Coffee Variety Family Tree – from Cafe Imports
If you ever wanted to see how all the different coffee varieties are related, this coffee variety family tree by Cafe Imports is pretty great. Most specialty coffee roasters include information about the coffee variety on their labels, but it can be difficult to keep track or make sense of – next time, take a...
Cultural Context and Coffee Tasting Notes
If you’re not already reading it, you should check out Peter Giuliano’s blog “Pax Coffea” on Tumblr. The former director of coffee for Counter Culture and current head of the SCAA’s Symposium has a unique angle on coffee, and a wealth of knowledge to share. In a recent post he gets to the bottom of...
Inside Cenicafé, Colombia’s national coffee research center
Earlier this year I visited Colombia to see how coffee is grown, harvested, and processed. One of the most exciting, geeky parts of that trip was our visit to Cenicafé, Colombia’s 77 year old national coffee research center. Cenicafé is one of the world’s leading centers for scientific coffee research, looking for innovative ways to...
Where does coffee come from? A Colombian case study (Part 2)
If you missed Part 1 of my recent trip with Cafe de Colombia, check it out at “Where does coffee come from?.” We left off where farmer Alirio Rios and his pickers had harvested the coffee cherries. The next step is to remove the seeds at the beneficiadero, or processing station on the farm. It’s an...
Recommended Specialty Coffee Roasters
The first step in improving your coffee at home is to start with fresh beans from a quality focused roaster. If you can find one locally, even better. I recently realized that I don’t have a consolidated list of recommended roasters on FRSHGRND, so I’ve started making a list here. I plan to update &...
Saeco Via Venezia Espresso Machine Review
A guide to getting the best out of your entry level home espresso machine Every coffee geek has a moment where they fantasize about having cafe quality espresso at home. While the simple convenience of not having to go out to a cafe to have an espresso or cappuccino may be the deciding factor for...
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...
