Coffea Arabica

Firstly apologies for the capital 'A' in arabica. My font nerd head just couldn't cope with how it looked on Blogger.

I'm not sure when I first started drinking coffee ( though strangely know exactly where and when I first had a cup of tea ). I think I must have had some awful instant chemically nasty instant thing at some point in the 90's. Though given that instant coffee tastes of a sewer rats armpits, I have probably extinguished it from my memory. I remember having a thing for something called 'Rocket Fuel' when I worked in the first Dotcom bubble, but it was for the caffeine hit alone.

Then I found the cafetiere..

And something clicked. Ok, it was probably just another caffeine hit, but whilst others were still enjoying their nicotine induced coma breaks, I found contentment in the brewing of proper coffee for a few minutes during the working day.

Then something changed.

I started experimenting.

I started off on the easy stuff. You know, just going for the Fair Trade option in the local Co-op. But then it got worse. I realised I liked it strong. I realised I liked it black. I had become a Coffee Snob.

So where did it go from there?

It's simple, from going through the fancy packets of ground coffee you get in every supermarket and deli, I moved onto ground Espresso. Yes, the devil delights in small things ( did I just make that saying up?) and given it's status in outdoorsy circles along with it's pure design, I reveled in it.

Boy did I get a good hit from this one. It was one step away from an injection ( though strangely it was really hard to get Fair Trade ground espresso? ). But my cravings developed further...

I had to go back to the source. I had to go to the beans.

In real terms this has been the pinnacle of my coffee snobbery. I hunt out the best beans I can find, from all four corners of the world ( fortunately I have a local dealer who hooks me up when I need a hit now ). The better half even got me my own grinder, so my weekend morning are full of the sounds and smells of making a solid cup of joe. To date the best I have found are either some Ethiopian Kaffa Chiri Washed beans ( from Has Bean Coffee ) or slightly easier to find, ( though still needs to be sent or picked up from the US ), Major Dickason's Blend from the mighty Peets ( ok a little 'high street', but this stuff tastes good! ).

To be honest I thought this is were the junkie trip finished. The only direction from here was a reduction in caffeine on miss-guided grounds of trying to be healthy. However, some cheeky folk went and invented Nes-ruddy-presso. It's not beans, it's not ground, it's not even close to being as satisfying as brewing a cafetiere. But there is a shiny hit from these processed pods of power....

...and at 30p each I might have to turn to petty crime.