Coffee facts, health, science, and general guides
Disclosure: Some links in this article are affiliate links. If you buy through our links we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. See our Affiliate Disclosure for full details. This does not affect our recommendations. Most coffee packaging uses roast level as its primary identity. But the terms light, medium, … Read more
You can buy the best specialty coffee beans in the world and ruin them in a week through poor storage. The flavour compounds that make a fresh Ethiopian Yirgacheffe taste like blueberry and jasmine are volatile they evaporate, oxidise, and absorb moisture at room temperature if not properly protected. Most people store coffee incorrectly without … Read more
Coffee grown in Ethiopia tastes different from coffee grown in Colombia. Coffee from the Yirgacheffe region of Ethiopia tastes different from coffee grown in the Harrar region of the same country. These differences are not subtle. A trained palate can identify a Kenyan coffee from a Colombian one in a blind tasting almost every time. … Read more
If you need the bathroom within 20 minutes of your morning coffee, you are not imagining it and you are not alone. A 1990 study published in the medical journal Gut surveyed 99 healthy volunteers and found that 29% reported an urge to defecate after drinking coffee. The same study measured actual colon activity and … Read more
The word specialty is used freely in coffee marketing. Almost every bag on a supermarket shelf claims some form of premium quality. But specialty coffee has a precise definition, set by the Specialty Coffee Association, and it is more specific than most buyers realise. Specialty coffee is coffee that scores 80 points or more out … Read more
The coffee to water ratio is the single most controllable variable in home coffee brewing. Grind size requires a quality grinder. Water temperature requires a thermometer or a smart kettle. Bean freshness depends on your supplier. But the ratio between coffee and water requires nothing more than a kitchen scale and consistent measurement. Getting this … Read more
Most people significantly underestimate the caffeine in their cold brew and overestimate the caffeine in their espresso. A single espresso shot contains 63 mg of caffeine. A standard 12oz glass of cold brew contains 150 to 250 mg. If you have been choosing espresso over drip coffee to reduce your caffeine intake, you have been … Read more
Sour espresso is the most common problem home baristas encounter and it has one root cause in almost every case: under-extraction. Understanding what under-extraction is, why it happens, and which specific variable in your setup is causing it turns this from a frustrating mystery into a solvable problem. This guide covers the seven most common … Read more