Blue Bottle’s NYC location is now open. Roaster & retail operations out of Williamsburg.

I used to think that everyone needed their own tamper… I was wrong. Now I think everyone needs two. A stainless steel one for goofing around, pulling hundreds of shots in a cafe and getting knocked around. And secondly, my newest addition, a beautiful wood tamper by Cafe Kultur. While they can withstand the abuse of a cafe, why not leave them for the great moments? Let them be for making drinks for your close friends or throwing it down in competition. Handcrafted by expert craftsman in Germany, this is a tamper I want to keep around for years to come. Check them out at Artazza.

Cafe Kultur Tamper
African Blackwood
$99

Compak often plays 2nd fiddle to the big dominator in the market, Mazzer (and to some extent recently, Anfim). From what I understand, Compaks weren’t available in the states until a few years ago and therefore, haven’t built up the long-term credibility that Mazzer has. However, as I was looking for a new grinder, Compak kept popping up. Reviews were constantly positive and mentioned the  great customer service and constant improvements to their products. Around this time, Compak announced a new model, a doserless and timer-modded K10, the top-of-the-line conical grinder. Most often compared to the Mazzer Robur, the K10 comes at a significantly better price and smaller size. Now doserless and with a timer, it sweetened the deal all the more. I had to try it out.

Switching from a Mazzer Major, the two big things I noticed right away was how quiet the grinder was and low amount of waste. After the grinder and timer are set, most shots have under .25 grams of waste. With no dosing chamber, there’s very few stray grounds from the grinder. The biggest waste comes at the end of the dose, with some grinds bouncing off the grounds already in the basket. However, this is a very minimal amount. Also, I’d like to see some way to mitigate clumping. While not a major issue, there’s some clumping, as with any doserless grinder. I’m hoping to find a way to add an anti-static shield to the dosing chute in hopes of breaking this up. While the lack of a dosing chamber helps mitigate waste, I’d have to say that the biggest change for me was the timer.

Suddenly, with the timer I was able to calibrate how many grams I wanted to dose on a consistent basis. If I wanted to pull a 17 gram shot every time, I’d weigh out my basket and set the timer and grind till I had it where I wanted it, and would double-check that the calibration stayed the same every hour or so. Even during a rush of customers, my dosing would stay the same. Compare this to what I was using before, the Mazzer Major, where I would try to count in my head the seconds the grinder was on. At best, I’d have accuracy of about half a second. While some say they can stay consistent without a timer, the precision of the timer allows for a new level of confidence and ability. Is the timer a ‘crutch’ that takes away from the role of the barista? I would say by no means, rather it allows for a new level of accuracy that is demanded in specialty coffee. If I find the espresso is best served at 17 grams, I want to serve it at 17 grams. I can’t guarantee this accuracy without a dialed in timer.

Okay, so there’s some new technical features, but in the end, how does it taste? I’d say it’s AMAZING. With the conical burrs rotating at a slooooooow 300RPMs, the shots come out looking and tasting beautiful. It’s opened up a whole new realm with our coffee, with more clarity than I’ve tasted before. On the market for a new grinder? I’d highly recommend this new Compak K10.

Compak K10 from Spronomy on Vimeo.

Some people just won’t be into these cups… and I’d recommend that only a select few should buy them. They’re not for majority of the coffeeshops out there. Rather, Terra Keramik cups are for the crazies who can’t fall asleep at night because they’re obsessing about their demitasse thickness in relation to espresso temperature. Or worrying about what cup color will best show off the espresso’s crema. If you’re one of the people that thinks about these things, welcome.

Terra Keramik cups are sick. Weighing 25% more than my (already heavy) Nouva Point cups, these cups have the heft to hold onto heat and provide a sturdy feel. Hand crafted in Switzerland, the attention to detail in these cups reflects the attention to detail I hope to give to the coffee. Handwritten on every cup and saucer is ‘Terra’ with a unique brush stroke. Oh and that handle you’re holding… it’s dipped in platinum. To what platinum grills are to rappers, Terra Keramik cups are to baristas.

As I mentioned, these cups aren’t for everyone. They’re not cheap, and for good reason. Between the techniques, materials, and passion to produce these cups, these cups come at a cost. But a cost that I think is well worth it and will serve me in many competitions and hopefully for years to come. Anytime I’ll be serving a drink in competition or preparing an espresso or latte for a friend at home, it’ll be in a Terra cup.

2oz Demitasse // $29 // Terra Keramik
5oz Latte Cup // $33 // Terra Keramik

Throughout my travels, I’ve encountered many different coffeeshops. Each one is unique due to it’s location, owners, and history. Among all these differences there seems to be a common thread of two varying philosophies. One of these groups says, “It’s all about the coffee!” another says, “It’s all about the community!”. This gets worked out in various ways, the coffee group highlights the uniqueness of the coffee, constantly geeks out, and seeks a small, passionate group of followers. The community coffeeshop hosts poetry readings, [often] serves up mediocre coffee, and offers a wide menu so that everyone can have something they want. My question is, why do we offer up these two separate paradigms? Is it possible to infuse the positive qualities of the prior with positive qualities the later? Where have you seen community and quality coffee collide?

