14 Grams of Coffee
Every morning when I wake up, I follow the same routine. A fixed start to the day, where you don’t have to think about every next step. You just do what you always do. For example, I know I can set my alarm exactly one hour before I need to leave the house. I can count on pushing through the entire morning routine in that hour; without looking at the clock, I can hop on my bike and be sure I’ll catch my train. Just like yesterday, and the day before that. Like clockwork.
Now, I say I "push through" that whole morning routine, but there’s not exactly fireworks involved. It’s actually all pretty calm. Especially since I started using a coffee grinder and a manual piston machine, my mornings move along pleasantly slow: open the cupboard, weigh out the beans precisely (14 grams), grind and catch them in a cylindrical container, pour them into the portafilter, pull an espresso shot, steam the milk, and try to pour the perfect latte art flower into the cup. Much slower, of course, than just putting a pod into a machine and pressing a button, but all the more satisfying because of it. The claim that the process (the journey) is more important than the result (the destination) definitely holds true in this case.
A fixed ritual. Like my teacher in the last year of primary school always used to say, it brings “peace, order, and regularity.” I thought that was an old-fashioned idea at the time, but now I fully understand what he meant.
I wish everyone a ritual moment like that.