NFL free agent Ray Rice and his wife Janay are about to become parents all over again ... Janay just announced she's got a bun in the oven. A noticeably pregnant Janay took to her Instagram page Saturday to make the announcement ... and said she's…
Saturday, 30 April 2016
Friday, 29 April 2016
Blac Chyna and Tyga -- Selling Everything But Kitchen Sink! (PHOTOS)
Blac Chyna and Tyga are putting their past on the market ... holding a 3-day estate sale, and from the looks of it everything must go. It's not your average garage sale ... prices on items range from $500 to $1,200, including a Ms. Pac-Man arcade…
Tuesday, 26 April 2016
Zlatan Ibrahimovic -- Famous Rugby Pal Busted ... Playing Hooky In Vegas (PHOTO)
Ever get busted calling in sick to work -- when you really went to Vegas instead???
Coffees Roasted at Origin to Be Celebrated This Summer in Paris
Monday, 25 April 2016
Matt Argo of Good Folks Coffee Talks Rebranding, Origin, and Expansion
Matt Argo of Good Folks Coffee Talks Rebranding, Origin, and Expansion by Michael
Matt Argo is quietly building a coffee empire. From humble beginnings in a basement to a brand new roasting facility in Louisville's Shelby Park neighborhood, Argo's Good Folks Coffee Company is going places and shows no signs of slowing down. We recently caught up with the Arkansas-bred entrepreneur to ask him what we can expect from Good Folks in the future.
Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you end up starting a coffee company?
I grew up in Arkansas and spent 8 years in the Army National Guard after high school. I did a good amount of international travel during that time in the military (one tour in Iraq) as well as with my wife in Africa a few times. We spent 5 months in Tanzania before we moved to Louisville. During my time in the military and throughout our travels, we developed a love for coffee. We loved the social aspect as well as the economic impact it has in producing countries. I knew I wanted to start a business after my military contract was complete, and I loved to travel and work with people from different cultures and backgrounds. Coffee seemed to be a perfect fit.
Your coffee company, previously known as Argo Sons, recently rebranded itself as Good Folks Coffee. We thought Argo Sons was a very strong name. What inspired the transition?
Starting and running a business throws plenty of challenges and surprises at you along the way. We wanted a brand that was more translatable in different regions that didn't have to be tied to my name as an owner. We were already selling the Good Folks brand in some stores for a couple of years. The brand was an attempt to “roast great coffee for good folks” and not confuse our customers by lingo and terminology they may or may not know or be of interest to them. The Good Folks brand was well received and it was fun for us to work with. So, we decided to put more time and energy into that concept. It's really a nod to the producers who grow the coffee and to our cafes that brew it for their customers. We love our customers and suppliers and think they are all good folks! Essentially, we don't want to take ourselves or the brand too seriously… At the end of the day, we're having a lot of fun roasting coffee.
Last year you moved into your new headquarters in Louisville's Shelby Park neighborhood. What can you tell us about the space?
We are enjoying the space and the neighborhood. We started our business in a basement and then moved to a loud music store before our current space. Having four walls around us and being above ground feels pretty groovy! A portion of the roastery serves as a training lab for our wholesale customers. It's equipped with great grinders, coffee toys, and a gravimetric Black Eagle from Victoria Arduino. We also have coffee plants growing in the roastery from the farms we are sourcing from in Colombia. We're guessing these have to be the first coffee plants ever grown in the Shelby Park neighborhood, but we have absolutely zero proof of that. We hope to see fruit in 5-6 years!
You've traveled fairly extensively across the coffee producing world. What role do origin trips play for Good Folks?
Origin trips shape our view of coffee and how we approach roasting and marketing the coffee to our customers. Seeing the producers, hearing their stories, and seeing what is happening on the farm level, whether it's good, bad, or ugly helps us understand how to communicate to our customers. Seeing innovation take place at origin helps us plan for the future and understand everything from market fluctuations to trends in the industry. Farm visits energize us as roasters and keep us excited about the coffees we roast. It's truly a privilege to see the journey of unique coffees from the farm to the cup.
In a few short years your company has grown from a small, local roaster to a strong, regional company. What's next for Good Folks?
We're really content right now with where we are as a company. We're thankful for our existing relationships as well as new customers that we are just beginning to serve. We're happy with our current and upcoming coffee lineups. We are doing a couple of collaborations with other non-coffee companies that has been fun. One of the companies is a distillery, so we're excited about the product that is currently underway with them. Our home coffee subscription service is almost ready to relaunch on our new website. We look forward to the new look and feel of the subscriptions. Last but not least, we can't wait for the next farm visit…. wherever that may be!
All photos by Andrew Cenci for the Coffee Compass.
