Gastritis

A couple months ago, if I had been asked who my biggest enemies were, I would've probably jokingly said something like cars, or bad drivers, or inattentive drivers. Something having to do with the people I have to watch out for while biking around. For the last month or so, however, I'm going to change my answer.

Why am I changing my answer? Because my current enemy doesn't seem to be a big fan of either coffee, or bikes. I started this blog to ramble about coffee I've drunk, with the side notion that maybe I'd find a way to sneak bikes into it as well. And now, I've got very little to talk about either.

For the last month, I've basically been kept from both by gastritis. Basically, something caused me to develop a hole in the mucus membrane of my stomach causing a bunch of pain and difficulty eating. One big dietary change everyone says is to cut out coffee, so that was gone almost right away. Followed by a nasty few days of more head pain, as I had to force an immediate caffeine withdrawal on myself.

Biking went along with the eating difficulty. Normally, I was eating about 2,600 Calories to maintain weight while cycling. Now, 2,000 is a pretty good day, and 1,800 is average, and 1,200 is survivable, but miserable. The exercise just isn't sustainable. Previously, I was at 20 miles a day, commuting to work, running errands on the weekend, for fun, for transport, and just because I felt like it. Now, if I just feel like it, I have to be prepared to feel tired and exhausted for the rest of the day. I can't physically eat enough to maintain my body, and add the exercise.

So, for now, I'm taking it one day at a time, adjusting everything as need be. Eating the weirdest, and at the same time, most boring diet I've ever had. I'll probably have to pivot to sharing interesting bike content and weird recipes I've found or made work.

Movie Time - CocoraVelo

Sometimes, you find footage on the internet that fits in so well with the theme of the blog that you can't help but share it.

This is a short documentary about a bikepacking trip to Colombia, with the purpose of learning about how coffee is grown and produced.

COCORAVELO | An All The Places Original from All The Places on Vimeo.

In addition to the video, check out All The Places' Instagram. They've got some photos, behinds the scenes footage, and mentions of future travel documentaries.

Thanks to The Radavist for sharing this in the first place.

Coffee Plant Roasters - Nicaragua Mama Mina

Sometimes, calling these blog entries "Now Drinking" is a bit of a mislabel. Sure, it's the bag of coffee that's currently open, but I'm not really drinking it. That's not it's fault though. That's on me. Coming down with the flu for the second time in a winter, after having the flu shot, does wonders on messing with one's body, and in an attempt to try and deal with some of the headache and anxiety, I've cut my caffeine intake off for the time being.

That said, here's what I started drinking two weeks ago. For once in a long while, I managed to make it off work soon enough to stop in at Coffee Plant Roasters. While there, I picked up this coffee from Nicaragua, the 1st Nicaraguan coffee I've mentioned here.

This coffee all comes from the Mama Mina farm, with more info about the farm here.

Roasters Notes: Clean, semi-sweet, with pleasant notes of nuts and citrus

Once again, I've not actually recorded my taste experience. Sorry. That's what coffee with the flu is like. I wouldn't be able to figure anything about the taste out anyways. I can, however, tell you that it smells good, since I've got the bag right here besides me, since I saved it to remember the tasting notes from the roaster.

Spella Caffè - Ethiopia Guji Kercha

When my brother saw this bag of coffee on the counter, he got all excited, thinking that I was in the know about Spella Caffè. The truth is, I wasn't. I'm not sure what it means to be in the know, other than the fact a friend told him the place reminded him of an Italian Caffè, and now he wants to go visit.

Anyways, now I'm in on the secret too. Accidentally. And only because I forgot to buy coffee at Tailored over the weekend, and then worked too late on Monday to make it to Coffee Plant Roasters before they closed. So, now, a desire to buy something I hadn't had before, as I stood before the coffee choices in the aisle of the local grocery store led me to this.

The coffee itself is a dark roast, darker than I normally drink, and darker than most seem to roast these days. It makes sense though, if they are Italian. As for taste, I still know nothing, other than the fact that I think it tastes good. But I've also yet to find a coffee from Ethiopia that I didn't like.

