Angels’ Cup – what’s inside the Black Box?
Angels’ Cup’s Black Box ($20/mo – use code yemen25 for 25% off this weekend) is a coffee subscription with several twists. Each box contains four 78g (2.75oz) bags labeled only by a number. You pick one and enter the number into the Angels’ Cup app, which then guides you through a tasting & scoring process for roast level, aroma, acidity,...
Where does coffee come from? A Colombian Case Study
A lot of terms are thrown around to describe where coffee comes from. This is especially true in our world of ‘single origin’ coffees, where we’re more interested in epicurean discovery than a quick jolt of caffeine or a ‘bold,’ ‘balanced’ base for a cup full of milk and sugar. The more we focus on...
New Books about Coffee Roasting & Production
Two coffee books worth checking out – one recently released by Scott Rao, called ‘The Coffee Roaster’s Companion,’ and another coming soon by James Hoffmann, called ‘The World Atlas of Coffee: From Beans to Brewing — Coffees Explored, Explained and Enjoyed.’ The Coffee Roaster’s Companion A co-owner of Montreal’s Cafe Myriade, Scott Rao has published...
The Social History of Coffee
If you’re in New York you should check out a lecture at Joe Coffee’s Pro Shop tomorrow night. Barista extraordinaire and scholar of cafe history Alex Bernson will be leading this class on the social history of coffee: Come join us for a special class that examines the history of cafes and coffee consumption in...
Toby’s Estate, Brooklyn – Public Cupping Sessions
Toby’s Estate is a new cafe and roastery in Brooklyn, with Australian roots. I’ll be writing more about them later (the short review: nice coffee, great sandwiches, cool space), but for now I wanted to share that they are offering public cuppings every Wednesday. I went a few weeks ago and had a great time....
Wet Mill – A New Blog to Follow
Several days ago a conversation broke out on Twitter between a few coffee industry heavy-weights talking about the relative impact of variety (and cultivar, both of which are often confused with the term varietal) in the taste of a particular coffee. You’ve probably seen the words (Typica, Caturra, Catuai, Bourbon, SL28, Pacamara, and so on) on coffee...
Cup of Excellence Coffee Explained
Cup of Excellence, often abbreviated COE on menus, is something more consumers should know about. The video above was produced by Toby’s Estate and it does a great job explaining the competition, interviewing both judges & farmers, and showing what it all entails. In short, Cup of Excellence is a program active in several coffee...
Brewing with Different Waters @ Lilla Kafferosteriet
Lilla Kafferosteriet, a cafe and roastery in Malmö, hosts occasional cuppings on Sunday afternoons. I’m terrible at keeping up with the Swedish coffee scene (I don’t speak Swedish) and would never have known about these, but luckily Oscar from Portafilth.com keeps me in tune with where the coffee geek action is happening in Malmö. Last...
