Ah, the perfect cup of coffee. Once we’ve had it, we spend our lives trying to find it again. There are so many brewers and brewing methods, grinders, not to mention all the beans from around the world. I’m Kevin Sinnott and I’ve spent my life as a passionate prosumer. I’ve never gone to the dark side and started my own coffee company. Why? Because I’ve had the opportunity to get to know just about everyone in the business. I’ve never had the desire to become one of their competitors and because of this I have the industry’s trust. The top coffee players talk to me and continue to share their extensive knowledge base for which I’m grateful.
I want to share everything I’ve learned about the bean and brewing with you the passionate coffee drinker. At CoffeeCon you will get to meet the industry leaders, top coffee bloggers, learn the best brewing techniques, becoming an expert in all brewing methods. In fact after attending the classes you will get a Coffee Companion Certification recognizing you as a Certified Coffeeologist.
You will sample coffee from a wide variety cafes and roasters. You will be introduced to new interesting coffeemakers and some not yet been released. Want to know what Fair-Trade or organic labels mean? You’ll know after attending this event. It will transform you! During the coming weeks watch this space as we grow CoffeeCon into the coffee event of the year.
I want to hear from you in designing this event. You and I are the consumers and drivers of this industry. This will be a two-way dialog as coffee drinkers are the ultimate experiencers of the beverage. The coffee industry is waited to hear from us. The event is being held at the ultramodern IBEW building right off the Reagan/88 Tollway in Warrenville, IL.
Space is limited and this event will fill-up quickly so register to attend now.
Watch this space in the coming weeks as new information, videos and details emerge.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
You should consider putting on CoffeeCon2103 in Denver, Colorado. People here would pay to attend this event and we have a plethora of amazing coffee roasters in the Rocky Mountains. Just a thought, the Mile High city would be a great location…!
Hi Lindsay, my first experience with a coffee roaster was in Denver. He told me his coffee was inherently better because of the climate. I know I enjoyed visiting and his coffee was outstanding as are several others. Thanks for the suggestion. Denver goes on the list near the top.
Wholeheartedly agree, and I think you’ll see a lot of people agree with you as well.I can say, hwveoer, that from a quality standpoint, the push towards single cup brewing is that the onus is on the barista to pay close attention to all steps of the process, and to keep the coffee freshly brewed.Batch brewing breaks down when little attention is paid to the process, the barista doesn’t understand the whole process, and the coffee sits for too long. In Sweden, the better cups of coffee I had were from small batch brew systems, and one of the arguments for that was that labor was expensive, too expensive to train and have people brew by the cup exclusively or at all. I also recently did a training where the Fetco 2042 I dialed in had a really high consistency and quality of brew as the the pour over brews I was training people on. However, I can almost guarantee that after about 20-25 minutes, that Fetco brew is going to start turning pretty rapidly. The trick, then, is to highlight the qualities of both — the process of coffee brewing and the push to consistently brew freshly via single cup pour-over, and the overall consistency and quality of the batch brew. Too often I feel that one or the other is ignored, but an understanding of both is integral to the overall understanding about how coffee is brewed.-Jesse
Good points Jesse. In recent times, large capacity brewing has become adept at creating excellent coffee. The trouble is, there is no current way of maintaining that quality for more than a few minutes. I apologize to thermal carafe manufacturers for my directness and encourage them to take me on as I’m talking from taste experience not science. But, the single-cup category has been underserved as well. The Keurig, Tassimo and Nespresso machines are very compromised for convenience. Manual pourovers, which are positively therapeutic when we have time and focus to use them correctly, cannot alone satisfy this category. Top automated small-batch brewing must be achievable and available in the age of iPhones. Enter Trifecta and (hopefully) others where the coffee hobbyist can have a home entertainment device capable of sharing the coffee-foodie’s good taste with friends without straining the social experience. Even I have to have a conversation uninterrupted by brewing once in a while. How about you?
