The Hario V60 Trials and Stewardship of Time

Assume only one brewing device: the single-cup Hario V60 - 01.
Assume a similar grind: dialing in at 3 notches from zero on the Hario Skerton.
Assume also a dose of 23g of the same beans (but no two beans are the same!).
Assume even a water temperature of 93 degrees celcius.

There are still too many factors to vary in search of the perfect cup:

Brew Ratio
The market norm is said to be 60g coffee for 1l water. But everyone has their sure-hit ratio. Plus this is probably dependent also on actual grind size of beans, type and roast profile of beans, maybe even composition of water, etc etc
- Stumptown Coffee: 23g with 11oz water for 8oz coffee
- Counter Culture: 1.6 - 2g per 1oz water
- Brown Coffee Co: 18g; 11 fl oz of water at 204F to yield 10 fl oz (via bitterpress)
- Taylor St Baristas: 23g with 320ml water
- Trevor Hyman (Bean Vagrant): 29g with 500g water

Boiling the water
To boil water in the Hario Buono drip kettle or not?
Filter water or tap?

Pre-wetting
To pre-wet or not? Theoretical grounds (haha) for pre-wetting include allowing the carbon dioxide trapped within the beans during roasting to be released, ensuring even extraction of the grounds

Circular pour vs center pour
Raised (though not high and dry) most famously in Scott Rao's "Everything But Espressp". See Matthew P Williams' post for a re-think.

You know that this is an all-important topic when Hitler gets emo about it.

To allow all the water to drip through or to stop near the end? If so, when to stop the flow?


Bean: Ethiopian Harrar, Oriole Coffee Roasters
Time from roast: 5 days
Grind: 2+ notches from zero on the Hario Skerton
Brew Ratio: 23g to 11 fluid oz
Water Temperature: 93 degrees celcius
Pre-wetting: yes (but didn't record how much water was used or whether allowed bloom to subside)
Pour: circular
Drip-through: yes, all the way to the last drop
Taste: floral but sour on finish when cold


Bean: Ethiopian Harrar, Oriole Coffee Roasters
Time from roast: 6 days
Grind: 3+ notches from zero on the Hario Skerton
Brew Ratio: 23g to 8 fluid oz
Water Temperature: 93 degrees celcius
Pre-wetting: yes (but didn't record how much water was used or whether allowed bloom to subside)
Pour: circular
Drip-through: no
Taste: floral, lovely even when cold but somewhat bitter when added to milk!


But such record-keeping is hardly accurate. What about the percentage of extraction and total dissolved solids via extractmojo or mojotogo + refractometer? Will these numbers necessarily give a good cup?


And since the smelevision and tastovision has yet to be invented, words are the only means of recording taste, perhaps via coffee journals like 33 Coffees or drinkyourwords.

Still, exciting stuff!

The attempt at keeping records of these little variables and examining how small things affect the end product, has made me curious about my stewardship of time. So i've had a go at listing the goings-on of the past week.

On one hand, it is useful to keep close accounts of resources gifted to one by God (still alive = gift of time) so as to be considered about the spending of such resources, and additionally in my case, to ensure i stop double-booking the same time slots.

However, there is the danger that is somewhat similar to the danger of census-taking (especially wrt the Old Testament), and also the danger of doing this all for the sake of ticking off the to-do list and being smug and self-congratulatory about all this activity (or v.v.).

So, just a once-off snapshot for future reference (to satisfy own idle curiosity in future about how 2011 went by in a flash):


Sunday
journey to church: stoned
morning: Sunday School on Genesis, breakfast, service
afternoon: lunch, 121 on John, wandered around Little India + salty fruit juice
evening: old friend's birthday dinner
journey home: slept


Monday
journey to work: slept
lunch: met ex-colleague to talk about surreal experience in Japan and meaninglessness of old life
dinner: 121 on Ezra and Nehemiah
journey home: slept

Tuesday
journey to work: caught up on emails
lunch: colleague and her "lousy life"
dinner: "One-to-one" training with Sophie Peace (Sophie de Witt) and 3 others
journey home: discussed training for bible study leaders and how to encourage pastor
night: messed around with HTML for youth camp blog


Wednesday
journey to work: caught up on SMSes, Mark Ashton's "Christian Youth Work"
lunch: Mark Ashton's "Christian Youth Work"
dinner: discussed local politics and how best to help work in Malaysian church
journey home: tried to sort out bible study group for SAHM
night: played around with Khan Academy stuff to see if pedagogy will be useful for teaching the Word, read Tim Hawkins' "Disciples Who Will Last"

Thursday
journey to work: read Judges 6-8
lunch: prepared bible study on Judges, laughed through Dale Ralph Davis' commentary on Judges 6 - 8
("Sunday School Hero" Gideon was a character right out of Monty Python - especially Sir Robin the Chicken-hearted, except funnier! But like the whittling down of the army to 300, this shows it is God who saves rather than the hunk.)
dinner: Tim Hawkins' "Disciples Who Will Last", bible study on Judges
journey home: slept
night: prepared Sunday School material

Friday
journey to work: prepared material for meeting young adult
lunch: met young adult + friend to discuss priorities in Christian life
(Chuffed that they laid out their Bibles on the table in the expectation that we would be relying on God's word for answers, not on me!)
evening: worked late while listening to Sonicflood and Charlie Skrine on Judges 6 "Fearful Deliverer" at St. Helen's Bishopsgate
journey home: worked on getting three-stars for all levels on Angry Birds Rio


Saturday
morning: baked tarts for meet-up
late morning and lunch: met-up with SAHM
journey to the East: re-read Exodus and Andrew Sach and Richard Alldritt's "Dig Even Deeper"

afternoon: witnessed a man allegedly possessed by the spirit of the monkey god blessing the opening of a new shop, watched what we thought was a silat dance that later appeared to be a possession/exorcism thing? along Joo Chiat Road, pho at Long Phuong + discussion on spirits + study on Exodus (Fascinating details about the tabernacle - what references to the Garden of Eden!)
evening: a refreshing pint and chat with the bartend at The Cider Pit (by East of Avalon Wines) - a yummy Westons Vintage Organic Still Cider on draught (but it's flat, bitter and like chou dou fu, said the disbelieving bartender), groceries at Parkway Parade
journey home: slept
night: cooked dinner for family, prepared Sunday School material


Sunday
journey to church: prepared 121 on John 3
morning: Sunday School on Genesis (we had a good laugh at Laban's household gods which had been sat on by Rachel), breakfast, Christianity Explored course
lunch: de-briefing on women's ministry event, planning for next event
afternoon: 121 on John 3 + good long chat about sin in the Christian life
dinner: with family
night: spent quality time with B. Taylor and J.S. Bach + Violin Concerto to give vent to pent-up music, wrote this post

Obviously more concerted effort needs to be made to make full use of time - need to carve out time for exercise before turning completely into a lard-ball and for keeping up with current affairs and to some extent, pop culture so my references aren't too obsolete to be of much use in explanations, but being aware of how time is spent is useful step in hopefully the right direction...