Espresso News and Reviews – TheShot.coffeeratings.com

Two articles in the news yesterday highlighted a bit of our thinking about a major divide in coffee formats: espresso and filter coffee. The Puget Sound Business Journal interviewed the sometimes-controversial Illy man, Giorgio Milos: Illy’s master barista challenges us to take a fresh look at Starbucks, Tully’s | Puget Sound Business Journal. The other [...]

When it comes to the size of the espresso pour in the Bay Area, what is the norm? We’ve been biased, like many others, to believe that it’s the long espresso: a watered-down brew topping off at 2 oz. or more. A reader recently posted a comment suggesting an alternative: that a ristretto was the [...]

This casual café run by Mission locals lives across the street from the slightly newer, and trendier, Sugarlump. That detail alone contributes to an unusual social “halo” surrounding this café — one that forgives the many sins it commits against good coffee. To be honest, the espresso here is quite dreadful. But this place is [...]

We at TheShot may peruse the Internet for headlines, but that doesn’t mean we’ve given up on the printed word. So we took notice of our citation in the latest issue of a local neighborhood paper, Glen Park News: Glen Park News – Summer 2007 [2.9 MB PDF file, page 17]. Although we appreciate the [...]

Today’s Consumerist cited a “myth-busting and money-saving” Starbucks buyers guide from a veteran Starbucks barista named Jesse: Insiders: Confessions Of A Starbucks Barista – Consumerist. His advice? Save money by avoiding the Frappuccino® and some of the ridiculously large “Venti” espresso drinks. He also cites a number of SCAA beverage standards. But he immediately imperils [...]

Tomorrow’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution nails it with this article headline: Espresso done right is intense — a full-bodied, stop-time moment to savor | ajc.com. Somewhat surprisingly, what follows the headline isn’t half bad either. The author, John Kessler, goes on to note how rare a decent espresso is in this country — and in fancy restaurants [...]

Oh those crazy Brits. You can’t tell them they’re Europeans, and their coffee habits prove it. In a press release from Lavazza, apparently 36 percent of Londoners prefer instant coffee — with as few as four precent preferring espresso: Despite Continental Influences Brits still Reaching for Instant Coffee Lavazza sees this as both criminal and [...]

Yesterday I came across a Toronto area blogger, StDan, who has picked up his own cause for finding some of the best espresso served in his fine city of Toronto: Espresso Hunt: Little Italy. Naturally, even at this early stage, he noted the following (familiar) problem: “most places put too much in it”. Yes, the [...]

Sometimes you can be surprised by the “bizarre double life” you and your coworkers might share. A co-worker in my “day job”, Jason Parker, happened to come across my interview in SFist and confessed his own secret love of great espresso. Turns out the guy can also pull a mean shot too, given that he [...]