The Reading Room

Very few objects fascinated me as much as the coffee grinder at a friend's summer cottage.  I couldn't have been more than six when I first encountered it. It was screwed into the kitchen door jamb and was nothing more...

Photo: Gordana Adamovic-Mladenovic  According to trends documented by the National Coffee Association (NCA) in their just-released 2011 National Coffee Drinking Trends, coffee drinking remains strong – resistant to the economical downturn. In fact, 10% more young people than last year...

Brewing coffee doesn't have to be especially fancy. A certain kind of minimalist might delight in mixing coffee and water and putting it on a stove, maybe--when the desire for luxury strikes-deciding to filter that concoction with something near at...

First there was the percolator.  It was a fixture in our house when I was small.  Coffee in the morning was the rule rather than the exception.  And in fact my mother, who was something of a practical joker, and...

Many people interested in espresso these days at least consider a Nespresso machine. In my case, I started out with one before moving up to an entry-level Gaggia. Of course, a major pro for the Nespresso system is its hassle-free...

/files/u2500/blog_fireworks.jpg" width="180" height="240" /> The Chinese have used fireworks for at least two thousand years - at first to scare away evil spirits, then shooting them off at weddings and other celebrations. It’s not hard to imagine that they started...

ROASTe now offers the Aerobie AeroPress espresso and coffee maker and take it from a convert, this is a fantastic method for brewing our favorite beverage. The first time I saw this device in the wild was in a box...

Forget the World Barista Championship. That's so 3 weeks ago. I say out with the old and in with the new: in particular, in with the first-time-ever World Brewer's Cup, which debuted today at the 2011 SCAE World of Coffee...

You may or may not know of a website called BrewMethods.com, which is a compendium of links to guides for filter coffee (non-espresso). It's great. It's arguably the only source (or intermediary) of coffee knowledge that you'll ever need. Of...

/files/u2500/newsltter_iced_coffee.jpg" width="160" height="240" /> Summer begins officially this week. Though some parts of the country have unofficially begun the hot weather, and though Memorial Day begins summer vacation season, summer doesn’t start on the astronomic calendar until Tuesday at precisely...

/files/World-Barista-Championship.KB-teaser2.jpg" alt="2011 US Barista Top 6 - Kevin Bohlin" title="2011 US Barista Top 6 - Kevin Bohlin" align="left" height="213" hspace="5" width="320" />This week has been really busy with sports championships and surprises. The Dallas Mavericks won their first NBA playoff...

With so much seasonal coffee content related to cold brewing methods, I thought my questions about cold pulled espresso would be covered soon.  Alas, my wait continues and now I must take matters in to my own hands and discover...

In case you missed it, Alejandro Mendez of El Salvador just became this year’s World Barista Champion and the first champion ever from a coffee-producing country outside the U.S. I watched his finals performance the day *after* he won via...

It's been awe-inspiring, exciting and a moving competition but the time has come to crown the 2011 World Barista Champion. Let's give a huge round of applause for Alejandro Mendez of El Salvador, this year's World Barista Champion. Equally commendable...

Well, we've had a few extreme days of skills put to the test and today the Top 6 just finished their final round. Now it's up to the votes of the judges to determine which contestant was the most outstanding....

Disclaimer: This, even more than most, will be a highly subjective post. Feel free to take its contents with the appropriate number of grains of salt (to taste).If you’re using bad or mediocre coffee, then by all means torture it...

It's Day 2 and the competitors are fierce! The World Barista Championship is officially under way and by the end of today we'll know who the Top 12 are. Tomorrow we'll find out which baristas made it to the Top...

One of the reasons I enjoy ROASTe is that it allows me to try coffee from many different roasters. Incidentally, this is also one of the reasons why I regularly visit a local café called Spro. To quote from their...

I have years of experience with various single-serve coffee systems, including Nespresso, and so by now I’m aware of their benefits and limitations. Can any of them ever beat freshly ground, freshly roasted beans in terms of cup quality? No....

Tomorrow it’s happening. Tomorrow we’re going to be at full attention, eager to see how the first round of contestants perform. For any of us who’ve seen this competition unfold in the past, we might even speculate as to which...

I’ve been thinking about the freshness of my coffee quite a bit these days ever since I managed to acquire a large whole-bean selection due to my own splurges in combination with gifts from generous friends and vendors. I’m the...