security blanket, what works for you?

I've been very busy lately and it hacked me off my time for the blog. And, during the stretch of the week that passed, coffee's been my bud. Yummy.

At duress, admit it or not, we look for help or boost, either from someone we know or from rituals we know to keep us moving – believers pray for guidance and help, married people go to their spouses for some advices and comfort, others perform their ritual or mantra, while some others do a combination of two or all.

Imagine yourself not being able to do your ritual or not having that someone to keep you going. Not that you've been too dependent or won't be able to accomplish the task without your ritual or significant someone, but that you won't be the same. In my own practice, I've seen surgeons do their rituals. Shhh… some lay themselves on the OR table in their theatre minutes or an hour before the theatre is prepped, and the more common is that they eat a lot, while some just listen to their music.

People need to be in tip-top shape when doing their thing, lest they'd perform differently or even less. We probably saw many movie highlights where we see the performance dynamics of the lead actor in a movie who is expecting someone from the audience and finding out that their significant someone not being there, until finally seeing that special someone in the audience or the bleachers and, whoala! - from making a so-so performance to being in the zone. It gives us the needed push to beat ourselves and show our significant someone we're really good at what we do, in basketball, in singing, dancing or anything we do.

Call it just a mind set, but really sometimes we just fold and find ourselves not in our zone without our rituals and significant someone. Life in and itself is a wonder and it makes me think that perhaps we never really shed off the baby in us. I did not mean it to be something negative – just a pure observation and I may be wrong. We need a sort of security blanket. Babies and the young ones do and I guess that can be said also of us who need something and someone before performing our tasks.

As for me, I do a combination of two. I could not start the day without the kick of caffeine, and more of it when busy doing things. I start and end the day actually with it. Call me an addict, whatsoever, but it works for me. More importantly, I pray. It makes me stay collected. I am a believer and I'd say there is an All-Great Power over all things and it's to HIM I come and would come first for wisdom and help.

So, what works for you?

coffee with a meowly kick!

Famous for its unappetizing secret that gives it a unique taste, civet coffee, or what is famously known in the Philippines and neighboring countries as “Coffee Alamid,” is regarded as one of the most expensive coffee in the world.

Unappetizing secret

For some of you who still do not know how civet coffee is produced, here’s a brief explanation. Civet coffee is actually made from excreta or droppings of wild civets after ingesting coffee cherries – Arabica – which grew in forest floors of mountains. Wild civets are nocturnal animals which belong to the family of mongoose. The civets visit the coffee plantation at night, eating the ripe coffee cherries and excrete them as they leave the area. These droppings then are collected very early in the morning and dried to produce the civet coffee beaneries.

Unique taste

Researchers explain that as the beans enter the civet’s digestive system, an enzyme which breaks proteins into smaller parts interacts with the beans. The smaller protein will then react with the bean’s carbohydrate or sugar during roasting, exuding that chocolaty, fruity-musty aroma. Some say though that civet coffee has an unpredictable and inconsistent taste owing to the wild civet’s wide array of diet which includes rodents, fruits and eggs.

Expensive

A kilogram of civet coffee costs as much as $100 to $125, and perhaps even more pricey than that number. Unroasted Arabica civet coffee even sells for up to $500 per kilogram – five times more expensive than the Jamaican Blue Mountain. Surprised? Perhaps, it is because of the tedious work collecting droppings entail. Gatherers climb mountain and gather droppings very early in the morning and could only gather a good 1 kilo on a good day, going through 300 kilograms of civet coffee beanery on a good season.

While a sip of it would be considered golden, because people are curious about its magical taste, they don’t mind paying that much.

The kick

I, myself, have fallen for the magical meowly taste of the civet coffee. It has a strong dark chocolaty taste which really gives your vein a rush of caffeine to help kick your day.

If you’d ask me how often I drink this blend of coffee, well, I am not Richie Rich to afford me a daily dose of it, but hey, I would if I could. And while it is a poop-drink, I am all desirous to give myself that catly alertness to last through the day.

Meow - Yumm!

the Rights in brewing

Call it brewing 101 or an introduction. In the reads I’ve run so far, learning where coffee beans come from and how it is roasted are of paramount importance in understanding how the coffee will taste. There basically are four Right’s in brewing coffee – grow it right, buy it right, roast it right, brew it right.

Factors that make growing the coffee plants correctly include the soil, climate/altitude, planting and harvesting.
All coffee experts are one in saying that the best soil to grow coffee plants is the that of which is rich, loamy and volcanic. Elementary science tells us that volcanic soil is the richest of all soil and the richer the soil where plants grow, the richer the plants become, and in essence, making the coffee plant exceptionally rich.

Higher elevations and cool night temperatures should be considered as these factors are more likely to produce the finest hard bean coffees with the depth of flavor. To consider too is that only carefully pruned and nourished rootstocks of coffee plants should be used. Harvesting of course should be given much attention, hard work and love, as you don’t want to get your coffee be adulterated and lose the depth of its flavor.

Second right is buying it right. It is common knowledge that Arabica coffee is conferred by nature with the finest of all tastes in coffee, so buy only Arabica.

While robusta is a good alternative because it is cheaper and readily available, it does not give the finest taste that Arabica gives.

Thirdly, beans should be roasted correctly. The degree to which coffee is roasted is critical. Roast only when you are to use it! Otherwise, the coffee will lose its great wonderful taste.

Lastly, the works, it should be brewed correctly. Let me share some of the points I gathered from some of the experts in brewing.

- Begin brewing using water that is cool, fresh, and clear.

- As mentioned above, only recently roasted coffee bean should be used and remember to

use only high-quality coffee selection.

- Grind coffee just before brewing and make sure the grind corresponds to the method of brewing. The recommended ratio is two tablespoons to every eight ounces or one cup of water. Measure coffee and water accurately: do not guess.

- Boil water to 195 to 205 degrees.

- Use only a clean brewing equipment.

- Serve immediately!

as the experts say, “Good coffee is unbeatable but never reheatable.”

coffee anyone?

Sooner or later, I will be asked why this blogsite has the touch of coffee, and before that happens, I am now taking it upon me to ask myself why. Why?

Well, first is that I am a coffee lover. I cannot get through the day without drinking five or six cups of coffee in a day - one or two upon waking up and three or four cups in the evening to end my day.

Still why coffee for a blog with much of the articles posted in the site involving personal and random thoughts? Well, I actually plan to read and study the art of brewing coffee in depth, the differences in the taste of different beans, the aroma, and the documented physical and psyche effects each coffee bean has to the human body.

Coffee is a great part of my life. I started drinking at a young age, thanks to my dad and older brothers who themselves are coffee lovers. With numerous café shops popping like mushrooms in the country in the late 90s, it further introduced me to different tastes of coffee and beanery. Then, the coffee mania run and continues to run in the veins of the working genre, both old and young – including me. I have yet to answer the question, have I? Briefly, in answer to my preemptive question to myself, I actually plan to make this site a notebook of my pursuit to further my knowledge of the art of coffee brewing and the coffee’s benefits to the human body, to include also its adverse effects.

Coffee anyone?