More Than a Cup-of-Joe.

How do you enjoy the world’s 3rd most consumed beverage historically? For years now I have been using an AeroPress to brew my perfect cup, and have found that the most elegant beans are those from where coffee originated, Ethiopia. My journey started back in 2015 when I became close with a coworker whose office showcased a temperature controlled kettle, food scale, burr hand grinder, and AeroPress. Besides the fact that I was distracted auditorily by him every day while he grinded beans, I gradually also became distracted by the fragrance that emitted from his office: a smell that was completely different than my k-cup brew or walking into a Starbucks. And of course, like any true lover of quality coffee, once I started showing interest, he began bringing in pour overs every morning and sometimes in the afternoons to taste test different varietals, from different roasteries, and brewed by different local baristas. He got me hooked. From then on in I began researching the best local roasters, the best local coffee shops (living in Baltimore at the time), and went from popping in a k-cup and pressing one button to spending 10 minutes every morning making a single cup of coffee. Although most people thought I was crazy, some made the effort to learn what I was going so crazy about. Also, the more I learned and the more places I experienced, the more people I found in the quality coffee community.

Looking back I think that my passion for coffee and refining my palate to better understand complex flavor notes, inspired future passions associated with palate refinement as it pertains to cooking, wine, whiskey, etc. In a sense, coffee started it all for me! What I also realized was that my passion for coffee wasn't just associated with my enjoyment of the cup. Coffee kicked off my search for the quality in things, the origins of things, the culture behind things, and for others who have similar curiosities.

Here’s a challenge for us all. Why don't we take a step back from what we may consider our daily norms, like a plain cup of coffee in the morning, or our familial quirks, like the use of pigs feet in a broth or sauce, or simple interests of ours, like having a glass of wine with a nice steak, and let's make an effort to understand these unique parts of our lives. There is an incredible amount of enjoyment to be had when we embrace our cultures or our simplest curiosities.

What do you like about your morning coffee? Do you like it at all? Or do you drink it for the caffeine? What if you experimented with specialty coffee and tried to find more enjoyment out of what is already your daily routine?

Are our families really just “weird”? Is there a reason why we communicate the way we do, cook the way we do, gather the way we do? Is there something to be learned in the uniqueness of our families, something to be passed down or shared with others?

Why does a nice full bodied red pair so well with a nice steak? Is there a reason why some nice reds don't pair as well? Is it possible to identify these things to make sure my pairings are always spot on?

I’ve found that the more I question the normalcy of my life in hopes to greater understand, I find myself enjoying the simpler things much more. The more knowledge you have about a particular interest, the more appreciation you have for it; whether that be coffee, family history and culture, or the complexities of wine. Embrace your interests people, it is worth it!

Hope you enjoyed the week end read,

Dionisio III