Posted by TheShot on 09 May 2013 | Filed under: Foreign Brew, Machine, Roasting, Starbucks
La Colombe continues to play an interesting role in the modern evolution of consumer coffee tastes. Starting in 1985 in Seattle, co-founders Todd Carmichael and Jean Philippe (JP) Iberti joined forces and decided to set up their idea for a great American roaster in Philadelphia. Which was no small risk, given that Philadelphia isn’t the [...]
Posted by TheShot on 03 Jun 2012 | Filed under: Foreign Brew, Local Brew, Roasting
Opening around Thanksgiving of 2011, this downtown location of Verve clearly ups the design aesthetics and sends a signal across the street of the venerable Lulu Carpenters. If only the coffee service could live up to everything else promised by visual pageantry here. It’s a beautiful, open space with a prime location. A former curiosity [...]
Posted by TheShot on 26 Feb 2012 | Filed under: Beans, Consumer Trends, Home Brew, Machine, Quality Issues
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Saturday, February 25, 2012 offered a curious contrast between the very different worlds of consumer appreciation for wine and coffee. For the former, I attended La Paulée de San Francisco 2012 — arguably the most over-the-top consumer wine event in America. For the [...]
Posted by TheShot on 09 Nov 2011 | Filed under: Add Milk, Foreign Brew, Home Brew, Machine, Starbucks
Today’s L.A. Weekly featured an interesting bio-piece on father and son L.A. espresso pioneers, Ambrose and Guy Pasquini: Q & A with Ambrose and Guy Pasquini: L.A.’s Single Espresso Origin – Los Angeles Restaurants and Dining – Squid Ink. You might recognize the Pasquini name for some of their excellent home espresso machines. But the [...]
Posted by TheShot on 15 Oct 2011 | Filed under: Add Milk, Barista, Beans, Café Society, Consumer Trends, Local Brew, Machine, Roasting
As we last left our story, SOMA‘s ever-morphing Sightglass Coffee was glacially executing on its grand designs to become a major SF roastery and a spacious coffee destination. It had been over a year since we last walked among the spent heroin needles of nearby 6th Street, so much of our new Sightglass experience had [...]
Posted by TheShot on 09 Sep 2011 | Filed under: Café Society, Consumer Trends, Quality Issues
For this installment of comic relief Friday, we bring you the coffee critic wheel. You’re probably well aware of the coffee flavor wheel, which borrowed heavily from the wine aroma wheel in the wine tasting world. However, you might not be aware of wine vintner Janet Trefethen’s (of Trefethen Family Vineyards) Standardized System of Wine [...]
Posted by TheShot on 29 Jun 2011 | Filed under: Local Brew
With a name that sounds a lot naughtier for the neighborhood standard, Hooker’s Sweet Treats has probably disappointed more than a few thrill-seeking passersby in the Upper Tenderloin/Lower Nob Hill area. (What some realtor wannabes call the “Tendernob”.) But for those who venture here for coffee and confections, it’s something of a destination. Opening almost [...]
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