Archives for July 2017

Can-Do Attitude: Matchless Coffee Soda Launches New Kickstarter

July 27, 2017 By Michael 1 Comment

A couple of years ago I popped into one of my favorite Nashville cafés and ordered a beverage that I’ve since concluded might be the perfect iced coffee: the Matchless Coffee Soda. It was bright, effervescent, slightly sweet, and refreshing. I caught up with Matchless Coffee Soda’s inventor, Nathanael Mehrens, as he prepares to launch a Kickstarter campaign to take his coffee soda to the masses.

So what’s your elevator pitch? What is Matchless Coffee Soda?

Matchless Coffee Soda is a locally roasted, flash-chilled coffee, lightly sweetened and carbonated to sublimity. Think bright, fizzy, refreshing iced coffee.

Obviously, a lot of your process is proprietary, but can you give us any hints how you make Matchless? How is it different from those nitro cold brews that are so popular right now?

It’s actually very different for a few reasons. …

Cafe Review: Bespoke Coffee in Wilmington, NC

July 23, 2017 By Michael 3 Comments

It’s hard to think of a television show that I never watched that defined my childhood more than Dawson’s Creek. As diehard fans of the show probably already know, the ostensibly idyllic small coastal town the show was filmed in was none other than Wilmington, North Carolina- and for good reason. The small port city boasts a rare combination of historic architecture, a beautiful riverfront, and proximity to some of the East Coast’s best beaches. Think of it as an under-the-radar Charleston or Savannah.

But until recently the town was missing one seminal element: a good coffee shop. In fact, until recently I was quite confident the best cup of coffee in town was a bottle of Slingshot cold brew at Whole Foods. Thankfully, if James Van Der Beek were to visit today, he would be able to get a really great cup of coffee at Bespoke Coffee and Dry Goods in Downtown Wilmington.

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The Only Iced Coffee Maker You’ll Ever Need

July 15, 2017 By Michael 4 Comments

Let’s be honest, iced coffee is usually disappointing. Sure, enough cream and sugar makes anything tolerable, but iced coffee often lacks the sweetness and complexity we expect from a really great coffee. The disappointment transcends categories.

The Problem

Iced coffee typically falls into one of three camps: cold brew, iced Americano, and Japanese iced coffee. For the purpose of home brewing, we can rule out iced Americanos. There are some solid consumer espresso machines on the market, but for most coffee nerds home espresso remains a dream. (And to be perfectly honest, even the best iced Americanos we’ve tasted have a certain aftertaste we just can’t shake.) Cold brew, perhaps the most divisive beverage in specialty coffee, is easy to make, but lacks the refreshing acidity most specialty coffee consumers crave. Japanese iced coffee, made by brewing double strength hot coffee over ice, is high in acidity, but the lower extraction lacks the complex sweetness of the best cups of coffee.

Is it even possible to enjoy an iced coffee that has the same complexity as the best cups of hot coffee? Until recently, many coffee professionals would have said no. Aside from a few mostly unsuccessful attempts at appropriating wort chillers to make iced coffee, most iced coffee makers simply embraced one of the short comings above.

Riding the Coldwave

That was, until the Coldwave Coffee Chiller came out this summer. While technically not a coffee maker, the Coldwave makes hot coffee cold without diluting your brew. It preserves the complexity of hot coffee while providing the refreshing coolness of iced. Perhaps most ingeniously, it works with any type of filter coffee, be it pour-over, Aeropress, or autodrip. …

Coffee’s Grand Cru: A Look Inside Elida Estate

July 5, 2017 By Michael Leave a Comment

Wilford Lamastus Sr. produces some of the most famous coffee in the world, but he only brags about one thing when I visit his award-winning farm Elida Estate: his skimming ability. With a sly grin, he likens his skill at skimming the remaining sediment from each cup to barista competitors, who prepare elaborate espresso beverages while giving a presentation. This rather mundane step between between the aromatic and flavor assessment of coffee is often performed by lab assistants on larger estates, but Lamastus Sr. is not the sort of owner to sit back while other people get their hands dirty. He cups each of the dozens of lots from his two farms and often will give feedback to other producers in the region who come to him for advice.

I’ve cupped coffee hundreds of times, but my pulse quickens as I dip my spoon in the first cup. The modest room is barely large enough for a small round table and a desk, but it’s hosted some of the most …