Will the best cup of coffee please stand up!  

          So I start and finish each of my days with a piping hot cup of coffee. It is my life line, or possibly my addiction, it depends on who you ask. I can feel a sense of relief and happiness just wrapping my hands around a warm ceramic mug.

 Coffee can change my mood, it can make me happy, sad, relaxed, and energetic. I like it tall, dark, and hot. Wait, am I still talking about coffee, oh yea, yes I am. So what makes a good cup of coffee? I know what I like, but is that a good cup. I have realized over the 9 million cups I have consumed that every cup is not created equal, and if you have ever drank a bad cup you know one thing to be true, you do not ever want to make that mistake again.

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So is there a science to making that perfect cup?

So is there a science to making a good cup? Some say yes.  There are more than 1000 chemicals in a typical cup of coffee. Now that makes me want a second cup. So I am ingesting just over 9000 chemicals a day. No wonder I have an occasional mood swing.

 Coffee is made up of four key components, caffeine, an average 8 oz. cup contains 80-100 mg of what I call the happy juice.   Chlorogenic acid, now that sounds scary. Chlorogenic acid accounts for 5-10% of coffee beans, a much larger amount than caffeine. Chlorogenic acid also functions as an antioxidant. Plus one for the acid. Trigonelline….tri what??? Trigonelline is a bitter alkaloid which is what produces the aroma. So let’s say trigonelline smells. And finally Kahweol which has something to do with the regulation of cholesterol metabolism.

Ok we have looked at the chemical makeup… That was pretty boring and to be truthful who cares.

Beans Beans the magical fruit.

Now let’s look at the bean. To me this is the heart of the cup, this is what counts. There are over 70 types of coffea, the flowering plant that produces the coffee beans. The little fellows that make all my dreams come true.

Believe it or not there are only two main beans. The Arabica which is the most common and counts for about 70% of the coffee market, noted for its balance of flavors and aroma and then the Robusta which has more caffeine and chromogenic acid.

 Roasting the coffee beans is what crafts the special taste that we are used to. It is regarded as both an art and science. We all know that the most delicious coffee comes from fresh ground beans.

OK the beans are ground, the aroma is everywhere, and I know I am minutes away from bliss. It’s now brewing time. How to brew?

H2O     

   First let’s talk water, the dreaded H2O. According to a recent study, added positive ions often found in hard water are good at grabbing the flavor of the coffee. Calcium and magnesium ions are the best at snatching the flavor without effecting the coffees taste.  

Steam, Drip, Press

There are several methods of brewing, now that we have our hard water, we can boil.  Learned that from my Mom in that big old stainless steel percolator, or we can steep, ooh la la how French, Ok this is my favorite, call me fancy. Then there is filtering, most likely the most common. It is the process of drip. And finally pressurized, which in reality is basically shooting caffeine right into your veins and ignoring the cup.

Life tested 9 ways to brew coffee to see which one made the best cup of coffee.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/best-coffee-brewing-method_n_5233438

There were favorites, but not one made that perfect cup of coffee for everyone.

The Perfect Cup?

After reading and testing I have found that the perfect cup of coffee exists within one’s own taste. Most coffee drinkers look at many different attributes like the body, the sweetness and acidity, flavor and aroma and last but not least the aftertaste. Is that aftertaste pleasant or unpleasant? Good coffee should not leave your mouth tasting like old shoe leather.

You can develop a palate for good coffee by experimenting with different beans, brewing methods and different roasters. Good coffee is grown with care harvested at peak ripeness, processed to remove defects, the bad little beans. It is roasted within a few months of harvest and ground within 30 days of roasting. You should brew the coffee within 30 seconds of grinding, not 25 or 45 30 seconds. And the sit in your favorite chair and enjoy the perfect cup within 30 minutes of brewing.

Good Coffee Bad Coffee

Bad coffee is coffee you don’t enjoy drinking, Good coffee is coffee you do enjoy drinking. The short, simple and utterly useless answer, is that a good cup of coffee is the coffee that gives you happiness just by wrapping your hands around the mug.

My text message was buzzing like crazy, was it a tornado, a hurricane or some other natural disaster? No, my text messages read “The kings in town” “LeBron’s in Cville”.” Mom LeBron’s at JPJ do something”. Ok let me start from the beginning, I am NOT a LeBron James fan but my son is. He is the King of the King’s fan club. TJ, my son, has followed LeBron since LeBron was in high school. He has collected all types of memorable. Such things as a pair of converse sneakers that were made from LeBron all-star jersey.

He has a jersey and hat from every team LeBron has played on. He has seen LeBron play both in LA and Cleveland, but his favorite piece of memorable is an action figure from when LeBron played on the Olympic team. The action figure is still in the box and is ready for LeBron to sign.  

So the plan was in motion. Our smart phones were on, Facebook was up, and our group text page was already hot with messages. I thought to myself ok LeBron is playing in Philly the next day, too far to drive, so he has to be flying. I googled flights to Philly from Charlottesville and Richmond. No flights, so I knew he was flying private. My Sherlock Holmes instincts were kicking in.  I have experience in the private flight world so I knew where he would be leaving from. The plan was in action. I was going to get LeBron to autograph the action figure. The kings MVF (most valuable fan) was getting his lifelong dream.

As the game was going on at JPJ I was receiving minute by minute updates. I knew how long it would take to get to the airport. My plan was to leave at half time and sit and wait, and that’s what I did. I sat and waited and sat and waited, thinking to myself this could be the smartest or the dumbest thing I have ever done.

My text went off, it was my son “mom his seats are empty”, the plan was now full steam ahead. I was like a mother lion waiting on her prey. I was going to do this, I was going to be The Mother of the year. I knew 20 minutes, if he was coming I had twenty minutes to wait. I was now joined by a little boy and his dad. The little boy was armed with a basketball and sneaker. We were ready. Tick Tock Tick Tock, then it happened, in pulled two large black SUV’s. Oh shit, I thought, it’s LeBron James. Right here. My adrenaline was racing through me as if I had just hit a three-point winning shot. The driver of the SUV and I got out of our vehicles at the exact same time, and sure enough when the interior light went on in the back seat there was the red hoodie. I had done it! I was about to meet LeBron James. My son was on speaker phone as I crossed across the front of the big black SUV. I was now chest to knee with LeBron James. When I say he is a big guy I’m not lying?  LeBron, LeBron I yelled and Mr. James ignored me and that little boy. I was in his face I was not giving up. I am a fan and I deserved a minute of his time. Well, he had other thoughts. As I tried to stop him and get him to just give me a minute a very deep voice from behind shouted, “Ma’am you can’t do that” and I replied, “Oh yes I can”. That’s about when I felt the clasp of a large hand grasp the back of my neck, that’s the moment I realized ma’am you can’t do that.  

LeBron and his entourage walk passed the boy and me as if we were invisible. He never once saw his fans. The boy and I stood for some time with our noses pressed against the airport glass like we were waiting for the coming of Santa.

 LeBron James stood in the airport maybe 10 feet from two of his former biggest fans and never even once turned to give us a wave.

 I waited till he got on the plane and defeated I went back to my car unsigned action figure in hand. As I sat there talking with my son the limo driver came to my car and handed two mints, two mint that LeBron James had touched. Two more pieces of memorable. My friends are loving my rant and taunt me all the time sending me fake letters of apology from LeBron, fake tickets to games and autographs.

So with all the sports heroes all over social media, tweeting on tweeter, and updating Facebook pages, leading us all to believe that the fans make the athletes heroes it is not true. It is the dollar and the endorsement that makes them who they think they are.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton