Software History

If you talk to a coffee professional about how they can get the most out of their coffee, a common recommendation you will hear is to have the right grinder. Grinders impact one's ability to extract the flavours out of the coffee they have. When I first started drinking speciality coffee, I had a Hario Mini Mill. I made good coffee but I knew there was better. I could get much better filter coffee in a speciality coffee shop than I could at home. When I made a leap to the Baratza Encore, I realised a better grinder does indeed improve the taste of your coffee (as long as your technique is right).

Back when I was working on my thermal printer project, I decided to build a random Aeropress recipe generator. The idea was that I would get a new Aeropress recipe in print every morning so that I could push myself when I was brewing. Truthfully, I didn't use the feature much because I was quite stubborn about using recipes I had refined through practice. However, I like the idea. Embracing randomness pushes one out of their comfort zone.

World Aeropress Championships are renowned in the coffee community for being a fun, light-hearted competition, but with a serious side too. Competitors aim to brew the best cup of Aeropress coffee they can. Aeropress championships are open to anyone, from beginners who have never used an Aeropress before (as you will see in the interview!) to seasoned coffee brewers.

This post is not a recipe, rather a record of my first (and somewhat failed) go at making an affogato, with my lessons along the way.

Note: I wrote this article a few days ago, before more extensive experiments with the device.

I recently tried to brew an Aeropress using a recipe based on French press brewing. I decided to let coarse coffee grounds brew for four minutes like I would with a French press. Then, I affixed the filter cap to the Aeropress, flipped the device, and pressed down the plunger. I was curious whether the Aeropress is a good substitute for the French press when brewing for one person.

I ordered a Kalita Wave on Christmas Day, as well as a gooseneck kettle and the accompanying filters for the Wave. I have been brewing with the Aeropress, a hybrid immersion brewer, for months, and I wanted a change. I know there is a wide range of pour-over options and I wanted to start to dip my toe into one. I chose the Kalita Wave for its design. Because the Wave has a flat bed, the device is less susceptible to clogging to due fines migration. This is when fines flow to the bottom of the filter and plug up the holes—only 10-20 microns large in filter paper—thus reducing the flow of water.

I've brewed two cups of coffee with a set of scales. On my first cup, I tried to measure the coffee after I had ground it. This turned out to be a mistake.

Ukiyo Koffie, a business that sells coffee from a bicycle cart, caught my eye on Instagram. Aside from the aesthetic of the page, I was intrigued by the idea of serving coffee from a mobile bike you could take anywhere.

While I have been brewing with pour-over devices for over a month, I have not forgotten about my Aeropress, the first coffee brewing device I purchased. The Aeropress introduced me to the world of brewing coffee at home and as I used the device I found myself interested in learning more about how to improve my cup.

I have written in the past about my experiment using a French press grind on the Aeropress. Recently, I've been experimenting with coarser grinds. Not as coarse as a French press, but a bit coarser than usual. I am now convinced a grind closer to the one I use for my Kalita Wave produces a better brew than the traditional

I'm currently drinking an unknown coffee from my local coffee shop. I did not ask what coffee beans they use when I asked if they could sell me a small supply to tide my over until my next shipment arrived. I decided to use this as an opportunity to refine my tasting skills.

Earlier this week, I received a package containing some coffee. Unlike other coffee deliveries I have received, this one contained two bags of the same coffee. But, the end product was not the same. Both coffees had been roasted to different degrees, allowing me to get an insight into how roast influences the taste of a bean. One bean was roasted lighter—more traditional for speciality coffee—and another was labelled

Over the last few weeks, I have been brewing some cold coffee at home. In my research, I have come across three different types of cold coffee: iced, iced drip, and cold brew. I had a few questions about cold coffee so I decided to reach out to PuckPuck, who make a slow iced drip coffee adapter for the Aeropress. James, who currently runs PuckPuck, got back to me and we had a chat about cold brew coffee, iced drip coffee, the PuckPuck, and more. Our chat is below. I hope you enjoy our discussion.

