Final Post: Second Cup of Black Coffee: AeroPress at Caffe Ladro

Well, I think this blog has hit the end of its shelf life, because from here on out my posts are going to be pure coffee geekery, rather than "first time" coffee experiences.  When I started this blog, I had never tried coffee and had just reached a point in my life where the "appeal" of coffee had begun to outweigh the "stigma" I had created for myself about drinking coffee.  Now, hardly more than a week after starting this blog, I feel I have really come to love coffee, and my journey has shifted from "discovering" coffee to "perfecting" coffee.

I say this because today I had a cup of what I'd consider "sub-optimal" coffee.  This is significant.  Not because of the sub-optimal quality of the coffee, but because a) I feel like I now have a frame of reference according to which I can judge coffee to be "sub-optimal", and b) because I still enjoyed it, even though it wasn't "perfect".

The AeroPress has been on my radar since well before I started drinking coffee.  After my first taste of good pour-over coffee yesterday, I figured I should start investigating what different "home-brew" methods are like, because I've started wanting to enjoy coffee at home. The AeroPress was high on my list, and last time I was in the neighborhood I noticed the Capitol Hill location of Caffe Ladro had AeroPress on their menu, so today I figured I'd stop by for an investigation.  I asked the barista which of their featured single-origin beans would go well in the AeroPress, and he suggested the El Salvador Finca Talnamica, so that's what I ordered.

Now THAT'S a legit-looking cuppa coffee!

Well, this was not the jaw-dropping fireworks of yesterday's Panamanian Esmeralda Geisha.  It was, for lack of a better word, what I figured coffee should taste like.  Well, maybe a bit toward the sweeter end; it had enough bitterness to provide structure, but it was certainly not a palate-wrecker.  In any case, the bitterness was much more assertive, and the flavor was closer to baker's chocolate than a nice merlot.  There was also a weird "sweaty/goaty" flavor that I've picked up in a few of the espressos I've had (Vita and Stumptown especially).

The odd thing was the fact that I had ZERO difficulty drinking this coffee.  Yeah, I could taste the fact that it wasn't perfect, but it was still COFFEE!  I kind of relished the fact that it challenged me a bit--it was a drink that felt like it demanded maturity and determination, it was not some syrupy confection that would appeal to a weak and untempered palate.

And that's when I realized: I like coffee, because it's a difficult and mature flavor.  I mean, if this drink represent the more accessible side of coffee, I'm curious about its harsher side--I want to see what "battery-acid black" coffee is like!

Honestly, coffee is not what I imagined it would be like.  I always used to think of coffee as a beverage for the lowest common denominator.  But it really isn't--there is a great deal of nuance, a great deal of art, a great deal of subtle shades of flavor that are begging for a cultured palate to appreciate.  I mean, sure, if you load it up with heavy cream and sugar, you can produce something that even a 4-year-old can enjoy, but that doesn't mean that's what coffee is; there really is something sublime about a $6 cup of coffee made from light-roasted single-origin beans made from a low-yielding high-altitude variety that's hand-depulped, lightly-washed, and dried in the sun.  And what's perhaps even more appealing to me is the fact that such coffee is only one extreme of the spectrum; there are so many ways to grow, process, roast, and brew coffee that a lifetime of exploration would still leave certain flavors untasted.

At this point, the most overwhelming feeling I have is one of regret--I've lived almost 31 years on this planet, and because of some odd psychological quirk, I spent NONE of those years acquainting myself with coffee? Even though most of my good friends (and pretty much ALL of my family) roundly endorsed the beverage?

If there's any message I'd like to give to other coffee virgins out there, it would have to be "just go try it!"  Because seriously, there's a whole UNIVERSE of flavor to learn to appreciate here, and it can offer you great joy.  Don't fear the caffeine, because in many ways it's got nothing on properly-brewed tea; don't fear the taste, either, because if you like chocolate, dark beer, and/or wine, it's totally in harmony with what you already appreciate.  I think of coffee now as being like wine that I can drink in the morning--it has enriched my life, and even though I've only been drinking it for a week, I roundly endorse it.