This is my latest print in an attempt to shine light on some of the common misconceptions that surround espresso. However, this one is questionable. I’ve read many studies that suggest that a shot of espresso has less caffeine than an 8oz cup of drip/pour-over coffee and others that state the opposite, depending on how it’s measured. I tend to think a 1oz shot is going to have significantly less caffeine, does anyone out there know otherwise? Please let me know!

Cool collection of various hot beverage lids. I think I’ve used about half of them, although now I try to avoid coffee from places that would use most of these. One ceramic mug for here please!

via sarcoptiform’s Flickr

Trailhead Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon may embody all things that come to mind when you think of the Pacific Northwest, coffee, bikes, and all the beautiful parks to explore. They’ve worked with Metrofiets to have a custom cargo bike designed and built to carry around large loads of coffee that pretty much embodies their company mantra:

Trailhead Coffee Roasters was created to combine our passions in life: great coffee, being outdoors, strong communities and being good stewards to the earth.

The company gives back to its community locally and globally through Kiva and by providing coffee to bike races and commuter events around town, which probably gives them ample opportunities to take this beauty out for a spin. While I’ve never had their coffee, I’d love to try their Guatemala –”Our latest addition. Three words: Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. Amazing.” Sounds like it!

More photos on Metrofiet’s Flickr

The third and final video from the Intelligentsia series created by Dpt4D. Check out the others about espresso and syphon brewing.

While we’re on the subject of Intelligentsia, a big Congratulations to Michael Phillips, who was crowned the 2010 World Barista Champion last month in London. Phillips lives in Chicago and works at Intelli as the Director of Education, where he oversees the training of all the other fantastic baristas in their ranks.

It’s because of this fine company, the coffee they roast and the baristas who make it, that I love coffee so much. Before I wandered into their Broadway cafe one cold winter day in Chicago, I thought the only good thing about coffee was the caffeine. But the shot pulled for me that afternoon opened my eyes to the amazing world of specialty coffee that I was completely unaware of until then. So thank you, and keep up the fantastic work!

The Clear Cup is just that, a clear to-go cup for your coffee. A very beautiful to-go cup for your coffee. It is making its debut this weekend at the New York International Gift Fair, so I haven’t been able to get my hands on one, but it makes my ceramic “paper cup” look like a PC next to a Mac. A really heavy one at that. While I try to avoid plastic containers in regard to my food, especially hot beverages, this is made with Eastman’s Tritan BPA-free co-polymer. I haven’t used anything made from the material, but it’s the same stuff that Nalgene began using for their water bottles once BPA awareness went mainstream. I’d definitely be willing to try it out and see how my coffee tastes from it.

This was designed and developed by Vizun, the same company who created the Mug Hug, which we gave away in our first (and so far only) contest. The cup was actually designed to use a Mug Hug as its lid, a clever and efficient decision by the company that places multiple products into the hands of customers at the same time.

If you already have a mug you love and just need a lid for it, the Mug Hug is also being offered in two sizes now, in case you have a smaller, less standard size mug.

If you’re in NYC go check out the fair, or go to Vizun for more info.

“Remember the little things.” Sometimes I just feel like shitty diner coffee and a doughnut. Combine that with everyone’s favorite typographic glyph, the ampersand, & you get this! Dan Beckemeyer created a fabulous series of illustrated ampersands using various “food groups.” This, for obvious reasons, was my favorite.

See the rest on Behance

After posting my last print, I decided to make a series of them that address many of the errors I encounter daily in the world of coffee. These are things I find annoying or just plain wrong, yet are continually perpetuated by marketers, and the uninformed. So think of these as Espresso 101 flash cards. There will be a test, so find a partner and study up!

A good friend of mine recently met Tim Duren at the farmer’s market in Tuscaloosa, AL. Tim’s normal fare are Snapdragons (the flowers) but he recently began roasting coffee to sell at the farmer’s market. This is great news for anyone in West Alabama, because it’s a coffee desert otherwise, with the closest quality roaster 70 miles away in Birmingham. So my friend kindly sent two roasts my way to try out, and to sum things up, Tim has a bright future ahead of him. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this new roaster, but Tim’s El Salvador is one of the best cups I’ve had since being in NYC this spring.

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Tim’s Custom Roasted Coffee: Organic El Salvador
Whole Bean
Coker, AL
205-333-1234

Aroma: The ground beans were rich as Fort Knox with a sweet scent of chocolate and a handful of nuts. Once brewed the aromas became more complex and very sweet. Caramel and hints of vanilla were very present and the dry nutty scent was blended into the creamy aroma of peanut butter without the jelly.

Taste: My initial sip was met with a lively brightness, like a spoonful of grapefruit on a quite Saturday morning. The shine of the first sip smoothed into a nutty aftertaste that evolved more and more into dry cocoa as it cooled. A very pleasant and smooth, full body swells from the cup, filling my mouth as a warm marshmallow would after roasting lightly on a camp fire.

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I’m generally not a fan of Colombian coffees, and while this was more enjoyable than most, it was still kind of boring.

Tim’s Custom Roasted Coffee: Colombian Valencia
Whole Bean
Coker, AL
205-333-1234

Aroma: The dry grounds were surprisingly floral with hints of fruit and nuts. After being brewed the aroma was surprisingly dull without providing much of anything aside from a slight hint of orange peel. The cup became very flat and unexciting to me.

Taste: Though the aroma offered no enticement, my first sip was pleasantly accented with a citrus zest followed by slightly salted walnuts washed down with a nice slightly sweet finish. As the cup cooled the brightness was more pronounced and the flavors became much more complex with chocolate and a dry wine finish that rounded out this medium body brew.

When most people think of espresso, and the machines that make it, they think of Italy. However, this senior project by industrial design student Yaniv Berg, adds someplace new to think about. If this is what Israeli designers can do with an espresso machine, I’d love to see what they could do with a Ferrari! With this developing from the same project responsible for the concrete espresso machine at the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, the future of product design for the coffee industry may have a new home in Israel.

via Dezeen thanks to ALC4

I personally find mustaches annoying (mainly the ironic sort) and the trend of putting mustaches on everything is looong overplayed. But these mugs, designed by Peter Bruegger, were executed really well, so I wanted to share them with anyone who may actually enjoy groomed upper lip hair. There are 3 different mugs, two mustache designs on each (front/back). Enjoy!

More info at Peter Bruegger