CaffiNation's Cruft

On tonight’s show, we lean into the world of Lego and bring back a classic from my childhood, BookIt. We ‘re breaking down some of the truly chilling trends in cyber security and discuss the recent changes to grading practices at Harvard. You know, normal stuff. As always we will dive into the world of Anime, Manga, Comics and Geeky cartoons. What can you do with a completely unrelated lego set?…

This is new, my daughter got a suggestion for a local place to try from a friend who knows we travel around to local spots. We usually pick a random cafe, and try to rotate the area we visit. Enter Ellie and Bird Coffee Bar. From the moment we walked in the door at this spot we felt welcome. This is a true neighborhood spot, nestled in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia. In the past…

Whenever my wife and I travel of late we have been making it a point to stop at local coffee shops. We do this both to support the local coffee shops, and because you never know what gem you will find. Also a not insignificant part of this is my coffee addiction. A recent weekend trip to the Jersey Shore to see some friends introduced us to today’s subject the Bravado Coffee Cafe, located in the…

On tonight’s show, we dig back into the wonderful world of AI, because everything has AI in it now—from the way your favorite beverage is formulated to the apps managing your privacy. We’re calling this one ‘Robots in Disguise’ because we aren’t just celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Transformers; we’re looking at the ‘invisible’ tech affecting our lives, like the massive Linux…

A little while back your intrepid coffee travelers went and visited a new coffee shop in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia, called Haraz Coffee House. This is one of two locations in Philadelphia, and serves Yemeni style coffee and food. I hesitate to call it this but the real innovation in the opening of this coffee house is that it is open till 10pm, providing an alcohol free space for…

Back to show you all the fun stuff we found. We’re considering this the alternate programming for the Oscars, except this is happening at the same time to listen to later. Enjoy at your own pace. A bit rambling but we get the job done. On tonight’s show, we talk about geeky TV, AI, aquatic mammals and of course ice cream. What more could you want! Support the Show! Our show is hosted…

I love trying out new places. Since we hadn’t hit a coffee shop up in a while and had to run an errand in a different direction we decided to look for local flavor. Enter the Sumatra Café, at the corner of Glenside Ave and Greenwood Ave in Wyncote PA. It’s a nice, clean, and well decorated cafe. With friendly staff, especially Terry behind the counter when we walked in. As I usually do, I got a…

Traveling around and trying new coffee spots is always fun. Sometimes we visit places in or back yard other times we visit coffee shops as we journey around. I like trying the same thing in every place to see how they measure up to each other. Of late I have been getting a cold brew, since it’s summer time and adding a separate espresso, my daughter tries different beverages depending on what…

There are plenty of ways to make coffee, from the simple cowboy coffee to expensive super automatic espresso machines. We have Aeropress, ibriki, mokapot, French press, pour over, drip, espresso and so many more. But you know what the old saying says… “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” Enter a new coffee machine called the Mokapod. A fusion of interesting…

The coffee flavor wheel is a visual representation of the various taste profiles that coffee can exhibit. It helps to organize and understand the complex nuances of coffee flavors. While there are many variations of the coffee flavor wheel, they generally include a central core of neutral flavors and then radiate outwards to more specific taste profiles. This page is a clean example of the full…

Tucked away on Mill St in Bristol PA is Calm Waters coffee roaster. A lovely little cafe that serves their own roasted coffee. The roaster is off site but near by. I stopped in with my family to sample some of their faire. The shop was nice and clean, the staff was friendly and the coffee tasty. Not much more you can ask for. As is my usual go to I had a cold brew and an espresso. I also sampled…

Every year we as coffee drinkers help produce 22 billion pounds of used coffee grounds. Most of that waste ends up in landfills releasing methane and other greenhouse gasses. I personally add the used ground to my garden and indoor plants but that only takes care of so much. The rest goes in the trash. Not the best option. Scientists are working on killing two birds with one stone, cement. You…

Running through the options available in the grocery store lately. I only buy whole bean coffee so I’m always looking for good value. This week we have Peet’s Coffee, big bang medium roast. It was on sale for 6.99, which is a deal but unfortunately it was even smaller than the new normal off 12 ounces down to 10.9. not a fan of this trend. The place I usually buy my good coffee from, Ocean City…