So what do you do when you want to do another coffee crawl and you are in quarantine? You do one at home!
Each week when I sit down to discuss all the things going on with Bits of Love with my girls, we have coffee and hash it all out. So this particular day just happened to be Megan’s birthday… so we did all the things.
I’ll start off with my coffee. I drink a donut house blend each morning (that I’m not out doing a coffee crawl) by Victor Allen. I usually purchase this from Big Lots, but it’s also available on Amazon. If I’m lucky to catch them on sale, I can get it as low as 19 cents per k-cup! You cannot beat that! Oh yeah, I have a k-cup brewer. I have the Keurig 2.0 and love it. I do take my coffee with a little French vanilla creamer. My creamer of choice, is great value french vanilla. It’s more affordable than the name brands, but adds just the amount of flavor I like.
On this day, Mallory made her DIY frozen mocha using espresso from her espresso machine. She takes 1/4 cup of sugar, 4 oz. of espresso, 1/4 cup of chocolate syrup, 1 cup of milk, and ice.
She mixes it all together in a blender and voila! You can actually add whipped cream and chocolate syrup drizzle on the top if you wish. Today she opted to not. It’s her DIY version of what you can find at places STL Bread Company and Starbucks.
Megan likes her coffee black. She says she likes it strong, but not bitter. She often likes to use her great grandmother’s coffee grinder and grind her coffee beans fresh, then brews it in her tiny Black & Decker coffee maker. I let her tell you about her love of coffee.
I love strong coffee and I used to just drink any kind of coffee, but I’ve started to educate myself a little more about the art of coffee. I’ve learned that the coffee grounds you buy from the store are typically super acidic which gives them a really bitter taste. This is because once the coffee beans are ground, they should really be brewed soon after. Coffee grounds from the store are ground up into fine pieces, almost like a powder, and typically sit on the shelves or are shipped from place to place for months before they are even bought and brewed; thus loosing a lot of their smooth flavor.
I have started using whole beans and grinding them myself before I brew my morning coffee…holy cow there is definitely a difference (not to mention the old hand grinder is very fun to use)! I have also learned that when you grind your own coffee beans, if you don’t grind them as much — leave them in larger chunks — you taste more of the coffee’s flavor and get a really smooth brew.
In this journey of mine to learn more about coffee, I found a favorite bean. It’s called Death Wish which is just amazing in and of itself. This coffee is high in caffeine and low in acidity, not to mention it is supposedly the strongest coffee in the world. I’m not sure how true that is, but I am HERE FOR IT!
I’m not entirely sure I would ever want to try Megan’s Death Wish coffee! I love coffee, but that sounds super strong. So how’s that for your coffee education? lol! I’m sure there’s much much more to be learned about the art of the coffee bean and I am sure Megan will continue to share!
Have a lovely day!
Bits of Love Creations 