The Syphon Coffee Maker
Around 1830s it was invented the coolest way to brew coffee thanks to a German called Loeff. I’m talking about the Syphon, the syphon coffee maker. Ten years after a Scottish marine engineer called James R. Napier, designed another syphon brewer named Napier coffee pot. But it was a French woman called Marie Fanny Amelie…
Coffee Producing Countries – Colombia
It is about time to go on with the coffee producer section: today it’s the turn of Colombia. There are some legends in which first coffee seeds arrived in Colombia. It is believed that in 1723 a Jesuit priest brought the coffee from the East of the country (possibly from Guyana where the French already…
Instant Coffee – Can it be your new Best Friend?
Coffee! I love it and who does not? Every day I wake up in the morning, the first thing I look for is a cup of coffee. My day seems to be incomplete without it. A cup of coffee just makes us feel fresh and get going. Many of you guys like coffee, some of…
Causes and consequences of channelling and how to prevent it
Taring, grinding, weighting, levelling, tamping. I previously wrote about how important is to focus on every single action we took when making shots. Minimising any mistake help us improving our consistency, maintaining high standard of quality for our customers. If we don’t, we are going to have a neverending fight against channelling that we cannot…
Fiorenzato F64E grinder review
Fiorenzato is a company that was founded in 1936 by Pietro Fiorenzato. At that time, he already had the knowledge to make grinders, but since he opened his own company, he put all his energies in order to improve both quality and innovation. But during the Second World War, a bombing destroyed his factory. Without…
Why we should avoid take away cups
The demand of any reusable cup that are plastic free is increasing a lot in London, especially in the last few months. When we talk about reusable cups, we refer to any cup made by glass, bamboo, cork, china etc. etc. But why people are avoiding plastic cups? Plastic cups are harmful cause they contain…
The decaffeination of the coffee beans
In 1820, a German chemist called Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, discovered how to extract the caffeine from the coffee beans. Then, in 1905, the German Ludwig Roselius invented the first process for decaffeinating coffee. His method used benzene, a highly flammable liquid that nowadays is been replaced with non-toxic solvent. Is it safe to drink decaf…
The impact of water on coffee taste
Planting, harvesting, processing, exporting, roasting, grinding, brewing. These are some of the steps that we need to stick with if we want to obtain a cup of coffee. But when it comes to quality, people often overlooked the part played by the water. In fact, water has to be considered one of the element that…
Climpson’s and Sons Café – My Review
In the East of London, far enough from the buzz of the city but still in zone 2, there is a magical area called Broadway Market. Located in the heart of Borough of Hackney between Regent’s Canal and London Fields, Broadway Market is a shopping street full of artisan shops, restaurants, pubs and coffee shops….
Iced coffee, cold brew or nitro one? Which is the best?
It is summer (even in London) and we are facing with hot temperature. And what better way to cool off than with cold coffee instead of hot one? Today I am writing about the difference between iced coffee, cold brew and nitro one. I am pretty sure that we cannot say there is one of…
Coffee and Health: debunking the harmful myths
Coffee is the second consumed drink in the world after water with millions and millions of cups of coffee served every day. It’s always been into the eye of the storm for its harmful effects (blamed for causing many diseases), even after thousands and thousands of scientific proofs. Acrylamide and more… about the Cons Last…
8 differences between arabica and robusta coffee
The shape of the bean: arabica bean is oval with a sinuous groove; robusta bean is more circular with a straight groove; arabica is also lighter in color than robusta; The chromosomes: arabica has 44 chromosomes, robusta has 22; Pollination: arabica plant is a self-pollinating plant that means that there will be less mutations and…
Coffee Producing Countries – Panama Geisha
Whether you like it or not (why wouldn’t you?) Panama is the land of coffee, the heaven of coffee. Panama is a country that produces quality over quantity (with less than 1% market share) and it’s up to date on farming and processing techniques from the picking to the processing (wet processing stations and dry…
La Marzocco Strada AV coffee machine review
Founded in 1927, La Marzocco is one of the world leaders in producing of top-of-the-range espresso machines. La Marzocco is constantly focused with the needs of the market with a view to the future. Today I’m reviewing La Marzocco Strada AV (automatic volumetric) that was launched in 2016. La Marzocco Strada AV takes its name…
Which type of coffee grinding burrs are better and how they affect the quality?
Which kind of grinding burrs are better? How can we choose between flat or conical burrs? There is often a lack of knowledge when we hear people talking about this topic: most of the time people don’t think they need to know about what’s inside a grinder. Whether we like it or not, we are…
The Basics of Coffee Extraction
Whatever method of coffee extraction we use, coffee needs a solvent. Water, in fact, is one of the best solvents that we have in nature especially for its chemical properties: it’s super attractive with hydrophilic substances, substances that have molecules that can absorb water. The better way to extract the molecules inside of a coffee’s…
Kieni coffee: The Coffee Collective’s roastery
I am really proud to review one of the greatest coffee roasteries that is currently making its mark during these years since 2007. We are talking about The Coffee Collective, a Denmark company owned by some of the highest profile persons within the Denmark coffee industry. We are reviewing Kieni, a Kenyan coffee from Nyeri…
Coffee Producing Countries – Uganda
We are starting today with this post about Uganda my blog section about coffee producers and manufactures around the world. Uganda has been known firstly for the production of Robusta: around the year of 1860, Uganda could already boast Robusta plants within its territories (this kind of bean grew already spontaneity before it was imported…
Nuova Simonelli Mythos One grinder review
In 2015 Nuova Simonelli, in collaboration with a team of internationally renowned baristas, developed a completely revolutionary coffee grinder that has totally changed the concept of grinding within the coffee industry. The Mythos One Clima Pro, the name the manufacturer has chosen for this grinder, is a combination of design, high performance and ease of…
Edido – My Review of the Barn’s coffee
We recently tried Edido from The Barn (one of my favourite roaster). Edido is an Ethiopian washed coffee that grows in the Aricha area of Yirgacheffe. We tried it as an espresso (double shot of course!). This heirloom varietal grows at an altitude of 1900-2100 meters and after two days of fermentation, the beans are…
Faema E71 Italian Commercial Coffee Machine Review
When we write about Faema we cannot fail to mention that it has been the first Italian company that introduced significant innovations in the world of Italian commercial espresso machines, still used in most of the coffee machine competitors. Faema had its greatest success with the E61 model, introducing the concept of atmospheric pressure thanks…
Press Coffee Roasters Shop – My Review
Press Coffee Roasters Today we are in Press, a specialty coffee shop. A company that was founded in 2013 and slowly growing into four shops in various locations in London. We are reviewing today the third shop in the chain, which is situated in St Paul’s, between Farringdon Road and Fleet Street in a quiet…