Coffee and brass knuckles.

You’d think a hard-boiled guy like Philip Marlowe would drink his coffee as is, that he’d not fuss over the intricacies of getting a good brew, that he’d just put a slug of rye in it and drink.

Nope.

It turns out, Philip Marlowe, the character that made Humphrey Bogart…Humphrey Bogart, is sort of a coffee dandy. In the following excerpt from The Long Goodbye, we get a detailed peek into Marlowe’s coffee making process, as well as how a real coffee connoisseur would have made coffee at home for himself and a gun wielding alcoholic house guest in 1953:

I turned the hot water on and got the coffee-maker down off the shelf. I wet the rod and measured the stuff into the top and b that time the water was steaming. I filled the lower half of the dingus and set it on the flame. I set the upper part on top and gave it a twist so it would bind. The coffee maker was almost ready to bubble. I turned the flame low and watched the water rise. It hung a little at the bottom of the glass tube. I turned the flame up just enough to get it over the hump and then turned it low again quickly. I stirred the coffee and covered it. I set my timer for three minutes. Very methodical guy, Marlowe. Nothing must interfere with his coffee technique. Not even a gun in the hand of a desperate character. The coffee was all down and the air rushed in with its usual fuss and the coffee bubbled and then became quiet. I removed the top of the maker and set it on the drainboard in the socket of the cover. I poured two cups and added a slug to his.

See? Even tough guys take special care of their coffee.

Which brings us to me and Camri randomly deciding to buy a pop a few days ago. We saw them in a case at the store, “Boylan’s Root Beer” and “Boylan’s Orange Soda” both made with cane sugar. “Cane sugar?!” we both exclaimed, this sounded really awesomely bad for you. So we bought a bottle of each and tried them out. I don’t know if it’s the cane sugar, or the small label pop company, but both were really great. They weren’t as sweet as a conventional pop, and had a lot more “layers” to the taste.

I went looking online for reasons why the big companies weren’t using cane sugar, and found that Washington Post article above. Cost is the chief reason. Despite the potential health issues associated with HFCS, and the improved taste of a cane sugar based pop, HFCS is much cheaper. Although the cost difference is only a few pennies, when multiplied by the gigantic amount of pop Americans drink, it becomes a cost increase of billions of dollars. Plus, corn is largely an American agricultural product, if the demand for corn syrup drops, the American farmer gets stuck with a crop he can’t sell.

That said, there’s hope on the horizon, in the form of ethanol. The author of “Freakonomics” blogged about it this week. There’s a big push for ethanol to supplement gasoline in alternative fuel vehicles. Illinois’ own Barack Obama is an ethanol advocate. If ethanol takes off, it will drive the price of corn, which in turn may make it more economical for major pop companies to use cane sugar, rather than HFCS.

However, that future may be a long way off. Until a running car smells like popping corn, you can get some yummy cane sugar based soda-pop from both Boylan and from Jones. Try them out…they taste like the future!

Note: We’re not really advocating any sort of “Cane Sugar Diet”, that would be absurd. If you came here from Google, after deciding that someone out there probably made up a sugar based diet, you’re not in luck. Remember, too much of anything is probably a bad thing. Eat, drink, and be merry in moderation. You’re your own best diet. Also, you should exercise. Fatty.

Wine and winter go together like peanut butter and jelly. It warms you up, flushes your cheeks, and makes the grey crappy skys not matter so much. It’s like a tanning bed for your guts. Camri and I are red wine fans. No doubt about it.

We wrote this review a few months ago about a new grape variety we’d never tried before called Nero d’ Avola. At the time, we weren’t crazy about it. We thought it was too smoky. That was more than 10 months ago. Since then, we’ve had a bottle or two of that specific wine, and a few with Nero d’ Avola grapes. This is a wild predicition, but I really think we’re going to drink a lot of this stuff this winter. It’s very warm, smoky, with a lot of complicated stuff going on. In general, the combination of “complex”, “warm”, and “smoky” jumps out as being ideal winter red wines. Here’s one more from our teeny tiny review database that fits that bill, Santa Rita.

As for whites, it’s really new territory for us. Living in a German influenced neighborhood, we’ve tried our share of Rieslings. Our favorite, both for taste and awesome black cat bottle design is Zeller Schwarze Katz. Another distinctly winter wine is “ice wine.” We’ve never tried one, so we can’t comment. The theory is, they leave the grapes on the vine during the winter, allow the juice to freeze, and then press them. The ice crystals pull a lot of the moisture out of the grape, so the wine is very thick and sweet. Buying a bottle of real ice wine is on our list of things to try this winter.

