Cinnamongate

Cinnamongate

“It tastes exactly like a cinnamon bun. You have to try it.” Coffees often don’t entirely live up to their description, but this was different — a coffee with an instantly recognisable flavour of warm, sweet, cinnamon, like nothing I’d tasted before. I had joined the...
Why Do Espresso Shots Run Faster?

Why Do Espresso Shots Run Faster?

Why do espresso shots run faster when I use super fresh coffee? It is a truth universally acknowledged that the gases trapped in fresh coffee create bubbles in espresso, which slows down the flow and reduces extraction. This explains why shots from older coffee run...
If a Coffee Doesn’t Form a Crust In a Cupping…

If a Coffee Doesn’t Form a Crust In a Cupping…

Does this mean it’s underdeveloped? Anyone who’s cupped very light roasted coffee, whether from a Nordic-style roaster, or perhaps from a sample roast, will have experienced this: it sometimes doesn’t form a crust in a cupping. When this happens on the cupping table,...
Sugars in Natural Processing

Sugars in Natural Processing

In natural processing, do sugars travel from the mucilage into the bean? Natural processed coffees are typically sweeter and more full-bodied than washed coffees, and often have distinctive fruity flavours. It seems intuitive that the sweetness, body, and...
Fluidised Beds

Fluidised Beds

In our latest poll on the BH Facebook Group, you asked us to check this out: ‘If flow goes in much faster than it comes out, then you have the potential to create a fluidised bed. Where does that leave espresso?’ Here’s what we found out … This...