Going beyond coffee geek and into wholly new, frequently eccentric territory.
"It's a joke…maybe it's not a joke"
—James Hoffmann's Bripe review
Spoiler Alert: it's not a joke. These people exist in our world. There could be one in your office, at your favourite campsite, in fact these days, almost anywhere. These are the people who go way beyond "coffee appreciation" into a whole new world of geekdom. At work, it's the person who doesn't contribute to the coffee kitty, preferring to bring not just their own coffee, but also their own brewing equipment. They'll probably have a hand grinder, will grind coffee at their desk to telegraph their intent to take a coffee break. Then off they go to the staffroom to indulge in their weird coffee ritual. At the very least they have a pourover setup including the filter cone, possibly a wide variety of filters. They will certainly have a scale and a high likelihood they'll have a gooseneck kettle. some may have switched from pourover to the Aeropress, especially if their kit needs to remain portable or taken home each night.A French press is another alternative. If there's a hotplate they may be making a moka pot, or even steaming milk to make a faux cappuccino. In short, they announce to the world that your coffee just isn't good enough for them, and furthermore, your brewing method sucks. See, they may even have a poster showing the coffee-growing areas of the world and a description of the terroir. If allowed they will talk for hours about flavour profiles, coffee processing and brewing methods, and if they deem you worthy, may even make you a cup of the gourmet shit.
Often seen as coffee extremists, they just value coffee in a very different way, and want to enjoy it anywhere they go. James Hoffmann went so far as to tour London testing out portable espresso machines, in one of the oddest YouTube videos I have seen on the topic of coffee. His eccentricity hit a high for me however, with his review of the Bripe, a crazy, portable coffee maker that could conceivably be carried in a pocket. this delightful short video expresses to me the epitome of being a weird coffee person: a funny, bizarre and truly eccentric vid from James. Also, I want one.
Not all of us are willing or able to go to those extremes, though i did recently take my travelling kit to a free food donation event in our local park, to make coffee for the volunteers. Two bags of beans, one grinder, a flask of very hot water and an Aeropress attracted some interest, and a few cups were made and enjoyed: It was very rewarding. That's about as weird as I've got so far. Once I have procured a backpacking stove, Moka coffee will be available to me anywhere and I can make coffee in the carpark after grocery shopping. Weird? you bet, and I will love it.
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