My Morning Ritual

Ever since I adopted the little "La Pavoni" espresso maker, my life has been blessed with some rather enticing flavors and smells in the mornings!

Introducing my morning ritual, which happens almost every morning: Making my Soy Cappuccino.



First some tidbits of info. I switch beans regularly. I used to use Peet's Italian Roast, then Illy, then I tried beans from Le Pain Quotidien, and now I am trying Caffe Roma's Sicilian Blend, which is supposed to be a dark roast. I do enjoy it, but I don't have a favorite so far. It's hard! I enjoy the nuances and differences of each bean type I try and although I love a bean and roast for a particular reason, I am open to trying new beans and tasting new flavors and discovering new aspects espresso can have.

I usually try my coffee as an espresso first to really acquaint myself with all of it's complexities and aromas. For me, it's like, I just need to know. I need to taste it in it's pure form and then I can freely enjoy cappuccinos and such... so, I do that first, when I get a new bean type.

Another tidbit to explain.... Why do I drink soy cappuccinos and not regular milk cappuccinos? Well... unfortunately I am plagued with the inability to digest milk and coffee together. I have experienced too many painful days of stomach aches and pain to even try it again, so, I just accepted it and moved over to the next best thing. For most of this year, I only drank espresso black. This way I could enjoy it, without the pain milk would add to my life.... But I realized recently that it was possible to enjoy a cappuccino or latte made with soy milk. It is not quite the same thing, but rather similar, if done right.

The biggest problem with soy milk is the frothing. When we make cappuccinos you want to have micro-foam. A foam so dense and creamy that you can barely see the bubbles. This type of froth is of the highest quality and most enjoyable of all. Have you ever tried a cappuccino whose milk was frothed with big airy bubbles? Did you feel like you were drinking an insubstantial airy piece of crap? Well, that is the reason those airy bubble are so frowned upon in the world of coffee.... Anyhoo, enough rambling...

I have a beautiful old-fashioned "La Pavoni". It is a hand press espresso machine. Completely manual and a real joy to use. The filter is a 2 shot, and I get just the right amount of rich crema in the shot (crema is the rich cream that forms on the surface of the shot when you push extreme amount of pressure of water through the ground beans).

Pictured below is a shot I pulled yesterday, while making my morning cappuccino.



The crema could be improved, but in my opinion it is fine.

Then I get my soy milk and steam it using the nozzle on my "La Pavoni" in just the right way to get it to foam just right. This process is very tricky and you can easily fail miserably trying to get it right. I had to accept many a mediocre cappuccinos (well they turned out more like lattes) in order to understand the delicate way of producing the micro-foam... Finally I achieved close to perfection yesterday and just had to take a picture of the result. It's NOT perfect, but it's close. I am not sure how much more perfect I can get it with soy milk, but I will do my best to get there!

This is my degustation for the morning. A little sprinkle of cinnamon on top adds a nice touch... (Nutmeg is awesome too!)



If you have any questions at all feel free to ask!

Muay Thai is SO Cool!

Today was my first day training Muay Thai at Fairtex. I made an appointment for a one-on-one hour-long session, since I really needed to get introduced to the basics. I have never once tried to do Muay Thai, therefore, it's all new to me.

My trainer's name is Enn, and I have known him for a while now, since I see him everyday when I go to work... as I work with Fairtex Gear.... Duuh. Anyways, Enn is a friendly and soft-spoken guy, but he is a highly skilled Muay Thai fighter having fought in Ratchadamnoen and Lumphini Stadiums during his 8 year professional career in Thailand. He is originally from a small town near the border with Laos and the Mekhong River.

Anyhoo, my first task, before beginning the training, was to get my hand-wraps on... This part I will have to practice a bit, as this time, Ganyao (another trainer) put them on for me. Basically you have to wrap your hands in these gauze-like wraps to form a comfortable "glove" around your hands, relieving tension and strain during impact. This also adds comfy padding when you wear your Muay Thai boxing gloves.

After getting those on, I did 15 minutes of jump rope. I was not alone in this part. There were maybe 20 others doing this to. It's a warm-up that gets the blood moving and is also a work out since your legs and arms are in constant motion.

Once we were done with that, Enn brought me over to one side of the gym and hence I began my Muay Thai instruction. He showed me the proper way to stand, and where exactly to hold my hands and arms. How to move closer and farther from your opponent. I had to practice this a bunch because, although it sounds easy, it's actually really tricky. You have to coordinate several things at the same time. You really have to start feeling tough and mean, otherwise you will naturally stand and move all dorky... So I did that for a little bit, until I kinda got the hang of it...

Next we moved over to the other side of the gym where all the punching bags are. Enn gave me a pair of gold colored Muay Thai gloves to put on!! I worked on my punching, and soon Enn moved on to show me how to kick with my right leg, then my left. I repeated that a billion times until I got it, and then he showed me how to use my elbows as a weapon. It was so cool! I could really hurt someone.... But it was also hard to get the formation right. I had to punch first and then transition into the elbow swipe, first with the left arm and then the right.

After that, he showed me how to kick using my knees into someone's chest. This was so great. Once you get the hang of the motions you realize that it's really a matter of physics and using what you have to it's best advantage. For example, the placement of your feet can give you 100 times more power than if you put them somewhere else. With the knee-kicks, if you use your hips to push over momentum, your kick can be really damaging! That was cool. After I practiced all of that an hour had gone by...

I was boiling hot and getting a bit tired... I didn't want to push myself TOO hard for my first time. Then to finish it all off then, Enn instructed me to do 50 sit-ups (barf!) and then I was done!

Exhausted yet happy! What a workout! It was so much fun!

I am now sore mostly on my legs, but that is great... I know it's really doing something. This makes me want to go every day, but I think I will keep it to 2 times a week for now. I will do 2 more one-on-one sessions and then I will join the beginner's class during the week.

YAY! I recommend anyone who needs or wants to work-out to scrap the regular gym and take Muay Thai! You get a sense of achievement, adrenaline rush and enjoyment, while getting an extremely well-rounded work-out to boot!