Matt Argo of Good Folks Coffee Talks Rebranding, Origin, and Expansion was first posted by Michael on The Coffee Compass, The Coffee Compass - Your Guide for Craft Coffee
Dana White -- Conor McGregor's a Possibility for UFC 201 (VIDEO)
Despite the fact he flat out LIED -- Dana White tells TMZ Sports Conor McGregor's not in his dog house ... and he's considering re-booking the UFC superstar as early as UFC 201 in August. White was leaving Bouchon Bistro in Beverly Hills ... on his…
Diedrich Launches $5,000 Annual Scholarship for Roasters Guild Retreat
Sunday, 24 April 2016
Johnny Manziel -- Report: Indicted for Assaulting Ex-Girlfriend Colleen Crowley
A grand jury indicted Johnny Manziel for the allegedly attacking his ex-girlfriend Colleen Crowley back in January .... this according to multiple reports. Crowley initially told police Manziel struck her several times, during an argument…
Saturday, 23 April 2016
L.A. Rams Linebacker -- I Hope We Draft Jared Goff ... Here's Why. (VIDEO)
L.A. Rams linebacker Akeem Ayers has a message for his bosses ... please take Jared Goff with the #1 pick in the draft! It's not often you hear players weigh in on how their team should draft -- but EVERYONE has an opinion when it comes to #1…
Friday, 22 April 2016
As Climate Changes Coffee, Cocoa's Case as a Farm Alternative
Kelly Ripa -- Crew Furious ... Her Boycott Could Cost Us Our Jobs
Kelly Ripa is alienating lots of people on 'Live,' because they believe she's jeopardizing their jobs by refusing to work. Production sources tell us, some members of the crew believe ABC execs are weighing the benefits of either killing the show…
Thursday, 21 April 2016
Hidden House Coffee Reveals Itself with Three New O.C. Shops
Wednesday, 20 April 2016
Oprah -- Kelly Ripa Shouldn't Have Been Told That Way (VIDEO)
Oprah Winfrey was shocked that Kelly Ripa was blindsided by the big announcement Michael Strahan's leaving her, and the queen thinks it's just plain wrong. Oprah didn't know the details, so our photog clued her in Wednesday at the premiere of her…
US Buyers Showing Burgeoning Interest in Coffee from Myanmar
Tuesday, 19 April 2016
Beverly Hilton Sued -- They Made Me Drink Liquid Nitrogen!!!
It doesn't take a chemist to know ... you can't substitute liquid nitrogen for vodka ... so claims a man who says he got a most unwelcome specialty cocktail at the famed Beverly Hilton Hotel. Jeremy Cox claims he was at a fancy shindig in August at…
Climate Change Could Make Coffee a Major Driver of Tropical Deforestation
Monday, 18 April 2016
Adrianne Haslet -- FINISHES BOSTON MARATHON ... 3 Years After Losing Leg In Bombing
5:21 PM PT -- Adrianne just got a shout out from President Obama ... who wrote: "Thank you, Adrianne, for being Boston Strong. Terror and bombs can't beat us. We carry on. We finish the race!" SHE DID IT!!! Adrianne Haslet has just…
Unpacking Coffee with Kandace and Ray: Ozo Coffee Company
You Can Now Roast Coffee With Your Smart Phone and the Ikawa Pro Sample Roaster
You Can Now Roast Coffee With Your Smart Phone and the Ikawa Pro Sample Roaster by Michael
For coffee importers and roasters, sample roasting is a crucial part of evaluating the quality of a coffee. Designed to highlight the intrinsic qualities of a given coffee, a sample roast is traditionally lighter than a production roast. This gives the taster a snapshot of a coffee's aroma, acidity, and body. The intricacies of consistently roasting 100 gram batches with a conventional sample roaster require years of practice, skill, and maybe even a little luck. The Ikawa Pro Sample Roaster is trying to change that.
The Ikawa Pro Sample Roaster is a digital microroaster that claims to offer unprecedented control over the sample roasting process. The Ikawa syncs with an app which allows precise control over a roast's time and temperature. Essentially, it's a $3,000 popcorn popper you can control with your smart phone.
After seeing some highly respected coffee professionals vouch for the Ikawa, we were excited to see the machine in action at the 2016 SCAA Expo in Atlanta. Even though we stopped by at the end of what was clearly a busy trade show for the Ikawa team, one of Ikawa's reps was kind enough to walk us through roasting an entire batch. We learned how we could manipulate the roast profile with the app, save the results, and repeat as needed. Ikawa even hooked us up with the coffee they had just roasted so we could taste the results ourselves.
If the Akawa Pro Sample Roaster is as good as advertised it will create a world of possibilities for coffee professionals. Different roast profiles (i.e. the time and rate that heat is applied to the coffee) have a tremendous impact on a coffee's flavor. The promised control and repeatability of the Ikawa will allow coffee roasters to manipulate the flavor of their coffee. Perhaps more importantly, the relative affordability and portability of the Ikawa means that coffee producers, exporters, and greens coffee buyers will have unprecedented access to sample roasting at origin. The industry has long said the lab must move closer to the producer. The Ikawa offers a legitimate platform to make that happen.
You Can Now Roast Coffee With Your Smart Phone and the Ikawa Pro Sample Roaster was first posted by Michael on The Coffee Compass, The Coffee Compass - Your Guide for Craft Coffee
Sunday, 17 April 2016
Hillary Clinton -- Gimme a Spin, Mi Amigo!
