Hey Friends, welcome to the 2nd edition of the Changelog series.
This edition describes some of the happenings roughly between 2022-09 and 2022-10.
A self-declared coffee fanatic
I would call myself a coffee fanatic (snob?).
The range of snobbishness is variable I guess. You only have to visit r/coffee to see what I mean.
Around 2016, we bought our first Nespresso pod machine. It was the Nespresso Inissia. At the time both the Wife and I were having our coffees with two sugars and milk.
When I started trying to reduce the sugar in my diet, I started tasting more of the coffee and less of the sugar.
And I did not like it.
Thus, the beginning of a never-ending journey.
The journey
My first foray into the journey of better coffee started with an Aeropress (a gift from the Wife). I bought myself a Porlex Mini grinder to go along with it.
It’s a nifty little set. Super portable. Easy to use. A breeze to clean-up.
And great for annoying your colleagues at 7AM in the office grinding some coffee beans.
Then sometime in 2017, we visited Truth Coffee in Cape Town and I had a cappuccino with what they called micro-textured foam. This is just foamed milk with small air bubbles instead of big ones. But marketing right?
Of course, I had cappuccino’s before. But nothing as delicious as this. I wanted to do this too!
Did I mention the journey is never-ending?
I wanted an Espresso machine of my own.
So after many, many months of saving up. I was finally able to get a Rancilio Silvia V6 with a decent grinder too. See Figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Coffee station with the Baratza Sette 270
The Baratza Sette 270
Of course, as the experts over at r/coffee will tell you, a good quality espresso grinder is far more important than a fancy espresso machine.
Fortunately, a friend of mine, soon to be departing for the UK, was selling his Baratza Sette 270 for a decent price.
Some research showed it’s incredible value for the price point.
The only disadvantage proved to be the abysmal build quality. Since owning it (second hand, albeit, but the evidence online is pretty clear in this regard) I’ve had to change the gearbox twice and fix the grind level adjustment more times that I can remember.
Sometime in September of 2022, the Baratza circuit board gave in. And after owning this grinder for about a year and a bit, it was time for a replacement.
The Eureka Mignon Specialita
I had been eyeing this little beauty for a while now. Another solid grinder for the price point.
After coming to terms with the death of the Baratza I immediately starting looking for the cheapest distributor in the country.
The build quality of this grinder is superb. It’s significantly quieter, so I’m sure the neighbours are eternally grateful.
The flat burrs bring out a slightly different flavour profile. More rounded and balanced I would say.
Figure 2: Coffee station with the Eureka Mignon Specialita
Bonus: Latte Art
I usually have two cups a day. A morning espresso and an afternoon cappuccino or cortado.
Tell me you wouldn’t appreciate drinking something like figure 3 below every day?
Bliss.
Figure 3: A cappuccino with somewhat decent latte art
Birth of the second-born
I saved the best news for last.
I’ve become a father. Again.
It’s hard to properly describe all these feelings in words, but if I can choose one word, its fantastic.
Smooth sailing or just a more experienced sailor?
This time we were far better prepared than with the first-born.
Don’t let people even attempt to convince you otherwise, kids are expensive!
If you opt to have kids in a private hospital in South Africa it is incredibly important to have Gap cover. With most doctors and practitioners charging far above the medical aid rate (I’ve seen up to 400%), without Gap cover, this shortfall is from your pocket. We’ve made the mistake of not having this for our first-born and trust me, you don’t ever want to be at that situation. If there’s anything to learn from this post and you live in South Africa, it’s this.
Sleep? What sleep?
Just kidding. This time around it hasn’t been too bad.
I usually strive for a solid 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I don’t think I have to sell you on why getting a good nights rest is important, just read the best book on the subject 1.
Unfortunately, the mantra has changed from “get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep” to “get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep”. This is due to apparently more important tasks such as nappy inspections, clothing changes and bottle preparation.
The Apple Watch sleep tracking shows this routine change in somewhat depressing detail (See figures 4 and 5).
Figure 4: A decent sleep
Figure 5: A somewhat ok sleep
See, its not too bad.
Cherish these moments
Anyways, money and sleep aside, nothing describes the rewarding feeling of having kids.
Seeing an excited, smiling face waiting for you for you after work or holding a warm bundle of joy in your arms.
I’ve been told by people wiser than me to cherish these moments, so cherish them I shall.