Tag Archives: Cafes

Opting In

By James Hoffmann | Published: January 13, 2010

Restaurants have a complex set of rituals, etiquette and laws governing the interaction between the establishment and the guest. Jeffrey Steingarten (and I wish I could quote it but my copy is out on loan) talks about how the best waiters are so good that they become invisible. Plates arrive, glasses are filled and [...]

Posted in Opinion | Also tagged consumer, customers, design, layout, opt-in, selling coffee, service | 13 Comments

Italian coffee culture in the UK

By James Hoffmann | Published: February 28, 2009

This morning I spoke to a journalist on the phone who is writing about coffee in London, as well as the antipodean influence on our coffee scene.
One of the questions he asked was about the influence of Italian populations on coffee cultures. In Australia a good chunk of credit for the early rise of coffee [...]

Posted in Opinion | Also tagged Coffee, coffee culture, italy, london, Opinion, tipping point | 16 Comments

The Marco Über Boiler

By James Hoffmann | Published: February 11, 2009

This will probably end up being quite a long post, and sorry for being a bit cryptic on here the other day. I want to explain the history of this little project, and give credit where it is due.
This morning I got up early to fly over to Dublin, to the CatEx show there. Apart [...]

Posted in News, coffee brewing | Also tagged awesome, brewers, brewing, chemex, clover, Coffee, french press, innovatio, promises, roastery, syphon, technology, vacpot | 52 Comments

Who is to blame for bad coffee?

By James Hoffmann | Published: January 5, 2009

I’ve written a lot recently with an industry readership in mind. This post I write with the consumer firmly in mind. This isn’t about exonerating lazy cafe owners and baristas, or excusing the chains or making allowances for restaurant coffee. Anyone who loves or even likes coffee will often complain about how bad a lot [...]

Posted in Opinion | Also tagged Barista, cupping, customers, drinks, feedback, job, not too serious, Opinion, quality, trust | 28 Comments

The failings of English Cafes

By James Hoffmann | Published: November 18, 2008

This isn’t meant to be a righteous diatribe, coupled with a smug detailing of how I think cafes ought to be. This is really just a rant that has been building for a little while now.
I have been extremely lucky in the last few years when it comes to travel. I’ve sat in [...]

Posted in Opinion | Also tagged character, coffee culture, detail, england, english coffee, Opinion, rant, trust | 16 Comments

UK Coffee Map

By James Hoffmann | Published: May 11, 2007

I started this map back in February last year, and then pretty much forgot about it until some folks at TMC brought it back to my attention.
Since then the same idea has been done in a bigger and better way in the US by EspressoMap but I wouldn’t mind too much if people wanted to [...]

Posted in Cafe Review, Coffee, Espresso, News | Also tagged cafe-reviews, Espresso, uk-coffee | 4 Comments

The Danish Barista Championship 2007

By James Hoffmann | Published: April 23, 2007

This will probably be a long post.
So on Friday night Anette and I flew into Copenhagen. Its the third time I’ve been there in the past couple of years and I’ve probably already said that I really love this city. I was looking forward to a little time to explore because on previous [...]