6. Functional, accessible tools enable great work
Several months ago my coffee machine broke.
I think it was because of a calcium build up. Calcium becomes less soluble when heated up, so when the machine heats the water to make it into coffee, a little bit gets stuck. Over time, it builds up and blocks the water. This is what happened with mine.
I tried to clean it, but it didn’t work. You clean it by soaking the machine with vinegar and water. After a few weeks of trying I gave up and put the old coffee maker in the garage.
When I got sick enough of going to a cafe every morning, I remembered I purchased a Chemex years ago. A Chemex is a brand of pour-over style coffee machine. Here’s a picture of one:
When I dug mine out of the storage, I was reminded part of why I didn’t use it. It was dirty. Even after washing with soap, it looked like this:
Then I looked up YouTube videos on how to clean a Chemex. Turns out many other peoples’ Chemex had developed a film on the bottom and there were a few videos on how to clean it.
I knew I wanted to “get into coffee” at some point in my life, and I figured my success cleaning my Chemex was God’s way of telling me now should be that time.
Pour over coffee is harder to get right than drip coffee, but if you do get it right, it can create a much more delicious cup. It’s also a nice, tactile morning experience to make a pour over coffee.
So I went back to YouTube and watched several videos on how to make a great pour over.
It turns out you need a set of items to start experimenting. Then, once you have the tools, there are a finite number of variables to test to make the perfect cup of coffee.
Required items:
Chemex or other pour over coffee maker (check)
Paper filters (check)
Water heater (check)
Burr grinder ($43, ordered)
Scale and timer ($21, ordered)
Variables to test:
Water quality
Type and roast of coffee beans
Coffee ground coarseness
Ratio of water to coffee grounds
Now, I’ll admit I haven’t made the perfect cup of coffee yet. But all of my tools are clean, functional and in a convenient location. I’m confident I’ll make a great cup soon. I have a way to experiment, and a way to track the tests. All of these tools make it a lot more exciting to try.