It’s amazing how many coffees I have yet to try from different countries. I never would have dreamed how much variety there was in home roasting. The Costa Rica Finca La Ponderosa is easily one of my favorites. Even with the heat, this makes one fantastic caffé americano.
What a great way to come back from the Robusta experiment. The Sweet Blue gives an amazingly clean and dry espresso shot as well as a pleasant bitter americano.
I’m always willing to give different styles of coffee preparation a go, this time around I pulled a shot Cuban style.
So close to the end of our blend experiment. We have one more after I tell you all about Sweet Maria’s Moka Kadir Blend. I also figured it was about time I showed an updated pull from the La Pavoni. One of the best things about this coffee journal is I get to look back [...]
I have been working fairly hard at perfecting milk steaming/frothing. It has been probably the most difficult thing I’ve gotten into since obsessing over coffee. Espresso was hard, but not nearly as frustrating as creating beautiful and tasty milk to go with my ever evolving coffee.
Most of the blends I have tried tend to sit on the darker roast side, Sweet Maria’s Espresso Workshop #11: Tono Alto is meant for light roast, and by that I mean keep it to a City+ if you can take it. I pushed it too far into Full CIty, but I still got an [...]
It’s been freakin’ hot lately here in Southern California. And when it’s hot, the last thing you want to think about is brewing coffee. Fortunately there are some things you can do to keep your coffee habit and chill out at the same time.
Sweet Maria’s Puro Scuro is absolutely meant for dark roasts. I tried to play it a bit safe with this blend and start with a Full City+. I was not enjoying the flavors I pulled at this level. Kind of like drinking earthy V8 with coffee. Not terrible, but not exactly enjoyable. So, I decided [...]
As I dive through more blends I am starting to realize that I might not enjoy complex coffee as much as I thought. I am finding I really miss the nice clean flavors single origin espresso offers. While there are blends I like, the majority of the time I am still feeling like my cup [...]