My Coffee Love

If there is one thing that I can't live without....its the black, liquid love of mine....MY COFFEE. I love coffee. I have a very serious relationship with the brew. I like it strong, with a bold flavor leaning on the bitterside and not the acidic type. The intoxicating aroma...the bitter sweet taste...the rich deep black with and almost goldish hint....the entire act of preparing the brew to the actual sitting and enjoyment of the coffee....i love it all.

I have used several coffee contraptions. I had the traditional coffeemaker; the espreso machine ( given to me by my dad coming from his vacation in the US); the old fashioned coffee percolator; the itallian bialetti stove top espresso maker (I bought it from Bacchus in Makati Shangri-la---it had a sad and bitter ending. One day I decided to bring it to the office...to maximize espresso consumption-- So I set it up over the stove...and then I was called to attend to a phone call....afterwhich I proceeded to doing some paperwork and office stuff----OMG!!!!!! MY BIALETTI---ON THE STOVE!!!-----What horror it was to see the handle falling-off, as is it was melted and the metal all charred!!!! CHARRED!!!!!---and no one to blame but myself! It was heart breaking...I felt awful); moving on... a Vietnamese coffee contraption which I bought when I had a vacation in Vietnam (I fell in love with their cape...they used the steeping method using a tin metallic contraption that you place on top of a cup. It gave a very strong and flavorful brew but the downside is that you have to have patience with it---its takes a while before you all the water passes through so at times the coffee is not that hot anymore...they serve it with sweet milk); and now I use this....

a Bodum french press, which I bought from Starbucks Gb3....

They say that the french press gives the best brew among all coffee extraction method. You simply place the coffee grind inside the pitcher (Remember to have the beans ground specifically for french press use. This is because if you use a fine grind, it will all pass through the wire mesh, thus you end up with a muddy cup of coffee.

I used the beans given to me by a friend, which are actually from Vietnam. I had them ground at the local Starbucks. They set it at 10 for a coarse grind...

Pour very hot but not boiling water.....

I like to mix first it to make an infusion....

and I allow it to steep for about 4-5 minutes before pressing.

I don't like to get grinds in my coffee because I like to finish it off to the last drop! This is why I do a final filtering in my mug.... hehehehe

I add little cream and brown sugar..or I take my coffee black....whichever way...its always worth all the time and effort.