The Reading Room

This is a break in the middle of my steaming milk series to take a look at another option (not as ideal, but certainly easier)Cool tool report – the swizler “as seen on TV.”  As a joke of a stocking...

This is a blog post about a cool new feature on Roaste (or at least it is new to me, but I think it is new to Roaste, too) Roaste Prime. Roaste prime is a great deal in my book. ...

http://www.koracoffee.com/images/KOR_VietnamesePhin/PhinFront2.jpg" height="500" width="500" /> I have been thinking about writing about this brewing device for a while yet unable to do so intil now. Phin basically is the name of a traditional Vietnamese brewing device, the name is probablly derived...

One coffee I have been eager to try since reading it won a medal in the Best of Oregon coffee tasting is Deep Cello’s Black Tie blend. This is what is in my cup so today is my lucky day!...

What should steamed milk look and taste like?  I opened my last blog entry with this basic question and then proceeded not to answer it.  The real answer is, of course, worth delivering though.  When milk is steamed to a...

I saw a link to this over on facebook - wow, I hope this rant is intended to be tongue-in-cheek. Still made for an interesting read so I thought I would share it here and see what everyone thinks:"I've been...

What should steamed milk look and taste like?  I think the better question is what should it sound like?  I thought I was pretty good at steaming milk when I started training with one of the world’s best latte artists. ...

this is the second in a series of posts on steaming milk.  some will be instructional and some will just  be about the learnign curve I followed (and continue to follow).  This one is more about the path than the...

"Three Hearts" natural process bulk coffee from Brasil, one of the base roasts of Black Tie, is a simple, super chocolate coffee with hints of caramel, and allspice. It's not a bright and rests well on the tongue.We are talking...

During my coffee explorations, I’ve noticed that roasters and other coffee pros approach the challenge/chore [some might say necessary evil?] of creating descriptions for their coffees from different angles and with different degrees of tongue-in-cheekness. The variability is truly fascinating...

Today a super fresh Klatch Panama Carmen Estate 1750 Reserve is in my Cup.  The beans are starting to show promise with a bit of spiciness in the dry aroma and a hint of cherry in the wet aroma. at...

Steaming milk is one of the real challenges most new baristas have when they are first trying to learn to make great espresso drinks.   People want to make latte art and wonder why they cannot pour it after watching a...

My favorite technique is what I’ve dubbed the modified tap nutation.  It combines two simple techniques to get a quick easy and reliable distribution.  I expect that it will not work well with cheap grinders, but it works very well...

One more possible distribution technique is the N.S.E.W. (also known as North South East West).  It is a slightly more sophisticated version of the finger swipe. The NSEW technique starts the same as most techniques – you start by filling...

I thought it would be fun to riff on a currently popular blog topic and talk about what’s on my radar screen as far as coffees go. It’s as good an excuse as any to discuss my own coffee “sweet...

The BeginningI first started drinking coffee at Dunkin Donuts. And I am not sure if that is good, bad or ugly but it was what it was. I drank their coffee and liked it. Though I loaded it up with...

I never thought about this as a blog topic but thanks to another blogger here I see this can be a fun topic.  I finished my bag of Deep Cello Nostromo dark troasted regular coffee that I was fortunate enough...

What I am drinking now Vivace Dolce.  This is a great espresso.  It is not as subtle or fruit forward as many of the newer trendy espressos that are popular today.  It is, however, easy to enjoy.  I did not...

Since this came up in a comment for my last blog entry I thought I'd talk about dosing tools... Dosing tools, these can also help, but they can be costly or home made. The next distribution technique I wanted to...

This variant on the stockfleths move is (very close to) the one developed by Dan Kehn on home-barista.com that he calls the Stockfleths for dummies.  His original description is located at http://www.home-barista.com/tips/stockfleths-move-for-dummies-t4594.html There is also a video there or directly...

/files/u2252/AT_Brevetti_8.jpg" align="right" height="400" width="227" />From what I gather reading on forums and from my own experience the Tre Spade brand of burrs is pretty high quality.  The company is not exactly a household name even though the company's products have...