Fnord.

Out running errands, took 10 to stop by Peets for a latte. Got the tall-sized chair by a window, amazing how a baby makes you value small quiet moments.

Oh, that old thing? That’s my Marinemaster.

Every now and then I run across someone declaiming how Mozart is the best composer ever, blah blah blah. I was thinking unrelated thoughts the other day, and I had a mini-revelation:

Mozart and light-roast coffee have the same weakness: A total lack of intensity.

Consider: With notable exceptions like the Requiem, most of Mozart is background (chamber) music. It’s light, cheerful, complex, cerebral and lacking in dynamic range. As devoid of emotion as possible, since chamber music is supposed to provide the audio backdrop for upper-class socialization. It doesn’t engage, it doesn’t compel.

Light roasted coffees are the same way. You’ll see descriptions like ‘floral’, ‘hints of X and Y,’ ’subtle notes of Z’ and so on. Blah blah blah. Real coffee looks like this:

That’s a sublime French roast from Norm Whiting. (More on him in a bit.) It’s complex, intense, multi-layered and very tasty. Unlike a lot of places, Norm has an excellent mix of first-rate beans in his roast; many roasters just take cheap beans and cook ‘em dark. Beware such crap!

Unless we’ve already met, you have likely never heard of Whiting Coffee. They don’t advertise, don’t have a website, and do post-paid mail order! (You pay after you get the coffee — unheard of, eh?)

The other amazing thing about Norm is the value compared to other roasters. If I go elsewhere, I usually have to pay about $30/lb to match or exceed his roast. Shipped to my door, his is $8.

Yep, $8. So any excuses about cost are gone. Call the man at (505) 344-9144, tell him I sent you if you like. And for the love of god buy beans and grind them yourself!

Getting back to musical comparisons, I’ll cut this short due to Anna bedtime - if complexity is why you like Mozart, try any or all of the following by my man JSB:

1. The Brandenburg Concertos
2. Art of Fugue
3. Musical Offering
4. The works for organ, especially canons and fugues. (The F minor fugue is a revelation - the Bowyer performance is quite good.)
5. Goldberg variations . I like the Feltsman performance of these.
6. And, of course, the coffee cantata.

Ol’ JSB did it all. Best enjoyed with a cuppa from Norm.

Seen in a sig block on Timezone:

Terri sent me this today, not sure what the original source is. Lots of google hits, looks like its been around for a while.

As she put it,

Only if it is GOOD coffee. Otherwise you go from first cup to triple shotgun murder in …. one cup.

Via Preshrunk, a shirt that’s probably got my number. Especially with the persistent sleep deprivation. I actually tried the new Starbucks yesterday, which I normally avoid.

Sigh. Meandering, aren’t I? Anna’s asleep next to me on the couch, Chris is crashed and Grandma M is likewise napping. I have got to get my sleep schedule more in phase or I am doomed.

Given my coffee, err, issues I keep wondering if I should try roasting my own. A good friend or two has made the jump and are urging me to follow. Just saw this on Cool Tools, seems like a decent roaster. Hmm….

I have to confess: for the most part, I’m not a Mozart fan.

He’s widely held in high regard for very cerebral music, genius, yadda yadda. To me, he’s a lot like certain forms of jazz: intellectual brilliance does not necessarily make for pleasurable music. You need, IMHO, some emotion.

(Updated 5/6/07: There are exceptions that I enjoy - symphonies 40/41, some of the operas, the Requiem, not sure what else.)

Which leads us to Bach. (JS, that is. There were several.) There are many, many reasons to love ‘ol JSB: the Brandenburg Concertos (the last word in Baroque IMHO), the Goldberg Variations, The Art of Fugue, the Mass in B Minor (I like this performance) and of couse the coffee cantata! The man wrote a cantata about coffee addiction! How cool is that?

If I can’t drink my bowl of coffee three times daily, then in my torment, I will shrivel up like a piece of roast goat.
…
Recitative Narrator
Old Schlendrian goes off to see if he can find a husband forthwith for his daughter Lieschen; but Lieschen secretly lets it be known: no suitor is to come to my house unless he promises me, and it is also written into the marriage contract, that I will be permitted to make myself coffee whenever I want.