Now now mr Shafer The french press does make a great cup and many pfreer it to the syphon, but not me! There are about 2 oz of water that remains in the bottom chamber, but this is a small amount compared to the 40 that are syphoned into the upper bowl. The syphon pot does not create a watery cup, that I can assure you! My favorite method is espresso, but the vac pot is my favorite non-espresso way. To each his own, and that is a great thing about coffee!
BEST coffee maker ever!out of 5 starsI was happy to find the model made in Portugal (read good tihngs about it) on the internet and I just received it today. This has got to be the BEST coffee maker I have ever owned (and I’ve had a lot of them including 3 yes, THREE Cuisinarts) that I was not happy with. After all of my bad experiences, I did a lot of research before making this purchase. The bad reviews that are out there had me plenty worried but I couldn’t find anything else better for my purposes. I even looked into the Technivorm but the lack of programmability (and the very high price although had it not been for other considerations, the price might not have been an obstacle) ended that idea right away. Of course, I can’t speak from long-term experience but some benefits are already very clear to me. First of all, I can’t understand how anyone could not see the water level when filling the coffee maker. Yes, the fill gauge is on the side but the markings face the front and there is a very visible red ball that shows you how much you have filled the water reservoir. The way everything is situated, my hand never blocks this from view and I am right handed. The markings are a bit small and at my age of 62, I do use my reading glasses to make sure I’m doing it right, although I could probably get away without them (just want to be on the safe side). This is actually the easiest to fill coffee maker I have had in recent times. It doesn’t bother me that the water reservoir is not removeable, as I always use a pitcher to fill my coffee makers anyway. This also eliminates the possibility of dropping the water reservoir on my way to or back from the sink. If I had to drop anything, a plastic pitcher would certainly be preferable.So far, I have run the coffee maker three times, two with only water. When I was ready to make coffee, I did pre-warm the carafe with hot water. Well, when the coffee was finished, I found it too hot to drink! And after FOUR AND 1/2 HOURS, it was still at a drinkable temperature with steam coming out of the spout when I poured it. And no burned taste (that’s exactly why I wanted a thermal carafe coffee maker).I really have no complaints about the carafe but I will have to get used to opening and closing the top when I get my coffee. It may not pour as fast as a glass carafe, but I have had thermal carafes that poured even slower. So far, it has poured very neatly with no dripping. And it did not overflow. I think you must read the instructions very carefully or there could be a problem, but it’s not in the least complicated. When placing the thermal carafe in preparation for brewing, the lid has to be CLOSED and the carafe must be EMPTY. As others have mentioned, there is a black dot on a black top (for positioning the top properly) but I had no trouble seeing it. However, it would be easier to see if it were some other color, such as red or white. I was even thinking of putting a tiny dab on nail polish on it, just so my husband could see it better.I have used the same amount of coffee as in my other coffee makers and the result was delicious, hot coffee not weak at all.Setting the clock and programming are nearly intuitive, with instructions barely needed.I can see that cleaning will be a breeze, as my hand is small enough to get inside the carafe. But I have very small hands, so others may need a bottle brush. I have found a cleanser called Bar Keepers Friend does an excellent job in removing coffee oil residue under such circumstances (I could never get my hand inside my Cuisinarts, so I had to find a way to clean them).I like the idea of a built-in water filter but I may not need it, as I have a water filter on my sink faucet.And, lastly, it looks great in the kitchen! I didn’t purchase it for looks but rather for functionality, but the attractive appearance is a wonderful bonus. This should earn you more than a few compliments from friends and family!Update 3/21/10 I have now tried the pause function (so you can get a cup while your pot is still brewing) and it worked perfectly without one single drip.I also re-read the manual and since it mentions that if you let your water stay in the reservoir overnight (even if using filtered water), you should use the filter, I have ordered the replacement filters on Amazon. This coffee maker makes such great coffee that I don’t want anything to ruin it! I absolutely love the idea that there is a green light that starts flashing when the filter needs replacing, as I always forget when the internal filter should be replaced on my other machine (Breville/Keurig single cup). However, on that one, there is an indicator inside the tank that you set when you replace the filter. But it is not that convenient and you have to remove the tank to see it.I also should have mentioned that I timed how long it took to brew an entire pot. It took only 6 minutes plus a 2 minute waiting time (I imagine to allow the filter to drain) after it finished brewing, for a total of 8 minutes. Amazing!I should also tell you that I prefer to use the #4 cone paper filter as opposed to the permanent gold filter. It makes clean-up so much easier and the paper filter lets very little sediment/silt through. The filter holder is designed in such a way that there is no little handle that could catch on the used filter when you put it in the trash. I have had coffee makers where this has happened and caused a big mess of coffee grinds that wound up on the floor.What I find a bit unusual is the way the grinds look after the coffee has brewed. They are so much neater than I’m used to with no stray grinds anywhere. However, there are no dry spots and they are completely saturated. Also, I have used the 3 to 5 cup setting and when using a proportionate amount of coffee, the coffee comes out much stronger than when brewing a full pot. I think I will reduce the amount of grinds a bit the next time I try this.Enjoy!