Tailored Coffee Roasters - Colombia La Chorrera

Tailored Coffee Roasters is another roaster local to me, and, like Coffee Plant Roasters, is also surprisingly easy to reach by bicycle on the way home from work. They aren't exactly new, I just never bothered stopping there and picking up a bag from them before now. That's not to say I haven't had their coffee before. There's a coffee shop a short walk from my house that uses them for their beans.

So, now that the coffee shop introduction is out of the way, on to the beans. These come from Nariño, Colombia, but I couldn't tell you if that means the department or the city within it.

Like the last coffee on the site, I apologize that, to my taste buds, coffee is usually just coffee, and tastes as such. That being said, I do have something resembling notes for this one. Most importantly, is that this is a fairly light roast, and because of this, it threw off my brewing slightly.

My usual routine can be best summed as 4 mins in a french press, but the first few times I brewed it, I was left with the distinctly mild sour taste of under extracted coffee. It's a problem I hadn't really had with the french press before. Not unless I was tired and accidentally added water to whole beans. Adjusting the grind a few notches tighter has now helped, but it wasn't something I was expecting. I'll probably forget the change and end up over extracting the first cup of whatever's next.

Making Coffee Outside

Ever so often, the need to make coffee outside of the home arises. This could be a backpacking trip, bicycle tour, a regular camping trip, or a quick morning adventure to the top of a mountain or similar.

It's important then, to have something easily packed and light weight to take with you. In my case, that includes the following items:

• A titanium backpacking pot
• Alcohol stove - made from an aluminum can
• Kalita Wave dripper and filter
• Mug
• Coffee

My brewing setup, on it's maiden voyage in the backyard.

This combination has now seen two Sub-24 Hour Overnight bike trips and a backpacking trip. It works well. The stove nests in the mug, and the mug in the pot. From there, an aluminum foil windscreen, and lighter also get added to the pot.

As for the coffee, I usually try and pre-grind enough before the trip, especially if the trip will be short or if you'll be backpacking and trying to minimize the weight. For a long bike trip, and fresher coffee, a hand grinder can be packed as well.

Coffee Plant Roasters - Guatemala La Esperanza

This coffee should win an award. For what, you might ask? For the prize of being the first coffee to be posted to this blog while I'm still consuming it. Yay, give it a round of applause, it's earned it.

Anyways, this is another one from CPR, and the fourth from Guatemala. It comes from La Esperanza, in the Quetzaltenango department. I've got no facts about it. It's wikipedia pages are sparse, and most searches just bring up coffee roasters selling their wares. Though that does mean other people also consider it worth drinking.

Now, since I'm currently working my way through this bag of coffee, it'd be safe to say I have tasting notes of it. And...I don't. If nothing crazy stands out, it gets listed as "tastes like coffee." It also doesn't help that it is consumed at work, where my priorities are not detailed tasting notes, but, rather, work. Maybe I'll remedy this, maybe I won't. If I do, it'll end up being an edit at the end of the post.

Coffee Plant Roasters - Light Vienna

After a short break, we're back, and with stuff that, while still being consumed in the past, is certainly being consumed in a much more recent past.

The coffee here comes from Coffee Plant Roasters, still just as accessible by bike as it was before. However, as a bit of a changeup, this marks the first blend I've purchased from there. It's origins are listed as "Sumatra and our favorite Latin." Whether that means a blend of Latin's too, or a single favorite, that's up for debate.

Also up for debate, is their name and description. They've named it after a level of roasting, but then tell you it is only barely in that category. As a follow-up, it then gets described as a "medium to dark roast." So it's a light, medium, dark roast. Got it.

Since it's recent, and I remember something about the taste, I'll actually speak to that here. One flavor description CPR gave was earth. The first few days of drinking this, that earth tasted like dirt. That's not hyperbole. I guess I should just remember that earth = dirt, and shouldn't expect the flavor to be different. That being said, that flavor mellowed out (or became ignored) the further into the bag I drunk.

