Posted by TheShot on 03 May 2011 | Tagged as: Café Society, Consumer Trends, Quality Issues
A couple weeks ago, a regular reader made a very relevant comment on our last post: “You have become very negative. When was the last positive post?” They were completely on target, and we have noticed this trend in ourselves for months now. (See: Coffee Commenter Archetype #10.) The reasons are worth a post here. [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 03 Apr 2011 | Tagged as: Barista, Café Society, Quality Issues, Restaurant Coffee
We’ve been lamenting the sorry state of restaurant coffee in these pages since 2005. But let it be known that, as of this moment forward, we have officially given up on the possibility of ever being reliably served good coffee in American restaurants. Sure, there have been a few successes and battles won along the [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 10 Jun 2010 | Tagged as: Consumer Trends, Machine
Two curious, seemingly unrelated posts appeared simultaneously in the news yesterday. One on La Marzocco‘s new Strada machine and all its variable-pressure-control glory: Ristretto | Strada – T Magazine Blog – NYTimes.com. The other, Esquire installment #3 from Todd Carmichael, about the ridiculous MSRP/retail prices for professional espresso machines and what most people in the [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 21 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Beans, Consumer Trends, Fair Trade, Robusta
One of the long running jokes among the (these days: masochistic) fans who follow Italian soccer is that — at least according to the Italian sports media — teams tend to go from “crisis” to “crisis” several times in a given season. If a top-caliber team doesn’t win for two straight matches, sono in crisi [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 19 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Barista
Is there anything the The Huffington Post won’t publish these days? Fortunately, this includes one of the better summaries of the US Barista Championship, completed yesterday: Todd Burbo: Intelligentsia Wins National Title, then Throws it Back. Congratulations are in order for Mike Phillips of Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Chicago, now the winner for two [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 01 Apr 2010 | Tagged as: Barista, Consumer Trends, Quality Issues, Restaurant Coffee
The Annual SCAA Exposition is upon us. This month — in addition to the usual gadget marketing, major sponsorship from suspect brands, and the U.S Barista Championship — the event organizers have added a new Culinary Track: SPECIALTY COFFEE ASSOCIATION ADDS CULINARY TRACK | Articles | Beverages. To quote the SCAA press release [pdf, 27kb]: [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 07 May 2008 | Tagged as: Barista, Consumer Trends, Local Brew, Quality Issues
We’re more than a bit late with the news here, but a hearty and well-deserved congratulations to Kyle Glanville of LA’s Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea for winning the 2008 U.S. Barista Championship (USBC): 2008 US Barista Champion « The Official 2008 SCAA Conference Blog. Proving the West is Best, and giving us some minor trash-talking [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 01 May 2008 | Tagged as: Barista, Quality Issues, Starbucks
While I’ll be checking out Barista Coffee in India, Minneapolis will be hosting this year’s U.S. Barista Championship during the SCAA conference this weekend. Yesterday, the host city’s hometown paper, the Star Tribune, published a rather lengthy article on the event: The great barista battle is brewing. It’s a story that’s been covered dozens, if [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 14 Aug 2007 | Tagged as: Beans, Foreign Brew, Roasting
Today’s Globe and Mail (Canada) reported on the arrival of the $15-a-cup (CAN$) Hacienda la Esmeralda Especial at Vancouver’s Caffè Artigiano: globeandmail.com: Pay up and smell the coffee. [alternative link: The Tyee — Coffee Hits $15 at the Pump.] Kopi luwak pretenders, take notice. The Panamanian coffee won the 2007 Roasters Guild Cupping competition at [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 08 May 2007 | Tagged as: Barista
Many congratulations are in order for Heather Perry of Coffee Klatch in San Dimas, CA: Specialty Coffee Association of America Names 2007 United States Barista Champion. Heather entered the 2007 U.S. Barista Championship as a reigning three-peat winner of the Western Regional Barista Competition (or WRBC). Yesterday at the 2007 SCAA conference, Heather beat out [...]
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