coffee - Articles and Posts from Slashfood

Posts with tag coffee

Manual Coffee Grinders with the CoffeeMeister

Posted Nov 17th 2009 11:00AM by Erin Meister
Filed under: Coffee

A manual coffee mill.
Photo: Erin Meister

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series for the caffeine-addicted.

If a coffee appreciator buys small amounts of whole beans on a regular basis and has them ground fresh in the store -- and a coffee lover grinds those small batches at home just before using them -- then a coffee fanatic puts a little elbow grease into it, hand-cranking the burrs that chop the beans to bits seconds before brewing.

Just like when great-grandpappy had to go out back to turn over the engine on his Model T, folks would turn the lever on top of a wood-and-metal box-shaped grinder (like these) to start prepping their morning joe. But even without getting axle grease on your palms in order to start the car, you too can connect with your coffee in the same way your great-grandfolks did. Not only that, but after a while you'll have awesome guns to show for it.

If that doesn't make you want to become that coffee fanatic, keep reading after the jump.

Continue reading Manual Coffee Grinders with the CoffeeMeister

Water, Water Everywhere, But Not a Drop to Brew

Posted Nov 10th 2009 3:00PM by Erin Meister
Filed under: Coffee, Water, Science

Brewing coffee. Photo: Erin Meister.

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series for the caffeine-addicted.

Since brewed coffee is more than 90 percent water, it only makes sense to use the perfect H20 for the job, right?

But what is the "perfect" water for coffee? Are we talking about highfalutin fountains that'll bleed you dry, or straight-from-the creek agua with turtles still in it? Will a Brita filter suffice? Read more after the jump.

Continue reading Water, Water Everywhere, But Not a Drop to Brew

Getting Robust(a) with the CoffeeMeister

Posted Nov 3rd 2009 3:00PM by Erin Meister
Filed under: Coffee

Robusta vs. Arabica beans, unripened on a coffee bush.
Photo: INeedCoffee / CoffeeHero, Flickr.

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series for the caffeine-addicted.

I know you thought we were through with the genus-species-kingdom stuff after high-school biology, but did you know there are two different species of coffee plant? Well, there are: Arabica, or high-altitude grown gourmet coffee, and Robusta, or the more environmentally tolerant (and much cheaper) sort of coffee often found in instant crystals and behind bodega counters around the world.

But is the latter really more "robust" than the haute Arabica? Find out after the jump.

Continue reading Getting Robust(a) with the CoffeeMeister

Fine Dining, Bad Coffee with the CoffeeMeister

Posted Oct 27th 2009 3:00PM by Erin Meister
Filed under: Coffee, Dinner, Restaurants

A typical cappuccino. Photo: Karen Roe, Flickr.

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series for the caffeine-addicted.

Ah, the triumphant leaning back in your chair after a great meal at the season's "it" restaurant, pushing away the licked-clean plate and wishing you could loosen your belt in polite company. "Why sure, we'd love to see the dessert menu. And I'll have a cappuccino."

But then the cappuccino comes. It's got bitter, thin espresso topped with stiff, dry peaks of overdone milk covered in heaps of cheap cocoa powder. And, well ... it's not worth the $6 they're charging for it.

Does it have to be this way? Can there be such a thing as truly great restaurant coffee? Find out after the jump.

Continue reading Fine Dining, Bad Coffee with the CoffeeMeister

A Breathtaking Brew with the CoffeeMeister

Posted Oct 20th 2009 3:00PM by Erin Meister
Filed under: Coffee

A Japanese siphon pot in Portland. Photo: Erin Meister.

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series for the caffeine-addicted.

If some of your favorite things are "Gossip Girl," health-care-reform debates and game 7 of the World Series, it sounds like you might be drawn to the dramatic -- which says to me that maybe you'd like to try brewing coffee in an über-theatrical Japanese siphon brewer.

Ah, yes: the blazing heat, the cauldron-like bubbling, the unpredictable drop of the finished java and the clean, dynamic coffee flavor. It couldn't be more dramatic if it were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

How does it work? Find out after the jump.

Continue reading A Breathtaking Brew with the CoffeeMeister

Coffee (and Vino!) Varieties with the CoffeeMeister

Posted Oct 13th 2009 3:00PM by Erin Meister
Filed under: Coffee

Wine labels on coffee bags. Photo: biskuit, Flickr.