The Abid’s are back for sale again, after the first batch sold out. Interested in picking up one? Buy one here. I’m glad to see there has been lots of experimentation and discussion about techniques with the Abid. Since originally getting it, I’ve been tweaking grind and dwell time, moving to a coarser grind and longer steep time. There’s an infinite amount of possibilities with the Abid and at only $13.50, is one of the least expensive new coffee gadgets out in awhile.

The arrival of ‘15th Ave Coffee & Tea’ has brought Starbucks the most media attention surrounding opening up a shop in years. Here’s a roundup of some of the news, opinions, and reflections from the past week:

Nick Cho, former Murky owner / Barista Competition host, says this Starbucks operation can be positive for Starbucks, but they still haven’t figured out how to manufacture authenticity.

ABCNews interviews Starbucks’ higher ups to ask them if they’re trying to con the customers. They *gasp* deny any intention of misleading and rather proclaim that it’s ‘another iteration of innovative design.’ Huh?

Marc Gunther, of The Huffington Post, asks where this could lead with other global brands, such as ‘a little neighborhood hardware store run by Home Depot.’

And a thread has developed on Coffeed discussing what this means for quality minded independent shops.

After several days of hooing and hawwing over what the new Starbucks store would look like, images are now up and the store set to open tomorrow. Josh C managed a sneak peak inside the shop to get a feel for the atmosphere and vibe. Myself, like many others in the industry, felt that Starbucks was ’stealing’ the indie coffee vibe. However, I now think that this is one of the best things for quality-focused indie shops, as it vouches for our commitment to quality and brings that offering to more consumers. The ones that should fear this new venture are the shops that have invested little to no time into training and quality (unfortunately which are the majority). Starbucks has stepped up their game, and in doing so will force other to do the same. Public cuppings will be held every day, and drinks are brewed via clover, french press, or pourover. I’ll be curious to see if I get any Abid orders from 15th Ave Coffee & Tea. Without further ado, here are some photos. Check out Josh’s Flickr Set

Brewbar + requisite hipster

Interior

The Seattle Times reported today that a newly renovated Starbucks is opening… without the Starbucks name. What brought about this change? According to Tim Pfeiffer of Starbucks, the new name gives “a community personality.” Of course this is a marketing tactic, but I think it speaks to something deeper of the issues surrounding the brand itself.

During its expansion, Starbucks has passionately pursued establishing brand and image. One of the best references for this is the wonderful lecture Bryant Simon gave in regards to the depth that consumer choice makes in establishing personal identity, specifically with the Starbucks brand. Starbucks has hired the best in the industry for marketing, such as Scott Bedbury in the 90’s, known previously for his work at Nike. Crafting an ‘affordable luxury’ image for themselves, Starbucks poured millions into promoting and maintaining this idea. However, with increased competition from McDonalds and a recession, Starbucks is forced to retreat from their luxury status. Starbucks most recent ad campaign focuses on crafting a sense of quality that isn’t offered by others:

However, with this pilot store opening up, Starbucks’ internal studies may have revealed something painful for Starbucks… perhaps that their brand is so etched into consumers minds that the expectations and ideas conjure up an upscale aloofness (rather than ‘affordable luxury’) that consumers don’t want to be a part of. Completely devoid of any Starbucks logo or name, all products will be branded “15th Ave Coffee & Tea,” even retail coffee bags. While Starbucks PR says that it’s to create a community feel, it also establishes that the Starbucks image isn’t cutting it these days. Does the removal of a brand name from its product signal that the image is so off track that the only way to resolve it is to remove it?

Store Renovation Photo by Slayer Espresso

Back in April, I wrote about The New Naturals Project, a project that we started with Edwin from Finca Vista Hermosa, Chad from Madcap, and Linus from The Coffee Collective while on the farm. The difference from most naturally processed coffees is that we sorted the beans, sorted them again, and sorted them again. None of us are well versed in drying techniques, so we’re still learning and experimenting. The beans have arrived after some difficult processing, since milling a full cherry can gum up machines and cause other issues. Some of the beans have a higher moisture content than others, since after the machine gummed up at the mill, the beans were further dried. As you can see, there’s still more sorting that needs to be done. This is typically done at the mill, but with this small batch we’ll be hand sorting it. The mill didn’t get all of the beans fully depulped, nor is there any screen or color sorting that has been done yet. Also, one batch has higher moisture content than the other, one looking much more green. It’ll be interesting to see how this changes the taste in the cup. Until then, here’s the photos of the samples: