How to Make The Perfect Cup of Coffee

I’ve been living in San Francisco for four years now and I have something to admit, this place has turned me into a coffee snob. Never again will I drink another burnt cup of coffee from Starbucks. Never! Over the years I’ve learned to appreciate good quality coffee and the various different methods of making coffee. At my house we’ve tried a bunch of different devices to prepare coffee: French Press, Areopress, drip coffeemaker, stove top espresso, an expensive espresso machine but our favorite has become the Chemex. After using the Chemex for a year or so we’ve finally figured out the perfect water to coffee beans ratio that results in a delicious cup of coffee.

Here is how you can make the perfect cup of coffee at your house…

Tools

Chemex: You can easily order one off Amazon. They cost around $40.

Chemex Filters: A box of 100 filters will run you $12. Again, you can order these off Amazon. 

Coffee beans: My two favorite roasters are Four Barrel and Sight Glass but there are so many others in SF that you should try them all until you find your favorite one. 

Scale: A simple baking scale will work perfectly for this.

Coffee Grinder: There are so many different coffee grinders you can choose from. I used to love my manual hand grinder but I’ve become lazy and started to rely on my electric grinder. 

Kettle: I personally love this Kettle from Williams-Sonoma.  

Water to coffee bean ratio

When we started using the Chemex at the house we didn’t realize that there was a science to this. We would grind a few scoops of beans and pour water over the grinds until the coffee looked like it was ready. Here is the secret to making the perfect cup of coffee: 48 grams of coffee beans and 24 ounces of water. The water temperature should be around 200 degrees. This will make three or four cups of coffee depending on how big your cups are.

Tutorial: How to use the Chemex

Instead of walking you through the whole process of how to use a Chemex properly, I recommend that you watch one of the many tutorials that are to you online. Here is the one that I watched over and over again until I felt that I had mastered the techniques. :-)  

Enjoy! 

26

My family has this lovely tradition that on your birthday you get asked three questions that help you reflect back on the year you’ve had and also, on what’s to come. The three questions are “What was the best part of your x year?,” “What was the hardest part of x year?,” and “What are you looking forward to during your x year?”. Since it’s my birthday and I can cry if I want to I spent some time thinking about those questions. I wanted to write down my answers so when I look back at my blog in a year or 10 years from now I smile and remember the life I lived. My 26th year was one of the best years of my entire life and one the hardest.

What was the best part of your 26th year?

This is a hard question to sum up because so many wonderful things happened last year.

Love

I fell in love with the most amazing man. 

Marathon

I went barely being able to run a mile to running the San Francisco Marathon. Thanks to Melissa, Glenn and our running group for the support during the grueling 20 week training program.

It took me 5 hours and 20 minutes. I cried at the finish line out of happiness and a month later I lost two toenails. Gross, I know.

Music

One of the greatest things about living in San Francisco is the amount live shows and festivals that seem to happen in your backyard. Some of the most memorable shows and festivals I attend this year are Justice, The Weeknd, James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem, Simian Mobile Disco, Outside Lands and Treasure Island. Of course I can’t forget to mention Coachella the most magical and glorious festival that I’ve ever attended. Some of my highlights from Coachella are seeing Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre perform next to a hologram of Tupac, Radiohead, Florence and the Machine and Usher and Rihanna being surprise guests in the Sahara Tent.

Public Speaking

I gave my first ever talk at Railsgirls in San Francisco. 

What was the hardest part of your 26th year?

This was probably one of the hardest years of my life and I haven’t spoken to many people about it. I’m going to keep this section short because I don’t want to dwell too much on the negative. Three significant things happened that have greatly affected me: loss, burnout and my dream job ended up being anything but that.

Loss

At the beginning of last year many of us lost a very dear friend. It was so sudden and unexpect. For me that was the first time I had lost someone close to me. During that time I wrote a blog post about what I had learned from experiencing loss and seeing so much pain. If you have a second you should read it “Life is Very Precious so Enjoy Every Moment”.

Burnout

For many of you that know me you know that I’m an outgoing happy girl that enjoys life and loves what she does. I have incredible friends and a loving family that has given me everything I could have ever asked for. Despite all of this I suffered from depression for the latter part of last year. I didn’t wake up one day and realize I felt depressed, it was more gradual over time. I completely stopped working out and I stopped taking care of myself. Work was my number one priority. I barely saw any of my friends and if I did go out I wasn’t really present. I worked insane hours and when I did get home I would just crawl into my bed and cry. I felt pretty numb inside. The worst part was my unhappiness was hurting the people that loved I most. My poor boyfriend had no idea what to say or how to help me. I will forever be grateful for his endless hugs.

I promise this story has a happy ending. In mid-December I decided that I needed to get away so I jetted off to New York City for a couple days to visit friends. I made the conscious decision to not check email or work during that time. Instead, I took care of myself.  I went for a run around Central Park and I attended a few yoga classes. I danced with friends until the sun came up. I laughed. I laughed so hard that tears rolled down my face. I read a silly romance novel and stayed in bed all day. What that weekend helped me realize was that I wasn’t depressed at all, I was fucking burned-out. After four years of working at startups without taking any real vacations, where I shut everything off, I had burned myself out. My priorities were all fucked up. I put my job above my happiness and health instead of trying to find a balance. I’m happy to announce that I finally feel like myself again.

Dream Job

As many of you might now know I no longer work for Prismatic. It was the best job that I’ve ever had and I’m extremely proud of the work that I had done there. In the end it just wasn’t the right fit. They needed someone that was a consumer growth expert, someone that could take them from thousands of users to millions of users.

