Category Archives: Coffee

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 Espresso, Opinion, Video, coffee brewing | 22 Comments

8 steps to develop your coffee palate

By James Hoffmann | Published: October 16, 2009

This post is really for coffee consumers who want to develop their palates, which leads to coffee becoming more enjoyable.
I had been in coffee well over a year before I really began to develop my vocabulary and descriptive skills, and that is probably more embarrassing as I had done some work in wine beforehand.
What does [...]

Also posted in Coffee Aroma, how to | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Extraction

By James Hoffmann | Published: October 5, 2009

I gave a short presentation at the first London Gastronomy Seminars event, which was a small forum on the topic of extraction.  I learned a great deal from the other presenters – Tony Conigliaro from 69 Colbroke Row, wine writer Jamie Goode and chemist John Forbes from Treatt.
I might upload the presentation slides I used [...]

Also posted in Food Chemistry, News, Opinion | 1 Comment

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 Espresso, Opinion, coffee brewing | 20 Comments

Sprudge makes a good point

By James Hoffmann | Published: September 14, 2009

For those of you unfamiliar with The Sprudge Report – shame on you!  The site is a splendid piece of awesome put together by Zachary.  The latest headline makes a very valid point, relevant to more than just the four bloggers mentioned.  (Screenshot, because I worry the link won’t work by tomorrow!

Also posted in Blogs | 4 Comments

Thoughts after a public cupping

By James Hoffmann | Published: June 7, 2009

I’ve really enjoyed the discussion going on after this post.   One comment that stuck in my mind was Aldo’s Fazenda Kaquend COE Vs Maxwell House experiment. It definitely affected some decisions I made when I was choosing coffees to take with me to a public cupping I did in East London as part [...]

Also posted in Opinion | Tagged , , , , , , | 21 Comments

A grand unified theory of espresso

By James Hoffmann | Published: May 7, 2009

Not too long ago I posted on Home Barista about trying to find a good way to measure the density of coffee beans. 1
As always the paricipants there were way smarter than me and offered several interesting options. I dropped into the thread that this was part of my idea of a grand unified theory [...]

Also posted in Espresso, Food Chemistry, Green Coffee, Opinion, Roasting | Tagged , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

WBC Thoughts

By James Hoffmann | Published: May 1, 2009

I should probably try and post some vague approximations of all the craziness, stress, surprise and good times that was the WBC this year.
So – Gwilym’s performance:  I am sure pretty much everyone has worked out that we didn’t go to this competition with the main goal of winning. The idea this year was the [...]

Also posted in Barista Competition | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Unblended espresso

By James Hoffmann | Published: March 14, 2009

Forgive the ugliness of the title, but I think talking about SO (Single Origin) espresso does a great disservice1 to what people are beginning to achieve and push for.  I am aware that in a way every lot of coffee is a blend on some level but that isn’t what I want to talk about.
Nick [...]

Posted in Coffee | Tagged , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

The cost of competition

By James Hoffmann | Published: March 7, 2009

Barista competition season is getting close to its peak – UKBC just gone, and a great result, and the USBC happening as I type this.  I’ve been pretty immersed in competition now for 5 years – either as a competitor or training or supporting.
I love barista competitions – I think they can be inspiring, educational [...]

Posted in Coffee | 56 Comments