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Extracting the ‘God Shot’ – is 25 seconds the correct time for an espresso extraction?

    The picture above left is of Mauro Cipolla, founder of Caffe D’artein Seattle at his wood fired roaster, on the right is Mauro at Coffee Fest in 2006. I’m not surprised if you don’t know who Mauro is, but just know that he is one of the founding fathers of coffee in Seattle and a great influencer in the US coffee culture. Matter of fact, many years ago he won so many awards at the Northwest…

Innovations in the Coffee Industry

Is all change good?

Many years ago the standard espresso grinder used in all coffee bars had three main parts: a hopper to hold beans, a grinding chamber where beans feed from the hopper, and a dosing chamber where ground coffee is held until dispensed by pulling a lever. This basic grinder design, still seen in many coffee bars today, came from the Italian market and Italian espresso grinders,…

Espresso Boilers, Coffee Beer and YOU!

The picture above-left is a cut-away of a super automatic espresso machine boiler that had no water filtration for 2 years (I took the picture…promised the tech I would not reveal brand or company). As you can see, there is a little issue with limescale buildup. And to be honest, this is from an area without a hardness issue as you would expect in certain areas of the country.

The picture…

Anatomy of a Business Sale: How I Sold My Coffee Business and for How Much.

I’d like to get together for a meeting.

Shortly after New Year’s Day 2014 I received an email from a longtime supplier and acquaintance, John VanTongeren. He asked if we could get together for a meeting. “Sure” I responded, “Tell me the time and place and let’s have coffee.” 

I really had no idea what he wanted to talk about. John’s company has been a supplier of nuts, chocolates and more for…

Give the People What They Want!

Italy has over 200,000 espresso bars. The US has 30,000. Taking into account the population difference and extrapolating Italy’s coffee scene onto the US would mean one million US coffeeshops! For every current coffeeshop in the U.S., we would have to add 32 more. Rough numbers, but fairly accurate.

When Howard Shultz brought his vision of the Italian coffeebar to the US he did one key thing…

American Idol’s Randy Jackson Speaks to the Coffee Industry

I love what Randy Jackson (yes, American Idol’s Randy Jackson) said to a season 13 competitor while giving advice on how to improve and better connect with the audience, “Music is a serious thing in here, for you (pointing to his heart), but to the public it’s pure enjoyment!“

It took a second after I heard it to grasp what he said, but as soon as it did I paused my DVR. “That’s it!” I told my…

Is “Luxury Coffee” Full Of Crap? The JP’s Kopi Challenge.

(this is a rough draft post without a full edit – all errors are mine and will be cleaned up in final revision)

I moderate a forum on LinkedIn.com called the Specialty Coffee Retailer. It’s a place geared for coffee people from all over the world to have discussions, network, ask questions and more. Not long ago someone posted a question asking what the forum members thoughts were on Kopi Luwak,…

5 Step Coffeeshop Business Plan

Those who fail to plan, plan to fail…

Or something to that effect, right? Yes, it is true that…

Coffee quality is not the most important aspect of running a successful coffee shop.