samuellaw178's Coffee Blog

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The recent talk about tamper inspired me to post about my tampers too. Long before this, there has been some debates whether flat tamper is better or curved tamper. On top of that, there are American-curved, normal curve, serrated/rippled curved, serrated/rippled flat. Confusing? Yes it seems.

I’ve been wanting to do this comparison for a long time. Before I started this comparison, I’ve always thought they are more or less the same in cup. Does this hold true? Let’s find out!

As we all know, Chrismas is on it’s way here and we students(Penn State Uni) here have the luxury of having 3-week-break to ourselves before embarking the next semester. Me and a group of my friends were getting bored because we were out of budget for travelling in the States. So, out of no where, we chatted about coffee and have decided to hold a coffee hangout session because they are not really seen an espresso machine before. And yes, I am the only "coffee-geek" among them. There were some coffee drinkers, but it's more like Starbuck's Frap Fan.

Recently Son Ton has talked about temperature strip in managing the temperature of the lever. So I am just going to explain a little more of that in details based on what I've discovered recently with 60-90C temp strip.

Let me join the latest trend in "what I'm drinking series". :P FTO Ehtiopian Gedeo Worka is an offering from Klatch, which is a very good roaster from what I’ve tried in my experience. Ethiopians are known for their fruitiness and brightness in the cup. So this is no exception also.I ordered this Gedeo Worka about 3 weeks ago (froze some) and I think have been drinking it enough to write about it.

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. Even though I am not posting much on ROASTe, I have been drinking many different types of coffee(thanks to ROASTe's great offerings) and particularly, I've been practicing hard to get microfoam on my Cremina using the 4-hole tips. So for today, just let me rant about steaming and microfoam if you will.

It has been a very busy week for me even when it’s a Thanksgiving break. Too many assignments to be done and final exams’re coming up. But hopefully after the next two weeks with all my final exams, I will have more time to blog and to ‘geek’  in coffee. That is also probably the time I get the CC1 for the roadtrip and I will geek to my heart content. =D

What do you do if you have stale coffee lying around and you feel guilty for throwing them away? Or when was the last time you friend gifted you a pack of “branded” charred coffee and it’s just wrong to not appreciate their 'present'? With a moka pot, some ideas and of course, sugar, you can pretty covered up all the sins and make it into a good cup of latte!

Yesterday, I got my first batch of beans from ROASTe. They were Klatch’s Belle Espresso and Vivace’s Dolce Espresso. I have a very high expectation on both of the coffees because of the feedbacks and also the price point ($17/lbs. without shipping for Dolce, it better be good!). I have only started working on the Dolce and froze most of the Belle, leaving only a portion out for comparison.

Above picture: The nice resealable bag. Neat!

It’s been a while since I broke my last glass French Press and I got an Espro Press soon after that. I probably should've been satisfied with the Espro Press, but it has some serious issue with retaining coffee for a small brew, which is not practical for my usage pattern. Thanks to ROASTe and the super fast delivery, I finally got a Frieling Press 17-22 oz at my doorstep yesterday (Friday) after placing an order on Tuesday!

Above picture: It's double box and properly packed

There are many reasons for people to freeze their beans. One of the main reasons is the cost. Roasted coffee in bulk (usually 5lb) is much cheaper to buy than to buy them individually in 1 lb package (or less). Another reason of freezing coffee was to preserve the coffee so that you could enjoy it at a later time(months). Convenience of having back up coffee is probably one of the reasons for freezing.

Before I discovered ROASTe, I have been sampling limited coffee selection from the recommended mail-in roasters by Coffeegeek and Home-barista forums. Because of my budget constraint (being a student), I always have to buy the coffee in 5lb bulk and freeze them to save the cost. Thankfully, freezing has always worked for me and that manage to save me from stale coffee at an affordable expenditure. In addition, I get to know each blend more intimately before switching to another blend.

Metropolis Coffee Company

In my espresso journey, being able to make excellent espresso shots and nicely textured lattes are my ultimate goals. However to do this, I have to have at least some decent tasting ability to be able to detect the taste defects in the espresso or coffee. Just telling a coffee is good or bad is not going to bring me very far in diagnosing the problem and thus improving in the next cup.

Single dosing - I believe this is something that most of us here that are very familiar with. It means weighing out the beans needed for each shot and grind only that. It was said to give better intershot consistencies, as there’s no dose weight fluctuation in between that could affect the extraction pour rate. Well, at least that’s what I was told ever since I started in my espresso journey and it has become my second nature now to single dose. 

A good coffee is a real treat when it's brewed correctly. However, to present the good coffee in its best form, do we need some kind of specific cup to go with it? Is the perfect cup important?

I’ve seen people obsessed with the cups and have a huge collection of cups which most of them stayed unused in the cupboards. While some people are collecting limited edition Illy cups in their gallery and would never be used. Some just have their one and only favorite mug and use it for the rest of their life. Well, how important is the cup?

Just like any coffee lovers here, I also have my own collection of coffee brewers. Ranging from Aeropress, Moka Pot, and French Press. Among all, French press is my all time favorite because it presents the coffee very well and I just love the ritual in making the press. My last French press maker was a no-name glass vessel which breaks after just a mere 3 months use. (Thank god it was cheap!) I started missing my press soon after that and was looking for a stainless steel substitute.