To review, here’s the wikipedia pages on each of the varieties we’re recommending for winter…

• Nero d’ Avola
• Riesling
• Ice Wine

Updated to add: It’s 9:25 am, Thursday morning. I’m on the 12th floor with a view of the Chicago River. It is snowing like crazy out there.

Getting Started

Start by buying this book:

As far as I know, it’s the only book dedicated to roasting at home. It’s well written, and has just about everything you need to get started roasting on your own. While it’s on its way, go to Sweet Maria’s and start looking around. All the equipment you’ll need, plus green beans, can be bought online at Sweet Maria’s.

Equipment

We roast using a Whirly Pop popcorn popper on the side burner of our outdoor grill. Roasting creates a lot of “chaff” and smoke, so it’s best if you can do it outside. You’ll also need a good thermometer that can read temperatures up to 500 degrees or higher. Sweet Maria’s gives full information on the stovetop method here. You can also order a popcorn popper kit direct from the site. It even includes a few pounds of green beans to get you started. The one item that the kit doesn’t come with is a thermometer. I recommend spending a little extra to get the Cooper thermometer on this page. Although it’s a little bit more expensive, the big face makes it much easier to read.

Where to Get Beans?

Sweet Maria’s. Hands down. No question. I ordered a five pound bag of green coffee from an Ebay auction when I was just starting out, and was very dissapointed. Coffee farms, unlike vineyards or artisan cheese shops, are in some of the poorest countries of the world. Many of these farms have substandard living conditions, or use insecticides that you don’t want to drink. Tom, the chief buyer and owner of Sweet Maria’s, is very aware of the state of the coffee buying world. He doesn’t buy from farms that mistreat their workers, or use harsh chemicals on their plants. He’s a very progressive buyer, and is helping to encourage well managed farms to be more productive. Plus, he doesn’t stock bad beans.

Roasting

Read the chapters on roasting from the Davies book before trying it out for yourself. My own roasting technique follows the Davies book almost to the letter.

I’ve found that the Whirley Pop is ideal for roasting a half pound of beans at a time. I put the empty roaster on high flame until the temperature gets to around 450. Then I dump the beans in, and start turning. The temperature naturally drops to around 330 while the green beans absorb the heat. As the beans heat up, the little bit of moisture in them starts to steam. The beans “crack” at around 6 minutes. This is called “first crack”. It sounds like popcorn popping. Lots of smoke will start poring from the seams of the popper. At first it will smell very “green”, but will start to smell more like roasting coffee.

After first crack starts, you need to decide how deeply you want to roast your coffee. There’s an excellent guide to coffee roasts at Sweet Maria’s. Each bag of green coffee comes with a brief description of what Tom believes is the ideal roast. I usually go with his recommendation. One thing you’ll find over time is that Starbucks roasts way too darkly. The lighter roasts on high quality beans preserve the flavor. Starbucks wants you to taste the roast, Tom wants you to taste the bean. Go with Tom.

As time goes by, the distinctive first crack will stop, and second crack will begin. Second crack sounds more like rice krispies than popcorn. When second crack begins, you’re at full city +. I typically like to stop the roast here, just as second crack is beginnning. The beans are a deep brown, but there’s no oil on the surface. Here’s a picture from Sweet Maria’s:

Dump the beans into a wide colander and shake them to remove the chaff. Let them cool for a while, until you can touch them with your hand. In most cases you can grind the beans immediately for brewing, however, it’s best to rest them for 24 hours. Store them in a cool dry place, like your counter top, and grind them just before brewing.

Get Started!

Roasting coffee at home is shockingly easy. Camri and I really like to make our own food when possible. I always thought that coffee wasn’t something you could roast at home, and was amazed to find out how easy it actually is. It’s just like brewing your own beer, except without all the chemistry and tedious bottle cleaning. Don’t be afraid, don’t overthink it. If you’re at all interested in roasting at home, buy a popcorn popper, drill a hole in it, buy some beans, put them over heat, and do it. It’s easy and never ceases to amaze the Starbucks crowd.

They make a really interesting beer cocktail at De Cero on Randolph Street (just a few blocks from Harpo Studios) called a chelada. Camri and I had one a few months ago, and have experimented with the concept a few times when folks have come over.

It’s a base of lime juice, with mexican beer on ice (ice!) in a salt rimmed glass. The lime brightens it up while the ice keeps it cold and waters it down a teeny bit. Salt makes it salty. ha.

It tastes great, is pretty unique, and is easy to make at home. Go beer!