Hillary Clinton was feeling herself during an impromptu Latin dance party ... but gave a twirl that wouldn't exactly earn her a spot on "Dancing with the Stars." Clinton was in Washington Heights Sunday speaking on immigration reform when she broke…
Say Hello to the 2016 US Barista, Brewing and Roasting Champions
Saturday, 16 April 2016
Cheryl Burke -- 'DWTS' Partner Ian Ziering ... 'Made Me Want To Slit My Wrists'
Cheryl Burke's got a deep-seated hatred for her former "Dancing With the Stars" partner Ian Ziering. Burke revealed being around Ziering 24/7 drove her so nuts it made her "want to slit [her] wrists." The grizzly confession went down on Matt Weiss…
The La Marzocco Café and Showroom Opens in Seattle
Friday, 15 April 2016
Johnny Manziel -- Touches Down at Coachella ... With OVO Ryan
The party continues for Johnny Manziel ... because the QB just arrived at Coachella. Seriously. Manziel just got to the music festival along with his pal Ryan Silverstein -- aka OVO Ryan -- the same guy he was with during that bad car…
New Portland Multiroaster Tin Man Serves Quality With Heart
Thursday, 14 April 2016
Michael B. Jordan -- Call Me, Kobe ... I'd Love To Work With You!! (VIDEO)
Kobe Bryant's new production company has already landed its first big star ... 'cause Michael B. Jordan says he'd LOVE to collaborate with the Mamba for some off-the-court movie magic. MBJ was out in L.A. when we asked him about that HILARIOUS…
From the Publisher: On the Potential SCAA/SCAE Merger
Wednesday, 13 April 2016
Zach Randolph Accuser -- I LIED ABOUT ATTACK ... Faked Injuries to 'Get His Money'
The woman who filed a police report against Zach Randolph accusing him of beating her up is now admitting she MADE UP THE WHOLE THING in a shameful attempt to shake him down for cash. As we previously reported, a woman filed a police report with the…
Acclaimed Philly Retailer Ultimo Coffee Launches Roasting Operation
Tuesday, 12 April 2016
Megan Fox -- In Case You're Wondering Who's the Daddy ....
Megan Fox has been giving multiple clues on the identity of her baby daddy, and by process of elimination it's pretty clear ... Brian Austin Green is the leading candidate. A noticeably pregnant Megan and her estranged hubby strolled into a Santa…
Inside Coffee Cultures' Second Location, in San Francisco's SoMa District
Monday, 11 April 2016
'Barbershop' Movies Cut Too Close to Famous Play ... Writer Sues
"Barbershop: The Next Cut" is supposed to hit theaters Friday -- but a playwright wants a judge to shut it down immediately, because it rips off his stage play ... according to the guy's lawsuit. JD Lawrence says all 3 'Barbershop' flicks, and the…
What the Heck is a Refractometer?
What the Heck is a Refractometer? by Michael
The entire coffee industry is being changed by a device that can fit in the palm of your hand. A refractometer measures the refractive index of a solution. In fields as varied as veterinary medicine, brewing, and beekeeping that refractive data can be used to acquire valuable information about a sample. Although refractometers have been around since the late 19th century, only recently have they been widely used by coffee professionals.
Devices such as a VST LAB Coffee III Refractometer can be used to find the total dissolved solids (TDS) in a brew. In other words, you can measure the exact percentage of your coffee that is dissolved coffee solids and not water. Armed with the TDS, the brew weight, and the beverage weight, you can find the extraction percentage, i.e. the percentage of the ground coffee that you extracted during brewing. Software such as VST's CoffeeTools makes the equation as easy as plugging in the data.
Although this data might be intellectually fascinating, the pragmatist is likely to think, “Who cares? What does it taste like?” To be sure, refractometers do not replace the role of a skilled barista dialing in a coffee by taste. But they do provide an empirical reference point. This is useful because even skilled coffee tasters can be led astray by their senses. For example, a barista might taste a brew and determine that it is weak and under-extracted. Before the prevalence of refractometers, a common response was to increase the dose. Although this will result in a stronger (i.e. more concentrated) cup of coffee, it actually lowers the extraction percentage. The final brew is stronger, but less of the coffee used was extracted.
So how are coffee professionals using refractometers? Roasters are testing the solubility of their roasts to ensure they are achieving even roast development. Cafés are using refractometers to help set their brewing parameters, whether it's autodrip or espresso. Even some home baristas are using refractometers to help them get the most out of their brews. Although it's not a silver bullet, refractometers are a valuable tool for any coffee professional's toolkit.
What the Heck is a Refractometer? was first posted by Michael on The Coffee Compass, The Coffee Compass - Your Guide for Craft Coffee
Sunday, 10 April 2016
SHOCK: Republicans cancel presidential election in CO...
SHOCK: Republicans cancel presidential election in CO...
