When it comes to brewing coffee... there are a handful of standard variables that all baristas spend their time working within, but one has been relatively untouchable until recently: grinder speed. Over the last few years more and more grinders have hit the market with adjustable speed capabilities. So when I was in the market for...
It's no secret that the future of coffee... as we know it is relatively uncertain, so it's important to do everything we can to preserve it. For many of us its become a hobby or a passion, and for some of us it's our livelihood. It pays our bills. So whenever I hear about someone trying...
For awhile now... I've been toying with aging coffee, both green and roasted, in my freezer at home. One particular package of coffee was roasted, vacuum sealed, and subsequently traveled from Japan to my freezer here in California. This coffee has sat patiently for almost exactly two years now. If you've been around for awhile this...
If you ask a barista... latte art isn't just an art, it's a lifestyle. It's also the quickest way to break a barista's heart, just stir it up right in front of them. As you become more and more versed in specialty coffee culture it becomes clear that the skill of steaming and pouring velvety milk...
Paper coffee filters... seem like one of those simple pieces of coffee brewing that pretty much don't get much love in terms of updates and innovation, until now. CAFEC has entered the filter fray with something new. Just a few short months ago they started offering roast specific coffee filters. Using their proprietary hot-air drying method...
Extraction is a dense topic... and this experiment may lift off a bit of that density. It will provide some answers, depending on how you feel about my scientific methods, or in some peoples views, lack thereof. Armed with an idea, a refractometer, and two bags of the same coffee I decided to dig in to...
The future of espresso... has never really been questioned like it has been this last week, although I have to ask. Is anyone taking this whole study by Christopher Hendon and the University of Oregon seriously? I've seen it making the rounds online, and even had some readers and viewers reach out and ask me my...
The debate of freezing coffee... is still raging both inside and outside of the specialty coffee industry. If you ask coffee legend and roaster extraordinaire George Howell he will tell you that freezing coffee is great way to store it. Even so much that he does it to a lot of the coffees that come from...
Blooming espressos are all the rage... right now thanks to the outspoken coffee consultant Scott Rao and his involvement with the Decent Espresso machine. Since that machine has near endless controllability (for better or worse) he's found a way to max out extraction while also incorporating the use of Aeropress filters. So I decided to swap...
Distribution is key to extraction... but are all distribution methods created equal? The answer is an unequivocal no, but it is far more complicated, and really the reason why is beyond my understanding. I've been hearing about distribution tools having negative effects on extraction, and more importantly (in my mind) taste. Finally, armed with the curiosity,...
I saw this all over... Instagram this week. Both coffee consultant Scott Rao, and notable coffee scientists Socratic Coffee brought this interesting process to light. It definitely seems counterintuitive to that adding an Aeropress filter or two to your portafilter when pulling shots of espresso would increase total dissolved solids (TDS) and in turn increase the...
When I get my hands on... some new coffee toys I can't help but put them to the test. So when I got the Pullman Big Step tamper I decided to see how it compares to the La Marzocco Convex tamper. When I say compares I don't mean in looks, because lets face it, that Pullman...