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series for the caffeine-addicted.

As oenophiles know, variety is everything.

OK, not everything, but definitely something. And the same goes for coffee.

Much as wine grapes come in different cultivars (as anyone who prefers a Cabernet Franc to a Cabernet Sauvignon can tell you), coffee can be born to one of thousands of types, both heirloom and hybrid, which can have an impact on a coffee's productivity, appearance and, certainly, flavor.

While much is made of the variety of a particular grape (or apple, for fruit fans; or rose, for gardeners; or rice, for starch lovers), a large percentage of coffee farmers don't grow any one single type on their land, and many can't even be sure how much of their farm is one variety or another. Largely for this reason, any coffee that can be identified, with certainty, by its type is often cause for celebration among bean heads. The famous Esmeralda coffee I mentioned last week, for instance, is special in part because it comprises an exotic, transplanted Ethiopian variety called Gesha or Geisha (likely named for a spot in Ethiopia -- many African coffee varieties are christened for their proximity to certain villages or regions, such as Harrar and Sidamo).

Read more about coffee varieties after the jump.

Continue reading Coffee (and Vino!) Varieties with the CoffeeMeister

Cranberries, Coffee and Curry - The Boston Globe in 60 Seconds

Posted Oct 9th 2009 12:00PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: In Sixty Seconds

Korean Kalbi with Tofu and Oyster Mushrooms.
Photo: Special*Dark, Flickr.

The ins and outs of harvesting cranberries: the history, the pros, how the good ones "bounce," plus a cranberry time line.
Animal Farm's Jersey Cow butter hits hot spots like French Laundry and Per Se.
Weymouth's Dunkin Donuts is one of the few in the country that take the "time to make the donuts" slogan to heart, by making the breakfast treats fresh.
Taking a few steps into the past with a look at Tilly & Salvy's Bacon Street Farm -- a grocery store dating back to 1938.
Chef Ming Tsai writes about Tokyo's exotic street eats while visiting the city for his dad's 80th birthday.
The Stork Club will try to bring life back to the corner that used to hold Bob's Southern Bistro.
A Q&A with Patricia Yeo of Ginger Park.
Partially prepared foods allow the busy to cook at home under time constraints.
"The Gastrokid Cookbook" says you shouldn't "cook down" to kids.
Twenty-six years later, India Quality is traditional fare without the fusion confusion of many new digs.
Taste Coffee House brings high coffee culture to the Boston area.
Woo Jung Restaurant serves up Korean food with a homey and familial feel.
Recipes: Locro, Garlic Ramen Noodles, Beef and Veggie Stir-Fry, Chicken Caesar Salad, Vegetable Curry, Accidental Agrodolce Chicken.

Breaking the Bank with the CoffeeMeister

Posted Oct 6th 2009 11:00AM by Erin Meister
Filed under: Coffee, Trends

How much are these beans worth? Photo: Erin Meister.

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.

Kobe beef, aged single-malt Scotch, a $1,000 pizza -- there's seemingly no limit on how much a foodie will spend on the ultimate taste experience.

So how about a nice, steaming hot cup of coffee ... for $10, or more?

Not unlike its more respected buddy made from fermented grapes, exceptional, rare and just plain wacky coffees have begun to fetch higher prices all over the world. Panama's now-famous farm Hacienda la Esmeralda, for instance, has been commanding record prices for its green beans, setting world records for auction sales in 2004 ($21/pound), 2006 ($50.25/pound) and 2007 (a whopping $130/pound).

But is it a matter of simply being impressed by the price tag, or is there something to these top-shelf beans? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Breaking the Bank with the CoffeeMeister

Delicious Dunks of YumSugar

Posted Oct 1st 2009 1:00PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: YumSugar

Cold spring rolls. Photo: YumSugar.

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

Cold spring rolls might seem fancy, but they're actually a quick and easy treat.

Cat Cora's baked beans mixes chickpeas, kidney beans and pinto beans.

Coffee is good for a whole lot more than drinking -- java can perk up many a dish.

A look at Paula Deen's uncomfortable visit to "The View" and Barbara Walters' loaded health question.

Figs in a Blanket is a "killer appetizer."

Do you prefer the grocery store or farmers' market?

