The Coffee Compass Archives

05 Sep 2018

Mastering Roasting Concepts With Joe Marrocco

Mastering Roasting Concepts With Joe Marrocco by Michael

There are few jobs in the coffee industry as romantic or mysterious as roaster. Traditionally, the tradecraft of the making-coffee-darker arts has been a closely guarded secret, passed on from roaster to roaster in old fashioned apprenticeships. Other than a couple of good books, there’s not many resources available to aspiring novice roasters. Joe Marrocco…

Mastering Roasting Concepts With Joe Marrocco was first posted by Michael on The Coffee Compass, The Coffee Compass – Your Guide for Craft Coffee

03 Sep 2018

34 Countries, 20,000 Kilometers, One Bicycle: An Interview with Barista Gavyn Stroh

34 Countries, 20,000 Kilometers, One Bicycle: An Interview with Barista Gavyn Stroh by Michael

We love hearing from our readers, especially if they’re passing through one of the cities our blogging team is based (Louisville, San Francisco, and Istanbul). It was in the latter we met up with Canadian barista Gavyn Stroh, sharing a pour-over at Coffee Department in Balat. Istanbul is one of the world’s great travel hubs,…

34 Countries, 20,000 Kilometers, One Bicycle: An Interview with Barista Gavyn Stroh was first posted by Michael on The Coffee Compass, The Coffee Compass – Your Guide for Craft Coffee

29 Aug 2018

Two Great Places to Drink Coffee in Izmir, Turkey

Two Great Places to Drink Coffee in Izmir, Turkey by Michael

Known as Smyrna in Ancient Greece, Izmir is Turkey’s third largest city, and perhaps its most progressive. The city surrounds a natural harbor, which means you’re never far from the Aegean Sea. With beautiful parks that line the coastline and a relatively modest population of 3 million, it feels relaxed and liveable to one visiting…

Two Great Places to Drink Coffee in Izmir, Turkey was first posted by Michael on The Coffee Compass, The Coffee Compass – Your Guide for Craft Coffee

28 Aug 2018

The Alchemist Pours Black Gold in Wilton Manors, Florida

The Alchemist Pours Black Gold in Wilton Manors, Florida by Guest

We spend our lives searching for our destiny, while the universe conspires to help us achieve it. At least, this is the way of the world in Paulo Coelho’s internationally bestselling book The Alchemist. Such a reminder is artfully depicted on the wall of an enchanting cafe which shares its namesake with the very book…

The Alchemist Pours Black Gold in Wilton Manors, Florida was first posted by Guest on The Coffee Compass, The Coffee Compass – Your Guide for Craft Coffee

20 Aug 2018

What is Coffee Processing and How Does it Affect Flavor?

What is Coffee Processing and How Does it Affect Flavor? by Michael

Coffee is one of the few fruits grown only for its seeds. But this presents coffee producers with a challenge, as the cherries must be processed– separated from the fruit, dried, and milled — before being exported. But processing is more than an obligatory step after harvesting: the methods the coffee producer uses has an…

What is Coffee Processing and How Does it Affect Flavor? was first posted by Michael on The Coffee Compass, The Coffee Compass – Your Guide for Craft Coffee

13 Aug 2018

Flatlands Coffee Brings Specialty to America’s Heartland

Flatlands Coffee Brings Specialty to America’s Heartland by Michael

Stretching from the Canadian border all the way to Fort Meyers, Florida, I-75 is the one of America’s great highways, the second longest north-south interstate. Like most Americans who’ve lived in the Midwest or Upper South, I’ve driven long sections of it, though perhaps none more monotonous than the stretch connecting Cincinnati to Detroit. After…

Flatlands Coffee Brings Specialty to America’s Heartland was first posted by Michael on The Coffee Compass, The Coffee Compass – Your Guide for Craft Coffee

07 Aug 2018

Retrograde Coffee Moves Nashville’s Coffee Scene Forward

Retrograde Coffee Moves Nashville’s Coffee Scene Forward by Kathleen Hartsfield Spicer

Driving along Dickerson Pike in East Nashville, you can’t miss the brightly colored mural that has been added to the landscape. Take a closer look, and you’ll see the gold lettering and green interior of Retrograde Coffee. After a swift ninety day building period, the café opened on July 14. Before Retrograde’s opening, there wasn’t…

Retrograde Coffee Moves Nashville’s Coffee Scene Forward was first posted by Kathleen Hartsfield Spicer on The Coffee Compass, The Coffee Compass – Your Guide for Craft Coffee

31 Jul 2018

The Baratza Forte: The Holy Grail of Home Grinders

The Baratza Forte: The Holy Grail of Home Grinders by Michael

When it comes to home coffee grinders, there is one Holy Grail. The white whale we’ve been chasing for years. One grinder to rule them all, and in the dark roast bind them. That coffee grinder, of course, is the Baratza Forté. With a touch screen, built-in scale, micro-adjust, and particle size distribution that puts…

The Baratza Forte: The Holy Grail of Home Grinders was first posted by Michael on The Coffee Compass, The Coffee Compass – Your Guide for Craft Coffee

18 Jul 2018

Opinion: It’s Panama Geisha, not Gesha

Opinion: It’s Panama Geisha, not Gesha by Michael

The incredible story of how a few coffee seeds from Southwestern Ethiopia found their way to Panama and subsequently changed the entire coffee industry is well known, but worth repeating. The Slurp Heard Round the World In the early 2000s, Hacienda La Esmeralda, like practically every other coffee farm in the world, blended most of…

Opinion: It’s Panama Geisha, not Gesha was first posted by Michael on The Coffee Compass, The Coffee Compass – Your Guide for Craft Coffee

06 Jul 2018

Book Review: Where the Wild Coffee Grows by Jeff Koehler

Book Review: Where the Wild Coffee Grows by Jeff Koehler by Michael

Almost every specialty coffee lover, whether professional or enthusiast, can remember the cup that changed everything. Coffee is just coffee, until you encounter berries, flowers, and a multitude of other sensory experiences you never expected from your morning cup. Talking with other coffee lovers, I’ve found, more often than not, that life-changing cup came from…

Book Review: Where the Wild Coffee Grows by Jeff Koehler was first posted by Michael on The Coffee Compass, The Coffee Compass – Your Guide for Craft Coffee