Coffee

I shall be joining Ben Kaminsky for a lecture on the 2nd of July at the Joe Pro location and, if you are able, I hope you will join us.  It starts at 6.30pm, and will end around 8.30pm (or whenever the Q&A stops – I suspect it may end up being a pretty involved session).  Some info on Ben’s part: Ben will be presenting some of his research on coffee and espresso brewing, grinding, and roasting, that are sure to answer some long standing questions (e.g. Is espresso brewing inherently flawed? What actually constitutes an espresso roast?). He will also be outlining how to produce a “coffee shot”, the new way for brewing filter coffee that he thinks will likely replace the industry’s best and fastest brewers to date. Ben recommends you understand the basic elements of extraction, including practical use of an extract mojo if you want to get the most out of the class, though beginners are also welcomed. I will be talking about how some of this fits into the wider picture, where I see speciality going and the challenges ahead.  I’ll discuss wages, careers, profitability and how that all fits in with actually having a passion for coffee. I will also get to talk about the stuff that I’m generally not allowed to do at things like the SCAA. Tickets are $75.  They are available here. Side note:  I’d recommend grabbing a ticket in advance, rather than aiming to get one on the door… Related posts: Brewing outside of Gold Cup This isn’t really supposed to be a contentious or confrontational post. It is just something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Lots of people now have sufficient equipment to... Back to the mysteries of the bean I was involved in a training session under the broad title of advanced barista. It was just one person so we were able to tailor it to exactly wha the... SCAE Brewmaster Certification In the world of Speciality Coffee filter coffee isn’t very sexy. One criticism leveled at the SCAE is that it seems obsessed with espresso and yet espresso only makes up...

The SoloGrind 2 In 1 Automatic Single Serve Coffee Burr Grinder has snuck it's way into Bed Bath, and Beyond. AB spotted the Sologrind in his local BB&B and we think the packaging and general appearance is pretty interesting.  The SoloGrind 2 In 1 Automatic Single Serve Coffee Burr Grinder can make refilling your SoloFill resizable K-Cup a breeze, because the SoloGrind will put the coffee right into your reusable cup. We'll be getting one of these to review in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!     Related StoriesECS Coffee release own brand of Single Cups for Keurig K-Cup brewersFrench Market Coffee Single Cups for Keurig K-Cup BrewersMelitta 100% Recyclable Single Serve Cups for Keurig BrewersThe Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Joins the Keurig Family 

Bottom Line: 10 Rating Across The BoardRead review...

Recently, I had the pleasure of conducting a short interview with Master Herbalist and Nutritional Consultant Adela Hasas, who has an inspiring and insightful way of describing the benefits of drinking tea. I am also a fan of her blog and appreciate her candid writing style. While Adela values a holistic approach to wellness and appreciates tea’s role as a healing agent, she is very level-headed and sensible about the advantages of herbal medicine. It may not be a cure-all, but there’s just something to say for a hot cuppa of verdant leaves. As Adela so aptly explained, it’s a lot better than a “‘one pill for one ill’ mentality … [it's] fast and easy medicine right from your pantry!” You know, you’ve tried it?  Right? Alexandra: When did you become interested in tea and how does it work into your overall concerns with holistic health? Adela: I grew up with herbal tea being ubiquitous, but green tea specifically didn’t figure much into my life until a few years ago. Holistic health is all about the mind-body-spirit connection, about how everything affects everything else. It’s the opposite of the “one pill for one ill” mentality. What I love about green tea is that it brings balance to so many of the body’s systems, including emotions, and it’s not so much a functional thirst-quencher as it is a multifaceted healing modality. It’s this all-in-one power drink from such a delicate little leaf. I have such respect for it. Alexandra: When you lived in Romania, did you drink tea there? Adela: Romanians love their herbal teas (my mom has an overflowing cupboard of boxes and boxes of bagged and loose-leaf teas), but I didn’t really drink green or black tea until I came to the States. I don’t even know if we had it in Romania! As a kid, I don’t remember having iced tea, ever. I grew up during the Communist regime, so our imports were pretty limited. Alexandra: What inspired you to attend a natural medicine school?  What have you learned from the experience? Adela: For years I’d studied nutrition and natural health on my own, so I figured it might be a good idea to have some credentials to back up my knowledge. Honestly, I don’t even remember exactly how I found the school! I’d been researching natural medicine colleges for a couple years, but in general they were too pricey or unaccredited. Somehow I eventually stumbled upon the Global College of Natural Medicine (GCNM), and the curriculum (and price!) were right up my alley, so I enrolled that very same day. As far as what I learned—that’s probably the most interesting part. I went in believing just about everything, but I came out a skeptic. I definitely still believe in herbs and nutrition and a holistic approach to healing, but I am against anything that’s been proven time and again to be nothing beyond a placebo effect. Let’s call it what it is, shall we? Alexandra: Why should a non-tea drinker consider drinking tea? Adela: It’s interesting; I think from the outside, non-tea drinkers may view green tea as a hippie drink, as something too “soft” and bland. But there’s just something about it that completely changes the pace of your day. If you start your day with green tea rather than coffee, you’re off to a mellow, slow, indulgent start. Or if you’re having a hectic day at work, instead of reaching for a cuppa Joe at 3:00 PM to continue the mad rush and sustain your hectic heartbeat, why not slow down for a bit? Your body wants something comforting, and a nice mug of hot tea is just the thing. Alexandra: What are the most important concepts, ideas, or skills you have learned as a master herbalist? Adela: Resourcefulness! I am so in awe of the wide range of healing properties of the most basic little plants found all around us. If I have a stomach ache, I don’t need to rush to the store for some Tums; I can just pour some hot water over mint leaves from my mom’s backyard. If I’m anxious and can’t fall asleep, I steep some chamomile flowers that my good frien

