‘i can make better quality coffee than in any café in europe’: ac-dc student

since cousin james from perth is travelling around europe he brings his portable coffee maker and hand-held fresh bean grinder with him. he uses his stand-up bike pump to charge the aluminium coffee maker which has a gauge that gives more accurate pressure readings and control of that pressure (from 1-9 bar) than the best coffee machines in the plazas of milan or paris, says james in an off-hand way.

hand grinding the coffee with a brass unit hand-made with a lathe by artisanal coffee lord, ross spencer, in his shed in brisbane, brings another level of bean quality control. the oils and flavours are freed from the singing that can occur with regular electric machine grinders. it’s quite labour intensive but the result is worth it, says james. for those of the barrista persuasion the grinder is called ‘port espresso’.

‘with these i can make better quality coffee than in any café in europe,’ adds james, who is constructing a biography of the deceased rocker bon scott, from ac-dc.

‘was bon scott a coffee man?’ i ask james.

‘it is uncertain,’ james says, but scott rarely drank alcohol before going on stage, so maybe a mildly stimulating beverage like coffee he would have gone in for.

‘do you think your research will bring a clearer picture of bon’s views on and use of coffee products?’ i ask.

‘i hope so, but i have little doubt he drank coffee at some points in his life.’

‘yeah but…’

‘shut up dude…’

i have a regular percolated coffee, we eat breakfast in our hill-side girona flat, then head out to the costa brava for the day’s ride. it’s warm, windless – a great day for the 120k ride we complete out to a coastal town called tossa, up he coast through some other towns, and back.

pretty exhausted. time for a coffee…or a wine...