Brewing
What Is Crema on Espresso?
Crema is carbon dioxide trapped under pressure by a shot's own oils. It tracks freshness and roast level, not how good the coffee is.
Learn
Notes from the roastery: what we buy, how we roast it, and what we have learned building coffee programs on the Gulf Coast.
Tagged “freshness” · see all of Learn
Roasting
Why Are My Coffee Beans Oily?
The oil on a dark bean was inside the seed all along. What pushes it out, and why a sheen tells you how long the coffee has been sitting rather than how it was roasted.
Taste
Why Does Coffee Smell Like Coffee?
Green coffee barely smells of anything. Roasting builds the whole aroma from scratch, and it does it along four unrelated chemical routes. Which precursor becomes whic...
Roasting
What Makes Roasted Coffee Brown?
The browning reaction needs a sugar and an amino acid, and what it leaves behind is not caramel. What is actually in a green coffee seed, what survives the roast, and ...
Roasting
Why Is Decaf Coffee Harder to Roast?
Decaf is harder to roast because the seed was processed a second time before it reached you, and that pass took density and structure out of it. Royal Coffee and Sweet...
Brewing
Does Ground Coffee Go Stale Faster Than Whole Bean?
Eight pages rank for this question and their shelf-life numbers disagree by roughly a factor of six. Here is the mechanism that actually governs it, so you can work ou...
Roasting
How Long Should Coffee Rest After Roasting?
Eight sources publish eight different rest windows, from 12 hours to past two weeks, and three of them blame roast level while disagreeing about which direction it run...
Origins
Sumatra Ribang Gayo Coffee: Flavors & Brewing Guide
Sumatra Ribang Gayo runs banana, spiced rum and cedar over a heavy body. Pour over at 1:15 to 1:18, or a coarse French press at 1:12 for more weight.
Origins
Burundi Coffee Kigina Colline: Flavor & Brewing Tips
Washed Burundi from Kigina hill runs blackberry, fig and dark chocolate. Grind, water temperature and ratio settings for V60, Chemex and French press.
Origins
Java Bukit Paniisan Coffee Beans: Flavor, Roast & Brew
Java Bukit Paniisan from Indonesia tastes of cocoa, peach and warm spice. Grind sizes by method, a 1:15 to 1:17 pour over ratio, and storage tips.
Origins
Ethiopia Birbirsa Coffee: Bright, Fruity Light Roast Guide
Ethiopia Birbirsa is a natural process light roast grown near 2100 meters: granola, mango, orange. Brew it on a V60 or Chemex at 1:15 to 1:16.
Origins
Ethiopia Gerba Dogo: Guji Coffee Guide and Brewing Tips
Ethiopia Gerba Dogo comes from smallholders in the Guji zone: floral, stone fruit, clean finish. Brew it on a V60 or Chemex in about three minutes.
Origins
The Complete Guide to Kenya Nyeri Ndaroini Coffee
Kenya Nyeri Ndaroini is a washed lot of SL-28, SL-34, Ruiru-11 and Batian: spiced sugar, red berry, ginger. Pour over at 1:16 with a 40 second bloom.
