My 2018 - This is my Hobby: Coffee Brewing and Espresso Making.

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My hobby is coffee. Actually, that is not an accurate description of it, a more accurate description of it is that my passion is coffee. Every morning, I long for the smell and the taste of coffee, there's just something about it that makes even the crappiest of days seem manageable. Of course, I am not talking about instant coffee, I can't stand the sugar and artificial flavors in it, I prefer making my own coffee from beans that I have sourced from different vendors.

I started this passion of mine gradually. When I was in school, I drank instant coffee out of necessity. The right amount of coffee made me less tired when I was competing in swimming tournaments. There were less cramps, less muscle aches if I drank some coffee before these tournaments. It also kept me awake during those early morning when I had to study for my finals. Instant coffee was a staple for me until one day, I was given the opportunity to use an espresso machine. I do not remember the exact model and make, but how it grounded the beans, froth the milk intrigued me.

Thus, I decided to brew my own coffee, thinking that perhaps it would be different from the conventional instant coffee that I have been used to. I got myself a french press and started experimenting with different coffee brew ratios. At that moment, I was only trying out local Liberica beans. If you have tasted those before, the taste of it can be quite harsh if not done right. One day, while passing by a local roaster, I came across some Ethiopian beans and it was out of this world. The floral, fruitiness and smoothness of the coffee was nothing like I have ever tasted before.

Over the last 10 years, I have been upgrading my equipment, moving from a french press to an actual espresso machine with a grinder attached to it. To be honest, I did not see any sense in buying an 800 dollar coffee machine just for my passion. My wife however saved up got it as a birthday gift for me. My four year old princess loves the Espresso that the machine makes too. Every morning, we will make ourselves a cup of coffee. Of course, my little princess doesn't take espresso, she gets a babycinno. I on the other hand, would prefer to have nothing to do with milk in my coffee.

My Espresso Machine

I still brew with the french press on very rare occasions, but I would much rather have an 'Esspressicano' or an 'Americasso'. Yup, they don't exist in local cafes. I like my Espresso with some water, but not as much as an Americano that it dilutes the taste. Thus, Esspressicano.

Although I have been doing this for the last 10 years, I have not perfected my craft yet. Every month when I receive a new batch of beans from my local roaster, it is a challenge to adjust the perfect grind ratio, the amount of beans and the pressure from the machine to bring out the best in the beans. If the beans are grounded too coarsely, it tastes too light, too fine and you get a black bitter sludge. I even had the portafilter, which is the thing that holds the coffee grounds, explode on me once, shattering the cup. It was cool having coffee splattered everywhere and a great learning experience.

I would not consider myself an expert, more of an amateur. My neighbor who runs the best cafe in town does help me out with some experimentation and I have learnt much from him. I have also gotten myself a coffee bible to help me identify the taste and origin coffee beans. Thus, whenever I go on holidays, I will visit the local roasters and chat with them about the type of beans they use as well as the ones grow locally. Often, these friendly cafe owners will give you a free sampling session. It just shows the passion that they have for their craft and all they ask in return is constructive feedback. Likewise, if you are still reading this post, great job! If you're ever in Sabah, Malaysia, look me up and I'll make you an Esspressicano.

My Esspressicano

As much as I want coffee to be my job, as much as I would love to open a cafe and a roastery some day and name it 'Bean There', I would rather keep my hobby-passion separate from my work-passion. I already have an awesome job teaching and don't plan to move away from it anytime soon. Furthermore, I think coffee does give me a different perspective on things. Teaching can be hectic and fast-paced but coffee can be slow and relaxing. If it were up to me, I would prefer to have fun with my students and come back home, make myself a cup of coffee and just chill. I think that if I make coffee my job, it would become somewhat hectic and thus, there will be no balance in my life. For now, coffee offers that balance.

I am thankful to have found this passion of mine. Rather, I think that this passion sort of found me. If not for having the opportunity to try out pulling my first shot, I would still be drinking those sugar loaded instant coffee. I don't know what the future holds, but once Steem and Steem Dollars shoots to the moon, I am hoping to get myself a mini roaster. The only next logical upgrade to my passion is to roast my own beans. There's a coffee farm that I am hoping to visit soon. Plus, its only about two hours away from where I live, so I am excited.

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I do have other hobbies, I love Overwatch and Halo on my Xbox One but there's no other hobby or passion that allows you to create, tweak and brew that perfect drink that can potentially bring a smile to someone's face. I have served my creation to friends and even my class of students. I used coffee to teach descriptive writing and failed because they had heart palpitations from the drink (I shouldn't have served a double shot espresso for each of them). But that's besides the point! I had so much fun with my passion and I have brought so much joy (and excitement) to those around me that I don't see myself ever giving this up in the foreseeable future.

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