In the image farthest to the  left is Blue Bottle’s Kyoto-style coffee maker.  Has anyone tried a cup of  coffee from this $20,000 machine?  What do you think?  If you would like to taste a cup head on down to Mint Plaza in San Francisco and see what you think.  Let us know!

Recently, I took a trip to Boston.  One of the first things I noticed about Boston was that iced coffee could be found just about anywhere.  But what is the best way to make it?

First, you should never use coffee that has been heated.  When coffee is heated it brings out an assortment of acids.  These acids don’t taste good when the coffee is cooled.  Therefore, it is best to use a cold brewing method.  Contrary to popular belief you do not need an expensive set-up to brew cold coffee.

What do you need?

Fresh ground coffee, filter, 2 mason jars, and a Miletta (or something to hold the filter when you strain the coffee).

Directions:

1. Put fresh ground coffee in the jar and then add water at a ratio of 3 parts water to 1 part coffee.
2. Stir.
3. Put the coffee in the fridge overnight.
4. In the morning take the mason jar with coffee in it out of the fridge.
5. Set-up a Miletta with a coffee filter on top of the empty mason jar.
6. Slowly pour (to prevent overflowing) the coffee mixture into the filter.
7. Now you have a strong mixture of cold brewed coffee.

You can keep this mixture in the fridge and use it anytime you want iced coffee.  You can add the mixture to a cup with ice and milk.   You could also drink the coffee black over ice (although you might want to add some water).   Enjoy!

What do these stainless steel coffee beans promise to do?  The creators of “Coffee Joulies” claim that you can drop a couple in your coffee and it will quickly cool your hot cup of coffee to a drinkable temperature.  They work by absorbing the heat of the coffee.  Then when your coffee starts to cool they give up the heat and keep your coffee warm.  Sound amazing?  I’m not sure.  They are reusable and currently cost about $30 for a bag of five if you buy them on the Kickstarter website.

What do you think?

Did you know there are different waves of the coffee movement? Folgers created the first wave of coffee in the early 1900’s. They started this wave by roasting on a large scale. Before Folgers, people roasted and ground their own coffee. Some soldiers in the Civil War even had coffee grinders built into their rifles.

Starbucks started the second wave. This wave was characterized by bringing espresso and stronger dark roasted coffee to people on a large scale.

The third wave is the movement that we are in right now. Of course, it is difficult to define a wave when a culture is in the midst of it. However, I think it is currently being defined as medium to light roasted coffee with an emphasis on brewing techniques. Often the brewing technique pays close attention to brewing temperature and the coffee does not sit on a burner after it is brewed.

I have been making great shots of espresso with my manual La Pavoni these days.  I purchased a new grinder several weeks ago, and the Rocky Rancillio grinder makes all the difference in the world.  It is unbelievable how fine this grinder can pulverize the coffee.

For those of you who don’t know a manual La Pavoni does not have a pump.  The shot of espresso is a result of the heating element warming up the water, and creating pressure in the tank.  Once the machine is up to pressure you insert the portafilter with ground espresso.  Lift up the lever, hold it there for about 10 seconds for preinfusion until a small amount of coffee starts to drip out.  Then you slowly pull the lever down to get a great shot of coffee (this is where the phrase “pulling a shot” originated).  If you have all the right conditions, good coffee, right grind, correct amount of tampering, and nice form on your pull, then you will have a wonderful shot of espresso.  It is truly a thing of beauty.

These days I repair espresso machines, and I specialize in repairing the La Pavoni machine.  They are beautiful works of art.

You can check out my repair website:  www.kanencoffee.com

I usually never order coffee at a place the like the Olive Garden. I am almost positive I will be disappointed with its quality. However, I thought today could be different. I was not optimistic for the food either, but today I was pleasantly surprised. What the heck! I will give the coffee a chance too. The coffee came served in a beautiful white cup and saucer with subtle green designs on it. In addition, they gave me an airtight stainless steal carafe that contained more coffee. I was impressed! Then I drank the coffee. It was watery with little flavor. So much thought was put into the presentation of the coffee, but the content the cup contained was a little more than black water. What happened? Their coffee could be at least as good as the java Starbucks serves in its stores (which isn’t very impressive, but when you are in place where you know good coffee won’t be found Starbucks serves something that slightly resembles a good cup of Joe). I know that I probably sound like a coffee snob. But, let me make a comparison to something most Americans are familiar with: beef. If you have ever had a beautiful piece of steak perfectly cooked on the grill you know what good beef tastes like. Imagine that you ate this steak almost every day, it was as ubiquitous as hamburgers. This is how it is with coffee in the San Francisco Bay Area. Many places serve amazing coffee. The kind of coffee that is so good you start paying more attention to life and everything around you. It is like reading a great book or seeing a wonderful movie in the experience of a cup of coffee. I believe that the opportunity to drink a great cup of coffee should be available to anyone who wants it. This is the basis for my blog, website, and espresso repair business. Splendid coffee can help make any ordinary day extraordinary. Look for a great cup of steak today!

What does it take to make a great cup of coffee?  It is not just about following a set of directions.  You have to be willing to play with and have fun with the process.  Don’t let failures get you down.  Failures lead to knowledge about what not to do.  I have been seriously playing with the process of making coffee for multiple years now.  I read about coffee, try various machines, educate people about coffee, explore pragmatic answers to their questions, and I continue to have both failures and successes.  Despite all of this learning there are still days when I brew bad cups of coffee.  This is life!  Sometimes you have a great cup of Joe, and other times you have @?#!  As Sam Elliot says in the movie The Big Lebowski, “Sometime you eat the bar (bear), and sometimes the bar eats you.”

Found on www.lifehacker.com

Sit down somewhere quiet with your cup of coffee where you won’t have any distractions.

Thank yourself for taking the time to slow down, meditate, and deeply enjoy your cup of coffee.

On the first day of work at a job I had in college I started the process of making coffee.  However, I did not know that if you put too much water in the coffee maker it would like out the sides.  Coffee water started leaking all over the place: down the file cabinet and on top of the printer.  It was awful!  What is your worst coffee spill story?

Also, check out this BP Coffee Spill video on my website.