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Wellness Wednesday for November 16, 2022

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

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In this post, @Walterodim confessed to his coffee and whiskey habits, which got me wondering:


How does The Motte enjoy its coffee and whiskey?


Coffee

I prefer buying fancy, freshly-roasted light roast beans and doing a pour over in a Chemex. I grind my beans in a DeLonghi grinder (middle of the road quality wise), put the grounds in an unbleached paper filter that has been rinsed to remove the papery taste, and then pour hot water (slightly cooler than boiling) from a gooseneck kettle over the grounds. Then I drink the coffee black, in silence, while it's still piping hot.

These days I've moved to a place where I can't get good beans at an affordable price, so I often get mediocre stuff and put a splash of milk in it to take the edge off of some of the less appealing flavors.

Occasionally, on Saturday morning or during holidays, I'll make myself an Irish coffee. I make a cup of coffee, add a shot and a half of Tullamore D.E.W. Irish whiskey, whip some cold cream with a cheap little milk foamer, and then pour the cream over the back of the spoon so that it settles on top of the coffee. These days, since it's autumn, sometimes I'll sprinkle a bit of brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg on top of the cream. It's a nice little treat for a lazy morning.


Whiskey

Ah, the water of life. I prefer Irish whiskey and Tennessee whiskey. I usually have a bottle of Red Breast 12 for sipping, Tullamore for mixing (or for my second glass), and then Four Roses as a "multipurpose whiskey." I like to drink my whiskey neat with a small splash of water. I used to make old fashioneds, but I don't feel that they're much of an improvement over just drinking the whiskey neat (and I'm lazy).

When it gets cold, I like to make a nice hot toddy with some cheaper whiskey. I boil some water, pour it in a mug, stir in a bit of lemon juice and honey and add a shot or two of whiskey. I like to use a covered Miir mug because it prevents the drink from cooling down too quickly as I sip it. This is one of my favorite winter drinks.

OK, now we're talking. I'm also a Chemex guy, grinding with a Baratza Virtuoso plus and tinkering with grind settings depending on what's brewing. I switched over to an electric gooseneck kettle last year (Brewista, with the wood accents) because the heating time is better and I appreciate being able to set it to exact temperatures. I'm typically doing a bloom with 100g of water, second pour to 450g, finishing with 750g with pulse pouring. The amount of beans will vary a bit based on what I'm brewing, but I start with 17:1 ratio, so 44g of beans. Always drink it black, usually out of my favorite mug that I won in a race.

I'm extremely partial to fruity, floral African coffees, particularly Ethiopians. I also enjoy some of the funkier fermentations and experimental stuff though, which tends to come more from South and Central America at the moment. This Wilton Benitez bag is a recent example and it's delightful. My wife prefers more chocolate and spice, so we'll grab a decent number of Guatemalan stuff for her as well. I probably drink more coffee from Rogue Wave than anyone else; they're in Vancouver, often post a 10% discount code on Reddit, we benefit from the exchange rate here in the States, and they're an excellent roaster. I also order from JBC frequently (see the link above) because they're local and very good. Vibrant in Philly is always great too, they tend to have excellent Ethiopian beans.

Whiskey! I am a bourbon guy, through and through, but I actually enjoy pretty much everything. Almost everything is neat, just the occasional couple drops of water for the hazmat-tier proofs. I don't really have one go-to bourbon because I'm a sucker for variety. My favorite thing that I have on the shelf at the moment is EH Taylor Barrel Proof, but among things that aren't obnoxiously hard to find, the New Riff Single Barrel is really nice. I tend to prefer heavy oak and sweet things, less on the spice, but I'm always happy to make an exception for a good rye. My wife absolutely loves whiskey sours, and she's not wrong, but I'd rather just drink them neat. Eagle Rare is the go-to there - kind of blasphemous given what some people pay for those, but it's a $38 bottle here, so whatever.

I hadn't tried Irish whiskeys much until we had a trip to Ireland, and it turns out Irish whiskey is good too! I came home with a bottle of Yellow Spot and Bushmills 16, which were surprisingly good deals at the Dublin Airport Duty Free. I'm still more partial to Redbreast though and keep coming back to Redbreast 12 because of the killer balance of price and quality. I do like Redbreast 15 more, but not $40 more.

Related, I love a good rum on a hot summer day. Foursquare rums are absolutely fantastic.