(Top headline, 1st story, link)
Related stories:
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Friday, 8 April 2016
Axl Rose -- All Crutched Up And Ready To Rock (PHOTOS)
Axl Rose stepped out sporting a fresh boot and crutches just hours before Friday's Guns N' Roses Vegas show. Axl chummed it up with fans and signed a few autographs outside The Four Seasons before heading to T-Mobile Arena for a sold out gig. As TMZ…
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More Workshops Released – Register For Lockex 2016 Today
Don't miss out on the exciting line-up of free seminars and presentations on offer at Lockex 2016.
To secure your free place on any of the workshops below, you must be registered to attend Lockex 2016.
Thursday, 7 April 2016
Harrison Ford -- Phony Arrest Planted in Police Records
Harrison Ford has been fingered for a crime he didn't commit, and cops are trying to find out who set him up ... TMZ has learned. According to the Huntington Beach PD Arrest Log -- a 73-year-old Harrison Ford was arrested Thursday at noon for…
The Coffee Man: A Documentary on 2015 World Barista Champion Sasa Sestic
When the Small Get Big (and the Big Try for Small)
We know them. These are the coffee roasting companies that made their reputations as innovative locally based roasters, and eventually came to model a new kind of coffee institution, one built around a revived intimacy between coffee and customer, precisely described high-end microlot coffees brought to dramatically light roasts, minimalist café interiors, free public cuppings, and pedagogical baristas. These are the companies that helped lead a new movement in specialty coffee and helped provide models for at first scores, now hundreds of similar small, locally based roasting companies opening throughout the world.
Over the past few years, however, several of these smallish and local companies have grown large and national, while still trying to preserve the special standing they established early on among an ever widening net of admiring consumers. This is not the place to go into where the money came from for these expansions and who got purchased by whom (consult the business press), but Intelligentsia Coffee, Stumptown Coffee, Counter Culture Coffee and Blue Bottle Coffee are all celebrated small-scale innovators that have expanded over the past few years as they explore how they can manage being big and small at the same time, intimately local, yet nationally present.
And the Big Go for Small
Meanwhile, other much larger companies that grew up riding the previous “wave” of specialty coffee are trying to find a way back to being small and cool again, to claim for themselves at least a little of the panache associated with the latest trend toward small-lot, medium-roasting companies. To this end, about a year ago, Starbucks launched its Reserve program of small-lot coffees, a product line powered by the buzz created around its showplace demonstration roastery in Seattle. And Allegro Coffee, although its main roasting establishment is based in Colorado and owned by Whole Foods, has opened satellite roasteries, branded as Allegro Coffee Roasters, on both coasts, offering impeccably sourced and roasted small lots.
In most cases this expansion (Intelligentsia, Stumptown, Blue Bottle) or targeted contraction (Starbucks, Allegro) has been in part carried out by opening satellite roastery café locations, where consumers can stop by and pick up fresh-roasted small-lot coffees over the counter. This is an honorable and admirable approach, and frankly the best approach from the point of view of freshness and intimacy with the product, but these companies can't open satellite roasting locations everywhere, plus Counter Culture sells its freshly roasted coffees only through restaurants, cafés and specialty food stores owned by others. Consequently, most consumers interested in sampling the high-end, small-lot coffees from these six companies (or from their special small-lot product lines) must necessarily order them online.
An Anonymous Sampling
That, at least, was the premise for this month's testing and report. We ordered a minimum of five coffees from the websites of each of six companies: Intelligentsia, Stumptown, Blue Bottle, Counter Culture, and the small-lot lines of Starbucks Reserve and Allegro Coffee. We ordered them anonymously. All were whole-bean. We tried to order a range of typical coffee types consumers might look for: at least one wet-processed Colombia or Central America, for example, one wet-processed Africa, a Sumatra or similar Indonesia, a dry-processed or “natural” coffee, and at least one selection from a particularly rare or unusual origin.
That was the goal. In fact, we ended up with a much less coherent, rather random collection of coffees from the six roasting company websites. To these companies' credit, they do not offer the same kind of coffee selection. Stumptown, Intelligentsia and Counter Culture offer primarily washed or wet-processed coffees; the unstated focus appears to be on coffees that offer variations on a pure, classic cup. On the other hand, Blue Bottle's relatively small online selection is heavy on blends. Allegro Coffee Roasters offers a lively selection of well-curated small-lot coffees at its satellite roastery in our neighborhood, but its online selection of such small-lot coffees was not particularly robust. Consequently, we ended by supplementing two of Allegro's special small-lot coffees with three of its more standard, generic single-origins. And, to our surprise, these coffees, with their generalized, old-fashioned origin names, turned out to be quite impressive, attracting ratings averaging as high as any of the other roasters' fancy, specially selected small lots.
First Some Observations, then a Scorecard
Scroll down for roaster-by-roaster remarks and ratings summaries. But first, a few general observations.
Coffee selections. Generally, selections of small-lot coffees from most of these roasters were globe-spanning and exciting, though less so in the case of the blend-heavy Blue Bottle menu. The Allegro menu offered a large range of standard, generically described single-origins (Kenya, Sumatra Lintong, etc.), though few seasonal small-lot selections.
