Storyville Coffee
At our house coffee is a morning ritual not to be messed with. We wake to the shouts of “Mommy, Daddy?!” and “waahhh mehhh mama” – which is baby for “Get me out of this cage, give me a bottle warmed to 99.4 degrees and change this extremely dirty diaper.”
One of us tends to those cries while the other prepares the morning brew.
Prior to crafting our morning cup the assigned brew master asks the other, “What’ll be?” You see in our home a cup of coffee comes in many forms. Espresso, Chemex or French Press. We vary the brew method often – keeps life exciting.
But for the past week it has been the same every morning (and evening) with no desire to change any time soon.
An inquiry came in my inbox a couple of weeks ago introducing me to Storyville. I checked out their site and was immediately drawn to their flawless design and iconic logo of the little boy flying his toy airplane.
What impressed me even more was their mission to “save the world from bad coffee.” A lofty goal that I support wholeheartedly.
I grew up in a family that cared enough about coffee to grind the beans fresh every morning. We would scoff at the instant coffee that sat stale in others’ lazy susans (my snobbery began at an early age). But it wasn’t until fairly recently where I feel as if my husband and I have reached true coffee snobbery – and we still have much to learn. You see although we were grinding our beans daily, the beans were from “Big Coffee” as Storyville refers to it. Burnt, over roasted and old. (Watch “The Truth” to better understand this)
We are very fortunate to be friends with Edwin and Nina Martinez, first of all because they are wonderful people and have enriched our lives greatly. Secondly because they have opened up the world of excellent coffee to us. Edwin’s family owns Finca Vista Hermosa in Guatemala. Edwin also recently began Onyx Coffee with the goal “to increase appreciation for exceptional coffees and the people who produce them”.
Gabe, my husband (and resident photography expert) had the pleasure of joining Edwin on one of his many trips to Guatemala.
When the kind people from Storyville asked me if I would like to try their coffee as excited as I can sound through email I replied, “YES!”
What I received in the mail shortly after blew me away. Not only did I get incredibly fresh roasted coffee but a beautiful french press and a conical burr grinder to execute the proper grind for french press coffee – which was so perfect because we have yet to uncover the box that houses our grinder and other brewing methods. Two mugs (which have since become my favorite coffee consuming vessel) a timer (for precision brewing) and a recipe were also included in the beautifully arranged package.
Without hesitation I set out to make Storyville’s Perfect cup of coffee. I followed the recipe precisely savoring the smell of the freshly roasted beans the entire time. Four cups of filtered water set to heat, 1/2 cup beans measured and placed in the grinder, four minutes set on the timer. The water came to a slight boil, beans ground, poured, swirl, stir, cover, press timer, wait, beep beep, gently push, pour, sniff, ahh, sip, ahhh, sip again, smile, perfect.
The results were heavenly.
Storyville sings the song of freshness. Contrastly, “Big Coffee” has figured out a way to extend the shelf life of coffee by weeks, months, even years – by over roasting. Over roasted coffee essentially removes all the tasty oils naturally present in the beans, leaving behind a burnt, flavorless brew.
Storyville coffee is meant to be enjoyed within 3-12 days after roasting. They make this easy for you by delivering fresh beans right to your door if you sign up for the Storyville Private Reserve.
Thank you Storyville for giving me the chance to taste “the rich, smooth, nectar of the gods.” I look forward to many more cups.
