Decaf Setup

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 27mm, f/4, 1/45 sec, ISO3200
“Decaf Setup” Cedar Park, 2024

I’ve started to drink more decaf coffee during the week, and grinding the beans by hand and pouring thru the filter has become a process I really enjoy! And I think the flavor is really good! I’m using a Hario filter and decanter which flows well so I am not waiting a long time like I have to do with my metal filter. I like that. Yum.

Hario Mini-Slim Ceramic Coffee Mill

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO800
“Hario Mini-Slim Coffee Mill” Cedar Park, 2021

We’ve been upgrading our car-camping gear recently and one area that we were lacking in was our camp coffee prep. I’ve always pre-ground the beans at home and brought it with us in a plastic bag, but I decided to buy a Hario Mini-Slim Ceramic Coffee Mill so that I can grind the whole beans just before brewing. Freshly ground coffee is so much better than pre-ground!

This mill is hand-operated with a crank and takes about 2 minutes to grind 12 grams of beans, which is a good amount for one cup of coffee. On this mill’s measuring scale, that means filling it to the #1 marker. It definitely requires a little bit of muscle, so if you don’t have strong arms and wrists, a coffee mill such as this might not be a good idea. On the flipside, the extra exertion would be a good way to get your blood flowing in the morning. 😀

I need to mention that the coffee mill comes with a barcode sticker on it that absolutely sucks to remove. It tears and is super gummy, and the mess gets everywhere. Just getting it to the stage where I can use Goo-Gone on it took a while. What a pain in the butt!

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/18 sec, ISO800
“Sticker Frustration” Cedar Park, 2021

Trail Caffeine

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 19mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO6400
“Camp Coffee” Cedar Park, 2019

I bought these instant coffee packets at the supermarket today. Each box cost less than a dollar, whereas if you buy “backpacking coffee”, you’ll be paying over a dollar per packet. Granted, the backpacking coffee is supposed to be much tastier, the price is over my threshold. 😄

Goodbye, Braun Coffee Mill

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO3200
“Coffee Mill” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Sadly, our Braun Coffee Mill finally died. It served us well for maybe 18 years or so, and just a couple of weeks ago I was thinking about how amazing it was that it was still going strong after all this time. Well, that may have jinxed it because the motor started having a little trouble a couple of days ago, and then today it stopped altogether. 😢 But wow, I can’t complain! It did its job well.

But hey, I needed to make coffee so I got out our antique coffee grinder, and got to work. This little thing is actually pretty good! It’s a Burr-type, but it takes a while to grind by hand and I don’t want to do it every morning.

Therefore, I went online and ordered a new coffee grinder. I’ll post about it after I’ve tried it, but I’m excited about using it. Like the hand grinder, the new one is also a Burr grinder, whereas the Braun was a blade-type, which cuts the beans. Burr grinders crush the beans and it’s supposed to yield tastier coffee… I guess we’ll soon find out!

またね〜