For 18 posts, this blog has focused on tinkering with phones, keyboards, computers, and fountain pens, but tinkering is not exclusive to a relatively small group of technology nerds or an even smaller group of people who like fountain pens. I wrote about tinkering with phones, keyboards, computers, and fountain pens because I like all of those things and found enjoyment in both increasing the pleasure they are to use (like tinkering a fountain pen to be perfect for me) and also just spending time using and tinkering with something I love. But I have also tinkered with something else I love: coffee. 

There are three main categories of tinkerable aspects of making a cup coffee: the “beans,” the “brew,”and the “bonuses.”

The “beans” are the coffee itself, and they are distinguished most often by the “roast” and fineness of the grind. The “roast” (usually known as dark, medium, or light) refers to how long/at what temperature the coffee beans were roasted before being ground. The difference in roast is flavor, and though hard for me to describe, it is noticeable. The fineness/coarseness of a coffee bean makes more of a difference in the strength of the coffee when you brew it; finer coffee grinds make stronger coffee, and coarser grinds usually make lighter coffee.

There are many different methods of brewing coffee, some of which (like a typical coffee maker) are better at larger batches, and others (like a Moka, small french press, or pour-over) are better at making smaller batches. There are also differences in flavor as a result of brew time and water temperature during the brew. 

The bonuses come mainly in the form of milk and other things you can add to coffee to augment the flavor. I often enjoy adding hand-frothed whole milk to my coffee when I have time, but when not, I use a little bit of half and half. While I don’t usually sweeten my coffee, I have come to find that adding brown sugar instead of white sugar gives the coffee and warmer and more toasty flavor.

After years of cup-by-cup tinkering, I found the way I like coffee best: a light, finely-ground roast, prepared as pour-over with frothed milk and brown sugar. Though a cup of coffee might not seem important enough to think too much about, let alone tinker with, making and drinking coffee is a daily ritual I care about and am willing to tinker with.

At its heart, tinkering is trying to improve something, and as a tinkerer, you should be on the lookout for things in need of improvement. Beyond coffee, pens, and computers, being a tinkerer provides a valuable mindset with which to view the world: seek out things that can be made better, then enact change. Look not only at your own habits or frequent activities that can be made better with tinkering, but also look into your community and find places of injustice and seek out things that are wrong. Once you have found something that needs change, go forth and tinker.