Espresso News and Reviews - TheShot.coffeeratings.com

This morning we came across an article in Convenience Store Decisions (how often have you heard that in a sentence?). The convenience store chain, 7-Eleven, has launched a new, multi-million-dollar marketing blitz this month, emphasizing the “guaranteed freshness” of their coffee: Convenience Store Decisions - 7-Eleven Promotes Fresh-Brewed Coffee.
Before reading this article/press release, we weren’t [...]

Tags: 7-eleven, coffee_freshness, coffee_marketing, paper_cups, to-go-coffee

No Comments »

In the “unclear on the concept” department, this weekend’s Toronto Star published an article that, in its opening paragraph, mentioned “coffee’s elevated status as the new wine.” However, it then proceeded to discuss coffee-pod-based home espresso machines in the same context: TheStar.com | living | Specialty coffees become the new wine.
This is as incongruous as [...]

Tags: coffee_freshness, coffee_pods, home_espresso, keurig, nespresso, panama_esmeralda, paper_cups, single_serving_coffee, wine_analogy

2 Comments »

Located in the original Bank of America (née Bank of Italy) building on the corner of Broadway and Columbus, this café/bar/restaurant opened just last month as a nicer alternative. It is a refreshing change from many of the North Beach Italian cafés and restaurants: they use particularly high quality ingredients for the neighborhood, and thus [...]

Tags: acf_cups, coffee_freshness, espresso_review, illy, late_night_espresso, la_spaziale, miscela_doro, north_beach

2 Comments »

Stale coffee is the norm in America, and it has been for decades. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this even includes the likes of Starbucks Coffee. An article in today’s Jacksonville Times-Union attempts to explain the difference: Jacksonville.com: First Coast Community: Nassau County: Story: Truth about coffee is it really doesn’t stay fresh that long
The author [...]

Tags: coffee_freshness, oxidation

No Comments »

Contrast with the many home espresso machine design failures, Nestlé’s Nespresso pods and machines have been something of a consumer success story. The Nespresso machines do exhibit good design and an impressive amount of convenience. For a number of home espresso lovers, however, these advantages ultimately pale in comparison to their required use of stale, [...]

Tags: coffee_freshness, coffee_pods, espresso_machines, home_espresso, lisbon_coffee, nespresso

No Comments »

Consumer Reports published a home buyer’s guide to espresso makers this month: ConsumerReports.org - Buyer’s guide to espresso makers 3/07. As with a lot of things in Consumer Reports, they often lack sufficient knowledge or background to offer educated opinions beyond winging it with what’s on the surface. (Well, beyond that and Consumers Union’s usual [...]

Tags: coffee_freshness, coffee_pods, espresso_machines, grinders, home_espresso, moka_pot, nespresso, single_serving_coffee, Starbucks

3 Comments »

Today’s The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA) posted an article on home coffee roasting: Coffee fans toast what they roast | TheNewsTribune.com | Tacoma, WA. What I particularly liked was that they use the term I do for fresh roasted coffee: fresh baked bread.
Too often, restaurants, cafés, stores, and, well, coffee drinkers treat roasted coffee as [...]

Tags: blue_bottle, coffee_freshness, coffee_roasting, home_roasting, illy, lavazza, oxidation

1 Comment »

Today’s Edmonton Journal published a primer on the more sophisticated home espresso setup: Getting Serious About Coffee. In other words, what do you do when your $100 home Krups machine isn’t cutting it — because the espresso it produces belongs in the same landfill where your machine will deservedly rot its final days?
There’s an avalanche [...]

Tags: cleaning, coffee_freshness, espresso_machines, grinders, home_espresso, home_roasting, krups, peets_coffee, rancilio, single_serving_coffee, Starbucks

3 Comments »

Today’s International Herald Tribune published an article on Illy’s growth strategy of luxury cafés: Italian coffee company illy looks to expand with luxury - Business - International Herald Tribune. (Ignore the article’s initial, erroneous paragraph for a moment: Francesco Illy clearly did not “invent the espresso.”) Illy’s café chain is called Espressamente. We reviewed a [...]

Tags: coffee_freshness, espressamente, illy, lisbon_coffee, quality_standards, Starbucks

1 Comment »

Last year while looking to upgrade my home stereo from a Michael J. Fox-era boom box, I made the mistake of stopping into a Bose store. There I rudely discovered that Bose does not sell home stereos. No, they sell lifestyles. Problem was that I was already quite happy with my pre-owned lifestyle; I just [...]

Tags: cafe_customers, coffee_freshness, coffee_health, coffee_marketing, coffee_pods, wine_analogy

5 Comments »