№ 64: How I Make A V60 Pourover Coffee
My morning coffee ritual - Choosing intention - Mother's cooking - Finding passion & purpose
I always begin my day with a coffee-making ritual.
I start by boiling the kettle. I then take out a food scale and place my Hario Bloom Mini Mill Hand coffee grinder on top.
The beans I selected this morning are Vietnamese arabica coffee beans. These coffee beans have come all the way from the Lam Dong province – the southernmost mountainous province in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam. The coffee-tasting notes are pain au raisin and plum wine.
Next, I pour in 13g of coffee beans and crank the handle clockwise, finding a rhythmic cadence until all my coffee is ground up.
I set my grinder down, reach for my beige Kinto coffee mug, and place it on top of the scale.
I search for my V60 dripper, set it on top of my mug and take out a filter paper. I fold my paper filter along the seam into a cone and place it inside the dripper.
I pick up my kettle, pour hot water into the V60 to rinse the filter paper and wait for the water to drip down into my cup. I lift the V60 off the mug and pour the excess water into the sink, returning the V60 on top.
I deposit my freshly ground coffee into the V60 and gently tap it to flatten the coffee bed to ensure an even extraction. I grab a spoon and create a little well in the middle. With a steady hand, I pour 50ml of water in a circular motion, ensuring I cover all the coffee — allowing it to bloom and releasing a burst of coffee aroma.
After 30 seconds, I pour in another 100ml of water. When my stopwatch hits the 1-minute mark, I pour in the last 100ml. I then stir 3 times clockwise and 3 times anti-clockwise. I wait about another minute to ensure all the water drips through completely.
Whenever I tell people this is part of my morning routine, I’m often met with: “But why don’t you just buy a Nespresso machine? You could have a cup of coffee within 30 seconds, and it’s so much easier than having to grind, measure and pour.”
They’re right. But I’m going to do it the way I’ve always done. Not because I’m a coffee snob (I am) but because I want to start my day with intention.
Admiral William Harry McRaven once said, “If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.” I agree. I want to start my day by doing the small things with focus and intention. I want to think about each measurement, each movement, and each pour to get my coffee just right.
If I use a Nespresso machine, making my coffee would become too easy, and I’ll end up thinking about other things. Also, If I put so little care and time into making my coffee, it wouldn’t taste so good (the proof is in the taste of a Nespresso coffee).
I believe our thoughts, feelings and unconscious beliefs have a hidden energy that permeates into the things we do, whether that is making coffee, cooking dinner, creating art, doing work and so on.
Both of my parents are chefs. They taught me the mood and mentality of the cook can change the quality of the dish. It’s why mother’s cooking tastes so different. Her secret ingredients are love and care.
When you use your love in your craft, your creation is different.
Because of this mindset, whatever it is I'm working on, I try to do it with love, care and intention. I want my work to be a reflection of who I am and how I want to live.
Ever since I was 17, I've been on a quest to create and build something that I can be proud of. Admittedly, for a long time, I didn't know where I was going or what I was doing, but I knew I wouldn’t half-ass it.
Jeff Bezos once said, "You don't choose your passions - your passions choose you."
He’s right. It only recently occurred to me that in everything I've worked on so far, I've naturally gravitated towards one direction. Psychology, poker, street photography, behavioural economics, (copy)writing and marketing. The underlying theme in all these disciplines is the observation of human nature.
Jimmy Carr writes in Before & Laughter: The hilarious guide to changing your life, “I believe we’ve got two big adventures in life: the first is finding your purpose and the second is pursuing that purpose.”
There's a difference between passion and purpose. I know the two get used interchangeably. But how I see it is your passion is for you, your purpose is for others. When you use your passion in service of others, it becomes your purpose.
My passion is to observe human nature. My purpose, my life’s work, is to use the insights into human nature in service of others.
While I still don't exactly know what the destination looks like, perhaps I will write a book, perhaps I will teach, or perhaps I will have a successful marketing agency that rivals Ogilvy, but I’m in firm pursuit of this second adventure.
I want to get to the end of my life and say: This is the life I chose and not the one I settled for.
And the only way I know how is with intention.