The Reading Room

I am probably alone in this wish but I would like to see less latte art. I feel that the perceived need for latte art is driving baristas to steam and texture all milk  in one fairly wet style, regardless of...

Kenyan coffee farmers were told last week that coffee is a crop that can be their ticket out of poverty. A district commissioner told them if they took coffee farming seriously the money being paid for coffee now would bring...

A traditionally brewed espresso shot is about 7 gram of coffee pulled into a 1-ounce(oz) drink. A Italian-conventional double shot will be 14 gram of coffee pulled into 2-oz volume. However, what I’ve noticed is that, the recent trend has...

If you're new to gourmet coffee I have one top recommendation:  try light- or medium- roasted coffee. Why?  Because the subtleties of coffee come out when it's light or medium roasted.  /wp/wp-content/uploads/files/uploads/coffeecup_Ballistik_Coffee_Boy_crop380w.jpg" width="380" height="250" align="right" title="Photo by Ballistik_Coffee_Boy, courtesy of...

Following up on the excellent suggestion from samuellaw178 we now have a page to show all the latest reviews on ROASTe. On The Buzz page, just click on the "Latest Reviews" title.  Brew on! Eyal 

Confession: I like to keep my coffee gear in decent shape. I don’t consider myself a fanatic about it though. For example, as far as I know my Clever dripper has never encountered a cleansing agent other than hot water....

I grew with a grandmother who bought green coffee beans at the A&P, roasted them in an open frying pan on the stove and ground them in an old-fashioned hand-cranked coffee grinder. When she made coffee for herself, she boiled...

This morning as I pulled the first few shots of espresso from Olympia Coffee Roasters using their Big Truck Espresso blend, I was actually expecting to get quite a fruity shot of espresso as that has become what I expect...

Zak Stone has written a rather long but enlightening article on the coffee situation, stating that supply and demand mixed with climate change will add up to increased prices. Depending on who or what you read, a coffee doomsday may...

French roast coffee is the darkest widely available roast level. The beans are roasted past second crack to a nearly black, heavily oily surface. The cup tastes of smoke, dark chocolate, and roasted grain with almost no acidity. This guide covers what makes French roast different from regular dark roast, its flavor profile, and the 4 brew methods that bring out its best qualities.

Want to learn more about Kona Earth Farm? I recently interviewed its owner Gary Strawn. He's passionate about the coffee he grows on his farm on the Hawaiian island of Kona. Me:  How did you get into growing coffee?Gary:  Ever...

Steve Crump is not happy with the coffee in his local grocery. He finds it to be mostly Robusta, “the cheap red wine of coffee beans”. Lamenting that Juan Valdez’s Colombian Arabica coffee is now third in world production, he...

What is in a name? I logged on last week to try to order some more Caffe Pronto coffee and was surprised to see it was gone.  After a little searching, however, I found that they were still on Roaste,...

The right coffee grinder matters more than most people realize. Blade grinders produce inconsistent particles that ruin extraction. Burr grinders , flat or conical, hand or electric , produce uniform grind size that makes dialing in any brew method possible. This guide covers all 4 types, what each is good for, and how to choose based on your setup and budget.

Even though I drink the most amount of coffee at home; more and more often I'm spending much more time in school and also on the road and I find myself wanting coffee during these time as well. I have...

I have been documenting my experiences with the Hario Mini Mill that I obtained for over a month ago. Before the arrival of the Hario Mill, if I want to have coffee at school, I would have to pregrind the coffee...

I was just finishing up a wonderful pound of Vivace Vita this morning and have enough beans left for two double shots of espresso and a little more. I really hate to toss out good beans and I am not...

One of the top ten beverage trends of the year is “do-it-yourself flavor”. An Iowa news service, citing the Food Channel as its source, goes on to state that consumers are making personalized specialty drinks as good as any from...

Whenever I order a 12oz bag of coffee I notice that while it’s good and fresh the first 7-9 days or so after the roast date, the quality starts to taper off quickly from there. The issue is it takes...