It's here!

Here, and miraculous.



It was a slow Monday at work. Slower than an elephant on crutches. Slower than a dial-up connection loading Flickr's 7 Days Most Interesting. Slower than…sorry, I'll stop there.

You get the picture; there was nothing to do.

So imagine my delight when the surface of my desk was suddenly partially obscured by a large corrugated-cardboard box, inside of which were tucked my brand new 1–3 cup Chemex, some unfolded Chemex filters and a $10 electric teakettle. I unpacked them with care. I rinsed and washed every rinsable and washable surface.

And then yesterday, after a full day of waiting, I made my first cup.

First of all, let me explain that I am the kind of person who is terrified of trying new things. I don't know why; in a lot of other ways I'm very adventurous, but not when it comes to (a) public transportation, (b) going into new restaurants by myself, and (c) using certain appliances. Because of my anxiety involving (c), I read the three-page instruction book for my electric teakettle roughly 6,000 times before deeming it safe to try. And then I boiled roughly 25 batches of water to make sure I'd gotten the process down. Then I folded and unfolded a Chemex filter to make sure I drove the point home. Then I read everything I could find online about brewing in a Chemex. Finally, I was satisfied.

So I was ready. I prepared my kettle, folded my filter (for real this time!), measured out my rounded tablespoons of Barrington Coffee's organic Mexican (Chiapas), let my grounds bloom, and watched the magical elixir of my morning drip out the bottom of the cone.

And then I took the first sip.

Oh heavens, it was wonderful. Possibly—I know, this is crazy!—possibly the best cup of coffee I have ever had. I put down my mug, dropped my red editor pencil on the desk and quoted the poet Chris "Mr. Big" Noth: "Goddamn, that's good coffee."



Get your own; you won't be sorry.