Monogram Brew Guide | KOKEDAMA
We believe that coffee is an important part of story. People use coffee as a tool to connect with one another, to be alone, to cope with late nights, and survive early mornings.  Coffee is a tool often used to build community and tell story, and we’ve been privileged to see this and be a part of it first hand.
We’re launching a new online brew guide, featuring our friends and community brewing coffee in their own spaces! Celebrating our city and community is important to us, and we feel like this is a great way to use coffee to connect with and tell our friends’ stories.
A couple of weeks ago we had the chance to visit Caine Chow of Kokedama at his pop-up shop, Atelier Secret Kokedama in Stuff (102 - 709 11 Ave SW) to brew some coffee (recipe below!) and chat.
We’ve known Caine for a few years now, after he mysteriously dropped off a beautiful Kokedama at our Altadore shop on opening weekend. Since then we’ve collaborated on an exclusive Arabica coffee Kokedama, hosted Kokedama workshops in Fifth Ave, and had a lot of coffee talk.
Before we get into things, if you haven’t heard of Caine or Kokedama, you may still have noticed his signature planting style throughout small businesses in Calgary. “Kokedama is a planting style from Japan. In Japanese “koke” means moss, and “dama” means an egg-like shape, it's a very literal meaning of the planting style,” says Caine, “I take the plant, and I make a ball of soil around the roots, wrap that in moss, and then bind it together with thread...And it grows just like that.” This style showcases a Japanese minimalistic approach, putting the emphasis on the simplicity and beauty of the plant.
Along with being a kokedama and aesthetic genius, Caine is a very sufficient home brewer!
“The control [of brewing coffee] can be intimidating, but I don't think it has to be. And I think that if you have fun with it, and view it as an experiment.”
Currently he is brewing with an aeropress at home, so we thought we’d show him our recipe for this guide. Our method is ultra simple, great for lazy half-asleep mornings, camping trips, or brewing in kokedama work shops. We met Caine at the atelier, where he creates and houses so many incredibly beautiful Kokedamas.
“To me, coffee is a drink made out of a bean...it's super simple. But there's all this complexity to it. Where the beans are grown makes a difference...even though it's like the same variety of plant.
We’ve met a lot of small business and entrepreneurs that use the mindful practise of making coffee to centre themselves and get their days started. “For me it's a mindful practise, when I make coffee...I'm just there to make coffee. Whereas sometimes when I drink coffee that is not case. But I like making it because I can go through the whole process, and at least I am still in that mind frame where at least the first 2, 3, 4 sips are very conscious.”
Many of our customers, friends, and partners practise mindfulness and use coffee as a mindful tool as opposed to a caffeine fix. “If I miss it, then my day feels a little less calm. I find that if I start my day with those moments, it sets the pace for the rest of the day.” says Caine, regarding his daily two cups of coffee. “It's a little bit about the ritual. So even if I brew a coffee that doesn't taste great, I like the ritual of making coffee. It's like a meditation.”
Caine started full time with Kokedama in October 2016, diving into the crazy, challenging, and in his case, rewarding role as small business owner. “I was doing kokedama just for myself.. I was really enjoying it, but at the time I didn't quite understand what it was about kokedama that really resonated for me. That didn't come until recently. I was enjoying kokedama...but wondering if it would resonate with others.”
Fast-forward a couple years and Caine has built a community around Kokedama, creating new friends and collaborations. During our brew time with him, he shared his insights on community and loneliness. Although community wasn’t his original focus, he found himself in need of it, and the midst of it.
“While you're working on whatever it is you're starting, it will inevitably feel lonely somewhere along that journey. And probably more than once. The thing that I discovered is that even in the times that I felt like I was walking alone..that was actually just a self-centred thought. There were always people around me, and there were always people supporting me. They didn't always understand all the parts of it, but they were always there.”
We’re thankful for what Caine and Kokedama add to our community, to our shops, and our greater Calgary community.
- Coffee!
- Aeropress
- Filters
- Kettle & water
- A scale
- Timer (some scales have timers, otherwise just use your phone!)
- Grinder
- A spoon
- Cup or server
To start, weight out 16.5g of coffee beans, and grind on medium/fine. Caine used a Porlex hand grinder in our brew guide, but you can use any conical burr grinder (hand mill or electric).
Place a filter in the black aeropress filter hold, and pour a small amount of hot kettle water on it to rinse. Shake excess water from the filter, or screw it onto the aeropress and allow it to drip off for a couple of seconds.
On your scale, place the aeropress with filter in place on top of your cup or server. Pour ground coffee into the aeropress, and tap the side to create an even coffee bed. Zero your scale.
Start your timer, as you begin to pour in your water (we used water heated to 200F). Pour quickly, making sure all the grounds get saturated. Fill your aeropress to 280g. Carefully move your aeropress and server together off the scale.
At 1:10, break the crust of coffee that will form at the top of your brew (this stops the extraction), and at 1:15 begin to plunge. Use even, slow, and firm force. You want to finish plunging the coffee at 1:45, so keep an eye on the timer and the amount of coffee left to plunge. It may take a few times to get a hang of pacing your plunge time.
Remove your aeropress, pour yourself a cup, and enjoy!
