The Reading Room

It's 5:40 AM, 20 degrees out, it's been snowing and sleeting throughout the night, I've reluctantly crawled out of my sleeping bag, and I'm about to have the best worst cup of coffee of my life.  /files/u15603/DSCN1799.jpg" width="448" height="336" border="0"...

I cannot wait to get back to San Francisco! It’s only a couple weeks away and I am just dying with anticipation. The restaurants, the sights, the bars, and yes the cafes. Saturday I’ll hit the Blue Bottle stand at...

It was quite warm in Oklahoma City yesterday, and despite missing Boston I was in the mood for an iced coffee, one of my favorite way’s to cool off. In Boston it seems like in the summer everyone is drinking...

For some reason I got nostalgic for Boston today; maybe it’s because it’s the fall and I love Boston in the fall. Walking through the Public Gardens, Boston Common and Newbury Street when its crisp and chilly outside is something...

It’s about time I review the Clever Coffee Dripper; after all I use it at least as much as my French press and very often I prefer the results. I’ve had a great deal of success with this device and...

“It’s that Time of Year, when the…” Wait wait wait- I’m sorry, we’re not QUITE into the snowy days of December just yet! We meant: “Stirring and Stirring and Stirring the Brew!” Or was it Broom? It’s the season when...

I have a rather shameful weakness, the seasonal coffee blend. This morning in the "New Arrivals" section of ROASTe there is a little place for Klatch's Poizon Blend and I was pretty excited as I really like seasonal blends for...

Bonsai on a lever – Today I decided to try out Velton’s Bonsai Blend on my lever machine.  I had a hunch that I would like it on the lever.  There were a few reasons for this.  The first one...

Some of my blog posts are instructional, these are more just impressions of today's coffees as I continue to mix it up (quite literally). This is day two of my experiment with my wife’s brewed coffee blend.  I blogged yesterday...

Boulevard Coffee Roasting Company has been in operation for nearly 30 years in the Sacramento area. They roast daily, primarily for area businesses and for use in their cafe. The cafe is located in an unassuming strip mall in Carmichael...

So earlier in my blog I posted a review of the Tassimo espresso system. Since then I’ve posted reviews of the espressos you can get from the machine and even a latte than you make by first running an espresso...

It was so grey and cold and gross last week that I just needed to get out and go sit in a nice warm and toasty café and read a book. Unfortunately no place in Oklahoma City can live up...

One of the great things about coffee is that no matter what, everyone is going to have their own opinions and I wanted to give mine to this blend. As you read my post about this coffee I would suggest...

Well, I’ve reviewed the Tassimo system and didn’t like it, but today I’m feeling a little drowsy/sleepy and think I need an espresso. I can’t really run out to get one (and there isn’t really anyplace near my work that...

Since the Skerton is the grinder I use most often I end up constantly making adjustments to my grind setting to accommodate whatever brewing method I have in place. If anything, I think that this is what will motivate me...

Good blending karma.  I seem to have stumbled onto another nice blend of blends.  Every morning I make my wife a cup of drip coffee.  She knows a ton about coffee, but does like her average bean darker than I...

Good coffee storage keeps beans fresh for 2 to 4 weeks after roasting. Bad storage cuts that window in half. Five things degrade it fastest: oxygen, moisture, heat, light, and grinding too far in advance. This guide covers the correct container, where to store it, the degassing window, whether to freeze beans, and how long coffee actually stays fresh.

The Timolino Ingeni coffee maker. I have a confession.  I often say that I am using a clever dripper to make brewed coffee, but in fact I am not, I am using a clever style dripper.  I use an alternative...

I just managed to finish off an entire 12-oz. bag of Counter Culture’s Finca Mauritania all by myself. Well, unless you’re counting the 80 grams or so that I froze at 4 days post-roast for future enjoyment, but I have...

We’ve previously covered the phenomenon of the “cat café” in Japan, where about 100 of the feline friendly establishments have developed. Some of your comments reflected disbelief that such places exist. Well, Japan is another world, another culture, but now...

A follow up on Velton’s Bonsai Blend.  I have now been pulling the Bonsai blend for a few days.  It has continued to improve each day that I have used it.  It is still what I would consider a big...