One Drip at a Time :

I recently visited my daughter who lives in New York City. She sleeps quite a bit later than I do, so on Saturday morning, I was rummaging through her cabinet looking for a K-cup for her single serve coffee maker. While I am not a fan of single serve coffee makers, I always start my day with coffee, so I was disappointed that she did not have a single K-cup in the apartment. I opted to leave her apartment and head for a nearby coffee shop. She had told me that the shop had the best coffee in the area. Although it was early Saturday morning, there was a bit of a line, which seemed to move slowly. As I learned, the shop specialized in making each cup of coffee individually, known as a pour-over. I got to the head of the line, made my selection, and talked with the barista over the next four minutes as she handed made me an absolutely delicious cup of coffee.  For me, the process, despite its length, was worth it. As reported in The Wall Street Journal, not everyone is willing to commit so much time to a good cup of coffee. Because pour-overs take so much time, baristas cannot serve many customers each hour. Many of those purchasing coffee simply want a hot liquid that contains caffeine and are unwilling to wait. Many shops that formerly specialized in pour-overs have abandoned the practice- simply based on economics. Others have turned to specialized machines that make pour-overs but free up the barista to do other tasks. As for me, I am smitten with pour-overs. Over the past few months, each weekend morning, I have made my wife and me at least one pour-over coffee. The procedure is both relaxing and rewarding and am happy to dedicate the time to the process.