When it comes to espresso... experimentation is half of the fun, at least to me it is, and since you're here reading about some seriously nerdy coffee stuff you likely feel the same way. So in the spirit of experimentation and my own personal curiosity I decided to test something I've been wondering about for awhile....
There are few combinations of words... that would drive the relatively docile coffee nerd into fits of rage, but I think "instant Gesha" is likely one of them. Even though instant coffees in general have undergone what I would consider somewhat of a renaissance in recent years, still in certain circles the thought of putting some...
In the coffee world... very few manufacturer names fill the hearts of baristas with quite as much excitement as Mahlkonig. With nearly 100 years of coffee grinding pedigree, and a line of legendary cafe heros like the EK43 and Peak, they are finally entering the world of home brewing. The brand new Mahlkonig X54 is their...
It's time for a home brewer renaissance... and it's possible that the Ratio Coffee home brewers will be the vehicle for such a change. Personally, I do love a good pour over, but there is still a place in my kitchen for the perfect brewer...once I find it. Many of the current options have been around for...
Dairy alternatives and I... have a bit of a contentious relationship, I've always wanted to like them, but I feel like they tend to fall short in one way or another. Whether it's how they taste, how they blend with coffee, their foamability or mouthfeel, they just don't check all the boxes. I'm clearly not the...
Home espresso machines... are a growing market, and one of the newest additions is the chic and modern looking Kickstarter funded Xbar. As of this writing its campaign has been funded nearly twenty times over, and still has about a week left to pick up some early bird deals. Like most, if not all, espresso machines...
The internet is full of... articles, blog posts and videos talking about all the espresso rules you should follow for the best possible shots, but I'm here to tell you; the rules were made to be broken. In the world of espresso, and all of specialty coffee for that matter, there are very few rules that...
As if there weren't... enough tools and accessories out there for pulling shots, it's time to look at yet another advertised as your fast pass to better extractions; the Bplus espresso puck screens. Of course, many of us espresso nerds have heard all of this before, many times over. So I'm sure you could understand my...
No one ever said that coffee... was a cheap hobby, and at this point in my whole coffee loving life I've fully accepted that as a reality. Yet, there are still times where the price of some coffee gear really makes me give it a double take, and the Clara French press from Fellow is on...
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...
It's far too easy... and also extremely common for folks in the specialty coffee scene to dunk on Starbucks, but today I want to give you some reasons why they actually deserve a little respect. Of course, this isn't a "we should all love them" kind of video, and they most definitely have their flaws. I...
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...
Each Standart issue contains... some new and unique perspectives on some of the topics affecting coffee, and many of them aren't top of mind, which is why I enjoy them so much. The current issue, number 22, focuses mainly on the how animals contribute to our coffee experience. Whether it be the obvious, as they provide...
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 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,...
For most people... whether they are just a daily, passive interest coffee drinker, or a budding home barista, the humble filter coffee is where we generally start the adventure into brewing at home. It's one of the simpler forms of coffee to make by hand, and offers endless control. It also makes for a nice morning...
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...
Brewing coffee quickly... hasn't always been looked at as a good thing, but as we've developed a better understanding of extraction it's become more widely accepted. First science told us to run faster shots of espresso, and now the Espro Bloom has entered the fray claiming tasty brews in record time. They do this by utilizing...
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...
This basic little brewer never... ceases to amaze me with the wide array of brewing techniques it's capable of, but I hadn't even considered a no press Aeropress option. It wasn't long ago I discovered the WAC (World Aeropress Championship) recipes and those opened up a whole new love for the simple coffee brewer. Fast forward to...
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...
The fact is tea has been... around way longer than coffee. A quick online search will tell you tea goes back some five thousand years, as compared to coffee's paltry five hundred. I'm not here to tell you one is better than the other, I actually appreciate both immensely. What can I say, I'm a beverage...
Instant coffee has come a long way... from those dehydrated Foldgers crystals. Today we've got coffee in tea bags, super concentrate, and even specialty instant, but there's still room for the bar to be raised. This brings me to the newest, and dare I say most unique option to enter the market lately, Cometeer. They call...
If you've worked in a cafe... you've likely heard the term "dying" or "dead shot" in reference to a pull of espresso that sits on the bar for a certain period of time. It's rumored that this trend came from Starbucks training, who gives a shot only 10 seconds after its completion before it's considered dead. Other...
