This is a post to go with #EcencyDiscord challenge. This week's prompt 'Coffee or Tea' I could not pass silently, as I am vivid coffee-addict. But the question is not so easy, actually.
Firstly: like probably a lot of Hiveans, I like both! and more, I love to drink pure water, milk, red wine... different mood and different circumstances work on this. Not so long ago I shared on the blockchain a story describing my changing tea habits.
If you check it you will see that I am advanced user and team consumer, hehe.
But the key word here would be 'consumer'. I drink tea in a lot of situations (and my wife too, as well). To hydrate my body, to warm up myself when frozen, take a break from working activity, sit with friends or colleagues and communicate, etc staff like that.
My current teas collection, leftovers... most part of the packages became empty long ago, but still -- you are getting the idea, right?
Looking at the picture above, you may even think that I like tea more than coffee. Nope! And that is not the right kind of a question to ask at all.
But things turn pretty differ when it comes to coffee.
Did I become addicted? Yes, a bit so. I love the coffee-making analogue process itself so much, that perhaps I addicted more to the process than to the result. More than few decades ago, it turned into a sort of a ritual for me, and not necessarily it happens on mornings (but yes, morning coffee is the most pleasurable and usual case).
In our family, I am the only one who makes coffee. I'm a jezzwa brewer and I have a small collection of copper jezzwas... which I would really like to expand! If I had a mantelpiece, they would definitely stand there in the most honorable spot. Alas, there is no fireplace in my apartment... Anyway, over the years I have accumulated four jezzwas, and usually I use one of them, the largest one - it provides four servings at a time. In addition, I cannot but underline this, it provides me with great aesthetic pleasure with its outlook, handmade copper embossing, the inscription "Armenia" ... it is not so easy to find a beautiful and simple jezzwa nowadays!
Maybe it is older than me, or maybe its my peer - it was born in the USSR, like me, this is for sure. With my palm added to the frame, you can see -- no way this is a tiny one :D
And this is the most old and vintage jezzwa in my collection -- not as vintage as I'd love it to be... I consider it might be from 50 or 60-es epoch. Also it is the smallest one, even tiny, aimed for just one cup only. I dont use it for brewing coffee, actually I keep some vintage coins there. Cause one cup of coffee it is just out of the question! My wife and I always take two.
Grinding may become the hardest part of the job, because, uhm, it takes long and precise manual work to ensure that the coffee beans are finely ground - one of the important factors determining the taste of coffee... Oh by the way! are you sure you read this far? Congratulations: you might be a rare and devoted fan of coffee then, and you deserve a slice of Hive Pizza (claim it in the comment section).
Actually, I was just joking - this this impressive vintage grinder picture I lended off #ebay... myself I actually use a contemporary electric Siemens grinder, like in the photo below:
What you also see in the frame, are boxes with spices. Here I must confess: I have a habit to adjust coffee natural taste (maybe that habit was developed in the days I had no option to buy good sorts of coffee). Most usual modifiers are sugar and spices. The ones I add on most usual basis, are cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and anis, but sometimes I try different recipes, including nutmeg, lavender, fennel, orange peel and others.
I have a special long-handle brass spoon for stirring coffee, tho I rarely use it.
Back to how I drink coffee: I do not abuse it, I drink a couple of cups a day when I brew it, -- and not every day. As I mentioned above, I like the production process itself, which takes sufficient time: you need to grind the beans, open the jars and measure the spices, pour the jezzwa with water and hold it for several minutes on the fire, stirring, taking all the control (i.e. not letting the coffee to boil).
Then you have to wash the jezzwa and cups of the coffee grounds ... The drinking part itself also takes time! I do not like to drink my cup "on the run" - I share it with my wife, slowly, savoring every sip, sometimes doing something pleasurable at the same time. All this is part of my interaction with coffee, and over the years it has been polished to the smallest detail, and has become, perhaps, a kind of ritual that I love and appreciate. That is why when I am pressed for time, I am late for work, and so on - I do not brew coffee, but quickly drink a cup of tea. I can leave coffee for the evening, drink at the office, or do without it altogether, postponing this joy for another day. If I have an intense schedule, then the most enjoyable coffee is waiting for me on a Saturday morning, when I can afford to be lazy, sleep until 12 o'clock and not leave the house at all :)
My current favourite glazed ceramic coffee cup. It is not very much traditional, but I like it and dont search for a new one, since my previous fave cup went into pieces.
Delicious puff pastries... when you look at this dish, your hand simply automatically reaches out for a cup of coffee!
Funny chocolate cookie in the shape of a coffee cup - isnt it charming?
I think I've told enough about our coffee rituals... although admit I haven't fully covered the cookie aspect - we love to drink coffee with cakes, cheesecakes, puff pastry, cheese, and of course pizza. Pizza and coffee are perfect match, sometimes I think maybe they even were made for each other!
By the way, a while ago I learned that scientists discovered a pizza image on frescoes in ancient Rome - at that time, of course, pizza yet did not have one of its two main contemporary components (tomatoes appeared in Europe only after the discovery of America - like coffee itself.) But this is a subject for a separate story.
So - enjoy your cookies and coffee. Bon appetit!
All images taken by me, copyright (c) 