"Twas many moons ago", said the ancient mariner, eye gleaming bright.... ok, actually it was just over seven years ago that we set sail from the Canaries on board the Ocean Wanderer, destination the Caribbean.
The first few days were a bit choppy, you know the score, thirty five knots gusting forty five, pretty much on the nose, and it was making life in the forepeak rather uncomfortable. I remember being bounced from the starboard bunk, up to the ceiling, over the lee cloth, and back down into the port bunk (which fortunately was empty).
It was about this time that the one and only cafetiere got broken and it was a bitter blow indeed.
For the next two weeks we relied upon that granule stuff, but it wasn't the same. I started to wonder if there wasn't some sort of alternative that the wit of a sailor could put together, starting with using paper kitchen towels, which were advertised as being strong even if wet, as a make-shift filter.
Without wanting to go into details it is fair to say that results were disappointing, with the result tasting rather too much of wet paper.
However it made the arrival at St Lucia all the sweeter to know that the next day we could say goodbye to the instant imitation.
Of course I didn't expect the breakfast area of the hotel to be overrun with swarms of cockroaches, but ah! that coffee tasked good.
Updated: an interesting article about coffee on today's Guardian here.
7 comments:
cannot we all just get along
if some of my relatives chose to join you for breakfast what can be the harm in that
We've found that simple drip coffee through a filter funnel works on the boat, but that's always when we're secure at the dock.
I'm starting to think that the Aerobie gizmo might be a good choice for brewing underway. Like your press, the water and grounds are all contained inside, but it's made of a plastic that's sturdier than glass.
I notice that Taru received her deluxe espresso machine gratis from the manufacturer. I wonder if they would do the same for me if I featured a few pix on my blog of me using the machine dressed in a speedo.
Hi arnold: I think you must have had friends at the hotel as the staff seemed to have no problems with your cousins running around in the patio area where we had breakfast. Unless of course they were on holiday too - maybe you know the hotel?
O'Docker - yes, the skipper did rant a bit about "who the f*** would bring a glass cafetiere on a boat???" so plastic probably better.
As to the free machine thing - you could try a vote as who whether the people of the interwebbie thing would rather see you or Taru in speedos, but I have a hunch as to the result.
O Docker, I will send you a free coffee maker if you do NOT post a picture of yourself in a speedo on your blog during the next 30 years. Remind me on 5 April 2041 and I will send you the machine of your choice.
...and I could offer to not sing...
There is an easy solution. (Tested in RL over many years). Get an italian expresso boiler. They are usually made of alu, so they dont rust. They are almost unbreakable, and the filter is built-in and everlasting. Just add water, coffee and heat. I picked one up at the local supermarket for about eight euros.
The stovetop is a lot less expensive than the electric sticking with the same principle of creating coffee.
This makes K-Cups an easy task to obtain and it eliminates any hassle from brewing the following cup of joe.
An average cup of coffee will keep a full-grown man awake for one more four hours.
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