Kyoto-style slow drip is one of the most artistic ways to brew coffee, and it produces one of the best brews when executed properly. If you’d like to begin making coffee this way at home, here’s a complete guide to Kyoto-style slow drip coffee — including how you can make it.
Camber Coffee – Ethiopia Dambi Uddo Review
Coffee Origin: Dambi Uddo, Ethiopia
Roaster Location: Bellingham, Washington
Roast Level: Medium-Light
Info: https://cambercoffee.com/product/ethiopia-dambi-uddo/
Form one of the world’s original coffee-growing regions, Ethiopia Dambi Uddo is a testament to what nature can produce. Camber Coffee has expertly roasted this selection, downplaying the roast characteristics so that the terroir — or the beans’ inherent characteristics — shine forth.
Cultivar Coffee – Tres Bourbon Seasonal Blend Review
Coffee Origin: Santa Ana, El Salvador
Roaster Location: Dallas, Texas
Roast Level: Medium
Info: https://store.cultivarcoffee.com/products/tres-bourbon-seasonal-blend-coffee
This ain’t your Grandma’s bourbon. The bourbon varietal is one of coffea arabica’s original varietals, and this blend contains three derivations of it (rather than a triple-finger shot of Grandma’s hard stuff). While many coffee blends combine subvarietals and cultivars, you rarely see three differently colored subvarietals in a single selection.
Read moreCultivar Coffee – Tres Bourbon Seasonal Blend Review
Which are the best tasting decaf coffees?
“Is decaf coffee any good?!” It certainly gets a bad rap, but it’s not always deserved. Whether you have caffeine sensitivities, or just want a cup of coffee that won’t ruin your beauty sleep, there are some good, satisfying decafs to be had. We went on a hunt for the best and put several to the test here. Of course, coffee preferences are highly subjective, so don’t be put off by any that have a lower rating. Your tastes may differ from those of our reviewer 🙂 Let us know if you have a favorite decaf we should check out.
Top recommendations
Counter Culture Coffee – Slow Motion
Coffee Origin: Brazil
Roaster Location: Durham, North Carolina
Roast Level: Medium-Light
Slow Motion stands apart as a singular selection that’s offbeat and perhaps even a little crazy. The selection would blend in well among other light roasts with lively flavors if it were caffeinated. The decaf tends toward darker roasts with more tame sweet, nutty and rustic notes, though. In that generally dark-roast world, a lively medium-light roast that has multiple complex flavors stands out.
The Coffee Lover’s Guide to Decaf Coffee
Coffee has over a thousand different compounds in it, the most well-known of which is caffeine. While many consider caffeine a desirable stimulant (and sometimes the only reason to drink coffee), a significant number of people can’t have or don’t want to have caffeine. That’s where decaffeinated coffee comes in, of course.
Here’s a look at what qualifies coffee as decaffeinated, how decaffeinated coffee is made and perhaps the most important question of all — do you really want to drink the stuff?
How to Roast Coffee Beans at Home
Roasting coffee adds another dimension to your understanding of and enjoyment of the beloved beverage. It’s easy to get started, and you don’t need to invest in a lot of expensive equipment. With some green coffee beans and a basic setup, you can begin roasting coffee at home.
As soon as you brew your first batch of roasted coffee, you’ll immediately notice the difference that fresh roasting makes. Beans that were roasted just a few days ago are much more aromatic, flavorful and lively than those that were roasted months or years ago (like those that you might buy at the store). Even if you don’t get the first batch absolutely perfect, you’ll pick up on finer notes that aren’t present in stale coffee and you won’t want to go back to the old stuff.
From sourcing green coffee beans and selecting a roaster to actually roasting that first batch, here’s how to roast coffee beans at home.
Different Coffee Roasts: From Light to Dark
We all have our preferences when it comes to coffee. Some of us love our single-origin coffees meticulously brewed with a pour-over, while others prefer a classic milk-based espresso drink such as a cappuccino or latte. But there’s one thing that has a huge impact on the flavor of our favorite coffee before it ever hits our cup: roasting.
Before it’s roasted, coffee doesn’t look, smell, or taste anything like the coffee that we drink. After it’s picked from the fruit (yes, coffee is a fruit) and processed, coffee starts as a green bean that is soft, spongey, and smells a bit like grass. It’s the heat introduced during the roasting process that causes chemical changes within the beans and ultimately creates the coffee that we know and love.
Coffee Flavor Profiles by Region
If you ever buy single origin coffee, either at your local coffee shop or from the grocery store, you might be a little lost when it comes to choosing your coffee based on country. Should you stick with the classic, full-bodied coffee from Colombia? Or should you try the exotically fruity Ethiopian coffee that the barista recommended? Does it even make a difference?
Believe it or not, it does.
Coffee is grown in more than 50 countries around the world. Thanks to regional differences in factors such as altitude, climate, soil, and processing methods, each country produces unique coffees with very distinct characteristics. Some countries produce smooth, chocolatey sweet coffees while others produce bright, intensely fruity coffees. Coffees from one country could have a thick, syrupy mouthfeel while others are so thin that they’re almost tea-like. The possible combinations are endless.
How to Taste Coffee
If you’ve been in a coffee shop lately, you’ve probably seen a menu with coffee that has “amazing notes of blueberry with bright acidity and a clean finish” or “hints of milk chocolate and apple with a jasmine aroma and a syrupy mouthfeel”. And unless you’re a professional barista, these highly detailed descriptions likely left you either feeling confused, left out, or just flat out convinced that the barista is a liar. But the truth is that, believe it or not, you really can taste all of these things (and more) in just a single cup of coffee.
The Best Way to Make Coffee While Traveling
When I sold off most of my things and moved abroad, there was one collection of things that I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of: my coffee set up.
Over the years, I had built a small arsenal of different coffee equipment in my kitchen (much to my girlfriend’s dismay). As I was getting ready to fit my life into 2 backpacks and move abroad for the foreseeable future, I knew good coffee wasn’t something I could leave behind completely. I had to put together a travel set up that was consistent, reliable, and didn’t take up too much space in my bag.