Archive for the 'Hospitality' Category

Coffee Ritual

Published on April 26, 2012 by Chris Bean in Coffee and Third Place, Hospitality and Personal.

My coffee ritual is not quite like the coffee ceremonies of Arab or Ethiopian cultures, but it is a ritual nonetheless.

Rituals add meaning and rhythm to life. Rituals comfort and remind. Rituals provide a sense of identity and community (except when I’m brewing a single cup for myself).

My current coffee “ceremony” involves the hand-blown glass Chemex brewing pot, a buono kettle, and the magic filters which know which particles and oils to hold back.

I’m a big fan of Intelligentsia’s training/instructional videos and standards. Here’s a great one for the Chemex.

I fill the buono kettle about 3/4 full so I’ll have enough water to rinse the filter and warm my mug as well as to brew the coffee.

While the water is coming to a boil, I grind the whole bean coffee in the ceramic hand mill. You’re going for a similar coarseness to a french press setting. I like mine a little more fine than that though. The precision on the mill is not what I would like it to be but again, there’s something about the manual process that improves the ritual. Of course, this is not realistic if you need to grind more than 40-60 grams of coffee.   ;-)

The Intelligentsia standard for coffee/water ratio is 2.1-2.2g per fl. oz of water. Another common standard in the industry is 2 tbsp per 6 oz of water. I like to start with standards like these then adjust to one’s own taste/preferences.

Once the water boils, I measure out the right amount of water for the brewing and then use the rest to wet/rinse the filter and heat up the pot.  I pour that water into my mug to preheat and then re-fill the buono kettle with the exact amount of water I want to brew with.

To brew a delicious clean cup of coffee I begin by wetting the ground coffee with just enough water for the grounds to “bloom.” You don’t want to see much/any dripping at this point. That will deflate (bubble out) in 30-45 sec and then I continue to pour slowly in a circular motion (avoiding the sides) until I’ve evenly extracted about 12 oz of liquid delight.

The whole ritual takes about 10 minutes and it imposes a certain amount of order in an otherwise typically chaotic day.

Here’s another good description of the Chemex brew method which you might find helpful if you have a Chemex and want to fine-tune your brewing.

Is coffee a part of your daily ritual?

What rituals have you found helpful in bringing personal order to chaos?

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Where Hospitality & Discipleship Meet

Published on September 27, 2011 by Chris Bean in Campus Ministry, Coffee and Third Place, discipleship, Gospel and Hospitality.

It was about this time last year that I had a similar post, sharing a bit of a promo for the weekly gathering which I host at the Edge House.

With more in mind than just publicity, I share a similar post today.

Although I’m often conflicted about maintaining a program or event with all its administrative and logistic baggage, I am also compelled to provide a consistent opportunity & place for students to gather, worship, study the Scriptures, experience community and hospitality.

JOURNEY = a common metaphor for the spiritual life.

Jesus called himself the “way”…odos in the Greek (pronounced “hodos”). It’s the origin for derivative words such as odometer and exodus (“a way out”). So the discipleship component of our gathering is all about being FORMED into the likeness of Christ as we join Him on the Kingdom path.

Speaking of FORMED…that is the ‘curriculum for Christlikeness’ we’ll be engaging along the WAY. You can download the accompanying prayerbooks here or find out more about FORMED here. You can also “like” FORMED on facebook and be part of the community engaging this material and mission.

2.8 = refers to 1 Thessalonians 2:8 in which Paul encourages and reminds the Thessalonian Christians, “We loved you so much that we wanted to share not just the Gospel but our lives as well.”

Hospitality is more than serving coffee and pastries. It’s about blurring the lines between kin and foreigner. It’s a recognition that we are all pilgrims journeying towards some purpose or end. In Christ, we have been brought near to God. Though we were once considered estranged enemies of God, because of Christ…we are children of God. How great is that kind of love? The scandalous love of a Father for his prodigal child?! The whole paradigm of the Gospel is reconciliation…God extending gracious hospitality to His creation. So we who have received this grace and blessing are called to be people of grace and blessing to other “foreigners,” pilgrims, college students…whoever. And as Paul indicates, sharing the Gospel is about sharing life…not just information or some magical salvation prayer.

JOURNEY 2.8 then is about embracing the call to follow Jesus within the context and ethos of hospitality. It’s designed to be a welcoming environment but especially suited for students who want to be transformed by the Word/words of God in order to transform the world.

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Hospitality & Discipleship

Published on September 6, 2011 by Chris Bean in Calling, Campus Ministry, discipleship and Hospitality.

With only about two weeks until the Fall quarter classes begin again at UC, I find myself scrambling a bit mentally.

What’s the plan?

Should I do this event?

How can I engage more students?

What new strategy do I develop this year?

What night should that new bible study be on?

How do I get students plugged in to a local church?

Where are all the resources going to come from financially?

And the more I think about it…the more I could let my mind frantically wander along similar distracting trails.

But thankfully I’m revisited with a moment of clarity…what often seems like spiritual affirmation regarding my calling. I talk about it briefly in this video.

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