Rather than my usual Saturday morning post I was forced to delay it till the late afternoon. The reason is that today we went to my village, because it’s grape picking time! This time of the year is special for many Bulgarians because Grape rakia and wine are Bulgaria’s national drinks that everyone is proud with. 😁 At least most of the people.
In my grandparents house there are a lot of grapevines and the day when we pick the grapes is always like a little celebration apart from the relatively heavy labor that is required to collect all the fruits and prepare them for fermentation.
My grandfather have planted many different sorts which vary in their colors - white, black, rose, etc. and they all have so different flavors. Some of them for instance are more suitable for eating - with thin skin and little seeds, while other are perfect for alcohol production - flavorful and intensive in their taste.
Now, we will wait for the grape juice to ferment and in about a month we will distill the fermented juice. So for now, the heavy work is over.
Meanwhile in the week I had a work travel to the capital of Bulgaria - Sofia. I rarely buy some coffee from gas stations, because most of the time it’s a terrible product. The workers don’t have the ability and required training to make any coffee. So I prefer always to carry my Japanese thermos that usually keeps my coffee hot for at least 8-10 hours. This is more than enough because usually I enjoy it on the way back to my hometown.
I enjoyed my fermented coffee. It’s perfect on the V60 and I have still about 30-40 grams, which I tend to brew when I travel without my wife. She is not a fan of it at all, so she drinks other more natural tasting flavors. I just love the wildness of the Costa Rica thermally processed coffee!
When in Sofia, I really liked the view out of the roof on which we were working. The mountain is absolutely close to our location and the fact we actually work on the roof makes the whole process a bit more relaxed.
Back home now. The working trip and grape picking are in the part now and it’s time to enjoy the comfort of my sofa in the company of a tasty espresso. My wife decided that it was time for some tea, but I am really not that much into the tea drinking. I enjoy grinding these aromatic beans and the fruitful flavor of my coffee.
I have bought this coffee relatively often in the spring and summer. After all Ethiopian coffees are among the best and this one combines very well the dark fruit flavors with some lighter ones like grape. I guess today’s topic is grape! This reminds me that I have one beer for that is a mix of beer and fermented grapes, which will make a perfect post for the #beersaturday challenge. I’ll have to take it into the refrigerator!
Back to the coffee!
After my wife didn’t want coffee this afternoon I decided to go for an espresso shot. The beans or Ethiopia Wonago coffee are a bit smaller than the ones I’m used to, but they still are very tasty. Unlike Kenya, in Ethiopia they don’t grade their coffee beans by size so I guess it’s not a real issue now.
This is my ultimate relaxation after a busy week and a working Saturday. There are some other tasks at home like dealing with all the kids’ toys and making pizza dough for tomorrow evening, but I guess they will wait at least an hour. I deserved a bit of rest.
That’s for today. See you soon and have a nice weekend… or at least the remaining part.
Bye!