We’re working on something cool here at ManhattanRoasts and would love it if you would check out our survey below to help us out.  . . . → Read More: Survey on Carbonated Iced Coffee

This is a pretty incredible graphic on coffee consumption across the world.

 http://chartsbin.com/view/581

It is pretty amazing that the African countries that produce a large amount of the world’s coffee are some of the lowest consumers.  Also amazing that US coffee consumption is so much lower than the Scandanavian countries, Switzerland and even Canada!  Anecdotally I would think this is because of the exceptional amount of soda we drink, but wow… Imagine if you could create a company that would close the gap between the US and Canada (approximately 2.3kg of coffee per person per year…)

Thanks to Seb Roder for passing this along . . . → Read More: Coffee Consumption Around the World

I recently had the pleasure of trying a new kind of coffee for me, an Egyptian. Now, this was not just “an Egyptian coffee”, like you would get a “Kenyan” at Starbucks (stay tuned for a Kenyan “from Kenya” post soon!) it was an Egyptian coffee that was “exported” from Egypt straight into my hands (well, with a few non-commercial handlers along the way – thank you Seb and Seb’s co-worker!).

The coffee had two interesting features, its taste and its consistency.

First, on the taste – this is a very dark roast that reminds me of an illy espresso. It is deep and full, with an aftertaste that coats the back of your throat up into your nose. There is no getting around the aroma of this coffee! Some of the Orouba coffees come with a hint of cardamon, but I was relegated to just the regular (yet still delicious and high-octane) version. A little cardamon would add a great flavor to this dark roast though… Maybe next time I will just add my own.

The consistency of this coffee, however, is unlike any western one. The beans came pre-ground, which I usually dislike (for freshness reasons), but in this case it forced me to drink the coffee how it is intended.

The grind is incredibly fine, so fine in fact that it will clog my Rancilio if I try to make an espresso, so the options are to make it as a traditional Turkish coffee or to prepare it in my french press. Being a lover of the french press (and a complete novice at Turkish) I chose the press, knowing that the mesh would likely not be fine enough to strain out any but the largest grinds. This gave me a thick, toothsome cup of coffee that is almost a meal unto itself. This, my friends, is the Guinness of coffees. . . . → Read More: Orouba Coffee

We are very excited for something a little different over here at ManhattanRoasts!

Over the past couple years we have provided you with coffee news roasting information and coffee reviews, but now we are going to add something a little different to the mix. We have procured 2 coffee plants (these little guys are about 18 months old) and are going to take a crack at growing to see what kind of bean we can get!

Without further ado, here they are!

We have already shown how you can roast your own coffee out of a Manhattan apartment and now we look forward to sharing all of our new York City coffee growing trials and tribulations with you.

Hopefully you look forward to following our progress as we attempt to cover everything coffee from earth to cup. . . . → Read More: Growing Coffee Plants

First roast with the Behmor was a Bali Kintamani. Roasted a little light for the suggested roast on it (full city plus) so didn’t bring out as deep a flavor as I should have, but it was very bright and very fruity nonetheless.

Looks delicious…

And became.

. . . → Read More: Bali Kintamani

. . . → Read More: Roasting: 21st Century Style!

One basic tenet of coffee or espresso brewing is that the grind makes the coffee.  It is not difficult to understand that if you put a fine espresso grind into a french press the coffee will come out sludgy and over-extracted.  Likewise, if you try to use a coarse press grind for espresso the water will rush through, barely extracting the coffee’s delicious flavors.  Until recently I did not understand the subtleties in grind, however.

A few weeks ago I became the proud owner of a Rancilio Silvia with a PID (temperature control).  I immediately set up the machine and went to pull my first triple with the Rancilio’s flat-bottomed portafilter (unlike traditional portafilters, this one has no “ears” on the bottom, and instead is perforated.  As the espresso pulls through the portafilter it coalesces into a single stream in the middle… at least in theory).  I turned on the machine, let it warm up, ground my coffee to my usual espresso grind, and pressed the pull button… espresso spurted everywhere.

I tried a finer grind, I tried a coarser grind, I tried a traditional portafilter, I tamped with all my might, but still every time I tried to pull a shot my kitchen ended up covered in espresso.  Even on the finest grind my burr grinder could manage, this high-pressured machine blasted water through the portafilter like I had forgotten to pack the espresso.

Continue reading The Grind Really Does Make the Coffee

Remember the new topless coffee shop we discused back at the beginning of March?

Apparently it was burnt to the ground this week.  Police and the owner, Donald Crabtreet, both  suspect arson.

Crabtree, whose whole family lived in rooms attached to the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop, said he had no insurance on the shop, but will try to open again soon, even if it is based out of a trailer.  He always claimed the shop was just an innocent place putting smiles on peoples’ faces, but apparently not . . . → Read More: Topless Follow-Up

According to Bloomberg this morning robusta coffee prices have fallen since the anticipated shortage in Brazilian robusta supply is not as deep as originally intended.

I have seen articles about this shortage for weeks, but the real question is “who cares?”  Most coffee we drink is Arabica.  Occassionally people use some amount of robusta as filler or instant coffee, but there really is no international scope to the story.  Even Bloomberg acknowledges at the end of the article “Most of Brazil’s robusta is used within the country.”

Unfortunate for Brazilians, but even there the effect will not be drastic.

Bloomberg, please include more than a footnote on the skyrocketing . . . → Read More: Robusta Coffee Prices Fall… Who Cares

We apologize for a May absense on the site.  Real life caught up with ManhattanRoasts a little, but we are back in June and excited to bring you discussing of iced coffee and coffee ice cream throughout the summer!

Just as a short update on the Roaster’s life, there is a new lady in his life – the Rancilio Silvia with built in PID (temperature control)!  This just arrived recently, so we will let you know how the machine unfolds.

As for the old Starbucks machine, well, she is still in our life, but has moved locations.  As of this morning she has been snuck to a place where we can enjoy fresh espresso all . . . → Read More: Back in June!