The Reading Room

/files/u1508/Drinking_Chocolate.jpg" border="0" width="600" height="400" />If you are looking for something to warm you up, this holiday season, and you enjoy both coffee and chocolate this may be just the beverage for you. Coffee Infused Drinking Chocolate: 1 -  Bag Ghirardelli...

Dedicated Readers of this blog (hahaha...) may recall that I promised that I would devote a post to vac pot brewing. WHERE IS IT, my cherished Readers ask me. Reams, no veritable bales of digital paper have been wasted as...

My interest in hand grinding beans for my coffee has lead me into a land of myth, anecdote and folklore with little hard data to support what, if any, manual grinder is worth owning to use on a daily basis.Most...

The holiday season is notorious for overeating and indulging in foods and treats that are high in sugar and fats. It doesn’t have to be that way, if we pick some healthy foods which can also be fixed in festive...

Brewing at home is a comfy experience for me. I've got beans that I like, equipment that I know the quirks of, and various amusement-park mugs with my name on them. That said, I know that I'm not making the...

/files/u3017/irishcoffee.jpg" height="129" width="190" align="left" />When a beleaguered group of American travelers collapsed into seats at Foynes (Shannon International Airport) the head chef decided to spruce up their coffee a bit. He served their coffee with a bit of Irish whiskey...

I have given coffee as gifts several times. To me it is a universal gift that works for any occasion (birthday, Christmas, Hanukkah – any time you wish to give something). For a friend’s birthday a couple of years ago...

How can the “Micro-Roasters”, and local coffee shops, compete with the “Mega-Chain” roasters and coffee franchises?  In this age of mass production, mass consumption and constant inundation, by mass advertising, how can the “Little Fish” swim among the “Sharks” (or...

Pour-over isn't new. My grand-dad made Chemex back in the day and one-cup Melitta has been a staple in my supermarket for as long as I can remember. What's kind of new is a new style of pourover that I...

Two and a half weeks ago, during the annual Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, the staple Gevalia Kona Cupping Competition took place.  To the best of my knowledge, there is no greater collection of Kona coffees in one place than this...

Presto MyPod 09402 - Senseo Coffee Machine Pod holderIt might be a stretch to consider the Presto MyPod 09402 to be a vintage piece but the fast paced and rapidly changing single serve coffee world this Senseo Adapter from Presto...

Does coffee have to be expensive to be great?  Why does the price, of one roaster’s coffee vary, from that of another roaster’s, for the exact same coffee?  My coffee loving friends, and I, have debated these questions over many...

/files/u3017/Water_drop_001.jpg" title="Water Drop" alt="Water Drop" align="right" width="212" height="141" />Recently we were approached by a few people who were curious to know if water is an important feature to their morning brew. “I just get it from the tap!” one of...

So, not sure if this should be a blog or a rant, but something lately has been bothering me. Since I live in Los Angeles, which seems to be a horrible city for coffee (believe it or not) I am...

We at ROASTe.com wish you and yours a warm and meaningful Thanksgiving. We hope you have a pleasant day filled with family, friends and good food./files/imagecache/product_page_large/files/Brazen-Hazen-Kona-Coffee-Gift-Basket-2.jpg" title="http://www.roaste.com/product/brazen/Brazen-Hazen-Kona-Coffee-Gift-Basket-0" align="right" height="415" width="384" vspace="10" hspace="10" alt="http://www.roaste.com/product/brazen/Brazen-Hazen-Kona-Coffee-Gift-Basket-0" />After the Thanksgiving festivities are over we...

Italy, France, Vienna….If you feel that surfing through ROASTe.com is a little like taking a tour of regions throughout the world, but you never were given the map - or, that you recognize the names of places but can’t quite...

Have you ever had so nasty a cold that even coffee doesn't taste good?  Sad as it is for me to type those words, I think that is where I am right now.  My morning cup today is spiced with...

/files/u3017/beanscoop.jpg" vspace="1" width="179" align="left" height="146" hspace="1" /> "Coffee roasting," as the saying goes, "is part art and part science." The coffee bean is, after all, an organism pried from the soil, dried, shipped, and poured into the numerous roasting mechanisms...

In college my coffee-making went something like this: put coffee into a mesh basket and put the basket into a Pyrex measuring cup. Pour hot water over that. Wait. Then remove the basket-of-grounds and filter the liquid through paper. Really...

It would be hard to make a case that there is any American holiday more unifying than the upcoming feast of Thanksgiving. Virtually every religious, ethnic and otherwise diverse sub-group in America can gather with family and friends at Thanksgiving...

I really like using vac-pots, which are also known as siphon/syphon brewers. I'll be devoting a few blog posts detailing how to use them, take care of them, and adjust them, but before doing that I think it's best that...