Category: Speciality coffee

You’ve dialled in your dose, you’ve tamped level, you’ve done everything the internet told you to do. Then you start your shot and it’s done in fifteen seconds flat, thin and pale and tasting of absolutely nothing. Fast shots are one of the most common problems people hit when they’re learning espresso, and the fix…

It’s one of the most common questions in coffee. You’ve been enjoying decent brews at home, someone hands you a proper espresso, and suddenly you’re down a rabbit hole of machine reviews, wondering if you should just take the plunge. Short answer: maybe. But it’s worth being honest with yourself first, because espresso is a…

Picking your first coffee grinder is one of those decisions that feels like it should be simple and somehow isn’t. There are hundreds of options, forums full of conflicting opinions, and a dizzying amount of jargon. So let’s cut through it. First, the thing that matters most: a decent grinder will improve your coffee more…

A post appeared on the Coffee subreddit recently that stopped us mid-sip. A person was asking for advice on behalf of their partner, who has low vision, and wanted to know which coffee brewing methods are actually manageable — safe, repeatable, not dependent on reading tiny markings or staring at a kettle. It’s a genuinely…

Most people, at some point, have wondered whether speciality coffee is just regular coffee with a fancier price tag. It’s a fair question. The shelves are full of bags making bold claims, and it can feel like the whole thing is a bit of a racket designed to part you from your money. It isn’t,…

You’ve brewed your morning coffee. The cup is good. Now there’s a damp clump of spent grounds sitting in your filter or portafilter, and you’re probably just tipping it in the bin without giving it much thought. Fair enough. But there are better options — and a few things worth knowing if you want to…

It’s a fair question, and one that gets asked more often than you’d think. Someone on Reddit put it plainly recently: why does everyone assume the small local roaster is automatically better than the big brand? Is it just snobbery? A bit of hipster tribalism? Or is there something genuinely behind it? Honestly, it’s a…

You’ve just unpacked a shiny new espresso machine, tamped down your coffee, pulled your first shot and… it tastes kind of weak. Watery, even. Not the thick, punchy espresso you were imagining. Don’t panic. This is one of the most common things that trips people up, and it’s almost never the machine’s fault. The grind…

Someone posted on Reddit the other day asking which grinder to start with. Hundreds of replies, lots of conflicting opinions, a few arguments about burr geometry. Classic coffee internet. But underneath all the noise, it’s actually a pretty simple question — and one worth answering properly. So here’s our honest take, without the drama. Why…

There’s a common assumption that the fresher the coffee, the better. Pull it straight from the roaster, grind it immediately, brew it right away. Freshest possible coffee, best possible cup. Seems logical, doesn’t it? It’s not quite how it works. When coffee is roasted, the beans release a huge amount of carbon dioxide — CO₂…