Our Canadian Correspondent, SH, has received word from Neil Madden (Founder of ECS Coffee Inc.) regarding the development and recent introduction of ECS’ own in-house brand of Single Cups for Keurig K-Cup brewers.  Officially dubbed Single Cups, ECS Coffee Inc. have been working on developing these products for the past 8 months in order to fill demand from customers for specific flavor profiles & package sizes in Canada. As it stands, GMCR has strict channel controls on which flavors and package sizes they make available on the Canadian retail market and Neil decided it was time to give customers an alternative choice based on their feedback & requests. Let’s take a quick look at each individual flavor and go over a few other key differences between these products and what’s currently available on the market.   Coconut Caramel Chocolate Cookie Crunch Combining flavors from fan favorite K-Cups & One Cups, this flavor aims to bring together the best of each flavor profile into a one-stop experience. You get the coconut notes from GMCR’s Island Coconut K-Cups blended with the Caramel Chocolate notes from Cameron’s Chocolate Caramel Brownie One Cups. While USA retail markets might have similar flavors like Coffee People’s Coconut Mocha K-Cups or Gloria Jean’s Macadamia Cookie K-Cups, Canada doesn’t have anything like this. Available in 24-packs for $14.99 CAD or individually for $0.89 CAD via ECSCoffee.com  Donut Shop Blend One of the most popular flavors both in Canada & USA is Coffee People’s Donut Shop K-Cups. Expanding on that idea, this blend was crafted with the signature donut shop coffee flavor in mind but since there are so many competitors who limit their packaging to 12 or 24-packs, ECS Coffee decided to fill a demand from customers who wanted to buy their favorite coffee in bulk all at once. Hence the introduction of this flavor in 80-pack format. No other competitor currently offers their versions in this size format within Canada. Available in 80-packs for $39.99 CAD or individually for $0.89 CAD via ECSCoffee.com Winter Wonderland A solid performer and a fan favorite each winter is Timothy’s Winter Carnival K-Cups, however, much to customers’ dismay, this is a seasonal product which is only available for a few months each year. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could get this flavor year-round whenever you wanted to? ECS Coffee thought so and decided to introduce their own version. Blending together hints of sweet caramel, notes of buttery custard & swirls of vanilla, this Single Cup should be more than enough to please fans anytime of the year. Available in 24-packs for $14.99 CAD or individually for $0.89 CAD via ECSCoffee.com  Another key difference between ECS Coffee’s Single Cups and competing products is the usage of full color photography over the entire packaging (not just a section of it or as a logo background). As far as we can tell, we don’t think any competitor within Canada or even USA has used this technique on their packaging before. ECS worked with a designer in Toronto to come up with the images and we’ve got to admit, they suit the flavors perfectly and make the products all the more enticing. Neil noted that the goal here was not to cannibalize existing products or package sizes but to give customers flavors & sizes they can’t currently obtain in Canada from competitors. When asked which company he used to help with roasting & flavoring the coffee, he did not want to divulge any secrets and simply said: We’re not publishing that information. All we’ll say is it’s a well-known coffee roaster whose products we already sell on our site and suffice it to say we’ll leave the competitors figure it out for themselves. Hmm… interesting. Neil also went on to say this was a massive & expensive undertaking for his company and that reviews from those who’ve been able to try these new products has been very positive so far. One of the things we love about ECS Coffee and something they’

Subject: Coda Coffee Company Mugged: Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Rating [see key]: 5+ When I was out in Colorado, I was impressed by the reach of Coda Coffee Company. Out around the country I had not heard a whole lot about them but in Colorado, I found them in almost every town I stopped at. Coming back east, I was fortunate enough to receive an offer to try out their Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.

