The Reading Room

The twist – my parting shots. I am quite pleased with this machine.  It is amazing if you want to judge it by the quality of the shot, which is the most important criteria.  I will be sad to see...

I am the most indecisive consumer ever. I research compulsively, go back and forth between purchases repeatedly, and then I'll buy something months later. Coffee grinders are my latest arch-nemesis. I bought my Gaggia Classic six months ago for $300 and...

 About several years ago, when I got interested in coffee, I picked up a device called the French press from the local target store for about twenty bucks. It was a basic Bodum unit with no bell and whistles, just...

Ok after a hectic week at school I’m back to posting blogs, and it’s about time for another review post. This time I’m discussing a pre-brewed bottled coffee, Captain’s Cold Brew. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical...

Despite my almost exclusive enjoyment of espresso and drinks that contain relatively small amount of milk such as machiato and cappucino, I do occasionally indulge on frappucino. When I first got started drinking espresso, I frequently get these drink from...

Well it has finally happened here out in California, winter has come! I think for a lot of people our winter would characterized as nice mild weather, lows in the 40s and highs in 60s, but when you are use...

My recent adventure in stirring coffee was launched by looking for a blog post by james Hoffman where he declared “Crema is Rubbish.”  I had heard about this declaration and perhaps even read his blog about it before, but I...

When is a micro roaster no longer a micro roaster?  I have  a friend who used to work for a micro roaster/ coffee shop.  They trained their baristas extensively and taught them a lot about coffee.  One of the things...

I've been doing a lot of writing lately and writing requires a significant amount of coffee. I drink espressi from time to time while writing, but I really like a sippable (made up word alert) drink so I've been making...

I have been blogging about my experience with very light roast of coffee in espresso machine recently and I have said that despite all the attempts I made in changing doses and grind setting, I was not successful in making...

I have been making pour over coffee for my wife and she loves it.  The key to this process is you boil the water yourself and then take it off the boil and pour it onto some contraption that is...

This is to me the ultimate bargain in espresso gear.  The Super Jolly is a grinder that was never intended to be used in a home environment.  It is one of the most common commercial grinders in the world.  It...

Several days ago, I decided to fire up the La Marzocco Linea three groupo some of the lightly roasted beans that I have. I have wired my Marzocco so that by turning the switch to position number 1, it would...

http://www.galesgifts.com/images/_products/galesgifts/PBB-16_La_Pavoni_Professional_Black_Base_16_Cup.jpg" width="384" height="400" />  My La Pavoni Profesional lever espresso machine right now is carefully packed away in a box. I'm thinking of putting this machine on Ebay because simply it is not being used enough and quiet frankly, I...

There are a lot of selling points to the Gaggia Classic espresso machine, but one of the big ones is being able to adjust the pressure at which the espresso is brewed at. That is a big deal because most...

After a trip down to Disneyland over the past week it was nice to come back home to this coffee sitting at my door step along with Belle Espresso blend by them as well. This is my first experience with...

/files/u2500/comm_vets_day.jpg" alt="photo by KFOR-14 on Flickr" title="photo by KFOR-14 on Flickr" height="159" width="240" /> A Civil War Coffee Story Did you know that there are more than 23 million veterans in the US? This Friday we commemorate their service to...

http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/lamarzoccomanual.jpg" width="700" height="654" /> If money was no object the espresso machine I would get would be the La Marzocco GS3. Although it came out several years ago, it still is pretty much the state of the art espresso machine...

The twist – how does it taste? This was the burning question in my mind when I got it in my hands.  I took a bite and it tasted rather like metal.  Okay just kidding I was really interested in...

Kettle consultations I can’t help but notice the super cool long necked kettles such as the Hario Bouno V60 drip kettle.  I’ve had my finger on the mouse button to purchase it as a “gift for my wife” so many...

Today I break out the French Press and use it to make a cup of coffee with it. I have not used it in a long time (may be one and a half month) since the time that I got...