Catching Up on Coffee

Yes, I know… I’ve been neglecting this blog terribly. So here are a few posts to keep the faithful going. A little old school latte art action, intermingled with some fancy new photography courtesy of the new camera.

brown on black

First off, some new arrivals to my roasting efforts. A bag of Ethiopian Harrar, and a bag of Colombian Valle del Cauca Supremo (which is the photo above).

The harrar is sweet fruity bean, along the lines of the Yirgacheffe, but without as much of the winey aftertaste. The Valle del Cauca is a big full bodied coffee, and they accidently made a very tasty little espresso blend for me.

Liquidity Ethiopian Harrar

Other things to note of late is that my latte art still sucks the big one, although the photos look infinitely prettier.

Latte Art x 2 Back at it

I need to get my Silvia serviced again because I’ve gone and completely stripped the top of the screw that holds the shower screen in. It seems that its made of a pretty soft metal that expands a lot when it gets hot, and so even though I don’t screw it in tight at all, it’s near impossible to get loose after a while. Hence my mauling it with all manner of stubby screwdrivers and swear words. I will be warily treading back to the coffee machine shop I went to last time, to see if they can get the screw out, and give me a new one, without rorting me out of my life savings.

Watch this space for exciting coffee related photo’s soon.

6 thoughts on “Catching Up on Coffee”

  1. Matt – have you seen the book “Coffee Art” from Coffeeschool.com.au. I have a couple of copies in the shop if you’re looking for it. Cheers, Tracy

  2. Hey Tracy, I haven’t seen that book actually, but a quick search for it showed it’s not entirely what I’m after. Thanks anyway… You’ve almost done enough to coax me into your shop… almost :)

    Jules and Ange, thanks for your lovely comments… It’s definitely a learning process, which will hopefully be fruitful eventually…

  3. Hi Matt! Loving your pics and explanation about the latte art!!!
    I’m french and I’ve spent quite a while in NZ (soory I know that relation btw Ausssies and NZ are not the best but anyway…). I’ve discovered the way they make their coffee as yours and love it!! Takeaway coffee doesn’t exist in France and I’m working on creating my own business from this new concept of coffee to go. It’s a really serious project which will work for sure…Anyway I would like to know if you’ve got tips or other videos to show me that I can make a good coffee as well. Here in France the way we make and consume our coffee is such different that I would like to introduce a new concept of coffee. Of course we’ve got Starbuck and Colombus in Paris but to me it’s not a reference. I’m looking for something more traditionnal and authentical. Actually I’ve already bought a trailer (needs some works…) to sell my coffee on in strategic places…
    I will be grateful if you can give me info about the other kind of coffee such as moccachino, macciato, tchai latte…
    Waiting to hear from you
    Sabrina
    Ps: sorry for the writting mistakes

  4. Hi Sabrina,

    It’s cool I’m actually a NZ’er orginally, now living in Australia, so all relations with Australia are acceptable in my book.

    Next, I applaud your approach to making good coffee in France (which city are you in btw?)… in regards to more lessons on making good espresso I can point you to a few places.

    Guide to steaming milk: http://coffeegeek.com/guides/frothingguide
    European Coffee Forum: http://coffeegeek.com/forums/worldregional/europe

    I would advise you not to get too hooked on names like Mochaccino and
    Tchai Latte (which is a spiced tea with steamed milk). Stick to the basics of mastering great espresso shots and well steamed milk and you’ll be doing yourself a great service.

    Also, check back here, and I might just update with some more tips in the not too distant future.

    Thanks for stopping by.
    Matt

Leave a Reply