My Coffee Journey & the One Ratio That Changed Everything

Beginners Guide to Coffee Ratios Download

My Coffee Origins

It all started at my grandmother's kitchen table. You know the old school porcelain top with speckled patterns and matching chairs? It was there I experienced my first taste of coffee, a simple blend of hot milk, a lot of sugar, and just a hint of Nescafe for flavor.

Fast forward a couple decades, and I found myself as a post-grad student living outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My first encounter with roasting coffee happened accidentally on a kitchen stove in a cast iron skillet with some green beans that I bought from a shop down at the Strip District.

I have to say that my first attempt was a total disaster. But practice makes perfect, and eventually, I was able to make green beans brown on an open flame in a skillet that wasn't really that bad.

The Mexican Chapter

After grad school, our journey took a significant turn when we moved to Mexico. While in language school, we would start our morning with a visit to the local coffee bar. It was an outdoor cafe, nestled on a patio surrounded by tropical plants and birds.

I vividly recall my first visit. All I wanted was a simple black coffee, but instead, I was presented with a Cafe Americano. And I thought to myself, no drip coffee? That's odd.

It required a few Americanos to truly appreciate a perfectly extracted double shot that transformed my clear water into a rich, dark elixir. But it didn't take long to become a fan.

Fun fact: The term Caffe Americano supposedly originated in Italy during the war by Italian baristas accommodating US Soldiers who were used to drip coffee, which isn't nearly as intense as espresso. So the baristas diluted the intensity with hot water, and the Americano was born.

Becoming "Bald Guy"

Three years and 2,100 miles later, we left Mexico and wound up once again in Pittsburgh. It was during this time in the southern part of the city where I received my street name, Bald Guy.

I worked with urban youth in a depressed, rundown steel mill town. They never could remember my name, so they would just call out, "Yo, bald guy. What's up?" After a while, it took and I was referred to as "bald guy" in my hood.

It was also in the hood I began roasting coffee to fundraise for a local junior high program that would reward students maintaining a B average with free bicycles. The exact number escapes me, but the sight of countless shiny bikes and beaming faces circling the school parking lot was unforgettable.

Finding Home in Boone

As our time came to an end in Pittsburgh, we decided to move back home to North Cacalaki as we had two young coffee roasters in tow. Since we both graduated from App State, married in Valle Cruces, and loved the mountains, we decided Boone was as good a place as any to raise a family and start a coffee roasting business.

And you could say that the rest is history.

The Coffee Hack You Need to Know

At the heart of La Taza Abla, I want to take us on a journey together as we explore the multifaceted world of coffee. And the secret sauce to make that journey happen is your participation, feedback, and engagement.

As promised, here is the super cool, overlooked, metric madness of a coffee hack to take your morning ritual to the next level.

The Perfect Coffee-to-Water Ratio

What we're talking about are ratios, ratios of ground coffee to water. This is how you can develop a more consistent, flavorful cup by getting rid of some of the sloppy science of just kinda eyeing it and pouring your coffee into the filter and kinda hoping for the best.

Here's how it works:

1. Grab your scale
2. Put your cup on it
3. Tare that scale
4. Fill it up with water (a 12 ounce cup yields 350 milliliters)
5. Take that 350 milliliters and divide it by 14
6. The result: 25 grams of coffee, which produces a well-rounded, long finish type of cup

What's Coming Next

That's it for episode zero. I hope you'll join us for episode numero uno, where we'll take a long, hard look at how a bunch of goats and a goat herder changed the world.

Thank you for listening to this episode zero of La Taza Abla. Remember to sip slowly, that every cup has a story, and what's in that cup matters. Talk to you soon!