Dog Chasing

This little dog caused a lot of trouble. He belongs to my neighbor. The dog is 12 years old now. His name is jay-Jay. My neighbor was cutting tree branches. When one fell, Jay-Jay got spooked and ran off the property and across a golf course with me and half a dozen golfers in pursuit. I hitched a ride on a golf cart to catch up with him, but lost him in the parking lot. I had a torn ACL half a year ago, and my right leg muscles are still a little weak and I don't run too fast yet. So there I am failing to catch a 12 year old Shi-Tzu with hip displasia. The golf course starts in the next town. a local suggested that we call the police because when someone finds a dog in that town they call the police first. So we called the police, and kept searching the neighborhood. Three hours later when we were out, the police called my neighbor and told him that someone was walking his dog back home. Jay-Jay had been a few blocks away hiding under her car. So, old Jay-Jay is back home now, and I think it's time to get his lo-jacked. It's a good end to the story, and I guess he has a tale to tell in whatever little doggie language he speaks.

Good Reading. One of my favorite things on the internet.

Click on this link and read. The sentiments in this little article are perfect ,and an inspiration for the intelligent gentleman searching for a meaningful romance.

A Girl You Should Date

Sing it for me, Frank!

Just a Rose

Good Coffee Part 4: Grind (with some tips on different brewing methods)

When you get serious about coffee, you should get yourself a quality grinder before going after the latest electronic wonder of a coffee maker. Pictured above is my morning coffee setup. I use the auto-drip machine at 5:30am purely for the convenience when I am running around trying to get ready for work. The photo demonstrates the importance of proper grind. The grinder set me back about $200, while the Mr. Coffee cost me only $30. By grinding good coffee fresh right before brewing, and following the basics, I can make a suburb cup of java even with a cheapo coffee machine. When purchasing a grinder for the home always get a burr grinder. These crush the beans evenly at the consistency you chose.  Blade grinders that just chop up the coffee are useless. If you have your coffee ground at the store, take care to know what brewing method you will be using before you go, for this will determine the grind that you will need.

If you use an AUTO-DRIP machine that uses a metal screen, or paper filters like the ones pictured above, use a MEDIUM GRIND. that's the middle setting on most grinders.

POUR OVER CONE FILTER: EXTRA FINE GRIND (about half way between auto-drip and espresso) An excellent way to make a good cup of coffee. with this manual method you control every aspect of the brewing process. Many coffee pros make their coffee this way at home. This is s a one cup at a time method that lately has become popular at coffee shops with may kind of coffee to sample.
Directions: Heat water to just off boiling in a kettle. Put cone shaped filter into coffee cone. Wet the filter with a little hot water. Place cone over mug. Add coffee into the filter. Slowly pour the correct amount of hot water over the grounds making sure to soak them evenly. Sometimes I like to stir the mixture with a chopstick. Wait for the coffee to pour through. Enjoy.

MOKA POT: (No photo): FINE GRIND (just a little finer than auto drip).
Here are a few links with instructions on how to use a Moka pot.
http://www.coffeenate.com/how-to-use-a-moka-pot/ (good quality video here).
http://stumptowncoffee.com/guide/moka-pot/ (this website is an excellent resource for the home coffee brewer)

 PRESS POT, or FRENCH PRESS:  COURSE GRIND
The french press is cheap, easy, and brings out the brings out the taste of your coffee better than just about any other method. Heat water in a kettle (just off boiling). Pour coffee into bottom of pot. Add hot water. Stir with small wooden spoon or chopstick. Replace lid on to the carafe  (do not push down plunger). Let coffee steep for 4 minutes. Slowly push down plunger, pressing the coffee grounds to the bottom of the pot where they will stay. Pour and enjoy.

PECULATOR: COURSE GRIND
Some people still use these, especially for large batches.

Good Coffee Part 3: Ratio

With the exception of espresso, the proper ratio of coffee to water is 2 tablespoons per six ounces of water no matter what method you use. Keeping the ratio consistent is very important for consistent coffee, so, one of the best investments you can make is to buy a standard 2tbs coffee scoop like the ones pictured above. Stick to the ratio no matter how much coffee you are brewing. You have a big, American 12 oz coffee mug? That's 4 tablespoons of ground coffee, so, two level scoops will give you the perfect amount of coffee for it every time.
If you are like me, your house is filled with 8 ounce coffee cups, not 6 ounce cups. If I just want to make one cup of coffee, I just scoop my coffee a little higher than level. This ratio is really intended for GROUND coffee, but, I only grind as much coffee as I am going to need at any one time, so, I usually measure the whole bean coffee into the grinder. I think it tastes just fine.

Good Coffee Part 2: Coffee Quality and Freshness

Today’s entry is about buying coffee while considering quality and freshness. Coffee is an agricultural product and quickly degrades, so, freshness is important. There are two species of coffee plants you should know about: Cafea Robusta, and Cafea Arabica.

Some of the less expensive coffees contain beans from the Robusta plant. Cafea Robusta is very hearty and grows well in sub-optimal conditions, such as the low altitudes and direct sunlight that Arabica does not thrive in.  This makes it less expensive, but it also tends to impart a bitter taste. Robusta coffee should be avoided.

Cafea Arabica is the original species traded as coffee hundreds of years ago. It was spread from its home in east Africa to tropical regions over the globe by early European traders who saw the profit potential in growing this product, and it now comes in several varietals.  Arabica grows in the world’s tropical zones. It prefers higher, cool elevations, with plenty of moisture, moist, well drained soil, and shade or indirect sun. It thrives best on mountainsides underneath taller shade trees.  Growing Arabica coffee requires quite an investment from farmers.  The plants take several years of maturation before they are ready to produce fruit, and when they do, each plant produces enough fruit for approximately one pound of green coffee each growing season.  The results are worth it.  Arabica beans have a complex flavor profile much like wine.

