Hi, I retired from the ambulance service last August and the honeymoon period of retirement is definitely over! I’ve been dabbling in DIY and sold my too heavy BMW motorbike, then got a scooter because I didn’t like not having the option to get out on 2 wheels. Despite being state retirement age February 2025, I wasn’t ready to. Retire and was enjoying mentoring Newly Qualified Paramedics (NQPs) but my knees had other ideas. I moved into the Operations Centre, as the local Team Leader was of the attitude ‘’you’re either fit for work or you’re not. Rather than just being bitter and skulking away, I passed the Senior Clinical Advisor recruitment and training, got signed off early and was doing patient call-backs, supporting NQPs (who can’t discharge patients at scene without senior support). However, I hated it; driving 3 screens with really naff software (the whole of the ambulance incoming calls, dispatch is controlled and patient outcomes is covered by one program called C3 and I could write a book about how bad it is. You can just tel it started years ago as a basic database and bit have been bolted on over the decades - intuitive it is not. That and 12 hour shifts (either Days or Nights) led me to think ‘’Why am I doing this?’’ So I just threw the towel in.
That’s before we even get to coffee! Sorry I didn’t know I had so u u to say!
Coffee: How its started in 2007 (Gaggia Achilles) and how its going 2026 with second hand Lelit Bianca V1. With 2 Sage machines and AeroPress in between. That said my ‘skills’ such as they are peaked early, with my satisfaction at the shots I was pulling. I did an evening’s course with Layne’s Espresso in Leeds about 15 years ago, on their commercial machines and under supervision made so-so Latte Art. However, I didn’t persist with the latte art and never progressed to anything beyond simple grind by time/volume, tamp, extract. There’s a lot in the mix now, but lets just say I’m on a steep learning curve; reassessing workflow, tools, equipment, home roasting, and the new to me machine.
I have some Hario V60 scales which seem accurate enough and I’ve done a couple of grind weights and shot weights. Just interest.
So, I’m wondering, and the internet doesn’t really seem to be definitive, where is the evidence based science on what we do or don’t do? Might be a crazy question, when it seems so much of Coffee is subjective ie taste, looks, and not objective Leaving weights, temperatures base materials etc aside; as I believe these are akin to ingredients in a recipes.
Therefore, I think we broadly fall into 2 camps with a spectrum in between. On one end ‘just do it’ on the other end ‘in search of the Holy Grail of Coffee.
JDI or ISOTHGOC
If you’ve read this far, both well done (sorry there are no medals) and I sympathise with your insomnia.