Cooking
- Coffee Blending & Peet's Anniversary Blend
To create a recipe you have to know your ingredients and to blend coffee, you have to know your beans. At Peet's Coffee & Tea they don't just taste their coffee once, but three times, once at purchase, once when it ships and...
- Saeco Syntia Focus Espresso Machine Review
The Saeco Syntia Focus espresso machine is the most impressive kitchen appliance I have ever had the pleasure of reviewing. I never thought I would actually be reviewing any kind of coffee maker because while I frequently drink espresso in Italy...
- Interview With Marcus Samuelsson
Chef Marcus Samuelsson is one of the guests coming from out of town for SF Chefs. He'll be here with illy cafe. And I'll be one of the illy cafe social media correspondents, sharing details of SF Chefs on Saturday night and all...
- Starbucks Via Ready Brew Instant Coffee & Giveaway
I got a chance to try "VIA Ready Brew" coffee last week, and perhaps you tried it too over the weekend when Starbucks was offering taste tests in their stores*. It was the best instant coffee I've ever tasted, and it was certainly the most expensive...
- Questions For The Masses
Two questions for my readers: 1. I'd love to hear your thoughts and success/disaster stories about making white chocolate ganache. I've attempted this three or four times...that's three or four recipes; each recipe required multiple tries....
Cooking
Equator Coffee Responds
A few days ago, I posted about The Shot’s assertion that The French Laundry was using mediocre, expensive coffee in lieu of making a good cup.
Brooke McDonnell, the owner and master roaster for Equator Coffee, saw my post and commented in defense of her company. I know not everyone reads the comments, so I thought I should post her statement, unedited except for HTML friendliness, here for you all to read. As I said before, I don’t know anything about coffee, but I’m willing to let people defend themselves and correct misimpressions.
Brooke’s comment:
In response to the espresso critic quoted in this blog, a bit of clarification:
1. Equator coffees & teas does not supply, nor has it ever supplied, the espresso for the French Laundry which comes from Illy. (We supply their drip coffee). As a roaster I appreciate anyone who takes an interest in and promotes the crafting of specialty coffee in all its forms, yet, it is startling to read a review disparaging of Equator in the context of French Laundry espresso for the second time from the same critic.
2. As traditionalists we may have objections to the automatic espresso machines, however, in certain environments, where there are multiple servers, these machines eliminate inconsistencies and improve the execution.
3. Espresso preferences are subjective: Illy is just one style of espresso that when pulled properly has a strong constituency based on its balanced sweetness and moderate acidity. At recent barista competitions the trend was towards very tangy, citrusy, salty origin espresso. This is a big tent subject that leaves plenty of room to promote ones preference and appreciate other styles of espresso.
4. As any roaster knows, the key is always control over the variables that effect espresso, and, as any roaster knows, the same espresso can yield different results at different locations under different hands. The espresso critic's ratings confirm this. Even when there has been on-site training (which we do), the roaster has limited influence over the final espresso translation. Simply put, we cannot compel those on the front lines of retail to have a passion for the process.
5. Regarding the Panama Geisha served at the French Laundry: after visiting the Esmeralda farm, I arranged for one of owners to meet the French Laundry staff and provide background on the coffee varietal and microclimate prior to introducing this coffee. The staff took the time to educate themselves on the agronomy of this coffee farm. They also spent time evaluating different roast styles and brewing methods. I was impressed with their commitment to raise the bar on their brewed coffee program.
- Coffee Blending & Peet's Anniversary Blend
To create a recipe you have to know your ingredients and to blend coffee, you have to know your beans. At Peet's Coffee & Tea they don't just taste their coffee once, but three times, once at purchase, once when it ships and...
- Saeco Syntia Focus Espresso Machine Review
The Saeco Syntia Focus espresso machine is the most impressive kitchen appliance I have ever had the pleasure of reviewing. I never thought I would actually be reviewing any kind of coffee maker because while I frequently drink espresso in Italy...
- Interview With Marcus Samuelsson
Chef Marcus Samuelsson is one of the guests coming from out of town for SF Chefs. He'll be here with illy cafe. And I'll be one of the illy cafe social media correspondents, sharing details of SF Chefs on Saturday night and all...
- Starbucks Via Ready Brew Instant Coffee & Giveaway
I got a chance to try "VIA Ready Brew" coffee last week, and perhaps you tried it too over the weekend when Starbucks was offering taste tests in their stores*. It was the best instant coffee I've ever tasted, and it was certainly the most expensive...
- Questions For The Masses
Two questions for my readers: 1. I'd love to hear your thoughts and success/disaster stories about making white chocolate ganache. I've attempted this three or four times...that's three or four recipes; each recipe required multiple tries....