Third-wave coffee shops are popping up everywhere. Walking into one is quite different from walking into a Starbucks; the menu is different, the equipment is different, and it can be a little intimidating if you don’t know what to expect. A quick history lesson for anyone that isn’t familiar with the coffee “waves”: First wave: […]
Advice
Advice: Choosing a manual coffee brewer
In the not-so-distant past, making coffee at home was simple – you used an automatic drip coffee machine and pre-ground beans. Simple, but not always the best-tasting result. Nowadays, there are a myriad of choices available for making coffee at home so it can be a little overwhelming when trying to make a decision. One […]
How to make cold-brew with an AeroPress
Note from Margaret: I’m thrilled to welcome Benji Walklet as a guest contributor to Coffee Cantata! Benji runs The Coffee Concierge, which is a fantastic resource for all things coffee – machine recommendations, coffee reviews, and cool experiments like this one. Check out his writing (and videos) at http://www.thecoffeeconcierge.net. In the world of coffee, there […]
A general guide to single-origin coffees
One of the more fun but frustrating parts of getting into single-origin specialty coffee is trying to figure out where to start. Let’s say that you have resolved to start buying specialty coffee, and you pop into your local specialty coffee shop. You are overwhelmed by the array of bags on the shelf. What do you […]
How to host a coffee cupping at home
What is a coffee cupping? It’s like a wine tasting, but with coffee. Roasters will have cuppings regularly with their staff to analyze their product for consistency, defects, etc. Cafes will sometimes hold cuppings open to the public for people interested in learning more about coffee and about the differences possible between roasts, countries of […]
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Freezing coffee beans
There are plenty of coffee snobs that will gasp and avert their eyes from this post. I won’t argue that fresh coffee is best (I don’t think anyone thinks frozen coffee is BETTER than fresh), but I wanted to see for myself if freezing whole coffee beans is a terrible idea, or if it is a […]
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Experiment: Can I reheat coffee in the microwave?
Doing a Google search for “reheating coffee” seems to mostly yield the same advice: Don’t do it. At best, it ruins the flavor. At worst, it’s purported to cause cancer (which is a myth, but yikes!). I was curious about just HOW bad reheated coffee tastes, so when I had some leftover coffee, I thought […]
Online coffee tutorials
Whenever I want to learn a new skill (like how to clean a dishwasher, how to tie a fancy knot, etc.), I invariably consult Google and YouTube for help. Online tutorials can be extremely helpful, but they’re only as good as the people posting them. I have run into videos that range from being simply unhelpful to […]
Espresso machines: the basics
I have always loved the smell and taste of coffee. Espresso, on the other hand, was an acquired taste. I didn’t hate it when it was accompanied with milk, but I had a hard time comprehending how anyone could enjoy such a bitter/sour brew on its own. It just didn’t taste good to me! I […]
Gift ideas for coffee lovers
Looking for that perfect gift for the coffee addict in your life? Trying to impress that cute barista? Here are some ideas bound to please coffee lovers on your gift list, at a variety of price points! I can’t promise you a date with the barista, though. $25-30 and under: 1) Coffee mugs: If your java-junkie […]