@THENOMADBRODIE my Coffee Story

@THENOMADBRODIE

my Coffee Story

They say travel is a bug.

Some people catch the bug, and ingest it, or whatever they do. Others keep it in a jar on their window sill with air holes in the lid, feeding it leaves and small insects from time to time, waiting for a special day to let it out. I‘m not a huge fan of bugs actually, especially eating them, but with the road (or the air for that matter) becoming my new comfort zone, movement has become my craving and the nomadic lifestyle my addiction. Not necessarily on purpose.

It all started back in 2012 when I made the decision to take a year off school to move to China. Naturally, for a Brantford-raised white boy, it was a life-changing decision. Within a few months, I managed to connect with fellow explorer, Elias Popa, and began to help him film a documentary project that took us and other members of his team to Vietnam twice, Hong Kong a handful of times, Korea, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Thailand. While spending most of my time as a budding nomad in Kunming, Yunnan, I also had opportunities to traverse a fair amount of China‘s biggest province, on both skate trips and modelling (don‘t ask) trips alike.

In the years since I‘ve been back on North American soil, I‘ve done my best to find even more academic excuses to facilitate my undying need to leave home, from Jamaica to Copenhagen, and even an extended return to Barcelona (see some earlier posts for more on that one). Whether it was the discovery of Blue Mountain beans of the Caribbean, tasting the light-roast espresso blends of Northern Europe, or even the slow extraction of Vietnamese java over condensed milk (no, I never tried the Weasel Coffee), all of these trips somehow tied back to this precious, little fruit, and even more interestingly, its global impacts.

It wasn‘t until just over two years ago that I caught my first glimpse of that infamous caffeinated rabbit everyone talks about scampering deep into its hole, and whether acknowledging it or not at the time, I committed to diving into the coffee hole after it. During that time, I was introduced to some of my now closest friends who introduced me to the nuances of this mysterious craft, the flavours you would never think to associate, and the diverse culture and community that came with its consumption.

All of this to say, I‘m launching this blog component of The Nomad Barista to capture and document my own personal coffee journey, meet some interesting folks, discover the world, and get involved in some innovative projects along the way. At the very least, I know I‘ll taste some pretty amazing coffee.

NOMAD [ESSENTIALS]

Espresso for flavour and focus • Cambodian leather notebook for notes • Kaweco fountain pen for getting ink all over • French knife for cutting stuff, like coffee beans •Icelandic birch liqueur for those cold bus rides • Copenhagen beer opener with Barcelonian leather pouch • Plant optional