Lisbon coffee scene has changed a lot in the last 3 years – or better to say, it finally started. Comparing to 2015 when there was just one coffee roaster in the city, and two coffee shops, now we have have a whole range of places who claim to be serving specialty – and it makes every local coffee fan happy. Every time I … Continue reading #2 – FAKE SPECIALTY FEVER
So, hello guys, long time no see! I feel kinda divided in some sense, regarding writing in this blog. It all started by purely sharing my opinion on different aspects of specialty coffee world – and it started pretty violent. What I mean is that when I started this blog I was a hardcore coffee geek who “knew how is right” – … Continue reading TRANSFORMATION
I recently tried a very grassy underdeveloped coffee. Beans were hard as rocks. Coffee tasted really bad. But the marketing of the roaster was more or less what you would expect it to be. With the words like “excellence”, “leading roaster”, “specialty coffee”, “professional approach”, “let us take you for a journey to the world of specialty coffee” etc So it made … Continue reading #73 – Is purchasing “bad” coffee inevitable?
Once again, while browsing online, I stumbled upon an instagram account of one coffee enthusiast. The post was saying “I didn’t taste strawberries, but chocolate and lime were there” – and a pictire of a coffee bag from one respected roaster. I like specialty coffee, cause it is simple, at first glance, especially when you are a coffee enthusiast or geek, and then it gets … Continue reading #71 – Tasting Notes and Tasting Coffee
What is the right water to use when brewing coffee? What is the water you are brewing with? I’ve been facing many coffee superstitions lately, or some sort of beliefs, and the water-related topics are in the lead. They are winning over the battle of “right” coffee recipes for different methods (coffee recipe is not something set in stone – it is … Continue reading #70 – Killing me Softly, or once again about Water Question
… is there really a significant difference between them, or dividing the roasts these way is more of a remnant of the past? I was trying to buy some coffee from the Spanish roaster this morning, and found again that division. That they have 2 roasts, for espresso and for filter, and they highly not recommend using the filter one in espresso. Didn’t … Continue reading #69 – Looking for the Unicorn: Espresso and Filter roasts
I wrote previous article about how much satisfaction in Specialty Coffee depends on how people make coffee at home, on their knowledge and skills – and almost immediately after that got a customer who ordered half a kilo of coffee ground for espresso, and then tried to make it in French Press, and ended up blaming me for not sending her the “universal grind” … Continue reading #67 – Things that make no sense: “universal grind”, “free education”, “extraction %”…
(Leer en Español) We all know that once you try Specialty Coffee, properly done, it is impossible to go back to drinking commercial coffee the same way you had been doing before. You enter the new world of different varieties and origins, and this world is huge, and still unexplored. You start trying, you look for the new things, you make lists … Continue reading #66 – “Out of control” – or the desperation of the coffee roaster
More and more specialty coffee places are opening their doors around the world, having different business models. One thing is true. Slowly but surely it is becoming clear that to sell specialty coffee successfully you need to have workers who are not only passionate about the product, but also qualified and have some education in the area. Otherwise the place can end up with … Continue reading #65 – “One for all”: does having the barista who works for 3 does the trick
