Category Archives: Uncategorized

(ADVANCED) Aeropress Championship Recipes – deconstructed and explained

Who has ever looked for winning aeropress recipes and tried to repeat them at home? I am guilty, I’ve tried. And I am almost sure that if you are here, reading this – you have done it as well.

How were the results?

Mine… Were controversial. I mean, those are the winning recipes, they must taste very good – that’s the point, no? But they kinda were tasting just ok. Just fine. In the beginning. And when the coffee cooled down – they were not tasty anymore.
Who has ever looked for winning aeropress recipes and tried to repeat them at home? I am guilty, I’ve tried. And I am almost sure that if you are here, reading this – you have done it as well.

How were the results?

Mine… Were controversial. I mean, those are the winning recipes, they must taste very good – that’s the point, no? But they kinda were tasting just ok. Just fine. In the beginning. And when the coffee cooled down – they were not tasty anymore. Surprise!…

#73 – Is purchasing “bad” coffee inevitable?

  I recently tried a very grassy underdeveloped coffee. Beans were hard as rocks. Coffee tasted really bad.   But the marketing of the roaster was more or less what you would expect it to be. With the words like “excellence”, “leading roaster”, “specialty coffee”, “professional approach”, “let us take you for a journey toContinue reading “#73 – Is purchasing “bad” coffee inevitable?”

#71 – Tasting Notes and Tasting Coffee

Once again, while browsing online, I stumbled upon an instagram account of one coffee enthusiast. The post was saying “I didn’t taste strawberries, but chocolate and lime were there” – and a pictire of a coffee bag from one respected roaster. I like specialty coffee, cause it is simple, at first glance, especially when youContinue reading “#71 – Tasting Notes and Tasting Coffee”

#70 – Killing me Softly, or once again about Water Question

    What is the right water to use when brewing coffee? What is the water you are brewing with?   I’ve been facing many coffee superstitions lately, or some sort of beliefs, and the water-related topics are in the lead. They are winning over the battle of “right” coffee recipes for different methods (coffeeContinue reading “#70 – Killing me Softly, or once again about Water Question”

#69 – Looking for the Unicorn: Espresso and Filter roasts

  … is there really a significant difference between them, or dividing the roasts these way is more of a remnant of the past?   I was trying to buy some coffee from the Spanish roaster this morning, and found again that division. That they have 2 roasts, for espresso and for filter, and theyContinue reading “#69 – Looking for the Unicorn: Espresso and Filter roasts”

#67 – Things that make no sense: “universal grind”, “free education”, “extraction %”…

  I wrote previous article about how much satisfaction in Specialty Coffee depends on how people make coffee at home, on their knowledge and skills – and almost immediately after that got a customer who ordered half a kilo of coffee ground for espresso, and then tried to make it in French Press, and endedContinue reading “#67 – Things that make no sense: “universal grind”, “free education”, “extraction %”…”

#66 – “Out of control” – or the desperation of the coffee roaster

  (Leer en Español)   We all know that once you try Specialty Coffee, properly done, it is impossible to go back to drinking commercial coffee the same way you had been doing before.   You enter the new world of different varieties and origins, and this world is huge, and still unexplored. You startContinue reading “#66 – “Out of control” – or the desperation of the coffee roaster”

#65 – “One for all”: does having the barista who works for 3 does the trick

  More and more specialty coffee places are opening their doors around the world, having different business models. One thing is true. Slowly but surely it is becoming clear that to sell specialty coffee successfully you need to have workers who are not only passionate about the product, but also qualified and have some educationContinue reading “#65 – “One for all”: does having the barista who works for 3 does the trick”

#63 – Is it possible: to serve specialty with no training in it?

Is it possible to serve specialty without knowing why and how to adjust the grinder?         It will be sort of a compilation of thoughts that I got after having some conversations this week.     Here in Portugal, in Lisbon, the situation regarding Specialty Scene is coming to a point whenContinue reading “#63 – Is it possible: to serve specialty with no training in it?”

#62 – How Specialty Coffee enters new markets

  Call this whatever you want – betrayal of the ideals of the specialty coffee community, lack of passion, just overally evil temper – but I will be shamelessly honest with you (as I  have always been doing here, anyway).    It just mesmerizes me HOW specialty coffee enters new markets. And it is anContinue reading “#62 – How Specialty Coffee enters new markets”

#61 – Coffee Notes: misc pt.1

  I suppose nobody will have any objections, if this time I will be writing about everything, and about nothing at the same time (but all coffee-related, surely). And in case somebody is against it – just don’t read 🙂   I got my right hand hurt somehow, an inflamation of the tissues, and IContinue reading “#61 – Coffee Notes: misc pt.1”

#60 – Specialty Coffee: all the information is here. What are you gonna do next?

(leer en español) I would like to talk here, or to start talking, it is better, let’s put it like that – start talking about what was in my head for a while last couple of weeks. To share with you, and to initiate that conversation.   It is not gonna be the tips aboutContinue reading “#60 – Specialty Coffee: all the information is here. What are you gonna do next?”