The Reading Room

Canadians Advised To Make Coffee at Home
Americans are used to hearing about the economy and what should be done to save money or to change spending habits. We’re not alone. Take our neighbors to the north, who are going through the same challenging times. After a...
Coffee Grounds Go Round Again
Just when you think you’ve figured out the last thing possible to do with recycled coffee grounds, someone comes up with a new idea. Indeed, Lauren Reed-Guy didn’t come up with just one idea, but a whole list, some of...
Deep Cello Wins "Best Oregon Coffee" Silver Medal
We are thrilled that the committee of experts at the Oregon Fair chose Deep Cello Black Tie™ and gave it the silver medal in two blind tastings!  The committee tasted over 50 coffees and added Deep Cello to the finalist...
Out with the Cold, in with the Hot
Back to the hot coffee again! /files/autumn-coffee.jpg" alt="coffee rainbow" title="coffee rainbow" height="200" /> In the northern hemisphere, the calendar will soon turn from summer to fall, bringing its welcome seasonal change.  We look forward to football games, colorful leaves, big...
Hurricane Irene Knocks Out Coffee Prep – What To Do?
Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc on the East coast two weeks ago, causing problems for coffee drinkers. The under-reported story deals with how some folks were forced to undergo caffeine withdrawal during the power outages. Reporter Tracy Beckerman was one of...
proof that aliens abducted my beans
Eyal, I'd been wondering where all my coffee was going. Finally, I got fed up and installed a small motion-activated camera in the vicinity of my stash. Attached is an image that my system managed to capture overnight. Aliens! Now...
Hario Skerton mod revisited
I tried a couple tricks to improve the coarse grinding for the Skerton and though there was improvement, I was not satisfied that it was as good as it could be.  I set about studying older mills and noticed the...
What’s Up With ADHD and Coffee?
Recently there have been many articles resulting from the story of a mom who gives her 7-yr-old regular doses of coffee twice daily to calm him down. The articles are divided between two opinions: that coffee helps reduce ADHD symptoms,...
Kids and coffee: Part 2
Picking up where we left off (here’s a refresher), coffee consumption by young children apparently varies by culture. I suppose it should be utterly unsurprising that Brazilians are by and large pro-“kids and coffee,” given that Brazil is the world’s...
Economic “Hot Mind” Explains Why You REALLY Choose That Coffee
Things aren’t always as they seem, or so they say. If you think you buy coffee for the taste or the caffeine, think again. Can you absolutely rule out the influence of politics, image, value - and even good feelings...
Coffee, Tea, or Calorie Count?
The USA apparently is well ahead of Britain when it comes to public recognition of the war on obesity. Many of our fast food establishments have been publishing the number of calories in their menu items for quite some time....
Kids and coffee
Coincidentally or not, my interest in coffee really took off 3.5 years ago when our son was born. Now that our daughter is on the verge of entering this world (due in 2 weeks!), I’ve been thinking again about the...
Is the Coffee Rush All in Your Head?
A research team in Britain recently found that the rush from drinking a morning coffee may be in the drinker’s mind. The research results were reported this week by Sky News. To find this out, the team from the University...
Up, Up and (Press) Away
A new record was just made for the highest brewing of a cup of coffee in a hot air balloon. It was at a little over 20,000 feet elevation, almost as high as planes fly. Carried out by a Lithuanian...
Bathing a naked portafilter
In a previous post I spared you all the gory details of my experience cleaning the naked portafilter that came with my used Gaggia Carezza. I’d like to pick up where I left off and fill in the blanks a...
Where Is YOUR Favorite Place to Get Morning Coffee?
A Facebook poll taken this week asked participants to pick their preferred source of morning coffee from a list posted on the site. The list included local shops in Salem, Massachusetts, with the addition of “in my kitchen”. The results...
Coffee on the Slow Drip
If you’ve not yet experienced a third wave coffee experience, Josh Dawsey has written up his first encounter with a slow drip preparation that paints a good picture of the culture. While he doesn’t use the expression “third wave”, he...
Gaggia Espresso Machine Users - Help Wanted
I need help confirming a theory I have about these machines and a pre-infusion technique I have been using for the past couple weeks.     First, here is some background on my machine. My Gaggia Coffee is similar to...
This “Coffee” Is Nuts!
Coffee producers do not have to lose sleep. The articles coming out about a pistacihio substitute for coffee are overlooking some key factors behind the growing popularity of the real thing. Red Orbit news is one source which reported on...
Memoirs of a [Don Pachi] Geisha: Help me write some, please!
I just spent $70 on 8 oz. of coffee. And it never even passed through the intestinal tract of a weasel! The beans I’m referring to are Klatch’s Don Pachi Geisha, a coffee highly prized (and priced) for its complexity...
Does the US Government Run on Coffee?
What role does coffee place in the smooth running of the US? That’s a question on Alexandra Petri’s mind this week as she describes with tongue-in-cheek a likely scenario that would develop from the manipulative withholding of coffee from our...