Mindful Living with Coffee
During our recent visit to Chiang Mai, in Northern Thailand we had been invited by local farmers to their coffee plantation to pick coffee cherries with them. This task was not as easy as we thought it would be!
Continue reading IS IT COFFEE HARVEST BY HAND AN EASY TASK?
“May you taste, smell, and touch your dreams of a beautiful tomorrow.” – Jonathan Lockwood Huie, philosopher of happiness
Coffee experts and aficionados organize coffee cuppings to taste, analyze and grade various samples of different beans for quality. Exactness and patience are vital skills for successful cupping sessions.
Coffee cupping events are fun and filled with mystery. After all, each coffee bean sample is telling the story of a farm and its farmers. Coffee beans are mirrors of the soil and the climatic environment in which the plants were cultivated. Coffee cuppings highlight the special characteristics of the various different coffee plant varieties. Last but not least, the physical and sensorial characteristics of the beans are also a result of the roasting method. Continue reading COFFEE CUPPING, WHAT IS MEAN?
Color is a power which directly influences the soul.
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), Russian painter and art theorist
Specialty coffee culture is a multi-sensual, aesthetic experience. We experience the preparation and enjoyment of the coffee drink itself with not only our nose and taste-buds but also with all our other senses.
As Aradhna points out: the reason all of our senses matter is because all sensory inputs are ultimately combined into one overall evaluation in the part of our brain called the orbitofrontal cortex.’ Continue reading COFFEE TASTE PERCEPTION AND THE COLOR OF OUR CUP
‘If Ethiopia is the heart of coffee, Yemen is the mind.’ – Albert Zijlstra, Volcanocafé
Between the 8th and the 12th century, wild Coffea plants had been discovered in the jungles of Ethiopia. It is believed that local nomadic mountain people were the first ones noticing the coffee’s stimulating effect.
Continue reading YEMEN – PLACE WHERE COFFEE STARTED ROAD AROUND THE WORLD
Kodawari is the noun form of kodawaru, an intransitive verb meaning “to be sensitive to minor things”.
Japanese Culture and Behavior: Selected Readings., edited by Takie Sugiyama Lebra, William P. Lebr
“Kodawari, the desired quality of focus and perfection-seeking, is a constant goal for makers of coffee, and fine craftsmen in any art in Japan. What he calls kodawari is dedication to his work, comprising service, skill in making coffee, and an uncompromising sense of the importance of what he does” – Coffee Life In Japan, Merry White (2012)
Continue reading KODAWARI AND KISSATEN – JAPANESE COFFEE CULTURE
If the grinder, is not of very good quality, you will get lots of dust in the coffee. The dust will get into the coffee mainly when you do coffee via French press, Mokka pot, or you can use steel filters. The brewing process can continue afterwards, and the taste of the coffee drink can change.
Continue reading THE ART OF COFFEE GRINDING
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is today.
– Chinese proverb
We need trees. Why are trees so important? According to the Irish Botanist, Diana Beresford-Kroeger, trees are the most important living organisms on earth! Trees protect and feed our planet. They provide life-giving oxygen, store carbon and stabilise the soil.
Continue reading SHADE GROWN COFFEE CHERRIES
“The secret to life is to put yourself in the right lighting. For some, it’s a Broadway spotlight; for others, a lamplit desk. Use your natural powers — of persistence, concentration, and insight — to do work you love and work that matters. Solve problems. make art, think deeply.” – Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
“The craft of lighting a dining room is part theatre and part magic show” – Brendan McNully, Illuminating Ideas
Continue reading TASTE OF COFFEE AND ART OF LIGHTING
Brewing is a very important part of all the processes. It is hard to say what part of the process, from selecting coffee beans, equipment, preparation, blooming or even writing the recipe for the coffee drink to be served, is most important. I think the only difference is in the time for blooming and brewing. You have limited time and you can’t really postpone the time limit like for other processes. So, there is less time for improvising like for other parts of the processes.
Continue reading COFFEE BREWING – DEFINITION
