My favorite thing right now is Japanese Iced Coffee. While I am bringing some water to a boil, I weigh out 25 grams of coffee, and grind it to a medium-fine grind (using a Hario Skerton hand burr grinder). Then I weigh out 150 grams of ice cubes in a metal cup. I use a Hario v60 pour over to brew directly into the cup of ice. I slowly pour 50 grams of water over the coffee grounds in a small circular motion starting in the center and working my way out. I stir it, then let it sit for 30 seconds. I then pour 50 more grams using the same circular motion, and at 1 minute, I pour another 100 grams. The water finishes draining by about two minutes, I dispose of the grounds and the filter, swirl the final product around a bit, pour it into a cup with some more ice, and enjoy. It's so delicious and refreshing on a hot summer morning in Texas.
Plus brewing completely manually has a sort of ritualistic or ceremonial aspect that is really satisfying to me. Almost as much as the final product itself.
I totally agree with you about the ritualistic aspects of manual brewing. Just making coffee is a surefire way to calm down. I'm also in Texas, so I'll definitely give this one a try!
If you're ever in Austin or Dallas, you should go to Houndstooth Coffee. They make the best Japanese Iced Coffee I've had so far.
And if you ever find yourself near Chicago, make a trip down to Julius Meinl. It's some of my favorite coffee.
Yeah! I have a friend who goes to UTD! And another friend going to UTA (Arlington). I live in Houston (actually just north of it in a suburb), but I'm heading up to Ohio in a month for college.
I don't know if they're in NSM, but that'd be ridiculous if they were! And I'm studying physics. You?
Hahaha! Don't worry, dude, that's exactly how I feel about bio! I feel like there are so many cool concepts in bio, but I can't grasp the basic stuff enough to fully enjoy them.