If you look at a coffee grinder.... in their most simplest form what do you see? You’ve got is a body, a motor, a set of burrs, and a sometimes spattering of other features here and there, but there really hasn’t been a lot of tech involved. Well the grinder we’re looking at today, the Lucca...
A new espresso machine landed on my bar... and I can't think of a better way to get aquatinted and familiar with it than a good old fashioned workflow video as I make my morning espresso. This machine is the brand new Sanremo You. Its unique body design is reminiscent of Sanremo's flagship commercial machine, the...
Just about a year ago... the Option-O Lagom P64 landed on my bar. The journey to get there wasn't smooth. After the massive disappointment that was the Weber Key, and their subsequent reaction to my opinions, I set out again to find my own endgame grinder, essentially the last grinder I'll ever buy. After some research...
Home espresso machines come in a lot of flavors... and in my relatively short coffee career I've been fortunate enough to get my sticky barista paws on a lot of them, but the machine we're looking at today, the Lucca A53 Mini, knocks a couple firsts off my list. It's my first experience with a La...
This may be a bit of a surprise... but in my seven years of blogging and five years of making YouTube videos about coffee stuff I've never once done a review on a scale. I've done my best resist it, because let's be honest; it's not an exciting topic. But considering how much of an important...
I know not everyone loves these... kinds of videos, but if I can be honest, I really do. Being able to just focus purely on brewing coffee, beautiful visuals, and the added dimension of a unique musical track really is the kind of vibe I want to cultivate on a Friday morning, especially as we start...
In a home coffee market seemingly dominated by single dosers... Eureka took a look at the competition and said "nah, we’re gonna go with a hopper". On the surface the Mignon Libra looks a lot like many of its other Mignon relatives with its tall, rectangular body, single adjustment dial and telltale squared off hopper. But...
After weeks of brewing, tasting, testing,... an unboxing, and a workflow video, the time for the full Niche Duo review has finally arrived. As always, a proper review is something that can not, and should not be rushed out. Taking my time has also allowed me to collect a handful of questions from viewers to provide...
Some mornings just call for two coffees... and since I am trying to cram in a lot of work and planning prior to heading to the SCA Expo in Portland, now seems like as good of a time as any to drink a little extra coffee. So armed with the brand new Niche Duo that sports...
There are depths to the espresso rabbit hole... and WAFO baskets are getting pretty deep. They have seen some mainstream-ish attention, but generally have been talked about by those who are willing to put $200 or more down on something that is more-or-less untested. So in an effort to better understand them I ordered one, a...
I fancy myself a pretty experienced espresso guy... so you can imagine my surprise when a machine landed on my bar that had not once popped up on my radar. The Crossland CC1 is a home-focused, feature dense, and affordable prosumer espresso machine that at a glance looks like a lovechild of two of the biggest...
This one is a walk down memory lane... because the humble Baratza Encore was my very first home coffee grinder, and even as I progressed in my coffee career its blend of affordability and performance kept it at the top of my recommendation list. Literally anytime I was asked by someone considering taking the leap into...
Since the Lelit Bianca landed on my bar... I have had a lot of requests to put it up against my daily driver, the La Marzocco GS3MP. On their face they appear to be two very different machines at two completely different price points; there's a $4,500 difference between them. But, going head-to-head, spec sheet to...
Flat burr grinders get all the glory... and often are on top of many barista's wishlists. But the humble conical shouldn't be counted out, and one that's recently caught my eye is the new Varia VS3. On paper it's a lot like many of the other grinders that have hit the home coffee scene in recent...
For many home baristas... the La Marzocco GS3 MP carries a lot of weight. It's been around for quite awhile, and has created a reputation for being one of the most sought after home espresso machines on the market. Packed with big dual boilers, a stable PID controlled temperature system, a commercial grade rotary pump, and...
After some time and a lot of requests... I finally got my hands on the Lelit Bianca. This popular prosumer espresso machine has been around for quite some time, and boasts a handful of features that puts it on the top many home barista's wishlists. Things like stainless steel dual boilers, PID temperature control, a rotary...
After four full weeks of in-depth... coffee content, reviews, and data I was in need of a reset. Plus, I haven't done coffee routine video featuring my morning workflow for some time now, so it felt like the perfect way to get me back into the mindset needed to delve into the last weeks of 2022....
