I recently made from my annual trek to the Beaver State, spending time as always in Portland and Eugene.
I’m convinced that Portland is America’s best coffee city, Cofflandia if you will. Why, you ask?
Let’s dig into the details. Click to keep reading.
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I mentioned recently that I was saying goodbye to my Rancilio Rocky grinder after much faithful service. The reason was that I have lost the will to ignore the siren song of the gorgeous gear produced by Fellow Products, and have bought an Opus grinder. You may recall a recent post about the Opus and a new Moccamaster home grinder.
If I’m looking for justifications beyond the fact it looks so damned good, I was interested in the Opus because of its smaller footprint and quieter grinding. I was also attracted by the Opus coming with a simple grind guide on the inside of the hopper lid, which will make our lives easier when we’re grinding beans for my wife to use in her French Press.
photo: Evan Malachosky/Gear Patrol
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Unless the buyer flakes out on me (always a risk with Facebook marketplace), today I will say goodbye to my Rancilio Rocky grinder. This was the first piece of quality equipment I purchased, and it’s given me almost 6 years of joy. I hope it enjoys its new home and whirrs away for many more years.
No issues with it, just succumbing to lust for beautiful looking gear. New toy is on its way.
Further proof that the universe of coffee gizmos and knickknacks is infinite and, for some of us, remains irresistible. Behold, the WDT tool.
WDT stands for Weiss Distribution Technique, which is a fancy way of saying gently stir ground coffee in the portafilter before tamping, to break up clumps and even out the density in the puck. The promised benefit is a reduction in channeling (water finding empty space within the ground coffee during brewing), which should lead to more consistent quality and higher extraction. The technique was developed by a PhD computer scientist and home coffee enthusiast, John Weiss.
I recently got one, and tried it for the first time today. To be honest, I think this is something where it will be impossible to find significant impact. If nothing else it will mean a little more confidence as a home barista, and I found it oddly soothing to stir the grounds gently, which felt soft and fluffy.
Thanks to my friend Charles for sharing his story of roasting coffee beans at home. Interesting read!
Coffee roasting at home; A review of the Fresh Roast SR800.
About 20 years back, I thought roasting my own coffee would be my thing. However, living in South Africa then my options for home roasting equipment were limited. The idea quickly faded due to likely mess, smell, and cost!
For Christmas 2022, I was given a coffee roaster by my wife (bravo to Robyn for encouraging you! – mm). It is a Fresh Roast SR 800. Nothing fancy, but with many good reviews. It is not a barrel type of roaster; no disrespect to it, but think of a multi-heat level hair dryer blowing up into a cylinder.
Here is my short review and perspectives on roasting at home.
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Good thing this wasn’t a Starbucks, it would be weird drinking a macchiato with “Mort” written in the foam.
Have seen many in red, but this is the first time I’ve come across a La Marzocco machine in blue, especially such a vivid shade. The fleur-de-lis are a nice touch. What a beauty! At Swing’s roastery/café in Alexandria, VA.
I haven’t tapped the cranial jukebox for a while, so thought I would share a song. The only problem is several candidates occurred to me and I couldn’t pick just one. So let’s stock up, shall we?
Fact: 98% of people over the age of 21 are incapable of resisting the urge to sing along – loudly – when they hear this song. It’s science! Back when we used these shiny things called “CDs” to listen to music, the Hot Fuss album got an awful lot of play in our car.
Matthew Sweet is criminally underrated. Why didn’t this guy become a much bigger deal? Should have been a huge star after the Girlfriend album. This one isn’t off Girlfriend but is equal to all the great songs on that one. I know everyone claims their twenties was the era of the best. music. ever. But man, we were completely spoiled in the ’90s with so much amazing music.
I really enjoyed this one when it was in heavy rotation on what we innocently called indie radio. It wasn’t until years later that I learned the frontman and I went to college together. Great guy, huge talent. His current band is doing some terrific stuff, check them out too.
Coffee obsessives who brew their drinks at home have a couple new options for grinding fresh beans. Both look absolutely terrific.
Moccamaster KM5
If you read my most recent holiday gift guide, you’ll know that Technivorm Moccamaster has some of the best-looking home coffee makers – and they also make cute Christmas tree ornaments.
I am not usually a podcast listener, but have recently been hooked by the Empire podcast, where historians tell the story of the rise and fall of some of history’s most important, well, empires.
In an episode released in January, the subject is the history of coffee, particularly its impact in the Ottoman Empire, spread through Europe, and development in England. The hosts are William Dalrymple, a Scot who has lived most of his adult life in India and written many terrific books, and Anita Anand, a British journalist and historian of Punjabi descent. They are joined for this episode by Harvard professor Cemal Kafadar, who has written of coffee in early modern Istanbul.
I realize this description has been less than enthralling, but give it a try. The podcast is available on Apple podcasts and on Spotify.