The unsung hero of the coffee bar... is the humble grinder. The espresso machines, coffee drippers, and latte art pours tend to often be the stars of the show, but today I'm revisiting my experience with a Niche Zero year one review. If you've been around for a minute you may recall the original review I...
Making better coffee... is a strange and complicated journey. Many of us put so much effort, time, and money into it that those on the outside looking in think we're insane. That I think is a good introduction into the wildly time consuming act of sifting coffee. By that I mean grinding coffee, placing it into...
If you're a coffee lover... you're also likely a lover of arguing the semantics and definitions of certain coffee drinks. One of those hotly debated espresso based beverages is the globally popular flat white. Some claim it is all about the addition of the legendary ristretto shot of espresso. Others say it is just a basic...
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...
Nothing seemed more appropriate... for a video released on New Years Day than one that uses confetti for a pour over filter. I do have to say this was not my idea, and I saw it originally on the Melodrip Instagram page and found it pretty intriguing. When the urge struck I decided to give it...
Just a few short days ago... winter officially began and I feel a bit torn about it. I do really love the Holiday season, but I'm not a big fan of cold weather. Yeah, I do live in San Diego, so winter isn't nearly as "wintery" or "cold" as other places, but I still crave those...
When I think about making espresso... I generally picture myself at home, or in a cafe working behind a classic countertop machine, but I also have to remind myself that other people actually leave their house sometimes. So something like the Wacaco Nanopresso may actually be a the perfect option for those adventurous, espresso-loving spirits who...
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...
Lately there has been... a lot more interest in coffee cupping and tastings, even within those who are more casual coffee drinkers. For quite some time cupping was something that most casual coffee drinkers had never heard of and looks pretty odd from a distance. It was mostly reserved more for coffee roasters, barista competitors, and...
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...
There comes a point where one may ask... how many coffee drippers is too many? Well, I'm not sure yet, and I know I haven't reached that point just yet. So I felt like the Origami Dripper is a welcome addition to my already somewhat crowded home barista coffee cart. For what seems like quite a...
I've said it before... and I'll say it again, consistently steaming glossy, smooth, microfoam is one of the hardest parts about being a barista. Even I have my off steams, but now there is a new product that claims to help you get that treasured latte art capable foam and it fits in the palm of...
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...
At this point my digital... footprint may as well be a coffee bean because when some kind of new coffee contraption finds its way onto any platform that I use regularly it will absolutely find its way in front of me. The Seven & Me is one such contraption. It presented itself as a sponsored advertisement...
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...
There is no shortage... of V60 recipes, tutorials, and techniques online in both written and video formats. It seems almost like a rite of passage, or at the very least a given for coffee YouTubers and bloggers these days. Since there are so many options out there, I guess I didn't feel like I needed to...
With the ever growing popularity... around the world of specialty and third wave coffee, light roasts are becoming more and more common in cafes and kitchens. With lighter roasts come not only more unique flavors that can really showcase the coffee's origin and the roaster's skill, but they can also be somewhat tricky to brew well. Not...
Making your own coffee... at home can be a humbling experience, even just picking the right coffee can be tricky. Knowing how to read a coffee label is one of those skillsets that's as niche as knowing how to juggle. The amount of information on the label can vary widely from one roaster to another roaster,...
Making a passable espresso on the Aeropress... is one of those horizons many have attempted, but no one has yet to really nail it. Even coffee industry heavy hitters, Fellow Products, took a swing at it with their Prismo attachment. Now, fast forward to today and the Joepresso is newest contender to enter into that arena...
Coffee can take many forms... and throughout the roasting process it goes through a variety of transformations. Each phase of the roast brings out a unique flavor characteristic. Now, whether it tastes good is, like all coffee, is subjective. For me, the ideal roast is always past first crack. But as a lover of coffee I...
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...
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...
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...
Just like any other industry... we here in coffee tend to pick up some trends from time to time, for better or worse. Resistance to these trends is futile. No matter how hard you try, you can't escape them. They'll invade your Instagram feed. They'll litter your favorite coffee subreddits. They'll even rear their heads within...
Don't let the name fool you... it's not some kind of robot butler, the FrankOne is actually a coffee brewer. Once you get past the name, which really isn't explained anywhere on the website (the owners being Eduardo and Otto) its actually a pretty interesting piece of coffee gear. It's uses an electric USB charged vacuum...
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...