The coffee bean is not a bean at all, but the pit of a cherry sized fruit that turns a bright red when ripe.  Washing, drying, and milling removes the skin, pulp, and husk and leaves a green seed which is bagged exported to roasting plants.  Coffee’s flavor  profile is affected by the varietal, the growing region’s distinctive environment, the particular local (pre-roasting) processing method, and finally the way it was roasted.  Profits are often meager for smaller coffee farmers and loans often difficult to acquire. There are organizations today such as FAIRTRADE that help these farmers get a fair price for their product and reinvest in their communities.

Coffee begins losing its freshness immediately after roasting, and this loss accelerates rapidly after the coffee is ground.  Stay away from the canned pre-ground coffee.  For freshness, brew your coffee as soon after grinding as you can; even whole bean coffee starts going stale after a week.  I recommend buying a good coffee grinder for your home before investing in another coffee maker. If you can’t grind your coffee at home, grind your coffee in the store, or have your coffee salesman do it for you. Finding the right grind for your preferred brewing method will be discussed in a later entry.

Good Coffee Part 1: Water.

Hey, Jon. Why do you call this blog Java Joint and never talk about coffee?


Actually, this question was never asked, but I've been wanting to write something about coffee. So, in honor of my customers who ask me how to make coffee taste as well as it does at the shop, I will be writing a few short posts over the next few days about how to make the very best coffee at home. 

This is of my life’s primary rules: there is no excuse for bad coffee!

There is no need to buy the most expensive coffee machine in the store.  You can make a great cup with something as simple as a press pot, or a pour over filter (actually, these simple methods are the ones recommended most by coffee professionals) if you take care of four factors: Water quality, coffee quality,  grind, and proportion.

So, here is the first entry. It's a few comments about quality water which is really very important to making good coffee. I do not exaggerate this point.

Coffee is 90% water, so, to put it simply, nasty tasting water is going to make nasty tasting coffee.  If you happen to live in a community with good tasting water, you are already lucky. If not (my local water has a distinct chlorine taste), filter your water. It works. Your favorite coffee shop or espresso bar has a commercial grade water filtration system and water softener tank in the back of the house (yeah, these babies cost thousands of bucks) for good, clean tasting consistent water. A decent, inexpensive home water filter will give you pleasing tasting drinking water, as well as great coffee.  I tried bottled water for a few years and stopped because of the long term cost. I was wasting money every week.

What I'm Reading Now

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

It's the same paperback copy that I read in high school, because, somehow I knew that decades later, I would feel like reading it again.

US Mail

The Song in my Head.

Content Warning

I have not had anything up on this blog worthy of the warning page that you must navigate past to get here for a long time. I think maybe I will keep it up though. I don't know what I may post in the future.

And, this is how I got beat up by a 12 pound cat.

Arya was a two year old tuxedo adopted from the local shelter. He adaptation to my home seemed to be getting along pretty well. When a few weeks into her stay, a personality conflict developed with one of the humans (my father) who was not really a cat person. I was her owner, provider, favorite human, and the one she came to for comfort and attention.
One afternoon Arya seemed to be stalking my father. The evening began with her acting agitated and ended (or so I thought) with her hiding under my bed, where I fully expected her to stay and chill as she often did. i sad on top of said bed (bad move). Suddenly, she leaped on top of the bed and charged me, ears back, making screeching noises, etc. The cat chased me off the bed and across the room until I tripped over step stool, spraining my knee. This was when the witness to the incident, my mother, began suffering her fifth heart attack.
Outside the bedroom (I'm not sure how I managed to crawl out) I attempted to stand, my knee buckled underneath me and I fell. So, ambulance comes, picks the two of us up. We both end up in the same emergency room.
The next day, I'm out and on crutches. Mom becomes an admitted patient in the CICU, and Arya...back to being the same sweetheart she was before she was before she went nuts on me. She stayed the same for the next three days. The day before my mom is due to be released, a heated discussion issued mbetween my day and I about what to do with the cat. Voices were raised. Well, I should say "voice" was raised. HIS voice. And what happens is something cat experts call displaced aggression. The frightened cat goes on the attack, not against the one scaring her, but against me again. So I retreat out of the room, adrenaline allowing me to move for a few precious seconds without my crutches before my knee remembered that it was hurt.
I'm catless again. I had wanted to get Arya into a decent cat sanctuary where she could be acclimated to a home environment, and maybe have better luck with a new home in the future. It didn't happen. There was no time. She's back at the shelter. I'm still heartbroken, actually. My mom, she has a fear of cats now, which I want to find a way to cure. Her heart condition has been described as a "mystery" by her cardiologist. I ended up in physical therapy for my knee, so I can work.
This happened in January. My PT is ending this week. My knee isn't just like new yet. I know from experience how long knees take to heal. So, this short relationship with a cat has remained a dominant theme in my life for three months after it ended, and not something I wanted to discuss for a long time.

Alive and Well

It's been months since I posted here. I probably lost a few readers. I'll try to get back into the habit. Maybe I'll earn some more. When things get weird for me, I tend to drop off and clam up instead of write. It's times like those when I really should be writing, I know. I'm not going to dwell too much on the past few months, which really were not that exciting, preferring to just restart with the hear and now.