Soundgarden Aeropress

Scott Ferguson and I have known each other since 2012 after meeting at Citylife Church in Melbourne. We made a very effective team facilitating a course together over a couple of years and he became a solid mountain biking partner and good mate. He believes himself to be immune to the Messenger Effect and so far has proven this to be true, which is surprising because whenever we ride he brings out a fierce competitive streak in me that goes otherwise unseen. As seen in the images below, he’s the kind of madman that will take his wife’s hybrid bike on a Downhill track with minimal protection, whilst I’m padded up to the hilt….

Scott Ferguson (photo: Geoff Palmer)

Tim Messenger (photo: Geoff Palmer)

I should qualify this by adding that this was his introductory ride into the world of mountain biking so that’s not his current setup. He’s since bought himself a nice BMC but I’m not sure if his wife’s bike was ride-able again after that trip.

Scott works for DNA Custom Paints, the joint that supplies Red Bull with their product (by which I mean their paint, not the chemicals for their drink). A while ago we were going to team up and respray my old Giant Reign MTB to give it a new life but it never eventuated after I upgraded to a new Reign.

I decided to scale the project down a little and work on a custom Aeropress design. The Aeropress is my go-to outdoor brew device. They’re indestructible and make a great cup. But as versatile and awesome as the Aeropress is, they’re….well, brown. Time to pretty one up with something more than a sticker. At the time we were throwing ideas around, Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell died and it seemed fitting to make it Soundgarden / Cornell themed. Soundgarden had a huge impact on shaping my musical tastes growing up. While the effect their music had on me wasn’t always positive, I have a lot of respect for the level of energy Cornell poured into his music, both with Soundgarden and solo. With arguably one of the greatest voices of my generation, it’s sad he cut himself short.
Soundgarden and specialty coffee are certainly not things I expect will cross paths often. Although having said that, not long after Scott and I started planning the Aeropress, Lee Safar released her own Cornell tribute in the form of Elixir Specialty Coffee produced using his music, so maybe we’re on to something! Lee was kind enough to send some my way even though they weren’t currently shipping to Melbourne. Big shout out to the Elixir team for making it happen! Scott and I drank the last bottle of it during production and it went down a treat. It was an 18hr extraction that had a surprisingly light flavour on the tongue. The aftertaste was deliciously subtle with a fruity / smokey taste. I’m not sure what I expected Elixir to taste like, but it definitely surprised me. I think I was expecting something comparable to cold brew but it doesn’t fit that bill at all. It feels a lot less “dense” and SUPER clean. Over all it was very enjoyable and it was so different than anything I’d had before and left me even more curious about the process and how they get that level of clarity. I think the SCA may need to update the Coffee Tasters Flavor Wheel to include unicorns and pixie dust.

Confused about how they produce coffee to music? Me too. They don’t give much away, but The Coffee Podcast has a good interview here that gives a great insight into the Elixir world.

Enough words. Pics…..