The sun is low and is reflected in the water. The surfers sitting deeper in the line-up are only visible as silhouettes. The first shadows are slowly falling into the troughs of the waves and the horizon is starting to glow. As always in autumn here on the North Atlantic, the water is still relatively warm. I am enjoying a classic afternoon session on the west coast of Portugal.
When I get out of the water, I'm exhausted. We've been out for almost 3 hours and my arms are just jelly. When I get to the camper, I swap my wetsuit for board shorts and collapse onto my bed. A pleasant sense of relaxation and slight tiredness spreads. I decide against a nap and instead have a small coffee.
It's going to be a cappuccino, so let's start with the espresso. Today I'm using the Picopresso again. I now take the Pico with me on every trip I take, whether surfing or at a festival. People are always impressed when I serve them a perfect espresso at the campsite. I'm still amazed at how well the little machine really works. The only thing that annoys me sometimes is cleaning it. So I start with the familiar procedure: boil water, grind the beans, tempe and screw the Pico on. A few firm pump cycles and you've got around 42g of the finest espresso. A quick taste test before I start on the milk foam. A little firmly temped, almost a ristretto, but I can live with that. Quick side note: For grinding I'm using the Timemore C3-Pro again, 3rd finest setting. I weigh my beans with the Timemore Black Mirror Nano.
Since I'm traveling in my bus, I'm using a French press to froth my milk today. To do this, I heat the milk on my gas cooker to around 60°C. I then pour the hot milk into the French press and press it through 7-8 times. At the beginning, I deliberately pull air down at the top point. I make the remaining pulls with a smaller amplitude, distributing the air bubbles evenly and producing a fine foam. Be careful! Don't make too many pulls, otherwise you'll end up with foam. I'm skipping latte art today and carefully pouring the milk foam directly from the French press into my espresso. The outdoor cappuccino is ready.
I enjoy my cappuccino by the bus and watch the sun sinking ever lower. I decide to take a few more pictures in the water and manage to get this wonderful shot. A fitting end to a great day.