Lucky Clover with the CoffeeMeister

Posted Sep 29th 2009 3:00PM by Erin Meister
Filed under: Coffee, Trends, Coffee shops, Artisan Foods

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.

Well, what do you know? Clovers really are lucky.

Of course, I'm not talking about the four-leaf kind, though that type's pretty rare, too. No, I mean the Clover coffee maker, a high-tech gadget that dropped jaws all over bean circles a few years ago, with its deeply sophisticated, digital one-cup-at-a-time brewing (not to mention the $11K price tag).

At first, the machines were the pride of the serious coffee lover, with independent cafés snapping them up as a way of showcasing artisanal coffees one by one, instead of losing them to the murky depths of an insulated thermos. But when Starbucks bought the Clover technology last year, the funky-looking little metal boxes were suddenly less and less available to your average café owner, becoming proprietary to the green mermaid.

So why is this lucky? Because it started a revolution. Or, more accurately, a renaissance. Read more about getting lucky with cup-at-a-time coffee after the jump.

Continue reading Lucky Clover with the CoffeeMeister

10 Dirty Little Restaurant Secrets

Posted Sep 21st 2009 4:00PM by Ben Widdicombe
Filed under: Restaurants

Photo: travelbex, Flickr.

There's a reason most restaurants keep the kitchen doors closed -- and it's not just because it's so hot back there.

It can be tough for restaurateurs to turn a profit and Slashfood has uncovered some of the ultra-dirty deeds even the best restaurants commit in order to pinch pennies.

Read on for 10 true stories about the subtle, sneaky and sometimes downright disgusting ways restaurants cheat to save a buck -- and how you might be paying the price.

Continue reading 10 Dirty Little Restaurant Secrets

Chock full o'Nuts Coffee to Open Restaurant

Posted Sep 15th 2009 3:00PM by Sara Bonisteel
Filed under: Coffee, Restaurants, America, Food News

Photo: dangoldman, Flickr.

A well-known coffee company is returning to its roots in New York City.

This December, Chock full o'Nuts will open its first full-service restaurant since the chain shuttered its last restaurant in 1990, company officials tell Crain's New York Business.

The 2,800-square-foot restaurant will open less than a block from the Flatiron Building in Manhattan and serve up old favorites from its last bout decades ago in the restaurant arena, Crain's said.

Continue reading Chock full o'Nuts Coffee to Open Restaurant

Decaffeinated Pride with the CoffeeMeister

Posted Sep 8th 2009 2:00PM by Erin Meister
Filed under: Coffee, How To

coffee, decaf coffee, decaffeinated coffee, green coffee, unroasted coffee

Unroasted decaf coffee beans. Photo: Erin Meister

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.

I say nuts to baristas who turn their noses up at decaf. As far as I'm concerned, decaf drinkers are the salt of the earth, and I think it's high time they get their due.

Just think of it: There are millions upon millions of regular-coffee guzzlers who'll down 20 ounces of swill just to get a fix, but I see decaf devotees as folks who pursue coffee just for the sheer love of it. It's gotta be love, since the buzz isn't the main draw. Not only that, but poor decaffers are often stuck with the dregs: Stale coffee left sitting in an urn for hours, espresso poorly made by way of utter dismissal and even snide service from pro-caffeinators.

Well call me naive, but I just gotta stick up for the (probably pretty tired) underdog. Though the FDA has long considered caffeine a "safe" substance (though it is, strictly speaking, a kind of drug), try telling that to the folks who toss and turn all night as penance for a 6 p.m. cuppa. (And I can definitely sympathize.) Or worse yet, people who are allergic to the stuff!

But how does the buzz get out of that little bean? Click through to find out.

Continue reading Decaffeinated Pride with the CoffeeMeister

Instant Coffee Taste Test

Posted Sep 1st 2009 4:46PM by Slashfood Editor
Filed under: Coffee, Taste Test

We chugged our way through more than two dozen different blends so you'll know which brands are worth sipping -- or skipping. After our jitters subsided, one clear winner emerged. Click on to see how your favorites fared.

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Instant Coffee Taste Test

We're not coffee snobs, but we're hard pressed to think of a single instance where we'd pick the stir-in stuff over some java that's hot from a freshly-brewed pot. Still, sometimes we need a caffeine fix on the go or in a jiffy, and there's not a bean to be seen.

