The Reading Room

Coffee grind size determines how fast water extracts flavor from your grounds. Get the right size for your brew method and the cup improves immediately. Here are the 7 settings you need to know.

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...

/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...

 Third wave coffee treats coffee as an artisanal product. Learn what defines the movement and how it differs from earlier coffee culture.

/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...

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 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...

/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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

/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...

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...

Coffee goes stale from four things: oxygen, light, heat, and moisture. Whole bean coffee stays freshest in an airtight, opaque container at room temperature away from the stove. This guide covers the best coffee storage containers, how long whole bean stays fresh, why the freezer debate is more nuanced than most people assume, and 4 storage mistakes that accelerate staleness.

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...

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...

We just came back from the US Barista Championship, first Iinaugural Brewer's Cup Championship and SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) annual trade show in Houston. It was 3 days of non-stop coffee drinking and connections.  I drank like a...

For several months there’ve been stories about the development of special thermal beans which promise to change the way we drink hot coffee - if not the way we drink coffee, at least the way we perceive coffee that is...