explicking the inexplicable

for me, making coffee is a creative process.

i start with green, unroasted beans and use my pal Smokey to turn them into the brown whole bean coffee that you've seen in the grocery store and at starbucks.

when i'm ready to brew, i grind them myself. whether I use Rocky or my Zass to grind them depends on whether I am making Espresso coffee or French Press coffee. If it's to be Espresso, Silvia does the job, otherwise my French Press (no name, yet, that's probably for the best) gets the work.

finally, it's in to the cup and drinky drinky.

I do have a point that i'm getting to.

i control nearly every single step in the process. the only way i could do more was if i grew my own coffee beans (not going to happen). i provide filtered water to make the coffee. i roast the beans. i store them. i grind them. i measure them. i dose them. i brew them.

don't be fooled by such words as "semi-auto" or "espresso machine". it's a machine, all right, and it's plugged in. but espresso brewing (and more obviously, French Press brewing) is more art than science. there are dozens of variables (ambient temp and humidity, machine temp (it fluctuates, even on really really expensive models (mine's only "expensive" not "really expensive" or "really really expensive")), grind setting, portafilter temp, portafilter shape, and on and on). not all of the variables can be precisely controlled. a scientist controls all the variables. an artist does not.

even lacking the artistic talent to make a good cup of espresso, there's a considerable amount of skill required to attain the level of decent. a cup of coffee is made in a mechanical device, but it is not a mechanical process.

if the end product sucks, i have only one person to blame. can't blame starbucks for the crappy roast. can't blame the peet's person for using the wrong grind setting. can't blame the teenaged "barista" for not knowing or caring wtf he's doing. it's all me.

so when, having gone through the long and torturous process to produce a cup of coffee, with so many opportunities for error along the way, i have a cup that is complex, delicious, with wonderful mouthfeel and aftertaste, it is a small miracle. a small miracle in a cup, every morning.

if you are involved in any creative process, perhaps you can understand. and perhaps you can understand this thought that comes to mind when i'm enjoying one of these small miracles:

imagine how much better this will be once i know what i'm doing.