Roast. With all samples except those from Starbucks Reserve, the roasting was medium to light. But Starbucks? Still at it. All five Starbucks Reserve samples were roasted darkish to dark. They were not burned or charred, by the way, just roasted too dark to, in most cases, even come close to persuasively showcasing the nuances of their green-coffee character.
Single-origins rule (or the listlessness of blends). Clearly, most of these companies or programs lavished their creativity on sourcing and showcasing exciting small-lot single-origin coffees. The few blends we tested came in on average considerably lower-rated than single-origins from the same company. Most of the blends simply tasted tired, blunt or listless by comparison to the fresh, strongly stated expressions of the seasonal single-origin coffees.
From one perspective, this result simply reinforces the argument for concentrating on fresh, seasonally selected single-origin coffees offered on a changing, rotating basis rather than on year-round blends, an argument that clearly appears to drive the online offerings of Intelligentsia, Stumptown, Counter Culture and Starbucks Reserve. On the other hand, it may be that some companies, despite their distinction, are still falling back on the regrettable specialty coffee tradition of using blends to move faded green coffees out of the warehouse or to reduce costs. Blends, of course, do not have to be drab or boring, or even year-round. When we do our holiday cupping we always receive some astounding blends consisting of creative combinations of very distinctive, high-end, seasonally fresh coffees with impeccable credentials.
Delivery and packaging. For those interested in a primer on specialty coffee packaging and its implications for the consumer, consult our February 2016 Tasting Report where we discuss various packaging strategies and freshness issues. Most of the samples we tested for this month's article, aside from the five Starbucks and three of the Allegro Coffee samples, were packaged in simple, informal ways that allow staling oxygen to remain in the bag with the coffee after packaging. Rather than depending on high-end, oxygen-evacuated packaging, as Starbucks does, for example, these companies depend on to-order roasting and rapid delivery to reduce risk of staling. All of these informally packaged samples bore roasted-on dates, which, assuming these dates are correct, allow consumers to judge how long the coffees have been in the bag since roasting.
To measure the efficiency of this approach when applied to mail-order, we kept track of the number of days that elapsed between the roast dates on the bags and the dates the coffees were delivered. See the results in the summaries of each roaster's performance below. We are happy to report that Counter Culture and Blue Bottle did extremely well, delivering within two days after roasting. Stumptown also did very well, delivering at three days, and Intelligentsia fairly well at five days. Allegro did not do well at all with the two roast-dated samples it sent. See the Allegro summary.
The packing of coffees for shipment was fairly haphazard in the case of all roasters. Several of these orders were delivered during a rainy week in California, and the boxes were soaked from being outside for a few hours. While roasters are not responsible for rain and where the parcels were left, they are responsible for how well the coffees were originally packed at the roasteries. Each of the six shipments was protected only by either a) a small amount of loose bubble wrap or b) paper wrapping that wasn't affixed to the bags of coffee. The Starbucks shipment was sent in a box at least three times too big for its contents.
Average rating: 91
Highest rated sample 93; lowest 89
Roast-dated? Yes
Packaging: Sealed foil bags with one-way valve. Apparently not flushed or vacuumed before filling. Average residual oxygen (a measure of how successfully packaging protected the coffee against staling; range is 0% to 20%): 15%
Time elapsed between roast date and delivery: 5 days (a fair performance)
Overall: Of the six roasting companies we sampled, Intelligentsia attracted the highest average ratings for its five precisely sourced single-origins. The Ethiopia Intelligentsia Benti Nenqa Ethiopia (reviewed here at 93) rated highest of the five; lowest rated was the Ljulu Lipati Zambia Limited Release (reviewed here at 89).
Website: Intelligentsia's online store currently offers a menu of more than fifteen single-origin coffees, plus espressos and blends. One click takes you directly to a coffee and a short paragraph overview that includes information about the origin and producer, followed by technical information (though excluding processing method), a map and photo. Below this basic information is a link via which you can download a pdf providing a more detailed narrative about the coffee.
Average rating: 90
Highest rated sample 92; lowest 88
Roast-dated? Yes
Packaging: Sealed biodegradable bags (see below) with one-way valve. Apparently not flushed or vacuumed before filling. Average residual oxygen (a measure of how successfully packaging protected the coffee against staling; range is 0% to 20%): 12.5%
Time elapsed between roast date and delivery: 2 days (outstanding performance)
Overall: Counter Culture averaged a rating of exactly 90 extended over five samples, including four very specifically identified small-lot single-origins and one blend, the rather stolid 88-rated “The Natural,” not reviewed here. The highest-rated of the four single-origins was the delicate, honeyish Cueva del los Llanos Colombia reviewed here at 92. We also review the interesting Boka Papua New Guinea, an elegant and rather rare coffee that we rated 88 after reluctantly deducting 3 points for one off-tasting cup.
