Coffee Tools

I'm a minor coffee geek. I'm not super serious about it but I like to have a decent machine and buy good beans. I recently bought a shiny new coffee machine. (A Quick Mill Pippa from Espresso Dolce in Vancouver)

I really like the machine but it came with a cheap plastic tamper. How does that fit with selling quality and craftsmanship?

Victoria has a strong coffee culture, with numerous roasters and coffee shops. But I hadn't seen anyone selling tampers. I thought about ordering one but looking at them reminded me of the custom shaving brushes made by Scott Bungay, our neighborhood bike repair / machine shop. (He'd already serviced our bicycles and fixed a metal wine rack for us.) I sent him an email describing what I wanted. It turned out he was a fellow coffee geek and knew exactly what I was talking about. (Coincidentally, he had the same brand of Italian coffee machine as me, although a higher end one.)

I thought the Damascus steel he used for some of his shaving brushes would make a nice tamper. And he happened to have a stainless steel tamper end that would fit well. We had a chat and worked out a design. I thought with the non-standard materials, a classic handle shape would be a good fit.

Scott sent me some photos as the project progressed, starting with the raw cylinder of steel.

It's interesting that the Damascus pattern is hardly visible until it goes in an acid bath, to reveal the final pattern. We decided to add the grooves to give a little texture to the piece.

As a solid chunk of steel it definitely has some weight to it. As Scott said, "you can let the tool do the job" [of tamping]. It's pretty much the opposite extreme from the plastic tamper. It wasn't cheap, but it's beautiful and unique, and I got to support a local artisan and fellow bicycle and coffee lover.

PS. Of course, a good grinder is the other essential coffee tool. I've got a St. Anthony's Millwright hand grinder that is both attractive and functional.

Backcountry Caffeination

One of the problems with no-cook backpacking trips is that it means no coffee :-(

Although I'm not a huge coffee drinker (one or two cups per day) I still feel the effects of going cold turkey. If you're used to drinking more you probably feel it worse.

Our last trip in Glacier National Park is a good example. Around noon on the second day I was trying to figure out why I had a headache. Was I dehydrated? Was it the sun? Eventually (I can be a little slow!) I realized that it had been a bit more than 24 hours since my last coffee.

I could just tough it out for a few days but wanting to maximize the enjoyment of the trip I usually bring a coffee substitute.

The easiest alternative I've found is caffeinated energy gels (e.g. Clif Shots or PowerGels or GU). You can usually find ones with either 25 or 50 mg of caffeine, sometimes labelled as one or two "shots" (as in shots of espresso). I find two days of 50 mg and then two days of 25 mg is sufficient to ween me off the addiction. Obviously, your mileage may vary.

Another option (although I haven't tried it) would be some kind of instant coffee that you can make with cold water, like Starbucks VIA Caramel.

[Update]
Here's another option: VOKE TAB
If Conrad uses them, they must be good :-)

Coffee in San Jose del Cabo

I searched for coffee places in San Jose del Cabo on the web but didn't find anything. Of course, Cabo San Lucas has coffee places, including Starbucks, but we prefer the old town. But don't despair, there is a nice coffee place - Cafe Calafia. It's not fancy but the espresso was good. The guy who made my coffee (the owner?) was very friendly, took care in the making of my lattes, and asked me if it was ok. They advertise some food as well, but I only had coffee.

It's located just near the Casa de la Cultura on a side street off the plaza. Easy to find if you look for it, but easily overlooked if you're walking around.



The sign said they opened at 7am but the one morning we went early, they didn't open till 8am. But it's still off-season, so that might explain it.

I later saw the guy who served me riding around on the mountain bike I'd seen parked outside the cafe - to me that's extra brownie points :-)

PS. Calafia is a fictional warrior queen who ruled over a kingdom of Black women living on the mythical Island of California.