Author Archives: James Hoffmann

WBC London Coffee Map

By James Hoffmann | Published: June 16, 2010
Just a very quick post to let you know that if you are coming to London for the WBC and want suggestions of somewhere to go then I’d recommend checking out the WBC/Coffee Kids London Coffee Map. Not only will you get delicious coffee, but the participating shops are also raising money for Coffee Kids, [...]
Posted in Coffee, News | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

One final plea

By James Hoffmann | Published: June 15, 2010
This is one last humble request on a topic I know I’ve ranted on about before. It would be really good, when talking about how we are brewing espresso amongst professionals, to start by talking about the weight of the espresso.  We need to stop using volume.  It is useless. Utterly useless.  Saying 1.5oz is [...]
Posted in rant | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

It’s like 8 hours of barista competition

By James Hoffmann | Published: June 7, 2010
Perhaps the best description of working at Penny University!  (In a good way) I say this having only worked there a handful of days, which have left me inspired by the people who’ve come for coffee and full of admiration and appreciation for Tim and Tobias who are doing this full time – and doing [...]
Posted in Opinion | 17 Comments

Book review: Everything but Espresso

By James Hoffmann | Published: May 31, 2010
While at the SCAA I was delighted to catch up briefly with Scott Rao, and gratefully receive a copy of his new book.  While Scott and I have disagreed online from time to time, it has been more about discussion and debate of ideas than any kind of personal conflict. I was extremely excited when [...]
Posted in Opinion | 11 Comments

Excited and nervous

By James Hoffmann | Published: May 18, 2010
About this. I look forward to making coffee for people, haven’t done that since I used to do the occasional shift on Gwilym’s cart on a Sunday.  I will post some pics up here, or on flickr, or on the Square Mile blog (or maybe all of them) soon. Hopefully see some of you there [...]
Posted in Announcement | 9 Comments

Jobs

By James Hoffmann | Published: May 10, 2010
I don’t often post work stuff on here, but I figure I am allowed to break my own self imposed rules once in a while.  I have a whole backlog of posts and comment responses that I will get too soon. I plan to talk a little bit more in future about some of the [...]
Posted in News | 3 Comments

Friends Pay Retail

By James Hoffmann | Published: May 3, 2010
On my recent trip to the US I had the occasional argument when it was time to pay for the coffee I was going to drink.  They were friendly arguments, I suppose more like short debates.  I generally did a very bad job of getting my point across, and still struggle to do so.  (This [...]
Posted in Opinion | 40 Comments

too much to think about

By James Hoffmann | Published: April 22, 2010
Just a short post really. Things are strange, as I am typing this on a flight to San Francisco. The volcano stranded me in the US and the lack of spaces on flights back to the UK means I am in the US for a week longer than planned. The SCAA symposium and show deserve [...]
Posted in travel | 4 Comments

Mojo To Go

By James Hoffmann | Published: April 9, 2010
Since Mike White called me out on this I thought I’d post quickly about my experience so far with the ExtractMojo iPhone app “MojoToGo“.
Posted in Opinion | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

Travelling to learn

By James Hoffmann | Published: April 3, 2010
This weekend the reigning Aussie barista champion, Scottie Callaghan, is in London as part of a trip around the world.  He’s been hanging out in Copenhagen, Oslo, Sweden and Amsterdam beforehand and is heading to the US early next week.  I can’t help but be jealous. Scottie’s trip is all about learning – talking to [...]
Posted in News | 6 Comments