Category Archives: coffee brewing

Aerated coffee

By James Hoffmann | Published: February 5, 2010

I’ve another post coming on why I blog, but this reason deserved a post in its own right.  A few days ago Shaun dropped me an e-mail about the Vinturi.  He’d played with it a little bit and thought it was interesting, and thought it might be something that would interest me. I admit [...]

Also posted in Opinion | Tagged , , , , , , | 19 Comments

How much coffee do you drink?

By James Hoffmann | Published: January 31, 2010

As I mentioned in a previous post – I get asked this question quite a lot.  So for the month of January I logged every cup of coffee I drank, using a splendid website called Daytum.
So – how many coffees? In January I drank 126 cups, so on average a daily consumption of 4.1
Below is [...]

Also posted in Espresso, Opinion | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

Mypressi Twist

By James Hoffmann | Published: January 23, 2010

At the London Gastronomy Seminars I was given a Mypressi Twist to play with by the UK distributor.  I had been toying with buying one having seen the hype online, so this was a rather pleasant surprise.
I didn’t really get a chance to play with it til yesterday afternoon.  I’ve played with it some more [...]

Also posted in Coffee, Espresso, Opinion, Video | 30 Comments

Great new coffee brewing website

By James Hoffmann | Published: January 20, 2010

A rather splendid new website launched today, and I think it is a great idea and potentially very, very useful for us all.
It is called Brew Methods and I strongly suggest you visit, bookmark and begin sending the link to everyone you know.

You can read more about it by its creators on cleanhotdry, but the [...]

Also posted in Announcement, News | 8 Comments

Lessons learned over Christmas

By James Hoffmann | Published: January 8, 2010

I didn’t do very much this Christmas. (It was wonderful.) I did, however, do something that I almost never do:  make coffee at home.
I don’t make much coffee at home for a lot of reasons – I work a lot, I have lots of lovely coffee and equipment at the roastery a mere half mile away, [...]

Also posted in Opinion | 30 Comments

Recommended Coffee Reading List – Part 1

By James Hoffmann | Published: December 26, 2009

Back in 2006 I published a recommended reading list. Since that time my collection of books has (worryingly) increased so I thought I should probably update it. I could easily write a list of coffee books that one should avoid (having learned the hard way) but I suspect that would get me into [...]

Also posted in Espresso, Green Coffee, Latte Art, Opinion | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments

7 tips for dialling in an espresso blend

By James Hoffmann | Published: December 12, 2009

These tips probably apply more to a commercial environment than a domestic one, but hopefully there are some useful reminders for anyone in here.
We’ve all ended up chasing an espresso, somehow a delicious espresso remaining elusive.  These may seem obvious but all get overlooked from time to time.

Also posted in Espresso, Opinion, how to | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Brew temperature

By James Hoffmann | Published: October 27, 2009

This, shockingly enough, isn’t about espresso.  It is about brewed coffee, and the fact that brew temperature is completely wrecking my head.  We talk a lot about brew temperature but what we are really talking about is water delivery temperature.
I love my Uber boiler, I love the control and the delivery temp stability.  With this, [...]

Also posted in Opinion | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

Seasoning a coffee machine

By James Hoffmann | Published: September 26, 2009

By seasoning a coffee machine – I am talking about pulling a few shots per group having done a chemical clean. Conventional wisdom says that if this is not done then the coffee will have an unpleasant metallic tang to it, because the machine is “too clean”.
Something about this just doesn’t sit right for [...]

Also posted in Coffee, Espresso, Opinion | 20 Comments

ExtractMojo

By James Hoffmann | Published: June 16, 2009

This post should probably start with a disclaimer – I did not pay for my ExtractMojo, it was very kindly sent to me by Vince Fedele at Terroir Coffee to use and give feedback upon.  I am very grateful to both him and Andy Schecter and Scott Rao also for getting me involved.
In many ways [...]

Also posted in Opinion | Tagged , , , , , , | 42 Comments