Recently I scrolled through my phone gallery and found some pictures from Starbucks Master Class session I attended back in 2019. The class gave us the basic knowledge and techniques of manual coffee brewing; like how to brew coffee with French Press technique, how is it different from the popular V60 Pour Over technique, and how the same pour over technique produces different distinct taste when we use different tools i.e. the Chemex glass flask. For every techniques explained, we got to brew and taste the produces. I was well caffeinated that Friday!
One of remarkable key take away from the session was the explanation that coffee is subjective to personal preference, so there's no superior technique over another to brew a good cup of coffee. What matters most is the presence of 4 basic factors in every brewing: correct beans grind size, excellent water quality, balanced proportions, and freshness.
What was so remarkable about those 4 factors, that I could remember it all the way from 2019? It's because I found myself applying those fundamentals of brewing coffee as the simple fundamentals of living. If you think I'm exaggerating, continue to read below to know the basics to brew a good cup of coffee and how my mind correlate it to brew a good cup of life. Let me know your thoughts afterwards!
First fundamental factor is the coffee grind size. A good cup of coffee can be achieved if we use the right coffee grind size, suitable for the brewing method. There's no one size fits all situation here: finer grind for quicker brew time (i.e. espresso vs french press), coarser grind for thicker filter paper (i.e. Chemex vs V60 pour over).
In life, we were subliminally lead to believe that there's a specific superior personality, working pattern or communication style that guarantee us a great life ahead. Yet, if good cup of coffee can be served with customized coffee grind size, then there should be no standardized human setting that will exclusively create the good life. I think it's important to get to know ourselves so we can decide our own coffee grind size, brew with our own preferred method, and have our own good cup of coffee.
Second parameter is very straightforward: water quality. To have a fresh coffee, of course we need good quality fresh water. Any flavor/taste/odor contained in the water will present in our brew.
To yield a high quality outputs, start with high quality inputs. High quality inputs of life could be translated into nutritious food, proper rest, supportive community, credible news, healthy living environment, sufficient exercises, and so on. The challenge in today's life, we unconsciously prioritize convenience or affordability over quality. There's a fine line between mindful and picky, but I personally don't see the problem to be picky with what we 'feed' to our life (girls, let's be as picky as choosing what post to our IG feed😂).
Third factor is the balanced proportion of coffee grounds and water. Coffee isn’t magic, but science. Use too much water and you'll have a bland black water; put too much coffee and you'll get a lumpy liquid.
Same formula should be applicable to our life too. Too much work and we'll be burned out, too much playing and we'll be screwed. The key to balanced life is moderation. Let's chant it together with Ne-Yo and Akon: work hard, play hard, pray harder!
Last but not least, freshness. We could enjoy coffee optimum taste when it is freshly grounded or freshly brewed. The longer it interact with oxygen, light and moisture, the more tastes and aromas are leaving to the air. You may have room smells like fresh coffee, but you won't taste it in your cup.
Easy translation to life: stay fresh and don't wear yourself out! Sometimes we might overwork ourselves and forget to take the break needed. We thought we could hang in a bit more and push ourselves, but when result was not up to our expectation, we end up disappointed in ourselves. Always remember that a little stretch here and there won't hurt to keep us stay sane, refreshed and motivated.
In a nutshell, in brewing coffee or living life, always identify the 4 fundamental factors that works best for our preference and go with it to achieve the goal. We may be tempted to tune our settings to match others or try to convince others to follow ours, but keep in mind that what works for someone may be a disaster for someone else. Let's be proud on our perfectly extracted coffee, but also don't despise others who like their coffee a bit over extracted (bitter) or under extracted (sour).
Without the fundamental parameters, we may end up with a bad coffee.
Hey, but even a bad cup of coffee is better than no coffee at all, right? Just like our life 😉
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