Did I tell you I am a coffee drinker?

Not prolific but enough.

It has only been a thing for me for the past few years. Previously not a drink I would gravitate towards. However the smell of ground coffee is intoxicating so at some point coffee was going to win!

I have now discovered the unique pleasures of grinding your own coffee beans. My introduction to this world began following a recent mini-break with some friends. Turns out, that my husband’s friend is very much into his coffee. The conversation started when he asked me to ask our Airbnb host if she had a cafetière. At the time I didn’t really have time to make this query. But later, after further conversation with my husband we established that I did have a cafetière and I would bring it along.

Further conversation at breakfast reveals that my husband’s friend bought his own coffee beans and coffee grinder to make his perfect cup of coffee. This got me really interested because I was used to just buying ground coffee and going from there. Turns out there is an art to coffee grinding. I have been many YouTube videos to this effect! I’ve also been given my husband’s friend’s coffee grinder (brand: Hario) to see how I manage.

How have I managed? I think very well! I decided that if I was going to start drinking coffee again I needed to have cake available to complement it. So I made the vegan coffee cake (cinnamon streusel cake) again. This time I omitted the oil and added more of the apple sauce. This gave it a slightly different texture but nevertheless still absolutely delicious. I also added a little less flour to the topping which made it a little bit more crunchy and less tasting like uncooked cake mixture!

I think, that the thing that I have liked most about this is really being able to take the time to brew a good cup of coffee. It took time to grind the beans. It took time to wait for the coffee to brew. And that was just pleasant. Time is really a luxury these days. So I feel quite grateful that I am able to do this. It may seem such a small thing but it’s really a big thing. My annual leave is drawing to an end and I know that once the chaos and busyness of work starts, I’m going to have to make a concerted effort if I want to have a deeply satisfying cup of coffee. 2020 goals eh…