Dravin

Hearing about other people's traditions is often interesting. When my wife and I got married we decided to start a Christmas Eve tradition where we'd pick a country and plan out a dinner consisting of items from it. We're making sure we've got the necessary ingredients for this year's meal and it brought to mind how comforting and fun family traditions can be.

So what does your family do this time of year (or any time of the year) that you look forward to and helps make the holiday feel like the holiday for you?

I realize this community is probably dead but I figured it wouldn't hurt to shout into the void if it is.

I enjoyed making my own yogurt in the past but got annoyed with babysitting my makeshift incubator consisting of a cooler and an electric blanket and stopped. Recently I took up yogurt making again but this time with mesophilic cultures. Being able to just leave batch of yogurt in a warm spot in the kitchen until it is set is just so handy. I'm also looking forward to trying some different cultures. I've got filmjölk and a viili cultures in the freezer for when I want to change things from the kefir simulate culture I've currently got active.

Tinker's coffee is making yet another appearance. It seems every time I start thinking, "I should order some more coffee." I'm getting a text from them informing me they just got a new coffee in. So I'm still happily stuck on the Tinker treadmill. As always I prepared my coffee in French Press using the James Hoffmann method.

The fresh grounds were a bunch of chocolate, generic nuttiness, and a tart berry fruitiness (so basically what it says on the tin). When I went to break the crust in the French press prior to letting things settle I was smacked in the face with a sweet chocolate. Once I poured a cup the nuttiness had reasserted itself but I really wasn't getting any of the tart berry on the nose. The tart berry popped back up as once I started sipping as part of the after taste so it certainly reads chocolate and nutty dominate for me. It isn’t the most intriguing cup of coffee I’ve had but it is damn solid and I'm happy with it.

P.S. Given sweet chocolate can be interpreted a lot of ways they really missed the chance to give brigadero as a tasting note given it is a Brazilian coffee. Though I suppose that'd leave a bunch of people wondering what in the hell that is (for the curious).

So can we talk mugs? I tend to make a half liter (~17 oz) of coffee in a French Press in the morning. I run into the problem that I get about a half hour to 45 minutes (I've never timed it this number might be wildly off) in before the, "Crap! Its getting cold!" moment and feel like I have to accelerate my consumption to avoid cold coffee when I'd prefer to keep going at a leisurely pace. I realize the most obvious solution is a couple of smaller batches but I'm lazy, easily distracted, and have a bit of a cutoff in the morning as my wife hates the smell of freshly brewed coffee and I catch a bit of drama if I'm brewing while she's awake or just before she wakes up.

I do have a Contigo Autoseal stainless steel travel mug that I use occasionally for cheap tea and it works well for retaining heat. I can sip on hot tea for hours but the lid has all sorts of nooks and crannies that retain coffee oils that is a pain in the ass to clean and it has a very small drink hole limits the orthonasal olfactory pathway (aka you can't sniff your coffee). The ability to take my drink somewhere is kinda nice but strictly speaking isn't critical for me.

So anyone mind sharing their experiences with features or even specific recommendations? Don't worry about if it is available in the US (where I'm located) I can always look at the features your favorite insulated or travel mug so it can still be handy to share. Or you may have a solution so elegant and obviously I'm going to facepalm when you point it out.

Overdue Update: I ended up going with a Carter Move and I'm quite happy with it. I appreciate everyone who gave me ideas and things to think about.

I used James Hoffmann's French press technique. So this is a full sized bag because they had a good sale on it and I decided to risk it for the biscuit.

So I got tons of green apple on the nose from the fresh grounds. Once it was brewed the raspberry showed up in a sort of jammy way and the green apple took back seat and lost the perception of acidity and became more of a regular apple for me. On the palate the fruit became sort of a generic fruit and the star was a nice sweet nuttiness. I'm guessing this is what they are calling cola candy on their tasting notes but absent spice and citrus it just doesn't trigger as cola (candy or otherwise) for me. All and all a very pleasant cup of coffee.

Tinker continues to leave me satisfied though to date my favorite offering of theirs remains the Jorge Rojas as cherry and chocolate are just hard too beat for my tastes. I swear one of these days I'll get around to trying another roaster.