When it comes to espresso grinders... the options are seemingly endless. But there are a handful that seem to continuously garner praise among the home barista community, and one that really took off in 2020 was the DF64. It hit the market when single dosing, home grinders were in high demand, and the Niche Zero had...
It may sound intimidating... but the Slayer shot is actually surprisingly gentle since it utilizes a considerable amount of low-pressure pre-infusion, and when I say considerable I mean essentially half the shot time; but I'm getting ahead of myself. As you may already be aware there are many different forms of espresso, the classic double, the...
Over my time as a home barista... there are a handful of machines that get brought up in nearly every espresso conversation, and one of them is the ECM Synchronika. This makes sense because on paper it's a needle in a haystack. It comes with dual boilers, PID for consistent temperature control, the legendary (but divisive)...
Getting into home espresso... can be an intimidating experience. There are thousands of options that range in everything from price to performance. Going online in search of answers can can only make the choice harder. Scrolling through forums and blog posts can give you an even mix of horror stories and happy endings, but there is...
If this title looks familiar... its not just your imagination, its not deja vu, I did a video of the exact same title almost exactly three years ago. In that time not only has my espresso game evolved, but so has the whole industry along with most of baristas (home and cafe) use on a daily...
In the world of espresso... there are very few things that the majority of baristas agree is a necessity, but one of those things I thought we could was tamping, or at the very least adding pressure to your grinds in one way or another. But after a short video of mine exploring one of the...
Okay, I admit it... last week's video was a bit of a tease, but I needed some extra time to work on the full review of my new Weber Key. Which was for many coffee lovers, one of the most anticipated coffee grinders since the Fellow Ode, and we all saw how that worked out. The...
I'm sure you have heard... how important water quality can be to your coffee, and unless you're new here you've most likely you've heard it at least a few times from me. Now its something that I understood on a very surface level. For example, too many minerals can create a bitter cup, and too few...
On a cold January day in 2017... much like this one, I brought home my brand new La Marzocco Linea Mini. This was almost exactly five years ago, and at the time I was just a new coffee enthusiast looking to learn the craft, but little did I know that it would take me where I...
Espresso drinks aren't all that complicated... and even though there is so many you could fill a small book with them, they are made up of two ingredients, espresso and milk or water. In this case I'm talking about the latter, more specifically the Americano, and by association the long black. Now, these two have very...
The holiday season is fast approaching... and with all the delays in both manufacturing and shipping I figured I'd get this video out a little earlier than normal. So for those looking for some affordable coffee gifts, or just wanting to know what coffee toys I've been loving through 2021 than this video is for you....
Just when you thought espresso... can’t get any more intricate and labor intensive something else crawls out of the depths of coffee forums, so today let’s talk about the staccato shot. The word staccato translates from Italian to English as "detached". Which in this case means each grind size are detached, or in other words separated...
For quite some time... beverage enthusiasts have been making and designing their own glasses to elevate their drinking experience, and the company Kruve has continued to try to innovate in the coffee vessel space. It all started with their award winning filter glasses, then the pro-swirl espresso versions, and now with the new Kruve Imagine line...
As you may already know... espresso comes in many different shapes and sizes. Its an ever-changing, ever-evolving beverage, and now things that were once considered mistakes have become something we aim for. In the not so distant past a fifteen second shot of espresso would go right down the drain, but today we call it the...
In the very recent past... handheld espresso was more or less a distant fantasy than it was a true reality. Even though there are multiple accessories and compact options on the market, most if not all fall kind of flat. The Joepresso, and the Fellow Prismo claimed real shots from your Aeropress, and that just isn't...
Are you ready to take the plunge... into the world of espresso at home? Well, incase you haven't noticed I've done that myself, and I get a lot of questions from folks looking to do that exact same thing. I personally made some mistakes myself, and since then I've talked many friends and viewers through the...
Thinking about espresso... is what I do with a good amount of my time, and if you're reading this its fair to say it may be something you spend time doing as well. There is a wide array of espresso options out there, and in my espresso anatomy series I've covered a lot of them. The...
I'm a man of my word... and a couple month's ago while reviewing the Robot I said I would soon be releasing a head-to-head battle with the Cafelat Robot and the Flair, but what I didn't tell you was I was waiting for the new 58 to drop. In the world of hand pressed, fully manual...
