The Reading Room

/files/u2252/1SL7860_0.jpg" align="right" height="400" width="240" />Our European friends have been enjoying one of the newer style machines for brewing pods for a while now - the Senseo Quadrante. I was very excited to find one of these in the wild wired...

There are certain benefits to saying and sometimes believing that there is nothing new under the sun. For one thing, it better equips one to humbly and often wisely excuse oneself from seriously considering the ever-changing latest. And in coffee,...

Why does unflavored coffee taste and smell the way it does? What causes us to perceive notes like blueberry, honey, lemon, or tomato when we drink it? Now I'm no chemist, but I’ve always been fascinated by how our senses...

The French left many memories of their years as colonists in Vietnam, and probably the best gift they left was a developing coffee industry. During the 19th century, the French spread coffee plantations throughout the fertile soil of the central...

One of the most comon questions we get at ROASTe is how to store coffee.We've tried just about everything here -- freezer, refrigerator, canisters, rubber bands around the bag, ziplocs.And we've spoken with about a dozen different roasters who sell...

There is a unique coffee processing method that provides a taste so different from ordinary coffee that it's like spotting a unicorn or Bigfoot.The cup of coffee tastes like blueberries, strawberries, melon, dried apricot, lemon....a kaleidoscope of flavor.  It's such...

Just like hemlines change in haute couture, coffee flavors change among the cognoscenti.What's in fashion now?Lemon.  /wp/wp-content/uploads/files/uploads/lemon.jpg" width="432" height="362" border="10" align="right" />I've heard if called Meyer Lemon, grapefruit, "gorgeous finishing notes of Meyer Lemon," key lime (rare) and other embellishments....

Coffee lovers in the city that started it all now want to end a coffee culture staple. The growth in popularity of espresso drinks was aided by the use of disposable paper cups that have enabled our favorite hot beverage...

/files/World-Barista-Championship-Tumi-Ferrer-trophy-teaser.jpg" alt="Iceland's Barista Champion - Tumi Ferrer" title="Iceland's Barista Champion - Tumi Ferrer" align="left" height="481" hspace="5" width="320" /> If you’re anything like me, you probably don’t remember that moment you officially decided you like coffee. But for Tumi Ferrer, this...

I’ve had this total immersion brewer for 6 months now, and my impression of it is overwhelmingly positive. I think it's making some of the greatest coffee I've ever had at home. Here's a thorough review from CoffeeGeek (with pictures)...

You know the scene. We’ve all been there. You just got a couple of bags of fresh ROASTe gourmet coffee and you’re in the kitchen wondering whether to put one bag in the freezer or not. You’re trying to remember...

Back in January, while searching desperately for a Baratza Virtuoso on clearance, I noticed that the local Williams Sonoma store had a new display called "Specialty Coffee" toward the back. It's worth looking for! I didn't have time to take...

Are you one of those for whom the choice of which hot beverage to drink poses a dilemma? For committed coffee lovers or their tea-lovin’ counterparts, it’s probably a no-brainer. But for the fence-sitters among us, James Russell Bailey has...

/files/World-Barista-Championship-blog.pourover.20110522.jpg" alt="Pour-Over Brewing Method" title="Pour-Over Brewing Method" align="left" height="424" hspace="5" width="283" />We’re barely a week away from the Big Event and you may have noticed by now that many of the top baristas vying for the title have their coffee...

I mentioned these disposable pourover kits in a previous blog entry and figured I’d post more details since they’re not getting much coverage yet online as far as I can tell. In a nutshell, Kantans are the bomb. They're really...

You can have your NBA play-offs, the SuperBowl, the World Series and other sporting events. But for many coffee lovers, the World Barista Championship (WBC) is not to be missed. Many will be glued to their computer screens with coffee...

Now that you’ve had a chance to get to know Pete, this year’s US Barista Champion, I think it’s about time we get to know a bit more about his story, leading up to the big win. With the actual...

Today we’re here to tell about the coffee benefits to men. Coffee does not really discriminate! Newsmax Health ran a report of research at the Harvard School of Public Health which demonstrated a link between drinking of six or more...

Happy National Anniversary Day to Ethiopia and Ecuador! This week marks the anniversaries of two of our favorite coffee countries – Ecuador and Ethiopia. Ecuador celebrates on May 24, and Ethiopia follows on May 28. ROASTe salutes these two nations...

/files/United-States-Barista-Champion-2011.Pete-Licata.Courtesy.BeverageUnderground.png" target="_http://www.beverageunderground.com/barista-uses-hawaiian-coffee-to-win-us-barista-championship/" alt="US Barista Champ Pete Licata - photo courtesy of Beverage Underground" title="US Barista Champ Pete Licata - photo courtesy of Beverage Underground" align="left" height="334" hspace="5" width="451" />The US Barista Championship is “long” behind us. Well, at least a...

The UK’s learning curve about coffee’s exploding growth in popularity brought on by the first and second wave moved exceptionally fast. In the last thirty years Britain’s coffee sophistication has developed such that they now realize they ride the third...