TaoMeow on Coffee

[Marblehead]

... that doesnt make me crabby.

I am naturally crabby. Coffee negates that aspect of me.

[Stosh]

I am naturally crabby. Coffee negates that aspect of me.

You must drink a lot of it.

[Marblehead]

You must drink a lot of it.

Yep, I do.

[Taomeow]

An interlude:

 

Taomeow on Coffee and Ayahuasca

 

Getting from Iquitos to the shaman's place in the depth of the rain forest took us almost the whole day. We traveled first by a rickety motor rickshaw (there's no cars in Iquitos because there's no roads connecting it to anything else -- you fly in, you fly out, and if you want to get elsewhere, it's the river or your own foot.) Then a nifty little scooter. Then, leaving the scooter in a house in a nearby village, by a rickety mini-bus, last stop at the last inhabited little settlement. From there on foot through the jungle, walking for hours, half asleep from a monster jetlag. Tired to the bone, we arrived in the early evening, and were shown to our place of residence, a wooden hut on stilts, with a steep ladder leading to the entrance. My companions went to the maloca, the ceremonies building, to talk to the shaman, while I decided to take a nap -- first things first. I took off my tall rubber boots (the terrain was muddy in places from the recent rain season, which was supposed to be over, but that's a separate story.) As soon as I did, a tarantula the diameter of a Frisbee flying disk appeared out of some nether depth under the bed and firmly positioned itself between me and the exit.

 

I'd seen a live tarantula before, in a glass box, the size of a child's palm, de-fanged and kept as a pet by a deranged friend of a friend in LA. This one was no pet however -- it was wild. The size alone was enough to have one re-evaluate everything she'd ever thought she knew about the nature and purpose of the universe. And then there was the blackness, the furriness, the menace, the unreadable immobility after a lightning-fast dash, the... THE tarantula. My first encounter with a life form of the rain forest had to be THE tarantula to end all tarantulas.

 

I screamed out a telepathic S.O.S.. We were two statues, the tarantula and me, I was afraid to breathe, it (he? she?) was apparently scrutinizing me for food value, we were both in suspended animation, each for her own reasons.

 

A minute passed.

 

Then I heard someone climbing the ladder.

 

An Indian woman, small, elderly, smiling, climbed in, carrying a pot of coffee.

 

Just a second before her appearance, the tarantula promptly hid under one of the rubber boots I'd just dropped on the floor, the one that was lying flat.

 

"There's a tarantula," I whispered to the Indian lady. She smiled and nodded, and set the coffee pot on the table, making an inviting gesture: for you!

"No, you don't understand, a tarantula... right there..." I whispered frantically, pointing at the rubber boot.

The woman, predictably and now obviously, didn't understand or speak a word of English, but she did look at the boot with encouraging curiosity, and asked something in an unfamiliar language.

"What?" I whispered, pantomiming incomprehension.

She translated into Spanish:

"La serpiente?"

"No! No serpiente! La tarantula!"

I must have pronounced the word with a wrong inflection or a wrong stress, because she still didn't understand. She made a very good impersonation of a snake, coiling her arm as though slithering through space, and looked at me inquisitively -- is that what you're talking about? She proceeded with a pantomime I understood perfectly well. You're afraid of snakes? You're worried a snake will crawl into your boot? Well, it's the Amazonian rain forest... shrug.

"No!"

I made the best impersonation of a tarantula I could muster. I spread my arms and legs wide and made a little crawling dance, then pointed at the boot, then danced the tarantula dance some more, pointed, danced... She finally got it.

"La tarántula?"

"Si! Si!"

 

...to be continued...

[Marblehead]

Hehehe. The fear of spiders was the last fear I rid myself of. That was one of the biggest challenges of my life.

 

I'll be watching for Part 2 of the story.

[Taomeow]

Hehehe. The fear of spiders was the last fear I rid myself of. That was one of the biggest challenges of my life.

 

I'll be watching for Part 2 of the story.

 

Have you tested your victory over arachnophobia on a Goliath tarantula?

 

Edited August 10, 2013 by Taomeow

[Marblehead]

What a sweetheart!!!

 

To your question: No, I haven't. I don't normally go around testing fate.

[mantis]

well i got my ibrik today and unfortunately it's broken already but i still managed to make a cup with it

 

i mixed the sugar, coffee, and water while it was cold and brought it to "froth" 3-4 times, the coffee beans i have make an absurd amount of crema irregardless (lavazza) but with this method even more so. the coffee seems much, much hardier than how it usually is on my french press, going to return this one and try placing an order at another supplier

 

this is the one i bought:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Turkish-Coffee-Medal-Handle-Large/dp/B002MQLFL8/ref=pd_luc_mrairec_01_02_t_lh?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

the metal handle came turned up at like a 45 degree angle and in straightening it, well, i need another one

[Marblehead]

Good to hear that you've won that battle. Does that include any fear you had of "goliath tarantulas?"

 

 

Hehehe. Why Y'all want me to test fate?

 

I do watch documentaries that include those big boys. Some are big enough they can take out a baby bird.

[Marblehead]

well i got my ibrik today and unfortunately it's broken already but i still managed to make a cup with it

Well, at least you got one cup out of it. That's good.

 

I'm sucking on some regular dripped coffee right now.

 

I still like the smell of perced coffee but rarely use my percolator. (I still have the one I bought in Italy in 1971 when I was stationed there. It is a 220 volt machine but I have a 220 outlet that was used for an AC before central heat and air was installed.)

 

On occasion I get enough people here at the house when I need to fire up both the drip and the percolator.

