Grinderless, Thinking About Coffee Rituals

As I have mentioned in a few past blog posts, I am currently in the middle of an upgrade and this has left me grinderless. I sold my old grinder far more quickly than I expected and am still waiting on the replacement to arrive. At the same time, I just got a new espresso machine. So, for the past week or so, I have had the best espresso machine I could want and no grinder to use it! This means, I have not really been drinking coffee for the past week. The lack of freshly ground coffee has really put my coffee drinking habits into perspective.

Coffee has really changed my day and how I spend certain parts of it. My morning ritual of brewing has brought my wife and I closer together. Our working lives prevent us from spending a lot of time together and the morning coffee is one of those places we have cleared. Same thing goes for the occasional evening coffee. We spend the time enjoying our coffee and company as we catch up through quality time. As soon as we lost access to the fresh brew coffee, the time disappeared. We just found other things that we needed to do, but we both miss the time and the coffee.

Whatever the case, as I wait for the new grinder (Baratza Vario) I have been studying intently and really getting into Roaste. As soon as that grinder arrives, I will be all over brewing coffee after coffee. I think it is pretty clear, I cannot wait to get the Vario and get back to my regular routine especially with the Expobar Brewtus taunting me as it sits unused! I've also noticed this lack of a grinder has encouraged me to spend more time reading (maybe lusting) over coffee online...

Have you developed (un)knowing coffee rituals as a side effect of your interest in coffee? Do you care to share it?