My Journey

My Journey, My Coffee Story

In The Beginning

I started drinking coffee in high school.  My friend Ian and I would go to the local Chicken Chef and sit there and talk while drinking a few cups of coffee.  Sometimes I would feel ill, and after I stopped drinking coffee with so much sugar, then milk... I found I could easily drink a half dozen cups in a sitting and life seemed on the up and up.

I started to work night shifts at work and drank a couple pots of coffee every night. I found the night shifts rough, and began to see a decline in my health.  My brother observed this and invited me to go live with him out in the country for a while. I did, and the health began to improve. Most importantly, my brother had an espresso machine.

He was given an espresso machine for a wedding gift, and I gave it a go.  It was terrible, but I found something about espresso that was charming. I felt that this was something that I could enjoy.  This was something that had the potential to be great. In the beginning I mostly made lattes, because let’s be honest, this was a cheap steam driven espresso machine, there was no fine operation going on here.  The steam wand had a large portobello attachment to make frothing easier, I just found it was extra stuff to clean.  But still I kept at it.

After heading south to visit family for a while, they invited me to stay and help around the farm.  So, I did.  While there, I kept applying for work and I was hired at a manufacturing place.  Well now I had a job, so I got a cell phone, a beautiful Kyocera 5135, and an apartment.  More important, my brother gave me his espresso machine as a housewarming gift.

It turns out, I made more espressos in the three months I lived with him then he had made in the prior three years.  Score.  Currently, I was basically buying espresso from the local grocery store, usually pre-ground Lavazza, since in a town of 1000… the options are not too plentiful.

Not all coffee is ground

My friend Donald was getting married, and they were having a wedding social. (This is basically a giant party, where the bride and groom sell drinks, dance hall tickets, and auction off prizes, to raise funds.  These funds are then used to help pay for their wedding).  Well, I attended, and put almost all my auction tickets into the coffee package.  Which I won.  And then I carried that basket over my head all the way around the dance hall back to my table doing deep victory lunges, which I paid for the next day.  But I had a basket of coffee.

When I returned home after the weekend, it was time to tear into the gift basket.  I opened the goods only to discover that there was no ground coffee... it was whole bean coffee, freshly roasted and packaged by Black Pearl. This seemed useless to me, practically trash.  So, I pushed the basket to the side and pulled out my tin of Folgers, (or the bag of Lavazza).  Every time I bought coffee over the next couple months; I would think about those coffee beans I had sitting at home. After running out of ground coffee yet again, I decided it was time to buy a grinder and use up those beans. At the very least, I could sell the grinder later.

I headed up to the Home Hardware and checked out all the specs on each coffee grinder they had in stock... I read each description, and finally decided to go with the Betty Crocker Grinder.  Betty should know where its at.  I took it home and opened a bag of whole beans.  I ground a pots worth, and.... I was astonished, what is this smell, how can it be so wonderous? I removed the bin from the grinder and held the tin up to my nose, breathing deeply. The scent of fresh ground coffee overloaded my olfactory nerves, probably on the verge of causing damage, this was the most delightful thing I had ever smelt.

Coffee the beverage had gone from a thing to consume while hanging out with good friends, to a stimulant to get you through the night shifts, to a habitual part of everyday monotony, to a sensual sensation that knows no bounds.  I look back and think, man, if only I had gotten the grinder sooner, it would have been better. But if it was any better, I may have gone blind.  Or something.

So, with that $55 Betty Crocker grinder in my life I started to enjoy coffee in a new way. I learnt that a fresh ground bean is better.  Even an "old" fresh ground bean is better than a brand-new tin of ground coffee.  And by adjusting grind, you could change the flavor, neat.  I resolved to no longer keep an emergency pound of pre-ground coffee in my freezer.

I tried grinding coffee for my espresso machine, but it was not as fine as the grocery store products.. I kept buying the tins of Lavazza for the espresso machine.  I started to try the flavored syrups and all that from Black Pearl, and some of the things were wonderous.  Their interpretation of hot chocolate was wild.  Zesty, rich and luxurious, I kept the empty bag for over a decade and a half, thinking I should get more.  It is called SOMA. Get some. As I write this, I decide I should get some on order, maybe my wife will like it too.

Expanding Horizons

I started working with a Damian.  He had worked in coffee shops, and while we were on the road, he brought me to a few coffee shops from the countryside. I shared the different coffees I could make with the espresso machine, and I even fed some to my boss, a 70-year-old retired physics teacher.  He was supercharged, not sure if he slept that night. Damian and I had many conversations about coffee machines, and I learned of things, such as the difference between a steam machine vs pump driven espresso machine, we also discussed the old lever machines, agreeing that we wanted one.

I started a new job and they had a push button coffee machine, and it was ok.  I began to think more about the quality of coffee, and why some was better then others.  I was still grinding at home with my Betty Crocker, using my ancient drip machine.

While creating a wedding registry, since we both had coffee makers, we put a Bodum french press on the list.  As time went on, I started to think about how much I hated my drip brewer.  It was slow... like SLOOOOOWWWW.  You could start a pot and go out and shovel the snow, then cut the grass, and then finally rake the leaves, perhaps before the snow flew again, you could have some coffee. And it did not have a carafe, which meant the coffee sat on the burner, slowly getting nasty if not consumed quickly.  Brewing a smaller pot did not yield good results either.

