The Reading Room

Coffee accolades fall into three basic categories: certifications, awards and label designations. Understanding what each of these designations means can help you make responsible decisions when you’re buying specialty coffee. Certifications A number of the labels that you’ll encounter signify...

If you’re confused about how to discuss or interpret coffee roast levels, you’re not alone. In fact, there are so many competing scales and lists of terminology that some experts are left shaking their heads. And let’s not even get...

It’s a term that has invaded coffee culture and permeated it completely: Third Wave. Anyone in the specialty coffee industry has an opinion about what it means. Often the term relates to coffee as an artisanal beverage, independently procured and...

1. Remember Portola's wafflegato? Last time I wrote that variations on that theme were expected. Indeed, there have been two so far. See below for the recipes.- a. Featuring organic goat's milk caramel, salted caramel gelato, and aleppo pepper seasoning...

I really enjoy trying new coffees because I can justify using all the coffee tools that occupy my kitchen. So today I'll be writing about my efforts with AJ Coffee Co's Fazenda Rodomunho Natural Brasil. I don't think I've had...

I had a rather busy yet unproductive weekend. I drove around with the family getting a few errands done in San Francisco, and took a few longer drives to go out to a few places to eat. All of that...

Saturday is my favorite day of the week because it is the beginning of the weekend and usually I have the most time during this day. It is even better this saturday as I was stocked with Roaste's coffee. Because...

So I'm just starting on my bag of AJ Coffee Co's Fazenda Rodomunho Natural  Brasil and was really in the mood to do some experimenting in the espresso realm tonight. At three days post roast it is still a little...

This is an update about the condition of the Olympia Cremina 67 that I recently acquired through ebay.  I had disassemble and clean its grouphead as well as descaling last week because the espresso I produced from it is much less...

Beehouse is a Japanese company that is perhaps best known for their ergonomic ceramic teapots. They also make ceramic coffee drippers, in a small and a large size. The drippers are wedge shaped and have two small holes in the...

A few days ago, I hit up a big order from Espresso Vivace Rosteria on two of their well know and well reviewed blend from Roaste and was very excited for its delivery. The order was placed on the 14th...

When brewing espresso there is one critical element to the puzzle, and it is grinding it fresh to a nice grainy powder. To do that obviously you need to have a grinder in your home, the problem being most grinders...

Natural coffees can be funky, as can Sumatras. So one might expect a naturally-processed Sumatra to be particuarly funky. It might be, but the one I have from PT's is remarkably clean. PT's tasting notes are rather involved, as if...

The Ebay Cremina that I received a few weeks was in excellent condition cosmetically yet it proved to be quite a challange to pull good shots with it. It did not matter how much I vary coffee type used, the...

So you want to make excellent espresso, how about taking a trip to Italy?                                                        ...

So here on the east coast the heat index is in the upper nineties and even though I'm sitting at home in an air conditioned environment I really wanted something iced tonight. I came across this post on HB this...

So, someone asked me a while back to post my current Aeropress method, and I’m just now getting around to it. This is the method that I use to make my coffee in the morning. There are some (marginally) better...

Would you pay more than $500 for a pound of coffee? Someone did yesterday in an online auction of Guatemalan coffees that included six micro-lots of coffee estimated to be among the best coffees in the world. On Tuesday, Finca...

While I would say that I have not been wow'd lately by a lot of coffees, I have gotten use to getting lots of good coffee so perhaps that my problem! The good coffee has just kept coming from Mtn....

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This is the twelfth post on the coffees I’m working my way through. Up this time is Costa Rica La Amistad Organic Coffee by Jim’s Organic Coffee.  Jim’s has a nice looking bag. It’s probably the most colorful one I’ve...