Going down the coffee rabbit hole

I had a pretty long phase where I got completely obsessed with coffee. I watched most of Lance Hedrick's videos, a lot of James Hoffmann, The Coffee Chronicler, and probably far more grinder reviews than I ever needed.

It actually started with Nespresso.

I borrowed a friend's machine and another friend gave me around ten different pods to try. The only one I really liked was a hazelnut pod that I was drinking with oat milk anyway. Once I started reading more about coffee, paying ₹100–150 for a pod of pre-ground coffee started feeling a little ridiculous.

Espresso machines looked like too much work, so I started looking at pour-overs instead.

Around the same time I was travelling in Kuala Lumpur, where pour-over coffee was much easier to find. We went to a cafe called Fika and I had one there that I really liked. That sent me looking for coffee gear while I was still in KL.

I ended up at this warehouse-like coffee store where we somehow spent almost three hours. The people there showed us different grinders, brewers and espresso machines, gave us demos, explained how everything worked, and eventually brewed us a fresh cup of coffee before we left.

I walked out with a V60, a Timemore C3S grinder and a bunch of other coffee stuff.

From there I kept experimenting. I bought an OXO Rapid Brewer after seeing Lance recommend it, moved to a French press for a while because a friend pointed out that it was much easier to get consistent results, and eventually came back to pour-over after finding a recipe that works reliably for me.

My current setup is usually around 12–15g of coffee with 200–205ml of water. Since I use RO water, I also add a tiny amount of magnesium chloride and an even smaller amount of baking soda. The water is otherwise very soft, and adding some minerals helps bring out more of the fruity and floral flavours I like.

I also eventually upgraded the grinder to a 1Zpresso X-Ultra. Mine has an annoying magnet issue with the catch cup, but otherwise it has been a very good grinder.

I still switch between methods depending on how much effort I feel like putting in. Some days it is a V60, some days a very lazy French press or chhanni-style brew, and occasionally the OXO.

So far, some of my favourite coffees have been Naivo's Rose & Jasmine Culture, Grey Soul's Mogra, and Grey Soul's Raspberry in Loop. I think all of these are from Ratnagiri Estate, from Ashok Patre's farm, except Raspberry in Loop.