Posted by TheShot on 26 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Beans, Foreign Brew, Quality Issues, Restaurant Coffee
Before we start reviewing the espresso in India, it’s about time we wrap things up on our recent coffee excursion to Hawaii’s Big Island. Hawaii is the only coffee-growing state of the Union (as they say: sorry, Puerto Rico is a territory), which makes it a uniquely American place to both sample the local espresso [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 05 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Café Society, Consumer Trends, Foreign Brew
The return of baseball also marks the return of a popular form of that “North vs. South” rivalry — with San Franciscans channeling their hate for L.A. through the sport, and L.A. being, well, mostly oblivious. Last weekend, we witnessed that rivalry expressed through espresso — with San Francisco’s Chris Baca edging out the formidable [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 30 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: Barista, Local Brew, Quality Issues
With Spring upon us, that means it’s time for the 2008 Western Regional Barista Competition (WRBC): ‘Attention to every detail’ at Berkeley barista contest - San Jose Mercury News. Starting this past Friday and ending today (check out their photo album), the 2008 WRBC performs a time-honored ritual to select a barista champ representing our [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 19 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: Machine, Starbucks
We really hate doing Starbucks posts if we don’t have to. After all, Starbucks hasn’t been relevant to quality espresso in over a decade. But if you’ve been following some of the Clover brewer posts here, you may be surprised to learn that Starbucks liked them enough to buy the company: Aroma comeback: Starbucks to [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 05 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: Beans, Consumer Trends, Machine
A bit slow out of the gate (by a year), Slate magazine filed this article on the Clover brewer, naturally focusing on the device’s expense in the article’s title (”Could a Coffee Maker Be Worth $11,000?”): How the Clover could change the way we think about coffee. - By Paul Adams - Slate Magazine. It’s [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 04 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: Café Society, Local Brew, Machine, Quality Issues, Starbucks
Dealing with the media can often feel like waiting for a Muni bus. Just when it’s been so long that you forgot that they exist, suddenly three pull up in a row over the span of a few minutes. This time the media frenzy surrounded the recent openings of Blue Bottle Cafe and Coffee Bar [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 15 Feb 2008 | Tagged as: Add Milk, Foreign Brew
Brisbane, Australia’s Courier-Mail ran an article today reviewing espresso drinks at various cafés in Brisbane’s James Street Markets: Fertile ground for battle of baristas | The Courier-Mail. They rated the flat whites at five cafés on a 10-point scale.
For those unfamiliar with the flat white, it isn’t just Oceania’s lingo for a (caffè) “latte” — [...]
Posted by TheShot on 14 Feb 2008 | Tagged as: Beans, Consumer Trends, Machine, Quality Issues, Starbucks
“Mystery” solved. As one of our readers commented on a previous post, Starbucks recently purchased two $11,000 Clover brewers for who knows what unholy purposes. However, today Bloomberg reported that Starbucks is testing them in at least one of their Seattle retail stores: Bloomberg.com: Exclusive - Starbucks Tests $2.50 Premium Coffee to Boost Sales.
Between this [...]
Posted by TheShot on 23 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: Beans, Café Society, Consumer Trends, Local Brew, Machine, Quality Issues, Starbucks
Today’s New York Times revealed the “very special machine” to be showcased at Blue Bottle Coffee’s Mint Plaza grand opening today: At Last, a $20,000 Cup of Coffee - New York Times. One-upping the now-blasé Clover, it’s a $20,000 siphon bar for brewed (i.e., not espresso) coffee, imported from Japan via the Ueshima Coffee Company. [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 01 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: Foreign Brew, Quality Issues
If Peet’s Coffee & Tea has been a slow-growth contrast to Starbucks‘ cancerous proliferation in recent years, Intelligentsia’s expansion has been deliberately glacial. And why not? You get big, you get less selective about your coffee growers and suppliers. You start accepting employees with fewer skills and less passion about truly good coffee. And how’s [...]
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