The Baratza Virtuoso grinder · Wednesday June 28, 2006 by colin newell
I have had one for a couple of monthes now.
I received the latest version about a week ago.
Yesterday I shipped off my original Virtuoso Grinder to Dave Anderson in Ottawa. Dave, as you may know, is our Ottawa bureau-chief for the CoffeeCrew.Com website.
We are going to take a slightly different approach on the Virtuoso review. We are going to mash them up at the same time and come out with a he said – he said double-header review of the grinder.
I do not know if it will be more or less interesting than the typical one head reviews you see out there on the net – but what the heck. We aim to be different.
Stay tuned!
Welcome to Colin's Coffee Orphanage · Saturday June 17, 2006 by colin newell
Was walking through Victoria’s historic General Store Capital Iron and Steel.
Yea, it is an odd name for a family owned business that has been around for, I dunno, about 100 years.
Probably wrong about that.
I digress.
They have a pretty good garden centre.
Someone told me that there we coffee plants there.
I found one (with the help of a wonderful gardener-lady-staffer).
I think I got the last one. Neglected? You betcha.
No offense to the staff at Capital Iron & Steel but you cannot know the ins and outs of every single tropical plant. Or can you?
Anyway – this is day one of the adoption of Khan the new coffee plant in the coffeecrew.com orphanage.
My other coffee plant, Juan de Fuca was 4’ high but sadly neglected by Reg James (of EspressoTec) – he forced me to take it.
Glad I did.
I stumped it down to about 12” in height. After 3 monthes or so, it is now 17” in height.
Khan is 7” in height.
Anyho. Stay tuned for updated in the coffee plant.
A big hello to our 7 readers of the coffeecrew blog! Okay, so I get about 10,000 hits a month on this blog. I am sure most of those are mistaken hits. Apologies all around!
Comment [1]
Introducing better coffee in Victoria... and beyond · Saturday March 4, 2006 by colin newell
Adam Tindale and I visited Discovery Coffee today. For the coffee, yes – but also, for the Clover coffee maker. And some.
A little lead-in:
Discovery Coffee is on Discovery Street (on the North-west side of the corners) 2 or 3 doors down from Douglas street in Victoria, B.C. Canada. It is about a ten minute walk North of the downtown
Okay – Something exciting is happening in the Victoria, B.C. coffee marketplace and it is an all-good message for the consumers.
Not surprising, people like Sam Jones, his partners and crew at Discovery Coffee, are helping make this happen.
Okay – so it take a little more than a single coffee brewer to make the difference in Victoria’s vibrant and dynamic coffee community.
In fact, Discovery Coffee is, in some ways, a lab and showcase of all the right tools that any cafe could possibly need for the best cups.
- mahlkoenig coffee grinder
- mazzer coffee grinders
- synesso 3-group espresso machine
- clover coffee brewer
- good filtered water
Did I mention that it’s the people as well as the tools?
The baristi at Discovery Coffee wear Chef’s uniforms. Seriously.
Back to the Clover introduction. The Clover Coffee maker is a single-cup (12 ounce thereabouts) single coffee brewer that retails for 8000 U.S. smackers. Eight Thousand. That is a big coin for a coffee maker. Single cup. Seriously. What about it?
Here is Victrola’s take on the beast.
Well – there is, like, continuous temperature settings from 180 – 210 ºF, Cup sizes 6 – 16 fluid ounces, brew time 10 seconds – 5 minutes with a standard interchangeable filter 70 micron.
Enough tech already. what does it taste like?
The clover is transparent. All you taste is coffee. You taste sharply focused berry notes that are just perceptible with the most diligent home drip preparation (under perfect conditions). With slight variations in roast signature, with the same bean and grind, we tasted remarkable variations in prevalent taste spectrum.
It tasted good. You have to try it yourself. Clover coffee… at Discovery Coffee – Discovery at Douglas Street – Victoria.
Derek and Gena (and their team of beautiful coffee people) at Buon Amici’s feel, it’s in the ambiance… and in the food… and in the physical space. Truth be told, Buon Amici’s wins hands down in the physical space category. Why? Go there and find out. Some of the Buon Amici magic defies a word description. Trust me.
On the way to Discovery Coffee, on Saturday morning, Adam and I stopped by the Mirage Cafe (corner of Government Street and Broughton). They have a bright street corner space with 2 Eagle-Elektra espresso machines – they look like hood ornaments for one of those Earth moving catepillar graders (you know the ones – tires the size of a 2 story building)
Anyway.
The espresso coffee was spot on (their coffee is roasted at the Blanshard and View location) and the food complimenting the java was fresh and appealing. Top marks!
So, what does this all mean? It means there are more choices and more good coffee people in the Victoria cafe biz. This is a serious up-tick folks. I have no idea about how long it will last or whether it will keep getting better out there.
The overall message (from me) is: If you have not been to a cafe recently or the last cafe-cappuccino you had was at the Contempo Cafe in 1979 (a real place) then you really need to get out there now and see what is going on. Seriously!
Looking for another excuse? You know that pretty girl or guy you have had your eye on for a while? Coffee is the fuel of love… and the fuel has never been more pure!
Go on – Ask her(him) out. It is, after all, the Spring! almost.
For the CoffeeCrew.Com Blog, I am Colin Newell
Staling improves? · Saturday November 26, 2005 by glenn
I have been roasting for only about 15 months now and have never been satisfied with the Brazils.
Ashy, ashy and accompanying off-tastes reminiscent of licking an ash tray[don’t ask]. I was just about to give up on these green beans and look for something else to be used as an espresso base.
All of my roasted beans are generally consumed in less than 7 days, except this time, I had some extra brazils that I had roasted as a separate batch. To my surprise these beans underwent a dramatic transformation in taste after about the 7th day and beyond. The ashiness disappeared and oddly, the crema improved as these beans aged.
These beans were interesting to roast. First crack was very subtle, sounding almost like second crack. In my first batch, I actually missed hearing first crack and all of the sudden your into second.
A stop watch comes in handy here..
