I am, as I am; whether hideous, or handsome, depends upon who is made judge. Herman Melville Every story needs a villain—and in an industry where the highest achievement many can aspire to is simply not being a villain, at least that measure of success is attainable. But the power to create a villain—power that […]
Corn can’t expect justice from a court composed of chickens. African proverb A comment on my recent post about technological fixes reminded me of something: In the fall of 2019, back before covid-19 or Trump’s first impeachment, Creative Mornings Cleveland invited me to speak on the topic of “Justice.” As a child, my family nickname […]
Driving the train doesn’t set its course. The real job is laying the track. Ed Catmull I don’t tend to write a lot about roasting here, partially because I think my colleagues (Anne Cooper, Scott Rao, Rob Hoos, Candice Madison, Joe Marocco, Matt Perger—to name a few) have said more interesting and helpful things than […]
Alternate title: Slippery Slopes (When Wet) Moisture is the essence of wetness, and wetness is the essence of beauty. Zoolander Remarkably, it’s been a year since I published a post on my experiments with rehydrating coffee (and its brief follow-up). In that time, I’ve been surprised to see that of every strange thing I’ve written, […]
“The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself” FDR I’d been a coffee buyer for barely two years and had just gotten my Q when, in 2014, I was invited to a cupping series in Chicago at Intelligentsia’s Roasting Works organized by Michael Sheridan, then of the Coffeelands Project through Catholic Relief Services. I was […]
What can coffee teach us about baking sourdough?
I’ve described the events of the past few weeks this way: I’m standing in the middle of a frozen lake and notice a crack forming in the ice. How do we get to shore?
Stay safe. Wash your damn hands. Call your senator. Read this post.
What happens when you put green coffee under ultraviolet light?
A practical guide to rehydrating coffee, using maths