Trio
A cat won’t stop from catching mice, and maidens remain faithful to their coffee. The mother holds her coffee dear. The grandmother drank it also. Who can thus rebuke the daughters?

Not to forget the cello suites, either. Get the Rostropovich version, I have two others and neither is even close.

Of all the forms of Bach, I have a particular weakness for his works on the pipe organ. My mother used to play organ for our church, as was also instrumental in introducing us to classical music in general. Thanks, Mom! I also used to work in Cordiner Hall, and every now and then music prof (emeritus) Stanley Plummer would rehearse on the halls’ pipe organ. Once, we were in the tunnel underneath the seats, which is 4′ tall, and he was playing Bach! Total ‘Phantom of the Opera’ moment.

(Cordiner cross-section, I think the tunnel is partially shown under the seats beneath the balcony. You get the idea.)

Pipe organ is definitely an acquired taste. Actually, its closer to musical anchovies. I like ‘em both.

Bach spent 17 years as church organist in Leipzig, and I think that gave him a comptence and insight for the pipe organ that no one else ever matched. He understood how the low pedal tones, when sustained, would setup standing waves in the long, narrow cathedrals, and how to maximise the limited dynamics of the instrument. Magnificent stuff.

My favorite performer is Marie-Claire Alain, who I found via MHS. However, last week I found a ten-disc set of pipe organ via Dan’s blog. Cost? twenty bucks!

The artist is Helmut Walcha, whose personal life is fascinating - he was blind, with perfect pitch and musical memory. From the article:

As a result of a smallpox vaccination, Walcha had poor eyesight since childhood, and was fully blind by sixteen. He learned new pieces by having musicians (including his mother in his childhood and his wife in later years), play for him four times (each hand separately, the pedal part separately, and the complete piece). Having perfect pitch, he would memorize the piece while listening.

I got my copy yesterday and am enjoying it. I think the low cost is partially due to the older analog recordings (40’s and 60’s) , but it still sounds damn good and the price is irresistable. I’ve listened to three of the CDs so far and am enjoying them immensely.

(As an aside, consider headphones or limited sessions, out of sensitivity to others within earshot who aren’t pipe organ fans.)

As the Wiki article notes, his voicings were unusual; his performance of the classic Toccata and Fugue in D sounds like call-and-response at some points by his use of alternating ranks. Most interesting.

Highly recommended.

Not sure what I think of this one. The change in extraction temperature would really change the flavor. I’ve noticed this with the Aeropress as well, but that’s closer to 140F, not 32.

I also like the Edwardian-industrial look of it, pretty cool. At 100USD, its a bit much for impulse shopping though.

UPDATE: I found this via NOTCOT, although they don’t say much other than to praise the coffee it makes.

…with several excellent insights. I quote:

Somewhere along the line, Starbucks and other upscale coffee purveyors convinced the nation that it’s of crucial importance that we stride through our days while clutching the adult equivalent of a sippy cup.

Sheer genius, this cup.

With its plastic lid and cardboard sleeve, it represents yet another shred of evidence that today’s adults long to regress to the simple and comfy days of childhood.

After all, baby boomers’ preferred form of outerwear trends toward anything resembling play clothes, even if the play clothes in question happen to be outrageously expensive and fashioned from cashmere.

Y’know, that’s a bit close to home. It has some other good zingers, too:

Thank God for alcohol, but you can’t knock back a vodka tonic first thing in the morning, at least not if you intend to avoid drunken-driving charges and 12-step programs in your future.

Caffeine is all that’s left for us. If the consumption police take caffeine away, too, we’re doomed – utterly doomed. It’s that simple.

I think I have a new love, and her name is, err, Anita Creamer.

Now I wonder if it’s all a spoof. Ahh well, even so it’s a most excellent essay that I recommend highly.

I’ve been meaning to post about the Aeropress, but had forgotten until the last post about espresso. Briefly, it rocks. No significant negatives after several months of usage.Want more detail? Check out Dan’s review for images, critique, humor and lots and lots of detail. The picture is one I swiped from his review.

Cheap, effective, easy to clean, excellent coffee in single-user quantities. Excellent for camping, too.
Almost forgot - Amazon has them for $25.