Another batch of Tinker coffee. I think this leaves me having tried all their current offerings so I’ll need to decide if I want to look elsewhere to keep my sampling going (looks over at S&W Craft Roasting) or actually commit to a full bag. I got asked last time so I’ll state it up front that I’m just using James Hoffmann’s French Press technique. I realize coffee presents a bit differently when I actually use my Aeropress but I only pull it out for the rare afternoon coffee when my wife is out of the house*.

Don Mauricio: I mostly just got milk chocolate and a bit of fruitiness on this one. It was quite pleasant and I’d in no way turn down a cup nor am I going to find it a chore to finish the sample but it is not particularly interesting to me.

Jorge Rojas: The winner of this batch of samples for me mostly because I’m a sucker for cherry. I just grinned as I popped off the catch cup on my grinder and was just hit with the aroma of dark chocolate cherry. And that strong dark chocolate cherry stayed the star when I started drinking it. The melon showed as a sorta of cantaloupe-like musk on the back end. So a favorite fruit, some chocolate, and a bit of an evolution? Yeah, I’m here for it.

Laayyoo: A grape bomb for me, from grounds to sip it was front and center. The grape was supported by a different non-grape tart fruitiness and a potpourri quality which they’re obviously specifying as raspberry and lavender but my palate wouldn’t have picked them out as such. This came across as a bit muddied in my French press but trying it on my Aeropress helped sharpen things though didn’t bring anything new to light.

The idea that I’m not a fan of floral notes in my coffee is slowly being strengthened. I’m not going to write coffees with such notes off completely but I will be restricting any purchases to sample sizes unless things change. You might wonder why I’d keep buying samples but I enjoy trying new things even if at the end of the day I’m not a huge fan of them.

*For those who had a, “Whaa?” reaction. I find the French press to be more forgiving when I’m in a pre-caffeinated state. So shy away from the Aeropress for morning coffee. As for why my wife is relevant, she hates the smell of coffee so I only brew coffee when there is enough time for the smell to dissipate before she wakes up or comes home.

So I actually waited to try them before sharing this time. I'm probably being primed by the tasting notes on the package as I'm not doing blind tastings of anything but my quick thoughts:

Modor Lot 1: I get the grape and a floral character. Indeed I literately said, "Wow." when I went to brew it and I was blasted in the face with those smells as soon as the water met the grounds. There is more going on fruitwise which could be guava but I don't have guava in my experience bank firmly enough to tell.

Keramo: I got a rather faint and generic stone fruit and some floral character. This was probably the least impressive for me and part of that may have been the "mango candy" note that I was really looking forward to but didn't find.

Uraga Natural: I got a subtle strawberry and I'd call it more danish rather than doughnut but either way it was nice. This was probably my favorite even though it never made me say wow. Who doesn't like something that makes them think "Danish + Coffee"?

I think I preferred the first batch of coffees I got and it was probably because I'm not a huge fan of the florality which probably plays into the Uraga Nautral being my preference of the bunch as I didn't really get any in that. I enjoy florality just fine in wine and spirits but I guess the lesson is I don't really like it in my coffee.

I won't be trying any until tomorrow as they just arrived this evening but I'm excited and couldn't wait until I actually brewed them. It'll be my first whole bean coffee. I'll probably need to bust out my small French press though so I can get the grinder figured out with smaller brews. They're only 4 oz sample bags so its not a ton to play around with. I'll make sure to pop back and share thoughts as I try them.

As part of trying to move into the world of freshly ground coffee I've been doing some haphazard reading into tips in the use and care of coffee grinders. One idea that pops up is the idea of seasoning a new grinder by running cheap coffee through it before using it for real. Some sources claim it isn't needed with others recommending it. Of those that recommend it they don't all agree on why it should be done, how much coffee should be sacrificed, and just how necessary it is (best practice vs. essential).

I suspect that the lack of consensus may be a case of people chasing every improvement possible on one hand and folks not willing to invest quite so much effort to that aim on the other. Any insights and information would be appreciated.

I went to Marengo Cave with my wife today and snagged some pictures during the tour. It was my first time in a cave and it was an amazing experience. I’ll have to make it to Mammoth Cave when I have a chance and experience another cave.

Just a couple more images of Utah's wonderful geology. This time I was able to get out of the car and enjoy some hiking in one of the more accessible canyons.

This was taken looking out over the Monument from the Head of the Rocks Overlook.