The Counter Culture bags were composed of a bio-degradable material called Biotre. Compostable coffee bags are obviously a very attractive idea, but based on information on the manufacturer's website, composting these bags at present is rather cumbersome and, if you compost in your backyard, excruciatingly slow. You need to remove three parts of the bag before composting (tin tie closure, valve and label) and if you compost in your backyard, 40% of the bag material will not break down for several years. We could find no published tests measuring oxygen impermeability for this promising but still very experimental bag material.
Website: Counter Culture Coffee currently offers more than twenty coffees via its online store, easily searchable by region, single-origin or blend, limited release, and year-round (as opposed to seasonally available). There is a wealth of information about each coffee, from its origin and history to its producers and processing method, including photos and maps, as well as tasting notes.
Allegro Coffee and Allegro Coffee Roasters
Average rating: 90
Highest rated sample 93; lowest 88
Roast-dated? Standard Allegro Coffee selections no; Allegro Coffee Roasters special seasonal offerings yes
Packaging: Sealed foil or foil-lined bags with one-way valve. Bags for the two Allegro Coffee Roasters small-lot coffees were apparently not flushed or vacuumed before filling, and showed very high residual oxygen, an average of 19%, close to the oxygen percentage in the atmosphere. However, the three Allegro Coffee samples packaged in the sturdier, industry-standard Allegro foil bags registered lower residual oxygen: an average of 9%, with one sample at the ideal 0%.
Time elapsed between roast date and delivery: 17 days (clearly not a good performance, although this figure only directly applies to the Allegro Coffee Roasters small-lot, roast-dated selections. The more generic but excellent Allegro Coffee selections delivered in sturdier, industry-standard packaging were not roast-dated and registered lower residual oxygen.)
Overall: Allegro averaged just under 90 for five coffees, all single-origins. However, the two highest-rated samples were generically defined single-origins offered under the Allegro Coffee brand rather than selections in the small-lot Allegro Coffee Roasters collection. The Allegro Kenya Grand Cru (reviewed here at 93), for example, was apparently comprised of unidentified auction-lot Kenyas. Nevertheless, it was a superb, very characteristic Kenya, and tied with three other, more precisely-identified samples (two from Stumptown and one from Intelligentsia) for this report's top rating. The Allegro Coffee Sumatra Lintong, a classic wet-hulled Sumatra, also impressed with a rating of 92 (not reviewed).
On the other hand, two small-lot coffees from the Allegro Coffee Roasters brand, both rather rare origins, an Ethiopia Harrar and a small-producer Java Sunda Hejo, did not greatly impress, having doubtlessly suffered from some staling after roasting and before delivery. Both bags were roast-dated, but were shipped 17 days after the roast date, and the sealed, foil-lined packaging apparently did not help, as both samples arrived with about 19% residual oxygen, only a little less than atmosphere. We review the Java Sunda Hejo here at 88. All samples were shipped from Allegro's main facility in Colorado, not from our local Allegro satellite roastery.
Website: Allegro Coffee and Allegro Coffee Roasters coffees are sold via the same website and together offer upwards of forty different coffees for sale at any given time. Both brands offer minimal information about the coffees themselves. Descriptions of coffee blends include the countries of origin and the roast style, along with any certifications (such as organic), while descriptions of single-origin coffees add only a sentence or two about the coffees' producers.
Average rating: 89
Highest rated sample 93; lowest 85 (of 8 samples)
Roast-dated? Yes
Packaging: Tin-tie bags, secured but not sealed.
Time elapsed between roast date and delivery: 3 days (excellent performance)
Overall: Owing to our efforts to sample a range of coffee types, we ended by ordering eight rather than five samples from Stumptown. They ranged in rating and interest enormously. Four distinctive high-rated single-origins from Africa rated 93 to 91, including the exceptional Ethiopia Nano Chalia (93) and the Rwanda Huye Mountain (93) reviewed here. Three Stumptown samples from Latin America coffees lagged a bit, one at 90 (the Guatemala Bella Vista reviewed here) and two at 87. Two blends definitely disappointed at 86 and 85.
Website: Stumptown's boldly graphic but rather slow-responding online shop is searchable by Africa and Latin America coffees and blends only, but all available coffees (more than thirty) can be seen by scrolling down the (very long) landing page. Once you click through on a coffee, you'll find succinct information, starting with tasting notes and followed by information about the producers and region. You can click through to an additional page of information that is photo-driven and includes notes about processing methods.
Average rating: 88.5
Highest rated sample 91; lowest 86 (of 5 samples)
Roast-dated? Yes
Packaging: Sealed foil bags with one-way valve. Bags apparently were not flushed or vacuumed before filling, although residual oxygen percentages (a measure of how successfully packaging protected the coffee against staling; range is 0% to 20%) were relatively low, averaging 8%.
