Sacred Ritual

Saturday! My favorite day of the week! And that means that today I can do the Sacred Ritual. Yes, that's right, with capital letters. For this, some of the preparations must be done in the evening. So, let's begin.

In the evening, we need to put a jug of purified water in the fridge, because the water must be cold. Also in the evening, we pour cream into a cup - there are no options, we need to take cream. We also put the cup in the fridge. Overnight, a film of foam will settle on the surface, and this is what we need. Slightly yellow, soft, melting in the mouth. That is all for the evening preparations.

Now in the morning we can perform the Sacred Ritual. The night has passed, and I reverently take out the Coffee Grinder and the Cezve. Oh... both of these “ladies” are of a very respectable age. The Coffee Grinder has a copper and silver lettering — “Hobart Manufacturing Company” and the date — 1913. The Cezve has only the date — 1879. Oh my God… The Coffee Grinder is sixty six years older than me, and the Cezve is a hundred years older. These lovely “ladies” of a very respectable age belonged to my grandmother (daddy's mom) and survived seven moves and three repairs at least. So they are very honored persons. But, despite their age, there are no complaints about their work. Unlike their younger counterparts - electric coffee grinders, I have only changed four of them, and they grind anyhow or their left plug desires! But my old “lady”... Thanks to the lever, there are three degrees of grinding, and you can choose any, and the dark brown bowl made of oak with silver gives the aroma of the drink indescribable notes of antiquity, and not the taste of heated plastic.

And what about the Cezve? I have two of them. The new one, made of stainless steel, has been gathering dust on the shelf for five years, almost falling over, because the bottom has warped and bent after several uses. I would have thrown it away long ago, if the donor had not appeared in my apartment at least once a month. But the second one, the old one... the wooden handle is almost black, the silver plates have a patina that can no longer be cleaned. You take it in your hands, and you can hear the voice of the times.

Okay, enough with the lyrics. And let's get down to the Sacred Coffee Ritual. In the coffee grinder, put two spoons of beans, a pea of ​​allspice for flavor and add... - what else I want to add today? What ingredients? And today I want some spice, and to the smooth barrel of allspice are added several wrinkled hot black peas, a couple of small balls of green pepper and, luckily, there is one pea of ​​white pepper. Now it will be perfect. The first turn of the handle is hard, the gears remember where to move, but the second, third, slightly increase the speed, and the aromatic powder falls into the intended bowl. It is flawless. A mound of ground coffee level with the first silver ring - for one cup.

Now about the Cezve. I put it on a hot stove, pour in sugar - a little - I do not like very sweet coffee. As soon as the subtle aroma of caramel floats, I pour in the prepared coffee, while it is slightly warming up on the melting sugar, I take the water prepared yesterday from the fridge and pour it into the Cezve in a thin stream, the aroma of caramel and roasted beans becomes brighter for a moment, and then almost disappears. Now we stand and wait. Moving away from the stove while the coffee is brewing is to ruin it! Now the smoke has appeared, now-now... softly, as if reluctantly, the foam has begun to rise - we wait, we take our time, now it has reached the edge of the Cezve and has bent slightly over it, the first drop is about to flow down the outer wall - it's time! Carefully transfer the Cezve to a cold burner, wipe off the drop that has run off, adjust the settling foam with a spoon and let it cool for a minute, maybe a little longer, but no more than two. Return the Cezve to the hot burner, wait for the cap again, now it will rise faster, and we need to be even more careful, cool it again, and the third time is the last. Now the table setting. A tiny white cup of Chinese porcelain, a tiny silver coffee spoon. They were bought in Paris thirty years ago as a gift for aunt Amelia and returned to me together with the Coffee Grinder and the Cezve seven years later. My aunt passed away. Oh, I am not talking about that. Now I need to fill the cup.

I like this coffee with "grounds" and creamy foam. I take the cream out of the fridge, scoop up the foam with a wide butter knife and carefully place it on the bottom of the cup, then pour the coffee, and the melting flakes, rising, create a weightless creamy web. I am already licking my lips and slowly squinting contentedly and taking the first sip. Saturday has started great, and we can expect that no cataclysms will spoil it.

I drink coffee slowly - in small sips, stretching out the pleasure. Then I will clean the Coffee Grinder with a special brush and wash the Cezve with warm water, rinse the porcelain cup and the unused spoon - spoon was for the mood today - and we will say goodbye until next Sunday.

And the day is gaining momentum. The phone rang, WhatsApp beeped, behind the wall the neighbor's puppy Cooper loudly barked to get his owner ready for a walk, my cat was intelligently lapping up the remains of my coffee, seasoned with a good spoonful of cream...