Coffee... The Nectar of Creativity

Nothing says writing like a good cup of joe. When I say a good cup of joe, I'm not talking about strength getting the proper strength, although that part is important. Neither am I talking about the various flavors that can be put into a cup of coffee (I say leave the foo-foo cups of coffee for those who can afford to pay four dollars per cup). I'm not even talking about cappuccino, espresso, or any other kind of roasting of the beans. No, I'm talking about brewing method.

Most people use the drip style coffee maker. This method does have its advantages. All you have to do is to pour the desired amount of water into the reservoir, put in a filter, and then push a button. Ten minutes later, you have freshly brewed coffee. If you pay a bit more, you can get one with a timer. This handy-dandy feature can be set to begin brewing ten minutes before your alarm clock is set to go off; morning coffee without the wait. How much better can it get? If you pay even more money, your coffee pot will even grind the beans for you. Wow!

As neat as this technology is, it's not my style.

Another method, one that I learned from my wife's grandfather, is to boil water and then put the grounds directly into the pot. After about fifteen minutes or so, whenever the coffee appears to be the proper color, you sprinkle cold water over it to push the grounds to the bottom of the pot. I found a couple of problems with this method. My saucepan has a Teflon coating, which means that water without coffee appears as the proper color, as the inside of my pot is black. The other problem is that you still get grounds in your coffee, no matter how much cold water you sprinkle over it. Coffee with grounds in it is just bad.

My personal favorite is a cup of freshly ground, pressed coffee. Now we're talking. This method is nothing short of awesome. Take a coffee press (obtainable at any coffee house or in most department stores), add one tablespoon of coarse-ground coffee per six ounce cup that it makes, add hot water, and wait ten minutes. When the coffee is of the proper color, remove the lid, which is equipped with a screen, stir, replace the lid, and then press the screen down.

What you now have is a cup of joe with the natural oils of the coffee beans. These oils adds an extra savor that is hard to describe. In fact, I don't really think that I can describe it. I will say that I have written more words with a cup of pressed coffee nearby than I have ever written otherwise. Not to say that I can guarantee that it will inspire your creative bug, but it is worth a shot.