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Five for Friday – Level up your coffee game!

Coffee…my old friend.

As an Englishman, I am trained to love tea. We drink it everyday, multiple times a day, I’m pretty sure I drank tea at some point as a baby and I’m still going strong. However, I remember the day I discovered coffee. I had always hated the smell of coffee growing up, and then one day a friend at church back home in England had suggested I try it again, now that I was this clearly refined, sophisticated and mature adult. I took one sip of that filtered coffee, and it was my ‘Joey’s uh oh’ moment…I was hooked.

I love the taste, the smell, the feel of a cup of coffee. I love the moments that coffee facilitates; drinking coffee has been the foundation of a happy moment spent with friends and family, my mug held as I have laughed uncontrollably or listened carefully. Some of you reading will have come here to Romania to visit or come with a team, and together we have tried some of the best coffee Europe has to offer (the coffee is usually made stronger as the week of projects goes on!), and we have also tried many American coffees that teams have brought over here (ask me about blueberry coffee!). Drinking coffee is one of the first things I do to start my day, and often a decaf cappuccino is how I end my day.

Since that first day of trying coffee, I have tried every coffee bean and equipment that I can get my hands on, in the quest of that elusive, perfect cup of coffee. I have put together a list here of a few items that I think will help level up your coffee game, it was VERY hard to restrict myself to just 5 items, and I would love to hear in the comments any of the essential coffee items you can’t live without.

P.s. As a bonus tip, you can shop for these items via Amazon Smile and support FMN while you shop!

1. Ember smart mug:

This mug is awesome! You set your desired temperature via an app on your phone, and it will then keep your coffee at that temperature for over an hour, so it will stay at the perfect temperature until the last sip. I love the look of this mug, and I have found it to be very dependable in keeping my drinks warm and the battery lasts a little longer than I expected it to. It also comes in a travel mug version with a larger battery, if you like to drink your coffee on the go. Find it here! 

 

2. Coffee kettle: If you are a fan of pourover coffee, one essential item you need is a good quality gooseneck kettle. These kettles warm up water the same way as other kettles/water boilers do, but the shape of the spout helps greatly with giving you a precise and careful pour of your water so that you can maximize the taste and extraction of your coffee grounds. There are a million of these kettles on the market, I have listed 3 here at different price points, that I would highly recommend: $36 Kettle / $79 Kettle / $149 Kettle

 

3. Cold brew maker and tea infuser:

Sometimes, especially in the summer, there is nothing like a cold brew to refresh you and keep you going in the hot sunny days. This nifty device will help you make the perfect cold brew, and as an added bonus it is also a tea infuser so you can make a tea whenever you want too. Grab yours here!

 

4. Double ended measuring spoon:

One thing I learnt early on in my coffee making quest, is that precision is the key to great, repeatable mugs of coffee. Carefully measuring your coffee beans/grounds will really help to even out your coffee making, and I love this spoon that has the 2 most used coffee scoop sizes on one handy utensil so you can quickly swap from one to the other. Get your spoon!

 

5. The World Atlas of Coffee by James Hoffman:

Looking for something to read with your coffee? This book is the perfect companion to help you learn all about coffee beans across the world and the impact they can have on taste and quality of extraction. It is written by James Hoffman, who is world renowned an expert in coffee, and of course I love him because he is English. He has an amazing channel on Youtube which I have linked below, which is a wealth of coffee tips and reviews. His channel is mostly about espresso making but he also has some content for pourover, French press and other coffee making methods. James Hoffman’s book! / James’ Youtube channel!

 

Bonus Product: I keep a coffee journal to record my experiences with each bean that I buy. I like to record both my taste review, and anything I learned about the best way to brew it (grind size, water temp etc)…this journaling notebook is the perfect companion to your coffee making journey! Get your journal here!

 

Thank you for reading and look forward to seeing your coffee tips in the comments.

Dave Truss

Operations Manager

Forget Me Not Ministries