Brew of the Week! Coffee, coffee, coffee.

Mondays used to be my most dreaded day of the week, heading back to school after two whole days off? No thank you! But ever since coffee entered my life (it was September 2008, I was a college dropout washing dishes at a retirement home, it was way, way too early in the morning- and the coffee was free) I've fallen deeper and deeper in love with it. From sinking into a hot cup of coffee on a boat in the chilly Amsterdam canals, to hunting down coffee trucks in Manhattan before making a mad dash to the subways to go back home to Brooklyn and cozy up with a good book in one of so many cafes in my neighborhood, and even further to the local coffee shop I got a job at in my hometown when I was in between life decisions- coffee has been a constant in my ever changing life. 

(via flickr)

I learned the most about coffee from my friend Emma, who also worked at a real coffee shop (aka: not Starbucks) in her hometown as well. She taught me about different ways to brew coffee, that there is no "x" in Espresso (and there's no "s" at the end of Barns & Noble, she had a really good arm and'd punch me if I let either of these slip!) Along with the differences between dark and light roasts, and why different grinds made a difference to the taste. We'd be the kids roaming Manhattan late at night going on adventures and finding new coffee shops to haunt. 

(via etsy)

With the Christmas season said and done, I've gotten more coffee than I can drink! The most outstanding was a gift from my boyfriend's mother- it's a light roast Guatemalan Antigua which I've been grinding every morning for my french press to take to work. One of the keys to a righteous cup of coffee in the morning is to freshly grind it right before you brew it. Freshly roasted coffee only lasts about one to two weeks! You want to store your whole beans in an airtight container (not in the freezer or fridge! Coffee beans are porous and will start to absorb odors) and keep them safe and out of sunlight. And the best way to the best cup of coffee? Hand brew it, every time!

And here I'll leave you, raising a mug to the start of an awesome week and super rad new year!

xoxo