Monday, September 19, 2011

Time for a Coffee Break


Morning Coffee Time

We have become rather addicted to coffee. Not in a “can’t do without sense” but in a “once a day, mid-morning coffee break” way. In fact it is more of a ritual than anything else, which we miss if we happen to be somewhere else. This is how it goes...
Freshly ground coffee beans
About mid morning our inner metabolism will use a subtle urge to prompt the brain that it is time for a break from whatever project we are working on. Heather will go inside and measure out the required amount of organic and fair-trade Yarra Coffee beans into our hand-cranked grinder. She will spend a minute or so grinding the beans into a fine powder, inhaling that irresistibly inviting aroma that freshly ground beans give up. In fact the gorgeous smell of freshly ground beans is as “heady” as the taste.
Percolating on the wood stove
She will then pop the coffee grounds into our percolator and place it on the hotplate of our wood stove for a few minutes. When it is suitably brewed she will pour out two cups and then we will sit for 15-20 minutes under our verandah. We sip, inhale the aroma, observe the world in front of us, chat, dream, philosophise and generally send out good vibes to the world. All this in no particular order, but in the main, it is an opportunity to stop and quietly enjoy those few minutes in time.  Then with renewed vigour and inspiration we get back to our project.
Watching the world pass by as we enjoy our coffee
Yarra Coffee sell a wide selection of coffee beans. Our favourite is the certified organic and fair trade coffee from East Timor. Apart from its superb aroma and flavour, it has reasonably low food miles compared to Africa or South America. And, after what the East Timorese have been through in recent years, they probably can do with all the support they can get.
Our hand cranked grinder

4 comments:

Meeka said...

Absolutely love your hand crank coffee grinder? Where did you get it?

Andrew and Heather said...

Hi Meeka,

We love it too. We bought it in our local town at a specialist tea shop called "Tea Leaves". Unfortunately they have now closed down but we believe they do have a shop in Sassafras. The brandname is "Birchleaf" and it was made in London. Hope this information is of help.

Meeka said...

Thanks, thats a great help, now I can start looking for my very own gorgeous manual coffee grinder too, cheers :)

littlekarstar said...

Love your coffee grinder!
I can't get away from caffeine. Love coffee too much! And my worms love the coffee grinds too therefore so does my garden :D

 
Free Hit Counter