I recently found out that a local coffee shop (Weekend Coffee in Dallas) carries Seattle-based Victrola Coffee Roasters so I popped over to check them out. On the day of my visit, they had two Victrola coffees available to take home: an Ethiopia Yirgacheffe and this Kenya. Since I haven’t reviewed any Kenyan coffees yet, I decided […]
Author: Margaret
Review: Coffee del Rey Fiesta del Sol Cafe Mexicana de Chiapas (Plano, Texas)
Chocolate fans, you’re gonna want to sit down for this one. This coffee is a very new offering from Coffee del Rey; it’s not listed on their website, but I was able to pick up a freshly roasted bag at their store on Thursday (roasted earlier THAT MORNING… how’s that for fresh?). I don’t know […]
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An easy recipe for cold-brew coffee ice cream
My experiment with cold-brew coffee netted me around 16 oz of coffee concentrate, and I decided to make some of this lovely concentrate into one of my favorite things in the world: coffee ice cream. I could have gone the full custard route and made this into a long and labor-intensive process, but then I saw […]
Experiment: Making cold-brew coffee with a french press
I don’t drink iced coffee. Even during Texas summers when it is humid and over 100 degrees F, I just don’t feel right unless I have hot coffee in the mornings. Call me crazy, but I like savoring a cup and tasting the flavors change as it moves from hot to warm to cooled off. […]
Review: Porch Culture El Salvador Finca Santa Emilia (Tyler, Texas)
A recent work trip to East Texas introduced me to Porch Culture Coffee Roasters, which is a microroaster based in the city of Tyler. (Fun fact: for local subscribers, they deliver via bicycle!) I picked up this bag at The Foundry Coffee House, and also sampled a cup of Porch Culture’s Colombian beans brewed in […]
Review: Intelligentsia Burundi Bwayi (Chicago, Illinois)
This coffee looked so good in the Intelligentsia store that I didn’t even look at the price until the next day. $27/12oz. YIKES! Was it worth it? Read on. I have never had a coffee from Burundi; most of the African coffees I have sampled to this point have been from Ethiopia, Kenya, and Rwanda. […]
Review: Blue Bottle Hayes Valley Espresso (Oakland, California)
I have my cousin Lynn to thank for introducing me to Blue Bottle Coffee Roasters. Headquartered in Oakland, CA, they’ve expanded to include locations in Los Angeles, New York City, and Japan. In recent years they’ve acquired both the Tonx and Handsome Coffee companies, and it was just announced that they are merging with San […]
How to make a delicious cappuccino at home on a budget
Cappuccinos (and lattes, and mochas, etc.) are delicious, but they are rather expensive. There’s a reason for that; they are all espresso-based drinks, and espresso machines are NOT CHEAP. Commercial espresso machines can easily run over $10,000. You’re also paying for (hopefully) top-quality beans and the time and expertise of your barista. But is there […]
“Help! I need a grinder – what should I get?”
Yay, grinders!! As much as I geek out over hi-tech stuff like espresso machines with E61 groupheads, pre-infusion, PID and bottomless portafilters, any coffee geek will tell you the most expensive espresso or coffee machine is nothing without a quality grinder. In fact, it’s not uncommon for people to spend MORE on the grinder than […]
Review: Intelligentsia Black Cat Classic Espresso (Chicago, Illinois)
(Guest post from David Cooper, principal horn of the Dallas Symphony!) There is nothing better than a good friend showing up at your door at 10 pm with freshly roasted Intelligentsia coffee! Saturday night after my concert I had just made it home and was sitting on the couch when my good friend Margaret Fischer […]