Tag Archives: how to

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.

Posted in Espresso, Opinion, coffee brewing, how to | Also tagged brew recipes, brewing, dialling in, Espresso, palate | 15 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 [...]

Posted in Coffee, Coffee Aroma, how to | Also tagged coffee tasting, cupping, development, palate | 8 Comments

Videocast #4 – Stovetop/Moka Pot

By James Hoffmann | Published: January 21, 2009

I wanted to tackle a tricky brewing method for this videocast, and it will probably cause some debate – people saying that I am using it wrong etc etc…
I wasn’t trying to recreate espresso with the little brewer – I just wanted to find a way to use it so it made clean, sweet and [...]

Posted in Opinion, coffee brewing | Also tagged brewed coffee, brewing, coffee brewing, howto, moka pot, stovetop, videocast | 23 Comments

Final Quick Post on the whole French Press thing

By James Hoffmann | Published: November 22, 2008

For people who have e-mailed and asked about the press pots in the video I can only advise you to visit amazon where they are way, waaay cheaper than anywhere I can find them (including Bodum’s wholesale department……)
Bodum Columbia 0.35l Tea and Coffee Press – Stainless Steel
Easily the nicest one cup press pots out there, [...]

Posted in Coffee, coffee brewing | Also tagged brewing, cafetiere, french press, howto, Video, videocast | 3 Comments

More on the French Press Technique

By James Hoffmann | Published: November 15, 2008

After the last post there was a bit of discussion about this method.
One big question was: “Why break and then skim? Why not just skim?”
This seemed like a pretty good question to me, so today I decided to do a few quick tests.
I took two identical presses, the same dose of coffee, the same brew [...]