It's hard to retire for a number of reasons. It's common to confuse what we do with who we are, eg "I'm an engineer", so when we do retire we suffer a loss of identity: "Who am I now?". True. Part two is watching a top income shrink to Social Security, wherein purchases you barely think about now count up quickly to decimate a stipend that one must live within.
That's the bad part.
The good part is having time to explore new things: baking French Bread, making Greek yogurt, growing pineapples, tomatoes et al. And roasting your own coffee. Phase One was buying five pounds of Columbia Supremo and learning how to roast and do simple blends. I cannot recommend this more for any who are reading this. There is simply nothing like rolling, er roasting yer own. The aromas and tastes are not to be believed. Better yet, it's actually pretty easy.
The second step is to explore the World of Coffee, just as we have explored the world of rums and spirits.
Sweet Maria's Eight-Pack Sampler...
When it comes to beginning to roast there are two schools of thought: first, do what I learned to do by buying a quantity of a single bean, then learning how to roast it to different levels, and for different results (which allows blending of say a light roast with a heavy roast). Sweet Maria's thinks differently.
They believe more is gained by buying a sampler so as to experience different coffees is the best way to start. As they put it...
Since their selections are changing frequently they cannot promise a particular coffee, but they do try to include coffees from every growing continent, and multiple processes. Here's what I received for $48 (just $6 a pound):"Trying a sampler is the best way, in my opinion, to get started home roasting, especially if you are not sure what coffee to choose. We can not promise a particular origin in the sampler.
In the 4 Pound and 8 Pound Samplers we try to include a coffee from every coffee growing continent and a range of processes. Some folks have suggested that having a larger quantity of a single bean that takes a range of roasts is a better way to learn roasting -- I think getting a range of flavors so you can start to see the difference origin makes is better. The choice is up to you really."
1. Ethiopia Illubabor Camp: moderate brightness, peach notes, floral hints, chocolate roast notes, dense body, nectar-like mouthfeel, bitter chocolate at Full City+ roast.
Wow! Does that sound like tasting a good whisky or rum? You bet your sweet Maria, it does.
2. Ethiopia Goma Duromina Cooperative: restrained, fruit juice sweetness, clean berry notes, peach, lightly carmelized sugars, sweet grain, light body, fruit jam, intensifies as it cools.
You can see the significant differences just in these first two coffees.
3. Brazil Fazenda Sao Benedito: malted milk chocolate, caramel nougat, low acidity, honey-nut character, peach and pineabpple hints, good base for espresso.
4. Brazil Serao Carmo de Minas: transparent honey sweetness, hazelnut-almond roast tones, green tea fininsh, graham cracker and bittersweet chocolate.
5. Burundi Kirimiro Teka: apple like brightness, Asian pear sweetness, ripe black cherry, toasted almond, caramel and cream notes with hibiscus and rose notes.
6. Java Sunda Pitaloka: great blend of sweet and bittering notes, cherries with dusting of cocoa, nutty roast tones, spiced flavors, hefty body, high intensity, glittering acidity.
7. Nicaragua Maracaturra Finca Los Granadillos: light roasts are syrupy with pomello acidity, darker roasts have raw sugar coffee cherry fruit, grape-like acidity and citrus pith finish.
8. El Salvador Mejahual Tablon La Montana: a balanced and basic cup, cocoa roast tones, rich tapioca, creamy mouthfeel, bittersweet finish of cacao and caramel.
Bottom Line:
These coffees represent the continents of (Central and South) America, Southeast Asia (Java - Indonesia), and Africa (Burundi, Ethiopia). Maria's included a lovely postcard and a 1-sheet newsletter discussing why Ethiopia is one of the great growing areas.
Next: we await Sleepy's guidance...