Twenty- five Seven

On the Coffee Trail -1 #FlavoursomeTuesdays

December 4, 2018

In search of the best coffee

As promised in my last linky party, I’m sharing with you my month long experience of looking for a good, ground coffee.

I started out with The Flying Squirrel that sent me 7 sample packets of coffee. I don’t know whether it was a good idea or a bad one because oftentimes, a wide choice leaves you more confused than ever!

However, since I am always unsure of what I really like and what I really want, an option like this is actually the best for a person like me. I now know exactly how I like my coffee. At different times of day, I like different kinds of coffee.

For instance, early in the morning I like my coffee dark and strong to wake me up to seize the day.

In the middle of the morning or perhaps early in the afternoon when I don’t want tea, I like my coffee milky and sweet – made with the flavour of the South.

And late at night after a sumptuous dinner, I like a well rounded brew that is soft on the palate and doesn’t leave any bitter aftertaste.

Ordering and delivery

I ordered the coffee online on the 5th of November.It was a seamless transaction. I didn’t have to jump hoops to figure out the site. And I could easily access the pop ups that gave more details about each coffee,The coffee was delivered in three days in a no frills package that immediately won my approval. I hate excess packaging and frou-frou that needlessly add to the cost of the product.

The seven flavours sent to me were Parama – the flagship blend designed by the sought after coffee guru Sunalini Menon, Aromatique – 100% Single origin luxury Arabic beans, Sunkissed– Sundried pulp for buttery fruitiness , Sattva – 100% single origin Arabica, Deep Bliss – Tall dark and handsome, Cafe Chic – South Indian Chicory Blend and Clouds in my Coffee – Exotic and rare Monsooned Malabar

The Tasting

I had the option of opening each packet at one time and trying out the coffees at the same time . This made the most sense, but me being me , I preferred to try each coffee one at a time. This was largely to preserve the freshness of each packet.

So I started out with the exotic sounding Clouds in my coffee and it turned out to be the artisan Monsooned Malabar . For those who don’t know, this process was discovered purely by accident . The beans in the cargo vessel carrying them to Europe got wet in the monsoon rains imparting a different flavour when processed.

Taking a spoonful per person, I put two scoops into the filter chamber . I poured two cups of water into the water chamber and and waited expectantly as it percolated . Within minutes the house was smelling of coffee .

Now came the moment of truth .

Was it going to be as exquisite as it promised ?

The deep dark liquor promised to be strong and I sipped hesitantly. Had I put in too much coffee ? Perhaps I had because the next day when I adjusted the coffee to one spoon per cup, it was pretty much perfect.

Next in line

This pack lasted for 3 days and on Armistice Day I opened Parama which was the Flagship coffee of the Flying Squirrel. It was slightly less strong and had less body than the Clouds in my Coffee. It was a bit disappointing after the strong Monsooned Malabar.

The Parama was a bit of a let down considering it was the flagship product of the Flying Squirrel. It was also designed specially by the world famous coffee expert Sunalini Menon. I have no idea who she is but assume she is a big nose in the business.

But Hubby Dear said it was perfect after lunch and as long as he was happy I was happy!

But the unanimous decision was that this coffee is not going to percolate in my house .

Truly aromatique

The 50 g packets finish soon enough and we opened the next one in the sample pack. This was chosen randomly and when I opened the packet , I found the grounds a lighter brown – not the deep dark colour that one normally associated with a good coffee . As I let the coffee percolate I was wondering if the Aromatique would disappoint .

This was a pure case of what you see is not what you get. Despite the lighter coloured coffee powder , the actual liquor was dark and strong . It had a slightly lemony flavour at the end and more body than the Parama. It was also milder than the Monsooned Malabar and was enjoyable black . But with sugar and milk, it came close to the original South Indian brew .

[bctt tweet=”Aromatique, the 100% single Estate origin coffee was definitely worth keeping in mind for my regular brew .” username=”viaunishta”]

Three down and four to go

Next up was Deep Bliss which is described as tall dark and handsome. In powder form it wasn’t ebony dark but as it brewed it did become a deep handsome. It was lighter to drink but had a lovely flavour and could very well become my next brew.

The essence of Coffee

SATTVA which is 100% organic Arabica has a strong taste and makes a good after dinner brew. It is equally good au lait too. I don’t know if this will be my brew of choice but could well be.

A different cuppa

As the days went by, Hubby Dear realised that he could fix his own cup of coffee. And one day he gave me a cup of the most gorgeous brew. It turned out to be a cup of Cafe Chic

It was the perfect kaapi I’d had in the longest time.

I soon found out why. it contained chicory so it wasn’t surprising that it tasted like the real South Indian blend .

Perfect for a morning break

Now all that’s left to try was Sunkissed that promised to be a truly artisan offering . It is pulp sundried for a buttery fruitiness in your cup.

This was the last sample . It was dark as a powder and dark as a brew. Light and tasty with a well rounded feel think it is good for a mid morning coffee break.

All in all, I enjoyed my tasting coffee with The Flying Squirrel. I hope you find this review useful . Let me assure you that this is NOT a sponsored post. I found this vendor purely by random .

Hubby Dear too got into the spirit of things and actually began to enjoy the game.

Alas, the coffees got over and I am now on to my next trial – Barista from the Indian Bean Co.

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I do hope you enjoyed this last edition of #FlavoursomeTuesdays for 2018.

Please do join Shilpa of Metanoia and Me on this table where you are invited to share your foodie experiences.

Looking forward to seeing you at our table. Drop your links at the Linky below.

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Ciao
A Stitch in Time Saves Nine #MondayMusings

December 4, 2018

How many of you remember this proverb?

