A Cup of Joe

Since I’m covering a coffee based cocktail this week it seems only fitting that I should fill you in on my love of coffee, or lack thereof.  I don’t drink coffee, at least not unadulterated and even then, rarely.  I enjoy coffee’s smell a great deal and love coffee flavor in other things.  I even enjoy Frappucinos, Vietnamese style coffee, and other sweetened creamy coffee knock offs.  So imagine my Dad’s surprise when I called him Tuesday morning and let him know that I had just sat down with a steaming mug of what I’ve been known to refer to as “fecal squeezings.”  To say the least he was a bit taken aback.

I felt to truly approach this cocktail from the ground up drinking coffee soloh was something I had to do.  There must be a reason why people like this fragrant brown brew and I was hoping to get to the bottom of it.  So, before I start in on my thoughts let’s take a brief look at my process.

Reese's Cup of Coffee

9 oz Water
3 Tbsp Freshly Ground Coffee

1) Add coffee to press pot.
2) Boil water in microwave on high for 2 minutes.
3) Allow water to cool slightly to bring temp down to ~200F.
4) Pour water over coffee grounds and steep for 3 min.
5) Gently press to strain.
6) Pour.
7) Enjoy?

Now, many of you may be thinking why does a guy who doesn’t like coffee have a coffee grinder and press pot?  I direct you to the coffee lover indicated above, namely my Dad.  He had a couple spares and I figure it’s always good to have them on hand in case a guest would like a cup.  However, having these tools is not the same as knowing how to use them.  Monday night I looked around on the web to find directions on how to use my press pot as I had never made a cup of coffee before.

My first sips of this brew were straight up.  The aroma struck me first and was absolutely wonderful.  I was getting ready for a tasty cup of coffee.  The flavor was very lightly bitter but not in an at all unpleasant way.  There was the coffee flavor I like so much in other things, like delicious tiramisu.  But, although the flavor wasn’t too bad and the aroma was great, I still didn’t like it.  As I confessed in my Hot Drunken Cider post, I don’t really like hot drinks and I think that dislike may be at work here.  There were other points though.  I didn’t like that the coffee flavor stuck in my mouth for what seemed like eons and I really didn’t like the coffee flavor solo.

At this point, having consumed about 1/3 of my cup straight up, I decided to add some condiments.  I added about 1 1/2 tsp of heavy cream and 2-3 tsp of simple syrup.  Now fully adulterated my cup of coffee was easier  and more pleasant to consume.  First, it was cooler, which was nice.  Second the added sweetness really increased the drinkability for me and the cream just rounded it all out.

I think I could really get to like fully adulterated coffee and I think it could eventually lead to deeper, darker things.  Specifically straight up coffee.  I’d call this version a gateway coffee.  But, despite all of those things I still felt like I was cheating.  I was drinking a cup of decaff coffee that had a not insignificant amount of sugar and cream added to it.  Oh well, maybe I’m just destined to not be a coffee lover.  Now, you Irish up that coffee and we’re talking a whole different story.