Time elapsed between roast date and delivery: 2 days (outstanding performance)
Overall: Ten months ago, as part of a larger report, we tested a range of coffees purchased directly from the Oakland, California Blue Bottle roastery. Ratings for those single-origin, bought-on-site samples were quite impressive: an average of 92. For this Internet-based sampling, carried out ten months later, ratings were decent, though not nearly as impressive, perhaps because this time around we ended up ordering mainly blends rather than single-origins. This month's five samples averaged just under 89, three points lower than the samples tested in June. The highest-rated of the five, the current incarnation of Blue Bottle's Three Africans organic blend, is reviewed here at 91. The only sample we ordered from the website's very limited selection of four single-origins, the Guatemala Alta Verapaz Santa Isabel, also rated 91. We added a review of a mid-rated sample, the Beta Blend, at 89.
Website: Blue Bottle offers a small online shop that features subscription options for regular, prepaid home delivery of coffees. Currently four blends and four single-origin options are offered, along with three espresso blends and a decaf. Information on blends is limited to countries of origin, any certifications (such as organic) and a chatty though succinct characterization of the sensory virtues of the blend. For single-origins, the site adds more specific information, including identifying the farmer or cooperative that produced the coffee.
Average rating: 88
Highest rated sample 91; lowest 84
Roast-dated? No. Only “best-by” dates are indicated.
Packaging: Sealed foil bags with one-way valve. These bags were obviously flushed and/or vacuumed before filling, as all tested showed an exemplary 0% average residual oxygen (percentage of residual oxygen is a measure of how successfully packaging protects the coffee against staling).
Time elapsed between roast date and delivery: Not applicable, given Starbucks' state-of-the-art, 0%-oxygen packaging and the implied justification it offers for not providing roasted-on dates. Shipping and delivery from Starbucks were slow, however; the coffees we ordered were shipped a full six days after we placed our order.
Overall: Starbucks Reserve Roastery offered an adventurous assortment of interesting origins. However, all of those we tested were roasted dark enough to pretty much obscure any origin-related character. The one exception among the five tested samples was the Starbucks Reserve Yirgacheffe Chelba, reviewed here at 91, a fine dried-in-the-fruit or ”natural”- processed Ethiopia so pronounced in its cleanly intricate character that an engaging version of its fruit, flowers and cocoa character survived the roast, albeit turning rather dry and spicy. On the other hand, the Starbucks Reserve Sumatra Aceh, reviewed here at 89, was a pleasant cup but so overwhelmed by the roast that it was difficult to tell whether the green coffee represented a classic, wet-hulled, fruit-and-tobacco style Sumatra (most likely) or a conventionally washed coffee of the style also produced in the Aceh region of Sumatra. As was the case with all of the Starbucks Reserve coffees, the paragraph of text on the bag contained almost no technical information about the coffee itself and whatever factors might be assumed to have influenced its cup character.
Website: Starbucks' huge online store features, on its coffee page, a pop-up promotion for its newsletter, as well as a menu of formats, from whole-bean and ground coffees to pods and instant coffees. There's also a search function that allows you to narrow down by roast, region and flavor. Once you get into the section dedicated to the Starbucks Reserve small-lot offerings, the focus of this month's reviews, the actual selection of coffees is quite extensive and adventurous, although description about them is limited to basic information on variety and processing method in list format, brief tasting notes, and some paragraphs of what amounts to coffee travelogue.
Some Tentative Advice for Consumers
If you can, buy local, directly from locations close to where the coffees are roasted. Such locations would include the retail locations of many local companies we review and that advertise with us, as well as locations of the larger companies whose coffees we review here. It is remarkable how high the coffees we bought directly over the counter from our local Allegro Coffee Roasters and Blue Bottle locations rated in recent months, as compared to the good, yet relatively lackluster ratings for coffees we purchased online from these two companies for this month's report.
Nevertheless, the companies we review in this report are trying hard to bring fine small-lot single-origin coffees to customers via the Internet, with interesting coffee selections, extensive descriptions, and (in most cases) prompt shipping after roasting. But based on the results of our testing, the very best and most distinguished small lots are not being offered by these companies. Perhaps there is not enough volume available of these often tiny lots to warrant publicizing and selling them on the Internet. The very best, superfine microlots appear to be either being offered by smaller, more agile companies, or perhaps even offered as specials over the counter at the roastery cafés operated by some of companies reviewed here.
Nonetheless, you are generally better off buying from any of the Internet sites than shopping for coffee at your local supermarket or general specialty food store. We base this observation on the coffee ratings of our supermarket survey from this past February, Trolling the Supermarkets for Single-Origin Coffees.
Given the emphasis among these six companies on seasonal offerings of small-lot single-origins, go for the single-origins and not the blends. This advice probably applies to almost all leading edge roasting companies today. The only time this observation appears to break down is during the holidays, when many companies compete to see how brilliant and special they can make their holiday blends.
The post When the Small Get Big (and the Big Try for Small) appeared first on Coffee Review.
