on rain & espresso
since when did Southern California become so wet. For god's sake, i left Taiwan thinking "oh thank god, i'm going back to wonderfully dry sunny california". Boy, can i be any wronger (pardon my atrocious english). It's been raining- no pouring- for a whole week now. And word has it that it's going to rain again next weeek. Bloody hell man.
I've been going through my barista training videos and realized what i've learnt so far is the tip of a very ginormous iceberg. I have so much more to learn. But first... i must get rid of my dislike for coffee. I am not able to differentiate like Kenya AA to Nicaraguay beans . Honestly, it all tastes the same! South American or African, it all comes out the saaame murky dark bitter-sour liquid. Well okay, i think i can tell which has more robusta or arabica. And i will be tell if it's a light, medium and dark roast. But that's about the extend of my knowledge on the subject matter. I cannot bring myself to drink a cup of espresso every morning to acquaint and get to "know " my beans. For one, it's foul however you drink it... unless it's loaded with sugar, fattening cream and flavourings. And secondly, i'm not willing to compromise the whiteness of my teeth for some caffeine rush.
I could tell you one thing however- after all the training i've received, i can spot all the numerous mistakes and blunders that go on in a commercial coffee place like Starbucks. For a real enthusiasts scoff the notion of even stepping foot into the establishment for they know how badly handled their beans are. But then again, who the hell goes to Starbucks for "proper coffee". You (the general public, i.e. normal people like myself) are attracted to it because of its brand, atmosphere, free wifi and of course to meet people. Nobody seems to care that they're basically drinking inferior grades of coffee beans that have been sitting in a non-airtight environment for weeks. And the poorer quality the beans, the more flavour oils they'll spray on and package it as something like "italian hazelnut blend". Hah, i totally don't care. It tastes fracking fantastic.
wow, this entry alone took me 2 hours to write. I kept getting distracted by youtube videos and various things on the world wide web. It's now 5:19am. Should hit the hay.