For most people coffee is a thing you drink, it’s flavorful, it gives you energy and it’s a great way to start your day. This is exactly how it started for me, a simple way to have some extra energy or to avoid being sleepy in school. Also, being Italian, coffee is basically part of the culture of the country and almost everyone drinks at least an espresso a day.
However, I then found out that, for a few people, me included now, coffee was an hobby.
The difference between a coffee person who just loves his cup, and a hobbyist who is a maniac about a beverage, is the deep dive that the latter makes into the rabbit hole of coffee science, and the more you learn, the more you understand that there is more to know.
My journey from casual coffee drinker to hobbyist truly began when I visited a local shop in my hometown that had other types of coffee drink instead of just serving espressos like every bar in Italy. From there, I curiously started googling stuff like V-60 or Chemex and sooner rather than later I discovered James Hoffman on Youtube, and down the rabbit hole I went.
I instantly fell in love with the nerdy side of studying all the different variables that need to perfectly align to make a good cup of coffee. From choosing the bean (Arabica or Robusta, Light, Medium or Dark roast, being processed by washing or natural) to choosing the correct type of drink (pour over vs immersion vs espresso vs something else) and to apply the correct technique and recipe to brew that coffee perfectly to your taste.
I started then buying my first thing to brew coffes like a V-60 dripper, and a Chemex, then an Areopress, and then, finally, a La Pavoni Europiccola a lever espresso maker.
The hobby to me is perfectly addicting: it has both an immensly interesting literature to study, with theory, chemistry, history, etc. while also having a technical side, where you need to perfect movements, technique, recipes, and develop a routine to reach that ideal brew.
For example, I believe that I have a good understanding of the Espresso Making Theory, but, at the same time, I am always in the position to be needing to improvise a lot when I pull my shots. I say that I do that to close the gaps left open by my less-than-ideal equipment (i.e. I can’t, for now, control Pressure perfectly with my Wacaco Picopresso), but, honestly, I also need to get better with my technique.
This trial and error thing, to me, is incredibly fun. The fact that I have an environment where I can experiment with stuff like texture, body, flavor, crema, and I can doing it in a knowledgeble way having theory to back up what I am trying to do, is incredibly amusing. You also have an instantaneous feedback when you taste your cup!
And this is why, for me, coffee isn’t just a drink anymore. It’s a craft, and an ever-evolving pursuit of perfection. Each new bag of beans is a chance to start fresh, learn something new, and once again, seek that perfect cup. It’s a 15 minutes ritual where I pursuit the perfect cup with the bean bag I have available at the moment, this takes sometimes days, and then I get to enjoy my perfect cups for a few days. Then, when my bag empties, I have to start over with a new specialty coffee from some amazing roaster trying to reach that perfect cup again.