By the end of the year, Starbucks will being using 2 percent milk instead of whole milk for its espresso drinks in all of its US and Canadian stores. What does this mean for you? Besides a slightly different taste, a grande latte will drop from 290 calories down to 190 calories. (via The Washington Post)
Add comment May 31st, 2007
This beautiful espresso tamper hides a secret behind its good looks. It has a mechanism inside that operates much like an automotive torque wrench. When a load of 30lbs has been applied, a clutch yields and an audible ‘click’ is heard, providing plenty of notice to the user that the proper force has been applied to the espresso in the portafilter. It’s a great way to learn exactly how much force is needed; eventually one would then be fine switching back to a solid tamper, though there’s really no reason not to continue using the Espro Tamper as it’s designed to last virtually forever (they claim over a million cycles). I’ve found it to work exactly as advertised, and has a nice, solid, high quality feel to it. It’s available in other colors; you can find out more and find where to buy it at the Espro website.
Add comment May 31st, 2007
Fresh Roast Systems has developed a new coffee roaster, one designed to be deployed in locations such as grocery stores, that will roast coffee on demand and to the level desired by the consumer. The machines are networked to receive updated roasting profiles for new batches of beans, so the retailer doesn’t need to spend much, if any, time tweaking it.
While it’s an excellent concept, I question how well the machine will handle variations in local temperature, humidity, and altitude. It’s certainly possible the machines have the necessary sensors and software to adjust roasting profiles, but it’s not clear from their website whether this functionality is offered.
Add comment May 25th, 2007
I love the TV show Good Eats (staring Alton Brown), it’s a light hearted yet geeky look at cooking. A recent episode covered everything about espresso, and I finally got around to watching it (ah, the miracle of Tivo). I consider myself a hardcore home-espresso fanatic, as you can no doubt tell from this website. However, even I learned a little by watching the show, and certainly enjoyed it from an entertainment perspective. I highly recommend checking it out; look for it on the Food Network, or catch it on YouTube (just click to see the rest of this story for the links to the YouTube videos).
Add comment May 22nd, 2007
The website Wikihow has a good beginner’s guide to creating Latte Art, check it out! It helped me realize that one of my main problems has been how I heat the milk - I’m too focused on creating a nice layer of foam, which is the last thing you want when doing Latte Art.
Add comment May 1st, 2007
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