, I decided to give the Cuisinart a try eabcuse it was cheaper. I’ve had this coffeemaker for two weeks and I’m already shopping for a replacement. First of all, it uses flat-bottom basket style coffee filters (Mr. Coffee-type filters), not the cone-style filters that are well known to produce better coffee. This info was not in any of the online descriptions or reviews. Secondly, it does not have a grinder not like the Capresso of Krups machines. Instead, it has a rotary blade chopper. Again, this info did not show up in any of the online descriptions or reviews. A blade chopper is not as good as a burr grinder, but you can still make a decent pot of coffee with a blade chopper as long as you are skillful in using it. With the Cuisinart, though, you have no control of the chopper so your skill or lack thereof is immaterial. Read on. To make a pot, put a fresh filter into the basket and pour water into the reservoir. Easy and straightforward. Next, lift the coffee chopper from the top of the machine, pry open the top with a fingernail then add the correct amount of beans to the chopper. This means you have to measure the beans for every pot. With both Krups and Capresso grind and brew machines, you add beans in bulk to the hopper (no measuring) then you instruct the machine how much coffee to grind for each pot much simpler. Then close the lid and place the chopper in the machine. Sounds simple, but I can’t do it without having to go get my reading glasses. That’s eabcuse there’s a small round piece that needs to fit over a pin-type plunger and it just doesn’t want to fit unless you get it just right. Next you press the start button and what happens is the blades of the chopper start chopping the beans and at the same time centrifugal force makes all the beans whirl around inside the chopper. Part of the chopper wall consists of a perforated metal screen. As soon as a piece of bean is small enough to squeeze thru this screen, it does, and goes into the chute that leads to the basket. If this screen had a finer mesh, the coffee would just clog it up. So the mesh is fairly course and as a result you have coarse grounds. Coarse grounds in a Mr. Coffee-style flat basket. Bad, bad, bad. With both Krups and Capresso, you can choose a fine or coarse grind or anything in between. Then the water is heated, flows into the basket, and drips into the pot. Steam fills the inside of the machine including the inside of the chopper where it turns any remaining coffee grounds (dust) into mud. As a result, the chopper gets gummed up with coffee remains. This is not a big deal, but it adds another step to the care and feeding of this machine eabcuse you have to clean the chopper in the sink after 3 or 4 pots. Are there any pluses? Yes. The pot has a good dripless spout. And the hot plate keeps the coffee in the pot at a good temperature. Also, you don’t have to use the built-in chopper. You can grind your owns beans, put them in the basket, then brew. But that kind of defeats the purpose of having a grind and brew coffeemaker, doesn’t it? What you have then is a machine that not only makes rather ordinary coffee, it’s also less convenient to use than its two main competitors eabcuse of the measuring of the beans and the cleaning of the chopper. Of course, it’s cheaper than the competitors. Once again the old adage you get what you pay for holds true.
Hi there! All excellent ponits! This video was made when I just began using the syphon brewing method, and I have since refined my technique to address all of these issues. I now wait until the water enters the upper chamber before adding the freshly ground coffee. I do place the stem of the upper chamber into the lower one, but only seal it when the water reaches 195 degrees. After the brewing time is complete, I put the brewer onto a raised cooling rack and blow on the lower pot.