[i am]

well i got my ibrik today and unfortunately it's broken already but i still managed to make a cup with it

 

this is the one i bought:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Turkish-Coffee-Medal-Handle-Large/dp/B002MQLFL8/ref=pd_luc_mrairec_01_02_t_lh?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

the metal handle came turned up at like a 45 degree angle and in straightening it, well, i need another one

 

That's the one I was going to buy, until I read the reviews. I ordered mine (with wooden handle, though I like the idea of a metal handle better) today.

[i am]

Yes, pt 2, and video of making this style of coffee. Anxiously awaiting.

[Taomeow]

Thanks... coming soon!

[Marblehead]

Yep. I'm sitting here with a cup of espresso htat's almost finished. This is the second one this way today. NO, I'm not going to read my blood pressure. Hehehe. And yes, I will have a heck of a time getting to sleep tonight. If I was younger I would ask some lady to come over and rock me to sleep.

[Taomeow]

Coffee does not raise baseline blood pressure although myths of junk science and junk medicine abound. It does elevate it for about an hour after consumption, among its other multiple effects of the sympathetic-activation nature, but that is similar to the effects of, say, a hot shower, which elevates your blood pressure while you're taking it but does not give you the disorder. Long term effects of coffee on blood pressure are actually similar to those of prescription diuretics used to LOWER blood pressure, but without their nasty toxicity and dangerous side effects.

Edited August 13, 2013 by Taomeow

[Marblehead]

Yeah, I had to find that out through experience after listening to all the BS about it.

[Tin Yat Taoist]

I read through this thread and was impressed by the level of coffee knowledge here. Especially Taomeow, you know your stuff! I have been drinking the 'Bulletproof' style of coffee for a while now, with unsalted Kerrygold, and it is really a nice, mellow, yet still strong cup of coffee.

When it comes to coffee roasts, part of the problem is a shifting definition of 'medium' and 'dark'. In general, the dry-process African coffee tend to have a better flavor when roasted on the 'darker' side, but Starbucks would describe my definition of 'darker' as a 'medium' roast. South and Central american coffees, which are usually wet-process, tend to be better with a lighter roast. None of that falls under all-inclusive rules, but if youre playing around with roasting, its a good place to start.

And I've also been experimenting with cold-brewed coffee for a while, and here is my recipe. Take a pound of coffee, I prefer Central American varieties, and grind it coarse - as for a French press. Put it into a gallon-sized container, and add 9 cups of filtered water. cap the container, give it a good shake, and leave it out at room temperature for 16-24 hours. In my experience, it doesn't change much either way after about 16 hours, it seems to hit a 'saturation point', for lack of a better term. Filter the liquid and store it in the fridge for up to two weeks. When you want to make a cup of coffee, mix approximately one part of your concentrate to two parts water, cold or hot, whatever you are in the mood for. You can replace some or all of the water with milk or your preferred liquid coffee additives.

This is how I have been making my Bulletproof coffee in the morning - 1 part concentrate, 2 parts hot water, about 2oz Kerrygold unsalted, and mix with a stick blender. It also mixes just fine in anything you can seal tightly and shake, but if I'm not leaving the house, the stick blender is the convenient way.

[Taomeow]

Thank you, Yin Yat Taoist! Where does your recipe come from?

[Tin Yat Taoist]

Personal experimentation, but it's pretty close to the 'Toddy Coffee' method. However, rather than pay $40 for a glass jar and a plastic bucket, I use a glass jug and a brewing funnel like this one:

 

http://morebeer.com/products/funnel-8-diam.html

 

You cant see it in that image, but this nice fine mesh filter snaps into the funnel:

 

http://morebeer.com/products/funnel-screen.html

 

and makes it very easy to pour the brewed coffee from one container to another while filtering out the grounds.

[Marblehead]

And I've also been experimenting with cold-brewed coffee for a while,

That reminded me of making sun tea.

[Tin Yat Taoist]

I used to use a sun tea jar before I dropped the stupid thing, now I use a gallon sized growler jug. Until I drop that stupid thing, then we'll see what happens.

[Marblehead]

I used to use a sun tea jar before I dropped the stupid thing, now I use a gallon sized growler jug. Until I drop that stupid thing, then we'll see what happens.

Hehehe. Yeah, I am dangerous with glass items as well.

 

I should do a jar of sun tea. My mornings have been very good for doing that. I just have to be aware of the sugar ants. (But I like my sugar ants - they ran the biting ants off to someone else's yard.)

[Tin Yat Taoist]

Ha! I need some of those!

 

The main reason I have done the iced coffee concentrate lately is sheer outright laziness - I dont feel like bothering around with the aeropress or the french press in the morning. But I'll go without before I'll drink shitty coffee, so I tinkered with this til I got it exactly to my taste.

[Marblehead]

I never learned to enjoy cold coffee. It needs to be hot.

 

Tea, on the other hand, is enjoyable by me both hot and iced.

[zerostao]

i can drink cold even iced coffee and room temperature guiness. the first guiness i ever drank tasted like cold coffee to me

but as i finished that first pitcher i had gained an appreciation..this is no cold coffee!?

ever since i heard that jack white stripes do his cover of jolene, i found he covered this next song too, even eric burden , steve earle, frazey ford? nice organ, robert plant ! maybe i like his cover best? from the desire album was the first time i ever heard it, i like this verson tho

those little glass jars of cold starbucks are kinda cool and i reuse them to store other herb concoctions, dit da jow, all kinds of uses

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfRucZQSZMY