MORNING CUP O JOE

How important is your morning cup of coffee? I mean really.  Well, I know for me its pretty darn important, so when I became thwarted in my attempt to have a decent cuppa- I knew this could not stand.

 *As a sidebar I have thought the thought " this is the talk of an out-of-touch, privileged  person living in the first world- get a life- try living in the Ukraine" and while it's all true, and enjoying a good cup of coffee simply is not that relevant, it's also true that our society gets all hepped up about this type of thing (just go to coffeegeek.com and you'll see just how intense people get about coffee and coffee paraphernalia)- and other creature comforts, luxuries and material items that maybe we shouldn't focus on so much....... but do.  Also, I like to think I am injecting a "shot"(espresso term) of  humour and irony into this issue. So having rationalized that it's ok, I'll continue.*

 I would go to sleep at night knowing I had something exciting and delicious to wake up to- (Mr. Lovely- well-yes, but  he tends to sleep in and I'm talking about) my morning cup of coffee. And even though I have been a lover of (Mr. L, well- yes, but I'm still talking about) the coffee for over 34 years, I was  pretty much low tech. We had a Cuisinart burr grinder which was 8 years old, and I had a Bialetti (I was on my 4th one), that I used on the stove top. So when my grinder started seriously jamming (it always has a bit, so that getting the coffee was always a bit of  a grind- ha!) and I had to attempt to clear it out with a shishkabob skewer and then press down with all my might on the plastic lever, which more often than not didn't even work, I started to get frustrated and then grumpy.  I began grinding my coffee in the magic bullet- which is not designed for grinding at all. It crunched the beans into large chunks and then smaller and smaller chunks. GRRR #1. Then my busted up Bialetti became glued together so that I could not unscrew the bottom. Do you mind! Sometimes Mr. L could unscrew it but sometimes not. Sometimes I forgot to ask him the night before (I get up a good hour before him and need that equipment to be available first thing.) Here is a picture of my Bialetti and the magic bullet:

Rough- don't I know it.

 GRRR #2. Out of desperation I began using Mr. L's drip coffee maker which quite frankly made inferior coffee. NOT GOOD. My morning ritual (of having a coffee and going for a run followed by another coffee) was becoming a drag and I did not look forward to it. It was difficult to be joyful about getting my sorry butt out of bed at 6:30, that's for sure.  And so commenced my search- for a new grinder.  I knew I could get a new Bialetti anywhere so I started with the grinder.  What a commotion. I went, obviously, to coffeegeek.com.  I think the name speaks for itself but here is their spiel from the FAQ:

"What's the deal with CoffeeGeek?

The deal is, we're a community of coffee and espresso lovers, and the CoffeeGeek website gives people, both consumers and folks in the coffee industry, a place to hang out, read, debate, write, or even ponder the finer aspects of coffee and espresso.  Our primary concern with CoffeeGeek is creating and maintaining the ultimate destination online or off for the coffee and espresso loving persion. (I think they mean person - give em a break).This includes industry people as well as your typical Joe Consumer looking to find out just a bit more about brewing a better cup.  We beat any industry publication or trade journal in terms of monthly readers, but we're never satisfied - we want the world to learn about better coffee. It's going to take some time."

Its founder is Canadian from Vancouver and I say bravo and thank you, Mark Prince. It is very detailed and informative, often humorous and so a pleasure to read and they sure had a LOT to say about grinders- first and foremost- don't skimp on one. The variables are enormous- (get ready for some coffee speak)- step vs stepless, doser vs doserless, espresso vs.french press and last but certainly not least how much moolah you want to lay out. Yikes! Ya, I can't pick a colour- how on earth can I pick a grinder? Three variables were helping narrow it down- my budget was under $300 ( which sounds like a fortune and is, but is actually an entry level price for coffee aficionados), I wanted it for espresso, and it needed to fit under my 15 inch kitchen cabinet. And so....