Wakeknot's Coffee Blog

Revisiting Velton’s Bonsai Blend

I have blogged in the past about Velton’s Bonsai Blend.  It is no secret that I really like it.  Somehow, however, with all the new coffees on Roaste.com I have ordered more coffee from Velton’s, but have not reordered the Bonsai Blend until now.   Each time I ordered I decided to try something I had never had before.  I finally decided the time had come and placed my order for more.

Should I be ashamed that I love a commercial

Or do I love a commercial because I am ashamed?  

(For the moment I cannot find the commercial anywhere online in spite of using the obvious key words so perhaps I won’t be able to post a link, but if anyone can find it I’ll insert the link – until then I’ll just describe it and I am sure you will see it if you haven’t already.  There are several rants online against it by coffee enthusiasts that I find when trying to search for the commercial, but I love it).

Product review Terra Espresso cups

Revisiting gas packed coffees

A recent blog post asked about if the coffees packed with intert gasses were really not as good as fresh coffee and or frozen coffee.

What is a green water fountain and why does it make me so happy?

They started putting in green water fountains at work recently and I was thrilled when the water fountain near my office broke so I could request it be replaced with a green one.

Breaking in Burrs

I was reading James Hoffman’s blog on the burrs for espresso grinders and how long it takes to break them in.  

http://www.jimseven.com/2011/06/15/dear-grinder-manufacturers/

He had a mini rant that was intended to get signatures from other coffee pros who could put pressure on grinder and more particularly burr manufacturers to produce products that are ready to go when you buy them.  

The Aeropress conspiracy continues to expand in surprising directions.

I thought I had it licked.  There is this problem that I have.  Everywhere I turn in the coffee world people are talking about how great the Aeropress is.  I keep getting pulled towards picking one up.   The worst pull has come right here on Roaste.   I think it would be hard to count the number of times that have read blog posts talking about great results achieved with it.

What I am drinking now –

Hobo Ed's Train Hoppin' Espresso

http://www.roaste.com/product/Kimberton-Whole-Foods/Hobo-Eds-Train-Hoppi...

A wild card enters the water race.  I have been testing waters for my own taste lately and decided for fun to add in one more water.  It is the Cirqua AB water formulator.  I believe I had read once before that it was the water used at the WBC at some point.  

http://www.cirqua.com/theformula.htm

What are the cheapest ways to get into home roasting?  I have some favorite methods that I have never tried, but have always been fascinated by.  Most of them have some risk and probably should not be attempted in some sense because of that.  Make sure you know how to make them safe if you try them at home. 

The other day I decided to try filtered water versus non-filtered water for pour over coffee and the result was that the filtered water was better.  This is not shocking since that was what I also concluded drinking the water straight, but since even our tap water is fairly soft and since coffee adds in a very strong flavor of its own it is not necessarily obvious that this would be the result.  I could have just as easily believed that the subtle differences would be masked.

http://www.roaste.com/CoffeeBlogs/wakeknot/More-experiments-water

Homogeneity in coffee blending

I recently ordered Hobo Ed’s Railroad espresso.  I have just started pulling shots of it and am enjoying it and as I get to know it better I expect to post a review of it soon, but one thing that I noticed about it was that the beans were not all the same color – ie the uniformity of the roast was not complete.  

I have reasonable tap water at home, but filtered water does taste better here.  I posted a blog entry comparing the water available to me here…

http://www.roaste.com/CoffeeBlogs/wakeknot/other-coffee-ingredient

a virtual poetry slam at the virtual coffee shop?

In some sense I think of Roaste.com as my virtual coffee shop.  I can come here to get great coffee, great service, chat with friends and strangers, and learn about coffee.

One of my favorite repurposes of a coffee shop is to have a poetry slam.  Why not have a virtual poetry slam here at Roate.com?  We have had cooking contests in the form of recipe contests, and photo contests for favorite mugs, why not a “poetry about coffee” contest?  

It is fun to review high end products.  The have sizzle.  They have glamour, but what they do not have going for them is economy, of course.  In fact they often do not perform any better than their lower priced brethren.  With espresso machines that is sort of true.  I would far rather have a drink made by someone with the talent of James Hoffman on a Quickmill Anita combined with a  Baratza Vario than a drink made by someone with my talent level or below on a Mazzer Robur combined with a Speedster.  That is assuming they have comparable level coffee to use since no equipment can make b

Finally a mistake I do not regret.

It seems like most of my posts these days are about mistakes I have made – you know the kind where you blow up a table saw while making a stand for your espresso set up.  Okay well to be fair to myself that one mistake was probably not my fault.  I still cannot think of anything I could have done to cause that problem, but spilling milk over the surge protector that was all me.

This is a quick review of the iroast II roaster.  I got it a number of years ago from my wife as a present.  As such I have very carefully never found out what it costs, but my impression is that relative to most roasters  (that are designed for home roasting – I’ll post about a few cheap options that were not intended for home roasting originally) it is fairly reasonable.  I was given it before I had discovered things like Roaste.com and other mail order ways of buying coffee – this is a very important detail since the truth is the coffee from pro roasters when bought fresh is defin

The coffee cart has come to a screeching halt!  I am so close to done and yet I can proceed no further.  I have completed all of the hard wood working.  I finished the finger joints that hold the drawers together this morning.  They fit well – perhaps slightly tighter than I would like in one or two cases, but over all I am fairly happy with them.  I had only two sets of cuts left to do.  

Bring back the holidays.

What I am drinking now is Velton’s holiday blend from Velton’s Coffee Roasting Company.  You may find this odd since the “holidays” does not usually mean Valentine’s day together with President’s day.  You may also find it odd since it is not available on Roaste.com any more.