Exploration vs. exploitation
Life’s biggest dilemma: to explore or to exploit?
During lockdown, I got into the fine art of pour-over coffee brewing.
Initially, the brews tasted bitter or sour or bland, even though the freshly ground beans smelled delicious. So, to get going, I consulted the stars of BrewTube. And by following their advice, I soon managed to produce some pretty good cups. (Many thanks to James Hoffmann, Scott Rao, Tetsu Kasuya et al!)
However, I knew that I’ve only scratched the surface. Some years prior, after stumbling into a random coffee in Oslo, I’ve had an unbelievably tasty and fruity cup of coffee. My own brews were a far cry from that.
So, over the next weeks and months, I’ve refined my brewing technique. With every cup, I tweaked a parameter: one day it would be grind size, the next it would be water temperature, pouring technique, beans, etc. And gradually, the coffee got better!
Still, to this day, I’ve not once managed to brew a coffee that tasted as intensely, as sweetly as that magical cup in Oslo!
Unfortunately, the novelty of the Hario V60 is now slowly wearing off. And with it, so is my willingness to experiment with my morning cup. Before a long day of work, I tend to play it safe.
Now, I’m consistently brewing a coffee that’s pretty decent.
But in my heart, I know it could be better.
If only I explored more…