What this job helped me realize was that I’m passionate about developer marketing and technology. I missed working with developers. I missed attending tech events and learning about technology. So instead of rushing into another job I decided that I’m going to take some time off to really think about what I want to do next. To keep myself busy I’ve signed up for a few programming classes and a writing class. I’m going to take my time finding a job that’s right for me.

What do you looking forward to in your 27th year?

I’m looking forward to being happy and enjoying my life. I don’t know what my future holds but that uncertainty is exciting. There are two things in particular that I’m beyond excited about for. For over a year now I’ve been trying to convince my boyfriend to move to Berlin with me. My family is from Czech Republic and it’s always been my dream to live in Europe for a few years. Hopefully, if we get our shit together we will be residents of Berlin by May. Finally, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be speaking at MMConf this year. 2013 is going to be awesome!

Jana

View high resolution

View high resolution

I decided I want to keep track of all the amazing image extraction fails that happen on Prismatic. It doesn’t happen often but when it does the result is pretty hilarious.

This Prismatic image extraction fail is brought to you by Ed Finkler. 

Tweet: Oh @Prismatic, you so crazy gim.ie/5p4A

Life is Very Precious so Enjoy Every Moment

Last weekend many of us lost someone that was very special to us. She impacted and touched all of our lives in different ways. All I have been able to think about these last 48 hours is why does life work like this? Why does an honest, loving, wonderful human being get taken away from us so soon? Why does her husband have to feel such deep pain and sorrow? Why are all of us sitting in our homes crying and questioning the way life works? It all doesn’t seem fair. I don’t think this will ever make sense but what I learned early on in my life is that you have to keep that persons memory alive. You have to constantly tell stories about them and always remember the life they lived. I learned some valuable lessons these last few days that I had to write down so I would never forget them. I will also never forget Maria Lopez.

Live Life to its Fullest

Too often we go through life on autopilot. We continuously go through the motions but we aren’t really present. It’s easy to get into a zombie like routine where you wake up, go to the gym, go to work, get home and eat some dinner, maybe work some more, go to bed and then do the same thing all over again the next day. 

I believe it’s important to step back and enjoy life. It doesn’t even have to be about the big grand things in life. It’s the little things that count. Last week my boyfriend, Corey Donohoe bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers before he left on his business trip to Europe. They are on my nightstand and they make me smile when I wake up every morning because I know I am loved. Yesterday morning I couldn’t sleep so I took my dogs to the park and watched the sunrise over San Francisco. It took my breath away. It’s the sights, smells and sounds that surround us. It’s how we feel when we can make someone smile at our stupid joke. It’s a hug you give someone when they are having a rough day. My task for you today is to slow down and enjoy your day. Savor things like your kid jumping on your bed, the raindrops on your face, or the delicious dinner your significant other is cooking.

There are some things I want to make an effort to do more of. I want to travel and explore the world more. I want to hangout with the people I care about constantly. I want to make more time for myself and do a better job of taking care of myself which might mean shutting off all my gadgets on a Saturday and curling up on the couch with a good book or going for a long run in Golden Gate Park with friends. I want to do a better job of telling my loved ones that I care about them deeply. I want to laugh, smile and chillax more often.

Enjoy Every Moment Like it was Your Last

I see this a lot with myself and with my friends. We are constantly in a hurry to get to the next step. When I was in high school I couldn’t wait to go to college. When I was in college I couldn’t wait to graduate and to become an adult. When I became an adult it became oh shit I should start thinking about my career and the type of person I want to be in 30 years. After that starts the pressure making sure you find a suitable husband and of course you can’t forget about kids. Holy shit that is stressful and no fun.

I learned a valuable lesson from my friend Maria. She enjoyed life and never seemed to be rushing to the next step. She was too busy enjoying each day. She was too busy planning her next dinner party where she would cook a gourmet meal for her friends. She was too busy visiting her parent’s vineyard and drinking delicious wine. I learned from her that you should enjoy every moment and don’t be in such a hurry to get to the next step in your life whether it’s to get married, to have a kid, to find the next job, to live in another country. What are your plans tomorrow or next weekend? Focus on that.

Love Without Limits

I spoke to my friend’s husband last night. He kept saying there was so much more he wanted to give her and do for her. It shocked me because he gave her the most wonderful gift in the world. He showed her and let her know what true love feels like. She died knowing this amazing man loved her more than life itself. Some people spend their entire lives searching for that type of love and some sadly don’t find it. I think all of us should try to love like that. Give love a chance and don’t be afraid to get hurt. Love also isn’t limited to a significant other. Make sure you love your family and your friends unconditionally and unselfishly. Tell them more often how much you love them and how much they mean to you. I know I’m going to.

Last night some of my favorite people on earth gathered at our friend Kyle Neath’s house. We sat around his kitchen table and talked for hours while drinking copious amounts of wine. Every once in a while there was absolute silence because we were all lost in our thoughts but after a few moments we hugged each other, cried an bit and then started talking again. I looked around the room last night and realized this is exactly what Maria would have wanted. She would have wanted people to be happy, to be surrounded by good friends, to be drinking lots of wine and eating delicious appetizers. I want to thank Melissa, Alex, Zach, Aman, Brent and Kyle for their hugs and love last night. 

I feel very lucky and blessed to have such an amazing group friends. They are my crazy extended family and I know we will be in each others lives for a very long time.

- Jana

"I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. He taught me that if you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good. Hot is no good, either. White hot and passionate is the only thing to be.
— Roald Dahl"

My new years resolution is to have more fun than I did last year. 

Wishing for snow…