Archives for August 2017

Is the Knock Feldgrind the Perfect Travel Grinder?

August 28, 2017 By Michael 3 Comments

No one has quite perfected the coffee grinder. Here at The Coffee Compass we’re big fans of hand grinders for reasons we won’t repeat here (but you can read here if you’re so inclined), the biggest being portability. When you get used to having an excellent cup of coffee every morning it’s hard to make the switch back to commodity coffee when traveling. A good hand grinder is an essential part of any road warrior’s arsenal, and we’ve spent years looking for the perfect one. Our dream hand grinder is capable of making a professional level cup of of coffee while being sturdy and light enough to throw in a messenger bag.

Most of the the hand grinders we’ve tried either sacrifice grind quality or portability. Some are pretty terrible in both categories. After eyeing our friend’s Knock Feldgrind, we broke down and picked one up from our friends and sponsors at Prima Coffee. After testing it over the summer with multiple brew methods, we have some opinions….

Meet the Youngest Coffee Farmer in Boquete, Panama

August 15, 2017 By Michael 1 Comment

Earlier this year we traveled to Boquete, Panama for the Best of Panama competition. While we were there we met a remarkable young coffee farmer named Keith Pech, who manages his family’s farm Damarli Estate. He was kind enough to host us on his farm, serve us some delicious coffee blossom tea, and teach us about the unique microclimate that makes coffees from Boquete some of the most sort-after coffee in the world. Whether it’s his background as a professional ping pong player or his experience working for a négociant in Bordeaux, France, Pech is an exceptional person that we knew we had to interview.

You grew up near Cleveland, but now you run a coffee farm. How did that happen?

Yes I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and lived there until I was 22 years old. My father is …

Three Coffee Roasters That Make Us Glad to Live In San Francisco

August 11, 2017 By Michael 2 Comments

Although Seattle is widely considered America’s coffee capital, if there’s any city that gives it a run for its money it’s San Francisco. The City by the Bay has been known for locally roasted coffee at least since Peet’s introduced European espresso culture in the 1960s. Today, the number of coffee roasters is staggering, and that’s without even counting Oakland. It could take weeks of intentional effort to get to every good café in the city. Here’s three of our favorites.

Andytown Coffee Roasters

Most tourists don’t make it to San Francisco’s Sunset neighborhood, but the low (for SF) rents make it an attractive neighborhood for budget conscious baristas/software engineers who don’t want to commute in from Oakland. Perhaps the best reason to live in the Sunset is Andytown Coffee Roaster’s newest retail location. We always enjoy the espresso here, but the real star is the Snowy Plover, a slightly-sweet espresso float made with a generous scoop of Andytown’s house-made whipped cream. Throw in one of Andytown’s gluten-free cornbread muffins– ours was still hot from the oven — and you’ve got a breakfast dreams are made of. There’s not much in the way of seating, so we recommend taking that coffee to nearby Ocean Beach.

Ritual Coffee

There’s perhaps no more iconic symbol of San Francisco coffee than Ritual’s bold red, Soviet-inspired logo. Ritual Coffee was an early third-wave pioneer, but has managed to stay on the bleeding edge with an array of trendy retail spaces in some of the city’s hottest neighborhoods. We grabbed a pour-over of their Ethiopia, Duromina at their Hayes Valley location. This repurposed shipping container is located next to Patricia’s Green, a popular park and art space, which makes for some prime people watching on those rare sunny days.

Saint Frank Coffee

Saint Frank, like San Francisco, is named for Saint Francis of Assisi. Taking a queue from the 13th century friar, Saint Frank has a penchant for roasting coffees that have a social impact on the communities that produced them. Whether or not you believe in altruistic capitalism, you can believe you’ll be served some delicious coffee with some of the best service we’ve had in the city. Coffee nerds can skip straight to the tasting flight, which features an espresso, cortado, filter coffee, and iced coffee. We took our drinks to the second floor, where we admired the baristas’ clean and efficient bar flow.