@Chris_Bos: love this picture from my little girl for #FathersDay w/ @Starbucks in hand! < Amazing! #happiness

Bottom Line: Don't kid yourself about espresso, but otherwise an excellent grinder for the money.Read review...

Product Information: Leaf Type:  Green About Millie’s Savory Teas: Our first-of-its-kind sipping broth is a blend of savory herbs and spices infused with loose leaf green tea. Excellent as an alternative to coffee or plain tea. Each tin comes with 15 tea bags that make 8 oz cups each. Just boil water, pour into a cup then add a tea bag and let steep for 2 minutes, stir and enjoy. Let the bag steep longer for a more intense flavor. To Learn more about this Millie’s Savory Teas, click here. To Subscribe to Love with Food, click here. Taster’s Review: I received this product – a tea bag of this Tomato Basil Green Tea Infused Sipping Broth from Millie’s Savory Teas – in my February Love with Food Box.  I subscribe to these boxes and review many of the samples of food that I receive from them on my foodie blog, which you can read here. I was very curious about this “tea” because, as many of you know, I’m a HUGE fan of 52Teas and after months of bugging Frank of 52Teas, he finally relented and created a blend for me:  LiberTEAS Tomato, Basil, and Black Pepper Tea.  And I loved the stuff!  And to be honest, when I had originally suggested the tomato, basil, and black pepper blend, I had a green tea base in mind rather than a black tea base.  Frank thought that a black tea base with a hint of Lapsang Souchong in it would be better, and I do think that the black tea base was a good choice.  However, I remained curious about the green tea base, so when I received this Tomato Basil green tea infused sipping broth, I was excited to finally try a green tea with the flavors of tomato and basil. The aroma of the bag when I opened the pouch was similar to the smell that I get when I open a tin of dried basil from my pantry.  The aroma had a very strong herbaceous scent to it.  The bag was kind of … hard.  that is to say that it didn’t really seem very “loose” or “leafy” inside the tea bag, it seemed to be more like a bit of bouillon that was dried in the bag.  Since this was called a “sipping broth” I didn’t find this objectionable, but, I can see how tea purists might find it a bit off. Let me say that the “infused” part of the Tomato Basil Green Tea Infused Sipping Broth is the key word to the name of this product.  Because the green tea flavor is nearly indistinguishable.  I taste hints of an earthy, vegetative greenness to this “tea” which turns out to be more like broth than tea, and the hints are not really enough for me.  I found myself wishing that this was more like a tea and less like a broth.   That said, I do like that this is not quite as salty as I find the typical commercially produced broth or bouillon would be. As a broth, it’s tasty.  As a tea … it leaves quite a bit to be desired.  Not bad, and it would be nice to maybe have on hand for when you might be feeling a tad under the weather and want a cup of broth to soothe and comfort you.  Especially nice if you’re at the office.    And that’s what I’d recommend it as:  a soothing, comfort food for when you’re away from home.  If you’re looking for a tea with the flavors of tomato and basil … I’d suggest looking somewhere else. The post PRODUCT REVIEW: Tomato Basil Green Tea Infused Sipping Broth from Millie’s Savory Teas appeared first on SororiTea Sisters.

Honestly, I didn’t expect much from this tea. It’s from a company I’ve never tried before, a British (and British-style) company that has tea, but also has coffee, hot chocolate, etc. I like places like this for breakfast blends and the like, but I didn’t expect much from a “milky oolong.” I figured it would be a cheap, bland oolong. And while it isn’t a particularly brilliant tea, it is a really solid everyday oolong. The leaves are small crunchy balls with several twigs, not the most auspicious beginning to the tasting, but they do smell delightfully creamy, albeit in an artificial sort of way. After 3 minutes at 195, the prepared cup still smells surprisingly, delightfully creamy. It’s lilac, it’s mineral, and it’s got a very slight creaminess at the end of the sip. There’s a hint of caramel, emphasised by a sweetness. It’s not very milky for a milky oolong, but it does have a beautiful, smooth texture. It is somewhat buttery to help make up for the mild creaminess. Overall, it tastes somewhat like a sweet cream butter. My five-minute second steep holds up surprisingly well. It tastes almost just like the first, but it’s somewhat flatter. With less sweetness and without the mineral notes underneath, it tastes a bit too tame. The fact that it only held on for two steeps, only one of which was really delightful, is the dead give-away that this isn’t a really high-class tea. But it is delicious, and sometimes, that’s all I ask.