The Reading Room

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...

John Muli grew up picking coffee cherries on his family's farm in Kenya. He went on to represent Kenya at the World Barista Championship in 2007 and 2008. Here is his story and what tree-to-cup expertise actually looks like.

AeroPress coffee uses air pressure to push water through coffee grounds in 1 to 2 minutes. It brews a clean, concentrated cup with less acidity than espresso and more body than pour over. This guide covers both the standard and inverted AeroPress methods, the correct ratio and grind, how to dial in your recipe, and 4 mistakes that produce a weak or bitter cup.

Energy drinks continue to attract consumers to down cans of the stuff increasingly, even with a less than good reputation. They have to be one of the most stocked items in stores across the world. Though they seem to be...

Jennifer Quasha endured a “skunking” incident this week and was able to maintain her sense of humor long enough to write up the incident for Fox News. She paints a hilarious picture of the aftermath and the attempt to restore...

Recently a friend gave me a few packages of instant coffee. I am normally not a big fan of drinking instant but have had good luck in cooking and baking with it. I came across a recipe that looked intriguing...

Yet another bot is being demonstrated in the media this week, as the Huffington Post rolls out Rollin Justin. Justin is a whiz at catching balls – he has an 80% success rate in that. But unlike the other robot...

Civet coffee (kopi luwak) is famous, pricey, and ethically fraught. Here is the honest truth: how it is made, the welfare concerns, and whether it is worth it.

Success stories are such day brighteners. When blended with coffee, it’s a perfect combination. When a bad situation is turned upside down and made into a success story, and blended with coffee, it doesn’t get much better. Katya Wachtel shared...

The best coffee gifts for coffee lovers, from fresh beans and samplers to subscriptions and brewing gear, for every budget and every kind of drinker.

Brant Boersma from Dutch Bros. coffee chain is a self-proclaimed comic geek, if not a coffee geek. He recently fulfilled a dream of producing a comic book for the coffee chain co-founded by his father. It is now available free...

The World Barista Championship is the most competitive barista event on the planet. Here is how it works, who competes, and why it matters for your coffee.

There’s a lot of excitement down Australia way as Aussies have discovered a native coffee bean growing in its northernmost point, near Cape York, Queensland. Not that far from Papua New Guinea, a great coffee habitat, the area is in...

Coffee roasting transforms raw green beans into the flavorful coffee in your cup. Learn the three stages, what the Maillard reaction does, and how roast level changes flavor.

A Canadian news source just published an online article about a German university’s study of organic coffee production in Nicaragua. The University of Hohenheim researchers found that organic coffee farmers have become poorer when compared to conventional coffee growers over...

Remember when Mr. Coffee was king? Joltin' Joe DiMaggio told us it was “good to the last drop” so it had to be true, right?  Time moves forward and Joltin' Joe has left and gone away, Hey, Hey, Hey –...

Tea is in the news again this week, but not just any tea. Now it’s being called “designer tea”. Yesterday our news item focused on the development of tea salons and whether tea might catch up to coffee in popularity....

What’s brewing with tea? It’s clear coffee is soaring and riding a wave of intense interest, with more and more heavy consumption, even in cultures where tea was the uncontested champion. However, a new trend may be steeping that will...

It’s a tough neighborhood in the air between Hong Kong and mainland China. At least that’s one message that’s being given by a recent story “Cabin Crew Routine Now ‘coffee, tea and Bruce Lee”, about how a Hong Kong airline...