Fast forward to honeymoon, where I had opportunity to see some coffee plantations.  My takeaway from this experience was that life is too short to drink bad coffee.  We brought home close to 8lbs of freshly roasted coffee beans.  Right away we realized that the ancient drip coffee maker was not doing justice to these beans, and although I was grinding with a burr grinder, it was fast, loud, full of static, and not super consistent.  Maintenance right? I had this thing for over eight years, who knows how many pounds of coffee graced its burrs.

We decided to start using the Bodum.  But I had no idea how to use a french press.  I googled it (the internet was now a thing) and found a great video on how to make it. The guy used a Porlex hand grinder.  I asked a friend that was using a hand grinder what it was all about and told him about the video. Wildly interesting, he told me that it was shot in Winnipeg, and that the guy who was in it ran a coffee shop downtown.  I headed over there one day and told them I wanted to buy a Porlex grinder. But they had none in stock, so they called a few other shops and found one in Osborne Village. I expressed my gratitude, had an espresso there, (it was fantastic), and then headed over to Little Sister Coffee Maker.  I bought the grinder, and had another espresso.  (It too was fantastic).

We started to hand grind those 8ish pounds of coffee. I found a routine I enjoyed, a coffee ritual if you will: I would start kettle, and then grind.  The kettle would finish and shortly after I would be done grinding, by then the water had cooled to that sweet 204F/95C temperature.  Through this process I learned about ratios, and I started to learn more about the variables that are used to tweak coffee.

I liked the mouthfeel of the french press, but I did not like the amount that one brew cycle produced.  I also found cleaning the pot tedious, and because of the quantity of coffee I drink, I was doing it a few times a day.  I remembered the good old days when I would just toss the paper filter, and rinse the pot.  We started to get an idea of what was important to us.  We wanted a coffee machine that was quick, made over a liter, had a carafe. And when we hosted, the ability to make a pot back-to-back was also in my mind.

Enter the Moccamaster

I started to search for quick coffee machines, and an internet search of "best coffee machine" made a short list of machines that I started to research.  A few of them had bells and whistles that I did not value.  Then I saw it, simple, stylish, and fast.  The Technivorm Moccamaster (TVMM).  After reading about it and researching the company, I thought I found what I wanted.  It was quick, it had an option with thermal carafe, and made over a liter, but it also seemed expensive. I thought about it a lot, and finally went to wife with the machine that I felt fit the bill. She felt that a machine with a five-year warranty with all the features we wanted is probably worth the price. I had not considered the warranty, but she knows a thing or two about shopping for quality.

Later that weekend we were passing by Parlour downtown, the place that I had first went to buy the Porlex, and I suggested I pop in for a latte (her) and an espresso (me).  While I was waiting in line, lo and behold what did I see on the product shelf?  If you guessed a variety of freshly roasted beans, then you would not be wrong, but also, it was the Moccamaster.  Feeling that it was fate, I flagged wife in from car, and just pointed to the shelf.  As soon as she saw it, she knew we were going to come home with it.  I spoke to the barista about them, and what experience they had with the machines.  I was satisfied, and the machine came home with us.  Even though it was late afternoon, we made a pot of coffee.  It was delicious, and the clean up? A snap.

What I found now was that the previous minute, (or a minute and a half) of grinding for the french press had turned into over four minutes for the TVMM.  This was no longer a pleasant part of morning coffee routine. I began to turn my eyes toward grinders again.

Knowing more then before, I started my search again.  I felt the Baratza Encore would fit the bill, so I struck out to Parlour to see if they had that too.  My barista was there again, and we started to discuss the pros and cons of the grinding machines they had... then he asked if I ever wanted to make espresso, which of course, I wanted to... he suggested the preciso which has the micro settings, but as they didn’t stock them, he sent me to Delucas.

When I walked into the showroom, I had to take a moment and catch my breath, there was so much glorious equipment everywhere. After regaining my composure, I quickly found and purchased the Preciso  and off I went home to start grinding my coffee with the aid of the electricity.  Again, I made a pot of coffee.  It was a glorious process, yielding, as you may have guessed, tasty, delicious coffee.

As I had now a top-notch drip coffee system, I wanted top keep it tip top shape.  TVMM North America recommended some Urnex products and I used Dezcal and Tabs to keep it clean.  I never realized how a dirty urn would flavor the fresh coffee... (I did have a glass carafe previously that was easier to clean, and see inside, so perhaps I just never let it build up as much.)

I started to turn my eyes towards espresso again. Throughout all my research and forum reading I had done, I constantly looked at and compared the different espresso machines, and what people were saying about them.  I originally wanted a super automatic like my uncle had, but the more I read, the more I leaned towards simplicity, similar to why I went with the TVMM.  I read about and was enamored by the Rancilio Miss Silvia.  It was virtually unchanged since its inception over 18 years ago. All the parts were replaceable, and there were so many mods that people were carrying out.  It seemed to be a great option.

