Even a small investment can have a huge—and delicious—payoff.
I FOUND THE BEST coffee in the world in Dingle, Ireland, one summer in college when I was aimlessly backpacking around. I’d wandered into a small stone-carving shop to cool off, and made friends with the dog keeping idle guard—apparently a good enough reason for the proprietor, an old Italian man, to offer me a coffee. I can’t remember if he served it with cream or with a lemon peel; if there were floral notes or chocolaty undertones; if it was espresso or Americano or simple drip coffee. What I do remember is sitting in the tiny garden beside his home as he talked to me about his art and what he missed about Italy, sipping slowly and feeling both calmed and energized. The caffeine is an objective boost, yes. But coffee’s also personal. Something easy to share. And despite what the recent proliferation of intimidating, blond-wood-and-Edison lightbulb cafés would have you believe, it’s easy to make, too.
Here’s the real secret to coffee: What matters isn’t mastering some trendy new process; it’s figuring out what you enjoy and making sure you can brew it consistently. Half of that is chemistry: ratio, temperature, and time. The other half is atmosphere.
We can help with the first half.
What’s a good pour-over system? Also: Isn’t it a little fussy?
This story is from the June 2019 edition of Popular Mechanics.
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This story is from the June 2019 edition of Popular Mechanics.
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