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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

I love coffee. I’m constantly trying to discern nuances in coffee. The bright citrus of our Guatemalan, the berry of an East African. I label our bags with our taste notes so customers can become more educated and taste these nuances. It’s a point where I think I can help the consumer learn and enjoy [...]

This past week, Leanna and I went on a 1,400 mile roadtrip around the Northeast, to the Adirondacks, Burlington, Montreal, and Ithaca. Researching shops on CoffeeGeek, there was much talk about Cafe Myriade in Montreal. Started by Anthony Benda, Canadian Barista Finalist, and Scott Rao, of Chemex Trash Talking Fame [oh yah, and he wrote the book [...]

In January, Starbuck’s announced a new round of 300 store closings (in addition to the 600 last year). Last week, Starbucks posted the listing of store closings. California takes the biggest chunk of closings, representing over 25%. After California, the largest closings are Florida and Nevada, each with 15 store closings, or 5% each. The correlation [...]