The Reading Room

To pour or not to pour. Over, that is.
There’s been so much buzz the past few years about pourover brewing that I’d been curious to try it out. However, I didn’t like the start-up costs that seemed to be involved. In particular, I thought $50-60 for a kettle...
How To Complain Over Spilled Coffee
Ever since McDonald’s was made to pay $3 million in a settlement over spilled coffee, other such incidents have been reported. Coffee lovers are being served piping hot coffee that causes burns to skin, even after new guidelines and the...
OE PHAROS, grinder par excellence
The pursuit of perfection defines us. "Coffee," broadly construed, makes this clear as day. In the land of single-serve, for example, people often ask what machine they should buy that can make both great espresso and great drip coffee. There...
Five a Day Keeps Cancer Away?
A recent study on coffee and breast cancer has been circulating in the media for the last couple of weeks. A Swedish research team completed the study with a conclusion that seemed a bit indecisive. They found that a certain...
Picking the Right Espresso Machine
/files/World-Barista-Championship-Espresso-Machine-20110516.jpg" alt="picking the right espresso machine" title="picking the right espresso machine" align="left" height="411" hspace="5" width="292" />Sure, without the baristas, there’s little point to even think about the World Barista Championship. This competition depends on additional major factors, such as the...
Hario Leads Coffee’s Third Wave
When many people think of the third wave of coffee, the image of a sleek kettle with a long gooseneck spout comes to mind. (http://www.roaste.com/product/SungardenTea/Hario-Buono-V60-Drip-Kettle ) The spout design is to focus the water in a thin stream so it...
World Barista Championship Interview - John Gordon
/files/WorldBaristaChampionship.JG_.Teaser.jpg" alt="World Barista Championship contestant John Gordon" title="World Barista Championship contestant John Gordon" align="left" height="214" hspace="5" width="320" />As the World Barista Championship draws closer, I think it’s only fitting we take a moment to get to know John Gordon, who’ll...
Cold Brew Tutorial
Here are the Chazzano Coffee coffees that you can use for cold brewing:Ethiopia Washed Sidamo: Has luscious notes of chocolate and tart cherries. Even though it is against my coffee religion to put milk in coffee, with a splash of cream, the...
When’s a Coffeehouse Not a Coffeehouse?
When it’s the newest idea in churches. Just in time for your Sunday morning, the Grand Rapids Press reported on a new church which calls its Sunday meetings Café Re-Fresh, based on its meeting style and a verse from the...
World Barista Championship - The US Playing Field
/files/World.Barista.Championship.LO_.teaser.png" alt="Lori Obra - Rusty's Hawaiian Coffee" title="Lori Obra - Rusty's Hawaiian Coffee" align="left" height="309" hspace="5" width="438" />The World Barista Championship is nearing us and it’s time we got to know some of the contestants who represent the US. Before...
Hawaiian Barista Wins US Championship
Last week, Pete Licata of Hawaii brewed his way to the title of #1 US Barista and will now represent the US coffee industry at next month’s World Barista Championships in Colombia. His story tells us some things about the...
Happy National Coffee Day!
Monday, May 16, is National Coffee Day in the US. On this day we celebrate coffee, and what's a better day of the week to celebrate our morning wakeup brew than a Monday!We have much to celebrate in coffee. This...
Mafia Learns Coffee Crime Doesn’t Pay
The Italian police just busted a mafia family – the Mallardos - that was controlling a coffee distribution sector in Italy worth almost $800 million. An Australian news service online just posted the story about the operation, code named “Caffe...
Coffee Time: The Stop-Motion Animation Movie
A few days ago, a commercial design graduate produced a stop-motion animation about coffee and coffee makers. The story about the video has been picked up by sites across the internet. Though it was artist Wan-tzu’s first attempt at the...
Forget Coffee When You Live Below the Line
This month volunteers from actor Hugh Jackman to unknown college students are willingly experiencing five days of living on a poverty level food budget. The price of a coffee shop espresso drink was used to put in perspective how little...
Bikini Baristas Stir Up aTempest in a Coffee Cup
With summer and warmer weather approaching, a coffee lover's mind turns to thoughts of……bikini baristas? Well, at least that’s the message being given by some state's controversies over the attire of female baristas at coffee stands. The custom is cropping...
The Coffee Phenomenon - Part 2
/files/CoffeePhenomenon2.Colombia.jpg" alt="The Coffee Phenomenon Part 2 - Colombian Coffee" title="The Coffee Phenomenon Part 2 - Colombian Coffee" align="left" height="212" hspace="10" width="320" />The World Barista Championship is fast approaching and we’re getting psyched for this major event! Part of what makes...
Etiquette for Coffee Shop Bullies
If you’re reading this, you have a computer, maybe a laptop. All laptop users who frequent Wi-Fi-equipped coffee shops to use the internet - or just the comfy surroundings – have probably considered the etiquette or protocols for avoiding laptop...
Good stuff from Iron Brew
Article on Iron Brew: part 1, part 2/files/u3/coffee_process__3__0.jpg" width="670" height="503" /> /files/u3/coffee_process__4_1_0.jpg" height="570" width="670" /> /files/u3/coffee_process__5__0.jpg" width="670" height="503" /> /files/u3/coffee_process__6__0.jpg" width="670" height="503" /> 
Congrats to Rusty's Hawaiian on the 2011 US Barista Champion Pete Licata
A coffee used by one of our star coffee farmers Rusty's Hawaiian was used to win the US Barista Championship on Sunday in Houston TX.Pete Licata of Honolulu Coffee Company won the US Barista Championship.  /wp/wp-content/uploads/files/uploads/Screen_shot_2011-05-06_at_7_40_09_AM.jpg" width="150" height="150" border="20" align="left" />It's...
Starbucks’ Newest Competition
You’re an entrepreneur who runs a business online from your home. You need to interview potential clients, so you block out a few days to do that. But where do you meet with them? Up until now, it was most...