Breaking the Rules

Coffee lovers are a diverse and interesting bunch. We have rituals and rules. I, for one, have a lot of rules about coffee.

I only like to drink my brewed drip coffee in the morning. Afternoons are for iced lattes and if I have a cup later in the evening it can only be French press or cappuccino.

I also enjoy my daily iced lattes but not iced coffee.  I hate iced coffee.  It’s a small distinction but one I adhere to. It’s just a matter of preference on my part.

And absolutely no flavored coffees or flavored creamers for me. I scoff at French Vanilla. I gag at hazelnut. Some folks may love them. Go for it, I say. They are just not my cup of tea (er, coffee).

I also have rules within those rules. I like my brewed coffee to be made by the pot. I don’t do the single cup, Keurig thing. Not because I don’t like it, but in my head coffee taste better by the full pot. I know that goes against making coffee in a French press or having a shot of espresso, but I didn’t say there was logic to any of this.

This oddity may stem from childhood where my dad always brewed an entire pot of coffee – even if he was going to have just one cup. For me, it’s like making a sandwich. Even if I only want half of sandwich, I can’t make half a sandwich. I make a whole sandwich and cut it in half.  It just tastes better.

I know Vinny, the coffee guru of this website, swears by the single cup brewers as do other respected coffee connoisseurs, but I’ve resisted.

My one-cup phobia might be why I have resisted Philz Coffee in San Francisco. For more than a decade, many of friends of mine have sworn by the coffee at Philz and their unique one cup at a time brewing philosophy.

Philz is a cult favorite and only five blocks from my house. Yet, until a month ago, I had never been there. I admit I’ve been curious about Philz over the years, but never curious enough to make the short walk over there. But ever since my first visit to Philz just weeks ago, I have been obsessed with how they make their coffee.

Philz uses drip stations, which are basically a filter filled with freshly ground beans over a glass beaker where hot water is poured and then very slowly drips into the container. It takes some time to get your cup and they don’t do all the chain store coffee things like using flavored syrups or blended frozen coffees or have silly sizes. At Philz there are 20 blends – divided by roast (light, medium, dark). As for the sizes – small and large. Ah, how refreshingly retro.

Now that Philz has converted to me to one cup at time, who knows what rules I might break next. Maybe I’ll break down and get a Keurig.

Rules be damned.