Wednesday, 6 April 2016
Lyoto Machida -- Cyborg Will Beat Ronda Rousey ... Just Wait. (VIDEO)
Cris "Cyborg" Justino is the REAL DEAL -- and will destroy Ronda Rousey whenever they face off in the octagon ... so says UFC legend Lyoto Machida. With Cyborg gearing up for her long-awaited UFC debut, we asked if Machida had any intel on…
Coffee Analysts and TRU-ID Launch Coffee Species Verification Service
April Tasting Report Posts April 7
This month's tasting report looks at how six national coffee brands fare in a cupping of their online whole-bean offerings. First, we look at several small companies that have grown large and national, while still trying to preserve the special standing they established early on among consumers. Then we examine two much larger companies that grew up riding the previous “wave” of specialty coffee and are trying to find a way back to being small and cool again, to claim for themselves at least a little of the panache associated with the latest trend toward small-lot, medium-roasting companies. Watch this space on Thursday, April 7, for “When the Small Get Big (and the Big Try for Small),” our April Tasting Report on national coffee brands.
The post April Tasting Report Posts April 7 appeared first on Coffee Review.
Tuesday, 5 April 2016
Tyga -- I'm Happy for Blac Chyna & Rob ... And Not Afraid to Say It
Tyga just broke ranks with Kylie Jenner and the fam ... by speaking out, and giving Rob Kardashian and baby mama Blac Chyna props on their engagement. Tyga says, "It makes me happy to see the mother of my son happy. My only concern in this…
Installers Tame Heavy Fire Doors
Fireco is offering training workshops to installers. These workshops help installers increase their profits by offering extra business opportunities from their existing jobs.
Starbucks Developing 'Bigger and Bolder' Reserve Roastery in New York
Monday, 4 April 2016
Suge Knight -- Sheriff's Deputy Conspired with Dr. Dre to Kill Me
The L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. opened the door -- literally -- to a gunman who pumped 7 bullets into Suge Knight's body ... and his lawyer says it's all a sinister, shocking conspiracy. Suge's new lawyer, Thaddeus Culpepper, filed legal docs in…
Five Philadelphia Coffee Roasters Spreading the Brotherly Love
Five Philadelphia Coffee Roasters Spreading the Brotherly Love by Michael
Philadelphia: the city of cheesesteaks, the Liberty Bell, and brotherly love. It's also a fantastic place to drink some locally-roasted coffee. We recently café crawled our way around America's first capital and were pleased with the quality and diversity of the local coffee roasting scene. So if you find yourself in Philly, don't sleep on trying these five local roasters.
Elixr Coffee
Elixr's bustling downtown café is contrasted by the intimacy of their second location, dubbed Double Knot. At both locations you'll find coffee roasted by founder Evan Inatome on Elixr's Diedrich IR-12. Inatome's roasting ability earned him 4th place at the 2015 US Roasters Choice Championship, so it's little wonder we enjoyed our shot of the Beekeeper espresso and a single origin shot of their Konga, Ethiopia. We also scored a bag of their Santa Isabel, Guatemala to brew at home.
La Colombe
La Colombe cofounder Todd Carmichael once scoffed at the third wave coffee movement. But a few years ago Carmichael and his Philadelphia-based chain made an abrupt about-face, launching a new line of single origin, light roasted coffee under the brand Workshop (not to be confused with the UK's Workshop Coffee). Perhaps there's no better example of the company's new direction than their flagship store in Philadelphia's Fishtown neighborhood. The massive space features a wood-fired oven for house baked bread, La Colombe's signature draft latte, and a copper still for distilling coffee-infused rum! Do yourself a favor and try the Irish coffee, made with their signature Different Drum Rum.
Reanimator Coffee
Located in a former factory in Fishtown, Reanimator Coffee's second location also serves as their roastery and headquarters. We enjoyed a shot of their Foundation Espresso while watching the production crew crank out the last roasts of the day on their Probatone 12 kilo roaster. If not for the delicious coffee, a trip to Reanimator's roastery is worth it to check out the street art on the surrounding buildings.
Ultimo Coffee
The Colombian pour-over we enjoyed at Ultimo Coffee was roasted by long time partner Counter Culture Coffee, but the bar-setting Philly café is currently taking their first steps toward roasting coffee. If they approach roasting with the same attention to detail we experienced in their coffee shop, we only expect great things.
Square One Coffee
Confession: we didn't actually go to Square One's Philadelphia café. But we went to their original location in Lancaster, PA and had one of the best cappuccinos we've had in we don't know how long. While technically not a Philadelphia coffee roaster, they are a Pennsylvania roaster with a Philly café and are as deserving of a place on this list as anyone.
Five Philadelphia Coffee Roasters Spreading the Brotherly Love was first posted by Michael on The Coffee Compass, The Coffee Compass - Your Guide for Craft Coffee
Methodical Coffee Launching Roastery, Cold Brewery and Lab in Greenville, S.C.
Saturday, 2 April 2016
WWE's Sting -- Officially Retires ... 'This Ain't Goodbye'
Sting has officially retired from pro wrestling ... making his announcement at his WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, just as TMZ Sports said he would. We broke the story ... the wrestling legend messed up his neck real bad at his "WWE Night of…
Friday, 1 April 2016
Baratza Reveals the Sette: One Rotating Ring to Rule Them All
Baratza Reveals the Sette: One Rotating Ring to Rule Them All
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