My cleaning routine for the Aeropress used to look like this:

One of the (many) reasons I love using the Aeropress is that there are so many ways you can brew coffee with the Aeropress. There is not a single

Over the last few days, I have went back to brewing filter coffee using my usual brewing devices. And I also brewed an Aeropress at the local park, which was a fun activity. I decided to go back to filter brewing because after a lot of trial and error I was not able to get to an espresso shot that I was particularly proud of using the Flair Espresso brewing device. I tried different doses and grind sizes, developed a consistent distribution technique, but although my shots got better I got to a point where I had tried to many variables that I could not avoid the elephant in the room: my grinder.

In hindsight, I have not been brewing my best cups of coffee lately. I noticed this when I brewed a cup of coffee with my new grinder. When I pushed my Aeropress down to decant the coffee into my mug, I noticed the plunger was much easier to push down. The plunger did not push too quickly; it felt just right.

Based in Glasgow, Dear Green has been roasting coffee in Glasgow for ten years. Lisa Lawson, the founder of Dear Green, takes on many roles to make sure that Dear Green delivers a consistent quality of coffee. I spoke with Lisa over email to learn more about how Dear Green roasts coffee. We discussed everything from equipment to what skills you need to be a successful coffee roaster. You can read our chat below.

I bought an Aeropress months ago. It seems like it's been part of my daily routine forever. I brew one cup of coffee in the morning and one in mid-afternoon. I've written about my Aeropress extensively on my website. I've published the recipe I try to follow for anyone who is interested in learning about how I brew coffee.

A few weeks ago, I discovered Bean Thinking, a blog devoted to the intersection of science and coffee. Karen, the owner of Bean Thinking, has conducted various experiments that describe effects we can see in a cup of coffee. In this interview, I talk with Karen about how she plans and executes experiments and the philosophy behind her blog.

A few days ago, I asked myself the question whether it was possible to brew a French press-style coffee in an Aeropress. I thought this would be possible because both the French press and the Aeropress are immersion brewers. Water is soaked in grounds and left to steep for a period of time. Then, the grounds are separated from the coffee. A French press does not do as good a job at removing the grounds as an Aeropress—this is on account of the size of the holes in a French press metal filter—and so the cup profiles are a bit different.

It's almost essential that you start brewing coffee from a humble beginning. I don't have an origin story where I sat drinking bitter diner coffee into the early hours of the morning. I drank instant coffee for a while but I gave up on it. Instant coffee was good because it felt like it packed a punch. I felt a bit more adult drinking instant coffee than tea, which I had been allowed to drink for a long while before coffee.

To advance my knowledge of coffee, I have turned to books. There are plenty of blogs online devoted to coffee and it was blog posts and videos that helped me learn the basics of home brewing. But I found myself spending a lot of time looking for articles to read on home brewing and I thought there may be a better way for me to learn. I discovered that hundreds of books have been written about brewing coffee, the history of coffee, and cafes.

I have been using the inverted Aeropress method for months. Recently, I tried out the regular method. The last time I used this method was when I first got started using the Aeropress.

Most of the brewing recipes I have read for the Chemex recommend brewing enough coffee for two cups. The Chemex is suited for brewing multiple cups, so I understand why so many recipes outline how to brew two or more cups. But I like to drink one cup of coffee at a time. If I want another cup, I'll brew one later on. The only time I brew multiple cups of coffee is if I am making a brew for a member of my household.

The Coffee Life was the first coffee blog I read. This was the blog that introduced me to the term

Earlier in the year, I found a new interest in blogs. Blogs are a home where the author controls both the content they create and the medium through which their content is served. It is this premise which inspired me to create this blog about coffee. I like writing about coffee and I find that a blog is a good place to share my thoughts on coffee. I write about the interesting observations I make as well as what I am learning.

I have written reviews for the last few coffee books I have read. I've enjoyed reflecting on what parts of a book I like. Writing reviews has pushed me to recall some of the knowledge I've read about in each book. So, I'm going to continue writing these reviews.

Laboratorio Espresso, which opened in October 2013, has won many coffee shop awards. I have been interested in this cafe after following them on Instagram for a while and I decided to reach out to learn a bit more about the cafe and what goes on behind the scenes. Both founders, Scot and Scott, kindly took time to respond to my questions. Their answers are below.