Stumptown - Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Chelbessa

I saved this Ethiopian Yirgacheffe from Stumptown for last. Until I drink more coffee.

Chelbessa is a washing station, but if you read the back of the card, you already knew that.

This is quite possibly the first Yirgacheffe I knowingly consumed as a Yirgacheffe. The one to start the obsession, apparently. I wish I had more to write about it, but I don't. It's been so long ago since I drunk this.

Wandering Goat - Abyssinia

Abyssinia is a blend from Wandering Goat. Its name is the historical name for Ethiopia, the region where the beans come from.

There have been some changes to the description on this packaging. As of a month ago, it now reads, "A unique fruity and floral blend of our washed and natural Ethiopians produces a wonderfully complex flavor."

Coffee Plant Roasters - Kenya Nyeri Peaberry

This is the 3rd Kenyan coffee I've shown on this blog, and the last of my stockpile of roasts from Coffee Plant Roasters.

For those that don't know, the peaberry label means that this coffee comes from cherries that only contained one seed. Normally, a cherry would contain two seeds.

Wandering Goat - Guatemala Huehuetenango

This coffee from Wandering Goat was grown near the Guatemalan city of Huehuetenango. With a name like that, I wish I knew how to pronounce it correctly, because my probably bastardized way of saying it is entertaining to me. 

While it sounds partially like laughing, Huehuetenango actually means place of the ancients in the Aztec language.

Sisters Coffee - Uganda Kabum Co-op

In an alphabetical list, this roast from Sisters Coffee comes in last for roasts I've tried. That's not necessarily indicative of my taste ranking of this coffee from Uganda though. It also helps that I don't have much of a taste ranking. It was probably good. It certainly wasn't bad.

For an interesting tidbit about this coffee, the Kabum Co-op has only been around since 2011. I also don't know, as far as co-ops go, if that is young or old. This coffee here was consumed sometime in early 2017 though, so don't go thinking that I found out about a coffee earlier than you.

Stumptown - Burundi Kayanza

After a short hiatus (of two weeks when I decided Imgur was more exciting,) here's more records (honestly just for me) of what coffee I have consumed.

This is another Stumptown roast, coming from the African country of Burundi. I'm fairly confident in saying this is the only coffee from Burundi I've ever consumed. Unless some was hiding in a blend. Sneaky.

Wandering Goat - Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Tumticha

After the last coffee being a Yirgacheffe, it's time for more Yirgacheffe! This Wandering Goat roast comes from the Tumticha Co-op.

It's not the first Yirgacheffe I'd ever had, and it certainly wasn't the last.

Coffee Plant Roasters - Ethiopia Yirgacheffe

Here's another Yirgacheffe, this time from Coffee Plant Roasters. It's marked as single origin, but doesn't differentiate any further by region or co-op.

That doesn't really matter in my book, because Yirgacheffe is still probably my favorite coffee region.

Stumptown - Ecuador Cariamanga

Stumptown trading cards are back! I mean, they've never actually left, but after a short break of one other roast, here's another Stumptown. This one comes from Ecuador.

I've got no other anecdote about this one, other than that it was apparently good enough for me to end up with two cards of it.

Coffee Plant Roasters - El Salvador Apaneca

Here's a Coffee Plant Roasters roast from El Salvador. I had something more to write here, then I got distracted trying to remember what I had written on the previous coffee from El Salvador.

Both coffees from El Salvador have tasting notes that include sugar. That must mean that there's something sweet hiding in them. Next time I drink coffee from El Salvador, I'll have to pay attention to that.

Stumptown - Guatemala Bella Vista

Stumptown's trading cards are back after a short break. This one comes to us from the country of Guatemala. It's grown in a land full of volcanoes, but certainly doesn't sound like it tasted fiery.

Sisters Coffee - High Desert Sunrise

Here's a blend, coming from the town of Sisters, Oregon. They describe it as their brightest blend. That's about all I know about it. They give no further information about it.

It's weird to think how the meanings of words can be co-opted, for brightness, a measure of luminance, to become a taste descriptor.