We’re adding a number of new classes to the calendar in March and April for 2018 before we head off to Expo in Seattle. Fact & Folklore: Coffee’s Culture & Cultivation – a Interactive Lecture & Tasting at Pulley Collective – NEW! Tuesday, April 10 @ Pulley Collective in Oakland – $20 An interactive lecture […]
Editor’s note: A version of this article first appeared in Daily Coffee News on December 20, 2017. Spuds, yams, tubers – baked, boiled, fried, mashed… There’s almost no limit to the versatility of the root vegetable we often associate with Idaho or Ireland. It might surprise you to know that there are more than 1,000 varieties […]
What really happens during extraction? There are some things we know, and some things that are still a little muddled. This week I did a few experiments in hopes of tightening up our understanding of how extraction works. What we know about extraction: We know that water is an excellent solvent. Water is sometimes called […]
Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in Perfect Daily Grind on November 28, 2017. There are a lot of perks to being a coffee buyer: traveling to origin, meeting producers, experiencing the coffee harvest. As glamorous as this role can be there is a ton of work that comes between a farm visit […]
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in Daily Coffee News on November 22, 2017. In what might be a foolhardy attempt to correlate two of coffee’s most complicated concepts, I’ve dedicated a significant portion of the past few months to examining the relationship between the water activity of green coffee and the Maillard reaction during […]
Sugar is not a common topic of conversation in specialty coffee – at least, not in the ‘one lump or two?’ sense. While focusing on how to improve the taste and quality of our product, we’ve forgotten that the vast majority of coffee consumers take their coffee with cream and sugar. Without the support of […]
A Primer on Performing Meaningful Research Editor’s note: A version of this post originally appeared on Perfect Daily Grind on April 19, 2017. Curiosity is among my favorite human instincts. It drives innovation, encourages thinking outside the box, and is spurred by such a simple question a two-year-old can ask it: “Why?” Of course, answering […]
Passing the Q Becoming a certified Q grader was a long time goal of mine, a way to prove to myself that I am a coffee sensory professional. Even though I have been cupping coffee five times a week for over a decade, I was still apprehensive to take the test, not to […]
Editor’s note: This article was updated on July 16th, 2020. To learn more about Ethiopia, check out our webinar, “What’s Happening in Ethiopia?” with Max Nicholas-Fulmer, Caitlin McCarthy-Garcia, and Haile Andualem. Ethiopia is, arguably, the most important origin in specialty coffee. It appears on every roaster’s menu, consistently wins competitions like the Good Food Awards, […]
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in Daily Coffee News on June 26, 2017. In many cases, a roaster will make choices about heat application based on final, intended use. An espresso roast will differ significantly from a drip roast based on known effects on the final flavor profile. Not long ago at the Crown office, […]
