As an avid backpacker and backcountry enthusiast from the caffeine soaked streets of the northwest, I have searched high and low for an easy way to make great coffee away from the conveniences of home.
The retail specialty coffee industry is unique in that it attracts as many admirers of the product (coffee fanatics) as it does those who are looking for a lucrative business investment, probably more.
Why bother to find the freshest roasted beans if you are just going to throw the flavor away at home? That's what you are doing if you grind your beans well
ahead of time. It is tempting.
There is an obstacle to home roasting in the winter. Cold wind rushing into your popper cools the beans while they roast. The beans take forever to roast and the batch usually doesn't roast evenly.
Coffee lovers are snobs, to a point. Once the brewing is complete they can't refuse a good cup of coffee. They will however argue endlessly as to what technique is best for getting to the cup.
Using the Rancilio Silvia Espresso machine can be a bit intimidating if you have never used an espresso machine at all or even if you have previously used a machine that controlled a lot of the variables for you. The machine to a large degree assumes you know what you are doing.
There are a growing number of enthusiasts who are roasting their own coffee beans and enjoying the benefits of truly fresh coffee at about one-third to one half the price of beans from your local coffee shop.
It's been years since I wrote the Press Pot Tutorial. Since then I've developed a checklist of steps to take to improve the taste of French Press coffee.
