Well I finally got my new Zassenhaus coffee grinder. I have been wanting one for about a year now. Sadly they have been unavailable in the States for at least a year (Zassenhaus went through bankruptcy). But this past week Sweet Maria's started to sell them again. I immediately bought one.

Most coffee experts will tell you that your coffee grinder is the most important piece of equipment to get right. Buying a $200 grinder is not unreasonable if you want really good coffee. The Zassenhaus grinders give you the same quality as the $200 grinders for much less. As long as you don't mind a little workout, these manual grinders are a great deal.

In other news, my TF2 play hit a snag when the fan on my video card melted off. I kid you not. But now I have a new, fanless card and all is well.

Development continues on this blog. Most of my focus has been on writing tools. I took a break from tools today and added tags.

If you know me at all you know that I love coffee. Not as a quick pick-me-up. No, my love for coffee comes from a deep pleasure I get from it. The wonder of a new bean that I have never tried before, the soothing ritual of using my press-pot, the joy of finding a great coffee shop to lose myself for hours on end. These are just part of my love for the bean.

Of course I was not always such a passionate coffee drinker. Here is a brief outline of my coffee life:

• Mochas at *bucks before I could drive
• Countless hours at my first independent coffee shop, La Spiaza
• My first drip coffee maker, and eventually being able to distinguish different flavors and tones to the coffee I made.
• Finding Intelli and Metropolis in Chicago (and discovering the joy of brewing fresh roasted coffee).
• Switching over to press-pot as my preferred brewing methodology
• And now entering into my west coast coffee adventure with the help of ritual roasters in SF

The reason I bring this up is because there is an article in the New York Times about direct trade coffee. It mentions a few of my favorite coffee companies, and their new take on how to run a coffee business. My hope is that these companies will help the average coffee drinker discover the joy of an excellent cup of coffee.

Snapped this in SF over the weekend.