Fresh Ground is a blog for global nomads and kindred cosmopolitans. Plan your own trip, or follow along with my guides to cafes and reviews of the world's best coffee in Asia, Europe, North America, and beyond.

Monthly archive May, 2010

Black Cat Espresso

I got a ton of Intelligentsia’s Black Cat espresso in the mail, so I took a bag to my friend’s cafe to play around with. They only have one grinder so I didn’t have much time to play with the grind, but I did have one of my hand mills with me (a Kalita with...

Caffe Themselves – Roasting

I picked up a couple bags of coffee on my last visit to Caffe Themselves (read my review here) – labeled “Indonesia Mandheling” and “Brazil Cup of Excellence #25.” It’s too bad that they aren’t labeled more specifically. After a little searching online I figured out that the Brazil is from Fazenda Djanira. Can’t tell...

Hario V60 How-to Video

I liked this video. I make coffee every day in my office, and lately I’ve been using the V60. I generally use around 18-22g of coffee and pour ~300ml to yield 250ml of brewed coffee (~8oz). I had been grinding fine and trying to mimic the pour-wait-pour-wait style I’ve often seen used with Melitta pourovers,...

Coffee Factory

Coffee Factory is one of my favorite cafes in Korea. It’s in the popular Samcheongdong neighborhood around Gyeongbokgung palace, the Presidential Blue House, and a number of foreign consulates. It’s an upscale but unpretentious area that blends traditional and modern Korean culture with its various art galleries, old and new architecture, tea houses and coffee...

Republic of Coffee – Kenya & Costa Rica

I received these two coffees from Lee Jong Hoon (Korean Barista Champion ’09) and his girlfriend and partner Seol Mi Gyeong, who run Republic of Coffee together. Two great people and very dedicated coffee professionals that I feel privileged to have met! The Kenya AA Top Mchana is complex and fruity. Dry red wine is...