I don’t remember when exactly it started, but over the last 20 years I have built a steadily growing obsession with coffee and the accouterments required to make great coffee.

If I had to think back, I would have to say it started when I was a young boy. Craftsmanship has always had massive appeal to me. I remember always being impressed with the ability of my grandfather to carve small figurines using just his tools and his hands. There was something about this that really appealed to me, but I didn’t seem to have any of the natural skill required to follow suit.

I would ask for soldering irons and other little tools to tinker with, but I think I always longed for some sort of a process I could follow and repeat. Sort of like how a chef develops a recipe and then can tweak it as he goes, but will always stick to the core of the idea.

As I grew older, I found my way into the world of wines. There was a real community to be a part of, lots of niche knowledge to soak in, and it tasted good. I spent years learning about wines and becoming what I would call an “expert” at that.

But eventually, I realized that I was drinking too much of the stuff and spending too much money on it. I wanted to move to something that would help my productivity. This was around the same time I saw coffee beans for sale at this boutique grocery store.

I had never been a big coffee drinker and mostly treated it as something I would have if I needed to be on my “A” game or was a little tired, but for some reason I decided to see what was possible with a small investment.

I bought the beans and then started researching the necessary tools to make my own coffee. This fit right back into my chef-like desire to find comfort in a process, but also satisfied my wine lover’s desire to build a sophisticated taste for coffee.

Coffee has two great appeals to me. First, there is a widespread community of people who have a real interest in the art behind making coffee. It is just like the wine world, but less expensive and better for you. Second, unlike wine, I actually get to participate in the making of my coffee. Not only is this fun and satisfying, but it gives me a morning ritual that I find comforting.

The move from being a coffee “utilitarian” to coffee “devotee” has shown me that life is not all about efficiency, and over the past 20 years I think this small ritual has helped me to mellow out immensely.

So from being a young boy looking for a craft or process, I went on to find out the pleasures of making my own coffee and now consider myself an expert in the field. There is no better feeling than immersing yourself in something new and learning more than you thought there ever was to know about it.

There’s now about 5 people helping me manage this site, from the initial research all the way to the writing and publishing of articles and posts. I hope you find this site useful and you can pick up one thing or 2 about coffee.

Happy browsing,

Francky