I do , especially since I love sewing.

Very simply put, it means that if you have something that needs mending, it is prudent to mend it before the damage becomes irreparable. Today I want to tell you about a lady whose passion for sewing matches mine. But Renu’s passion for sewing has gone beyond mere stitching to a skill that has saved her life and the lives of other women.

Sewing has always been my passion and since the age of 8 I would spend my free time dressing up my dolls with my rudimentary needle work. If I didn’t have cloth to stitch, I would make my paper dolls dress up with either the clothes that they came with or dresses that I drew out myself.

During my college years I actually joined a sewing class so that I could stitch the odd top myself. Later on, when my girls were little, I actually went to a weekly sewing class so that I could stitch up garments for my two daughters. It was fun meeting in Mrs. Castellino’s class on Thursday afternoon. There used to be around 5 of us round her huge dining table, each one of us working on a different garment. And while we stitched one stitch at a time, we shared our life stories, cracked jokes and of course learnt how to stitch like professional tailors.

So Renu Karotia’s Sewing Circle resonates with me. I know how therapeutic it can be to be a part of a sewing circle. And if the circle is aimed at empowering women to supplement their family incomes, it is all the more essential to save it. Unfortunately, Renu Karotia’s Sewing Circle is facing a cash crunch and if it doesn’t receive funding in time, it will die out.

When I met a group of bloggers last week, Damyanti who is spearheading the campaign to raise funds for Project Why explained why it is important to keep this activity going. And Shalz, another blogger who I met, had also visited Project Why in Delhi and endorsed her view.

Thus, I am appealing to all my readers to spread the word around so that this brave lady’s sewing circle can take the next stitch forward.

You can read more about Project Why and how you can help fund this project here.

If you can contribute in any way however small , please do. Because a stitch in time saves nine!

I’m sharing this post with Corinne of EverydayGyaan , the gracious host of #MondayMusings and Damyanti’s Fundraiser to save #Project Why

Ciao
Do you write to be read?

December 1, 2018

When Bloggers Meet

This Thursday, I took the day off from my normal life to meet some bloggers in real life. As all bloggers will testify, we lead a virtual life in the blogosphere . Our daily or sometimes occasional interaction with a fellow blogger makes us believe that we actually know the person.

One of my favourite games has been to imagine the person at the other end of the voice. This was particularly true when we didn’t have Facetime and a telephone call meant a voice at the other end of the line.

For instance, I imagined Mr. A, the man from Kerala who sold rubber gloves to be a middle aged man with a middle aged spread, thick rimmed glasses, the mandatory moustache and a stern appearance. I was surprised when I found out that he was not middle aged, not at all fat, didn’t wear spectacles and was a very pleasant person who enjoyed a good laugh!

So when I met Shalz of Shalmojo, Shilpa of Metanoia, Sanch of Sanchwrites and Damyanti of Daily (W)rite, I was keen on finding out the person behind the keyboard. Each of these women are bloggers I admire. Shalz has the most amazing travel blog with stunning photography. Shilpa’s blog posts are truly transformative with her motivational posts. No matter what she is going through, her optimism shines through. I fell in love with Sanch’s poetry during the A to Z challenge last year where she wrote a poem in a different style each day. As for Damyanti – I was just intrigued by a person who seemed to be a strident activist and a serious novelist.

I had met Shilpa earlier and de-mystified my image of her. She turned out to be much tinier and older that what I thought she’d be. I expected Shalz to be taller, Sanch bigger and Damyanti a sophisticated writer from overseas.

The sizing was a bit off, but my impressions of them pretty much matched their real life persona.

After all, as Virginia Woolf says:

“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.

And each of these women’s voices comes through in their writing.

However, I was a bit apprehensive meeting them as they are almost half my age . Daughter No. 1 even offered to call me and bail me out if things weren’t turning out as per my expectations.

But it turned out that age was just a number in my head. It was a delightful meeting where eating took a back seat to meeting. Within minutes, all of us were talking as though we had known each other for years.

The ladies very graciously agreed to come to my side of town and the three hours that we spent together went by really fast!

Apart from the many fascinating stories we shared ( particularly Damyanti) the conversation veered naturally to blogging. After all, we shared a common interest and met on a common platform : Corinne’s WriteTribe.

So we spoke about blogging platforms, self hosting, guest posting and various issues that I was quite curious about.

Why do you write?

One of the topics we touched upon ( after Damyanti left) was numbers and why we write what we write. None of them were bothered about the numbers and said that they wrote purely for the joy of writing.

They all agreed as ONE that it is NOT the numbers that matter but the CONTENT.

“If the book is true, it will find an audience that is meant to read it.” – Wally Lamb

Naturally, what we write matters. After all, many of us make the time and take the effort to write good stuff. Because as we all know, if you offer peanuts you will only get monkeys.

And these writers are blogging purely for the love of blogging. And even though they are not chasing numbers, having an audience to write to is pretty gratifying.

While talking about publishing, Damyanti busted the myth that writing is a lonely experience. Instead, she explained how writing is a collaborative process between the writer, the agent, the publisher and the editor.

However, I am not writing a book ( at least not now).

It does stoke MY ego to know that my content is something people look forward to. My words bring them joy. Or perhaps my readers can learn something special from my writing.

On the other hand, I am definitely NOT writing in the dark just hoping for that random reader to drop by and make a random comment ?

So the questions I’m asking all my fellow bloggers are, do you write to be read? Or do you write because you want to write for yourself?

I would love to read your answers so do leave your comments below.

In the meanwhile enjoy your Sunday!

Ciao

p.s. Apologies for this very blurred image but I have deliberately blurred the image in order to protect privacy………