About Me

I was raised in a family where one parent was a tea lover, and the other was a coffee lover. I could have fallen into either camp as I grew up.

But one thing stood out for me, and I have no doubt it swayed my opinion. 

As a young kid, I remember watching my father make coffee in our modest kitchen and sitting there with my legs dangling over the kitchen counter. I got my first resounding aromatic hit of coffee. It is an aroma I never tire of.

From dark and spicy to floral and fruity aromas with deep undertones of chocolate, coffee is both mysterious and satisfying no matter which way you cut it! And so my love of coffee began.

Sharing a Personal Coffee Journey

This is why I love writing about coffee. Coffee is both exciting and complex; it is also very individualistic. Just as it should be.

I want to bring more to the table, sharing brewing methods, tastes, and apparatus to make your coffee journey more enjoyable. I also love hearing comments and sharing experiences here.

Those early days were primarily focused on instant coffee. My dad, ever the money saver, constantly searched for the best affordable coffee he could buy; I admit some were better than others. 

Some felt thin watery, and uninspiring; others managed to pull off a deeper hue of nuttiness or a light melody of a fruit base note. I was still unaware of the coffee heaven that awaited me ‘out there.’

I learned about the difference between Brazil and Rwanda beans. Or the existence of a latte or an Americano. Or even that the manufacturing of coffee often used Brazilian coffee as a base, giving the show title to another coffee entirely. 

I had not considered brewing methods, including pour-over, cold brew, drip coffee, and classic espresso.

For example, a simple Americano is an espresso with water, while a latte is an espresso with steamed milk. 

A doppio sounds fancy, but it is simply a double shot of espresso. A Moka pot looks tricky, but it’s just a coffee pot on your stovetop, pushing water through the coffee using heat. Learning the lingo also helps you to get what you want. 

Those big coffee machines I saw in a cafe were just coffee machines. It didn’t register that it was producing this amazing liquid called Espresso. Not to mention that I found the buzzing and whooshing sounds of the coffee machine at work strangely comforting. 

Oh, how I missed out on things as a child.

So, when did it all change for me? There were several points.

I remember walking past a coffee stall close to a train station as a teenager, the cold biting at my ears. 

The smell that wafted out of that coffee stall curled around my nostrils and hit me like a late train from the nearby station. At that moment, I realized the aromas I encountered from instant coffee paled into insignificance when compared to this experience.

At that point, I had to learn more and explore the world of these small beans.

But that wasn’t all.

My first “experience” of real coffee was a double Espresso. Nothing was added to it, just the pure coffee shot.

I know that is one heck of a place to begin your coffee journey, and I admit it blew me off my feet. 

But there was still something about it. There was something that pulled me back, even though it wasn’t the best experience I’ve ever had in my life. 

One of my friends beside me noticed I was struggling with the Doppio and quickly commented that the beans had a natural bitterness. Of course, I had no idea what they were saying, as I was too busy trying to recover from what felt like an unsurvivable hit of caffeine.

But again, it piqued my interest in things. It also showed me how different people enjoy different things about coffee. 

My Coffee Journey From Then to Now

I’ve always had a curious mind, and that certainly helps when it comes to coffee. I suddenly became interested in those bags on a supermarket shelf containing beans or pre-ground coffee.

I’d always looked past them and picked up some instant coffee, usually like Red Mountain or Kenco. 

Still, it was as if my eyes had been opened to a world of possibilities and opportunities. I still maintain some of the best cups of coffee I have enjoyed have been pre-ground.

Suddenly, I saw Peruvian coffee and Ethiopian. I was looking at coffee from Guatemala and Kenya.

But I needed to figure out where to begin to explore what this coffee could do for me. So, I started off with a simple French press.

Like many, I started with the least expensive French press; common sense guides us down this route.

That French press was used so often that the metal filter in the plunger effectively fell apart. I had bags of pre-ground coffee from all over the coffee-growing world and would try different ones on different days.

I took notice of the rather colorful descriptions on the packet talking about floral notes, a hint of chocolate, or it has a nutty flavor.

I would try it differently, from adding sugar to drinking without sugar, followed by adding milk and drinking it black. The ability to experiment even with just a French press was a lot of fun.

But as any coffee lover will tell you, it doesn’t stop there.

Trips to coffee shops would involve trying different drinks, from the Americano to a Latte and a whole lot more. I couldn’t get a Latte at home, at least not a Barista style, so going to a coffee shop was my only opportunity.

But that couldn’t last for long. So, I bought a small, inexpensive Espresso machine for home, complete with the steam wand to allow me to make my own.

Admittedly, the first one was terrible. It was more like colored water with the Espresso part, and the milk had no foam in it, but I’m not one to give in that easily.

Now, I find myself with an Espresso machine, a capsule machine, a different French press, a Moka pot in my collection, and an array of coffee from around the world. I constantly want to find new coffee and will spend time comparing the taste and flavor I can achieve from different brew methods. 

I always drink coffee sensibly, which means don’t overdo it; plus, there are heart health benefits from a decent cup of coffee daily. A study from John Hopkins Medicine has found a cup or two a day can help you avoid strokes and heart issues. Now that is good news for us coffee drinkers!

But what can Baristajoy do for you?

I’m taking decades of coffee experience and delivering all that knowledge to you. My failures, mishaps, and time spent researching different aspects of coffee are being brought to the fore. In other words, I am saving you time.

This website will provide quality information on the differences in beans, roasting processes, various coffee drinks, etc.

I aim to bring you the best coffee information out there, whether you are just starting out on your own coffee journey or have already fallen in love with those beans and your Cappuccino.

You have 100s of articles to choose from, and by the end, I’m sure you will feel intrigued enough to go out there and try something new in the world of coffee. 

This is a labor of love, and I want to inspire others to get out there and open up their mind to enjoying new aspects of coffee they had never encountered before. Coffee is still my passion; if you are here, it is yours too.

Believe me when I tell you there’s a wide world of possibilities with coffee just waiting to be explored. It’s going to be one heck of a journey!