We chugged our way through more than two dozen different blends so you'll know which brands are worth sipping -- and skipping. Keep clicking to see our reviews from the deepest dregs to the creme de la cafe.

Rachel Been, AOL

Getty Images North America

Instant Coffee Taste Test

Rachel Been, AOL

Chock Full O'Nuts

Sip or skip? Skip. Skip very, VERY far away.

Pass for brewed? No

Tasting Notes: Wow, what a tease. We were beckoned in by a yummy smell, but the flavor -- ugh. It's cruelly sour with an undertone of rotting veggies and chock full o' yuck.

Rachel Been, AOL

Nescafe Clasico

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? Never

Tasting Notes: This barely even passes for instant java, and packs a bitter, chemical afterburn that took forever to get off our tongues. No mas, por favor.

Rachel Been, AOL

Folgers Coffee Singles Classic Roast

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? No way

Tasting Notes: It smells okay, but has no flavor whatsover. Sure, the pack's convenient -- if you have an on-the-go hankering for the taste of brown water.

Rachel Been, AOL

Folgers Coffee Singles Classic Decaf

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? No

Tasting Notes: No aroma, no flavor, no caffeine -- not a single reason to bother.

Rachel Been, AOL

Rocket Fuel

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? As the worst gas station coffee you've ever had

Tasting Notes: It smells like dust, and while it's billed as "rich, dark, powerful coffee," all we're getting is a seismic blast of bitterness.

Rachel Been, AOL

Sanka

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? Really bad, burned decaf

Tasting Notes: We're really feeling the burn on this one. The flavor is oddly reminiscent of scorched cheese -- not something we're looking to encounter first thing in the a.m.

Rachel Been, AOL

Brown Gold

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? Perhaps for metallic conference room coffee

Tasting Notes: It's got a strange dusty, papery smell and a tinny taste -- is that the "gold" part? And what the heck is an Excelsio bean?

Rachel Been, AOL

Folgers Classic Roast

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? No

Tasting Notes: If this odor-free, sour, bitter blend is indeed the best part of waking up, we suggest you just stay tucked in bed.

Rachel Been, AOL

White Rose Original Blend

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? Maybe at Homer Simpson's nuclear plant.

Tasting Notes: Savor the taste and aroma of cardboard dunked in hot water? Have we got the brew for you!

Rachel Been, AOL

A CoffeeMeister Q&A with Career-Change Cafe Owners

Posted Sep 1st 2009 11:00AM by Erin Meister
Filed under: Coffee, Coffee shops

Alex Clark and Aaron Hagegorn of New York's Ost Café. Photo: Erin Meister

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.

Sometimes it seems like owning a coffee shop is on everybody's bucket list: Travel around the world, write the great American novel, retire and open a top-notch café. Last year, Alex Clark, 26, and Aaron Hagedorn, 33, checked that last one off, abandoning their steady (if somewhat boring) financial-sector 9-to-5s in midtown Manhattan for predawn mornings and late, overcaffeinated nights helming Ost Café in Gotham's Alphabet City neighborhood.

The friends traded in their office desks for Ost's beautiful corner location in an ever up-and-coming part of town -- complete with floor-to-ceiling windows and plenty of sunlight -- in order to live the proverbial dream as small-business owners... but do they think it was worth it? Leave it to the CoffeeMeister to find out.

Continue reading A CoffeeMeister Q&A with Career-Change Cafe Owners

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Manual Coffee Grinders with the CoffeeMeister

Water, Water Everywhere, But Not a Drop to Brew

Getting Robust(a) with the CoffeeMeister

Fine Dining, Bad Coffee with the CoffeeMeister

A Breathtaking Brew with the CoffeeMeister

Coffee (and Vino!) Varieties with the CoffeeMeister

Cranberries, Coffee and Curry - The Boston Globe in 60 Seconds

Breaking the Bank with the CoffeeMeister

Delicious Dunks of YumSugar

Lucky Clover with the CoffeeMeister

10 Dirty Little Restaurant Secrets

Chock full o'Nuts Coffee to Open Restaurant

Decaffeinated Pride with the CoffeeMeister

Instant Coffee Taste Test

Instant Coffee Taste Test

A CoffeeMeister Q&A with Career-Change Cafe Owners

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