I shared my thoughts and concerns with Amali, and the only point holding me back was the fact that although we had the grinder, the machine was a big chunk of coin. Plus it may turn out that I don't even like making espresso at home!  It is not for everyone, that much was clear by now. I decided to look for introductory machines, and more importantly, not one that was driven by steam.  I came across the Delonghi EC155.

This machine was not terribly expensive, and it seemed to have a huge following as well, both for trouble shooting and modding.  It has a pump, and although it comes with a pressurized portafilter, its an easy mod to swap out.

It was around this time that I cam across the Espresso 101 course that was being taught by local roaster and latte art champ, Colton.  This piqued my interest and I checked it out.  It was around my birthday, and we had the time, so I signed up, a gift to "us".  Any better I get at brewing coffee, benefits wife as well.  The course was enjoyable, hosted at a coffee bar.  There was a theory part, which by this time I was mostly familiar with, and then we got to the brewing part.  I thought I had a good grinder... but its not an espresso grinder... not like the professional one we were using at the coffee bar.

I still remember the first time I tried to tap the side of the portafilter to level the dose and grinds shot all over my hand... Colton’s eyes bugged out, and then I lost some of my zeal.  We then did a lot of grinding and tamping and pulling. we were instructed to dump these shots as he could tell they were not good (by the magical ways that professionals have). But let me tell you, after using a steam machine for over a decade and a half, everyone of those shots I pulled were better then the "swill" I was making at home.  Before, what I made at home was “espresso,” and I thought it was an acquired taste, but now, I see it really was swill... so when Colton wanted me to dump it, I asked if I could drink it.  He said I could. I drank a lot of espressos that night.  We also practiced steaming milk and pouring latte art. As Colton had competed in latte competitions, he knew a thing or two about this subject. I finished off the night with a complimentary bag of beans from the roaster, found appreciation for the art, and a caffeine buzz that kept me awake until the wee hours of the morning.

In the spring we traveled to Phoenix to visit my parents at the hacienda they were renting. While state side, I found the EC155 was on sale at the Best Buy, and after calculating the exchange and all that, it was a good idea. And then I made espressos and lattes for the remainder of the trip.  We also went and saw the Grand Canyon and other stuff, but the real score was that machine.

Back in Canada I was looking into how people improved the steam wand, and the usual method was to modify it using the steam wand from... A Rancilio Silvia. I did this, and I found the milk steaming was much more difficult then using the jet fixture, but the results were better.  I performed the modifications to the portafilters and kept practicing with the maker. I found that switching the Preciso back and forth from espresso grind to drip grind was a little irritating, and I had to keep the hopper empty or dump it out and clean the grinder, it was a pain.  I had actually broken it, as the fines built up in the adjustment, and then when I was cranking it down, the burr adjuster cracked. I did not realize it until the coffee tasted like swamp water, I thought the carafe needed cleaning, or the grinds were rancid.  I eventually noticed how inconsistent they were sized.  There were course grinds, ready for a french press, side by side with fine grinds, for the Aeropress. so how can the coffee be great?  I bought the parts I needed and changed them out.

It was around this time that I was working in an installation bay putting lights and electronics into emergency vehicles, and I often listened to podcasts to drown out my coworkers complaints.  One podcast, about side hustles intrigued me, I was so inspired, I started a website.  I wanted to talk about coffee, do reviews, and just create a resource with references to local coffee shops.  Following podcast advice, I started a merch shop and signed up for some affiliates.  I made a video on using Dezcal, Another video on Durgol, the cleaner recommended by TVMM Europe.

I continued using the EC155 and found the tamper that it comes with is only functional if you are using the pressurized portafilter. It’s attached to the machine, if you try to tamp too hard, you are lifting the machine.... I bought a tamper on Amazon, and it worked better.  I found that the machine produced a good shot.  Then one day, a tragedy happened. The modification I did on the steam wand failed.  I knew it was sketchy when I did it, but I did not have the proper things on hand and just used bubble gum and hockey stick tape. What I now needed to do was replace the pressurized hose that was had cut too short in my overzealous modification. Seeking out parts did not yield convenient or inexpensive options. The espresso machine was pushed to the side while I got sidetracked by college.

Better Coffee? Go To School

When I started college, I entered the Electrical Engineering Department, which has a common first year across its three disciplines.  For a promotion at work, I would enter the electronics path in the second year.  But then my boss changed, and new boss did not support the old plan. So I quit.

I did not have to go into electronics anymore, and after the first year classes, I knew it was interesting, but working on the tiny parts was not terribly interesting.  I was thinking I could go into the Electrical Field, and they mostly work on electrical motors and generators, getting to work for the hydro generating plants... Then I looked at instrumentation.  It seemed to be the most diverse field, they also worked with PLC's more then the electrical folks, which I found attractive. As I researched the field, I started to realize the whole breadth of this path.  It is “Instrumentation and Control Engineering Technology”... control... PID is a form of control.... The Rancilio Silvia has a PID mod.  I entered the instrumentation program in second year, not knowing where I would go from there, but at the very least, I would be able to modify my future Silvia.