Now well into the... fourth year of this humble coffee blog we're really starting to dig into the minutia of brewing, and in terms of espresso talking about shower screens is really getting into the weeds. Otherwise known as dispersion screens, these little discs of metal and mesh play a surprisingly vital role in the espresso...
If there is one thing... I look forward to every day, its a quiet morning coffee and today I'm sharing that experience with you. There's clearly a group of folks out there who love these kinds of videos, and you may be asking what kind of video. Well, this is my first, and very possibly final,...
The time has finally come... after a year of speculation and vague information the brand new Flair 58 has finally arrived on the scene. I've been a big fan of the Flair machines since I picked up the Signature Pro about two years ago. It was my first foray into hand pressed espresso, and I was...
When it comes to espresso... and my series of videos taking deep dives into the many forms of this beloved beverage, I feel like one very important option is missing. Whether you call it the double, the normale, or embrace your inner Italian and call it a doppio, it's time I dive into the most common...
Four years ago this week... I became the proud owner of a brand new, crispy white, La Marzocco Linea Mini. In that time it has given me endless hours of entertainment, content for videos, increased my barista skills, and also helped motivate me to create not one, but two businesses. So I do generally look at the...
I promise you... this will be the last distribution tool review I'll do for awhile. It just seems like when it rains it pours, and recently a Duomo The Eight poured into my possession thanks to a lovely local espresso lover named Josh who was willing to part with it while I made a review. At...
Many of us enjoy... a nice shot or two of espresso on a daily basis, and spend a lot of our time and hard earned money trying to get the good shots. Yet, how many us can name and break down each of the three layers of espresso? We all already know a shot is pulled...
In a world... and industry that is increasingly becoming more and more automated, the market for hand-pressed espresso machines is still only growing in popularity. In that market the Cafelat Robot is one of the premium players, and having paid nearly $500 for it also costs a premium. It's unique vintage 1950's sci-fi movie robot styling...
If you haven't noticed... specialty coffee culture has a dump-truck sized notebook full of colorful lingo, and one of the most popular terms you'll likely hear is the "god shot". This blanket term is used to describe a shot of espresso so perfect, and so delicious that is it is basically an enlightening experience. The term...
It seems every couple of months... a new distribution tool materializes out of the bottomless dark void that is third wave coffee gear economy. The WPM (Welhome Pro) ESPCUP is the newest contender to an already pretty full arena of tools. With big coffee industry names like ONA Coffee, Pullman, and Saint Anthony's Industries already having...
Life is full of milestones... like getting your drivers license, moving out on your own, and of course your 100th YouTube video. The latter being what we'll be celebrating today. Putting together videos like this isn't something I'm used to doing as its pretty far outside of my normal program, but these more candid videos are...
Long before the days of caramel and whip... the macchiato was a mainstay on espresso bars around the world, and in most cases it still is. Yet like many drinks in the world of specialty coffee there are multiple ways to make it, and of course some debate. This small but mighty espresso based drink not only carries...
La Marzocco has a habit... of making Mini versions of their commercial machines. I'm sure you've heard of the Linea Mini, but in case you haven't, its pretty epic. Their newest addition to the Mini line up for home baristas is the La Marzocco Swift Mini. The full-size Swift is a cafe workhorse that you'll find...
When it comes to espresso... there is one brew type that tends to be forgotten. The lungo espresso garners very little interest over the standard shot, and the notorious ristretto. Personally I rarely if ever see it on a menu, and when I asked about them on an Instagram poll many people mentioned having never had...
The Leverpresso is... the smallest lever espresso machine on the market, at least that I'm aware of. It begs the age old question, does size matter? Get your mind out the gutter. I'm talking about if it can it live up to its larger and more expensive cousins like the Flair or the RoK? Well, today...
The wave heart... is most definitely one of those little known, little seen latte art pours. Personally, I don't think I've ever seen, or been served a drink with the wave heart in it. Nor does it get much love on all of those latte art focused Instagram accounts, which generally post everything from hearts to...
There are many debates within the coffee industry... and one of those debates that has been raging for years is flat vs conical burrs. The passion each group carries about their burr preference is up there with the Montagues and Capulets (yeah that's a Shakespeare reference, deal with it). Of course I have my preferences, and...
