During a caffeine-fueled session with my domain registrar I happened to lookup professionalcoffeedrinker.com; it was available, all sense went out the window and my money and myself were swiftly parted.

I wonder if this acquisition will have any effect on the Google Juice of the personal brand I have an eye to developing? And before you ask, yes, SEO information has been trickling it’s way into my RSS reader recently.

My brother and his fiancee presented me with the machine Christmas before last, my love of the stuff being what it is, so it had seen well over a year of practically daily use. Not wanting to disrupt my morning routine for the next day I decided to head down to Argos after a swim to pick up a replacement. Here’s the new machine on its maiden run:

For a good while I’ve been thinking about getting a more “professional” filter machine so I decided not to spend big and the model I choose was inexpensive yet fits my needs precisely, fitting in well with the remainder of my coffee equipment. It truely is an obsession

We had money to burn and the need for something shiny. The laminated book of dreams was consulted and we decided on a Morphy Richards “Cafe Matlino“ filter machine; the product number was written down and handed to the girl behind the counter, money changed hands and we awaited our new piece of kit. Within a few brief minutes the prize was ours and we headed back to the office, unpacked the machine and set it up for a water-only brew to cleanse the system. Here’s an action shot from the first pot of coffee produced:

The machine has an array of esoteric buttons, lights and displays which the documentation insists are used to have the brewing process instigated at a predestined time. Personally I prefer the technique prescribed by Terry Tate, Office Linebacker: “yo’ kill the joe yo’ make some mo’!” Namely, having a pot of black gold available at all times during the day. Already my mind is filled with ideas along the lines of the infamous Trojan Room coffee machine, the granddaddy of all web-cams.

As an interesting end note, when I was checking out the Argos site I discovered a potential for Cross Site Scripting, look at the breadcrumb trail on this page!

Next up was the main event: the distribution of gifts, yee ha! About a fortnight ago the names of all participating staff (yes, some choose not to partake in the festivities, humbug!) were put into a hat and we each drew one. I only got my act together yesterday but got creative with the wrapping and printed out a couple of full page images of neurons within the neocortex from the Blue Brain Project, thanks Google Images!

Upon receipt of a copy of Huxley’s Brave New World Sinead instantly guessed I was her Secret Santa and she is either an accomplished actress or she genuinely liked it, result! I was handed this ominous looking package:

I couldn’t even guess at what it was and when I opened it this was awaiting me:

How appropriate! And by the power of Java here is an action shot of my new paraphernalia:

Also included in the set were some cinnamon sticks, a mini grater and some “French Vanilla” coffee powder: I forgot completely about the cinnamon when I was getting the Joe, but might well give it a go later. I don’t know about the coffee powder though, I only resort to instant when I can’t get the real thing. All in all a very thoughtful gift given my reputation about the office as a coffee fiend. Phil on the other hand got an edible posing pouch…

It was a bit of a mission tracking this piece of equipment down, but just when I had given up I bumped into a work colleague who pointed me in the direction of Habitat who could thankfully satisfy my needs. I walked home via the supermarket and picked up some fine-ground italian coffee to go with my new toy:

I eagerly read the included instructions, washed and filled the moka and went ahead with making my first, sacrificial, batch of espresso. The smell of the fresh coffee was fantastic and I was a bit disheartened with having to pour it down the sink, but I wasted no time getting setup for another run and wasn’t disappointed with the results.

The process gave me a mug(!) of rich, black, steaming espresso which I drank as fast as I could. I could feel the muscles in my jaws tighten, my stomach got a bit queasy and all I could think was “this is great, I need more!” I resisted the desire for another spin on the roundabout and needless to say, I didn’t feel entirely sleepy when it was time for me to get into bed.

Today I have went through the ritual no less than 4 times and counting my saturday afternoon routine of a quadruple shot americano at Starbucks with the troops, my espresso shot count is easily in the high twenties. And all I can think of is having more.

Beware the “little man with a mustache.”