In a perfect world every espresso bar would be staffed with at least three baristas for maximum efficiency, but in the real world, lots of baristas are stuck working solo in non-peak hours. Luckily, latte art champion Ryan Soeder has you covered. Soeder is something of a work flow expert, and has the tattoo to prove it. …
Ryan Soeder
Pour-over vs Autodrip: Which one is Best?
The so-called Third Wave coffee movement coincided with a renewed interest in manual brew methods. Chemexes, V60s, and Aeropresses came part and parcel with lighter roasts, traceability, and smaller sizes. Although very few cafes eighty-sixed autodrip all together, the clear message to consumers was: slower is better. But recently a slew of cafes have questioned the status quo. Handsome, G&B, and Heart are just some of the coffee shops that have chosen to exclusively serve automated brew methods, causing many baristas to question everything they thought they knew about specialty coffee.
Pour-overs vs Autodrip
Which is better for brewing coffee in a cafe environment: autodrip or manually brewed coffee? That’s the question we posed to a group of leading coffee professionals, including Ryan Soeder of Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea, John Letoto of Blacksmith, Hugh Duffie of TAP Coffee, and Andrew Cash of Jubala Village Coffee. Here are their responses:
Hugh Duffie of TAP Coffee
I think manual brewing ties in with the whole specialty coffee scene: working with an every day product to try and make it something special that people look forward to. Knowing the amount of effort that we put into sourcing our coffees, developing our roast profiles and training our staff to do the coffee justice – it just seems mad not to …
CoffeeFest NYC 2013 – Recap
CoffeeFest NYC 2013 has come and gone but baristas and coffee professionals across the world are still in withdrawals from the mass amounts of caffeine consumed March eighth through the tenth at the Javits Center in Manhattan. As always, a lot of the activity focused on the competitions and their was no shortage of entertainment for fans of competitive coffee preparation.
America’s Best Coffee House
Peregrine Espresso won the America’s Best Coffee House competition. When I saw their name on the competitors list, I knew if they could recreate their cafe experience they would be hard to beat. …
TNT Louisville: Latte Art and the Legacy of the River City
I once read about a group of bicycle messengers in New York City who held weekly bike races at a local velodrome. I was struck by the fact that these men and women work long, grueling hours riding a bike all day, only to ride bikes for fun in their spare time. They clearly have a passion for what they do that few people share. But if anyone shares a passion for their job, it’s baristas at craft coffee shops….
