because coffee always makes sense?” Why, yes it does. So we have a double meaning to the name as well.

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Making The Perfect Cup Of Coffee

A Brief History Of Coffee's Impact On The World

Coffee is the drink of choice for millions of people. Some love to drink specialty coffees or third wave coffee. Others prefer cheaper brands, such as you might find on the shelf of any grocery store. But few know where this wonderful beverage comes from.

A Brief History Of Coffee

When it comes to coffee, the legends of its origin are numerous. The most often attributed origin of the drink comes from the country of Ethiopia, and many coffees around the world can trace their origins to this region.

Ethiopian Origins Of Coffee

Ethiopian coffee has long been a great source of quality beans, and has been grown there for centuries. The legend says that a young goat herder named Kaldi first discovered the benefits of the fruit of these trees. While watching his flock of goats, Kaldi noticed that, after eating the berries off of a certain tree, his goats became very energetic, and wouldn’t sleep well.

As tradition holds, Kaldi shared this information with the abbot of a local monastery. The abbot made a drink with the berries and discovered that it helped him stay more alert during evening prayers. As he shared his discovery with the other monks, knowledge of the energizing drink made from the berries slowly began to spread.

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Angels’ Cup Coffee

A Coffee Subscription Unlike Any Other

In a recent edition of Coffee Break, I shared a new coffee subscription service that I had stumbled across, called Angels’ Cup. I was intrigued, and at the time I shared that link, I had not yet sampled their coffee. However, I now have, and I highly recommend that you try it out as well.

Angels' Cup

Angels’ Cup is a simple concept. When you subscribe, you will receive four packets of coffee from them. These are blind samples, and you don’t know anything about these beans other than that they come from highly talented and very reputable roasters.

As you brew and drink these different samples, you are given the opportunity to really examine the flavors and notes that are in the coffee, refining and finessing your ability to gather and identify the most subtle of flavors and aromas. You can soon become a coffee connoisseur!

However, in addition, and perhaps most importantly, in my opinion, you are given the opportunity to sample the coffee from some of the country’s best roasters, and enjoy some of the best coffee around.

And, best of all, you can save 25% off of your first order! I will share how to do that in a moment.

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Making The Perfect Cup Of Coffee – Pour Overs

My favorite way to make coffee is by using a pour over. There are several ways to accomplish this easily, and you’ll have a great cup of coffee.

Making the Perfect Cup of Coffee - Pour Over

There are lots of ways to make coffee using the pour over method. However, there are three specific ways of doing so that I particularly love to use. And each one brings different aspects of the coffee’s flavor to the forefront. Each of these three methods are very similar, but because they effectively brew the coffee differently, different flavors and notes arise.

These three different pour overs are the Chemex, the Hario V60, and the Beehouse. Of the three, the Chemex is my favorite.

Basically, each of these methods are accomplished the same way, and the device itself does the brewing work. The inner surface of each is different, affecting the turbulence created during the brewing process. It is subtle, but the difference is there for the discerning taster.

During this explanation, I will use the point of view of the Chemex. But the process is largely the same for each method. Begin by bringing your water almost to the boiling point. Water boils at 212 degrees. You want it just a few degrees below this point.

Place a filter into the Chemex. I prefer using unbleached filters, simply because I don’t like the harsh chemical residue that can be tasted in the bleached filters. If using an unbleached filter, rinse it with your water after placing it into the Chemex. This washes out any paper flavor, and creates a suction between the paper and the glass, keeping the filter in place.

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Making The Perfect Cup Of Coffee – French Press

Making the perfect cup of coffee isn’t nearly as difficult as many think it is. Sadly, there are too many people who settle for less than quality coffee, and too many mainstream coffee shop chains who cater to that mindset. A great cup of coffee is easy to make with a French Press.

Making the Perfect Cup of Coffee - French Press

Making your coffee using a French Press is easy, but there are several things to keep in mind as you do it.

First, however, let’s examine just what a French Press is. There are two main methods of brewing a great cup of coffee. There are several variations on each, and there are some more obscure methods that are possible, but most people use one of these two forms. There is the pour over, which we will look at next, and the press pot, commonly known as the French Press.

With a pour over, a filter is used, keeping the oils and sediment away from your coffee. This allows you to taste more of the notes hidden in the bean itself. A press, on the other hand, leaves the oils in the coffee as it is brewed, and gives more of a taste of the roast itself. Both methods have benefits, and I use each of them frequently.