As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Ask what grinder to buy with a first espresso machine and the Baratza Encore ESP comes up more than any other. It's small, it's around $200, and unlike most grinders at that price it was built with espresso in mind. The Trick: Two Ranges on One Dial The Encore ESP has 40 settings, but they aren't spread evenly. … [Read more...] about Baratza Encore ESP: A $200 Grinder With 20 Espresso Steps, and What the 2025 ESP Pro Adds
Coffee Break
Arabica vs Robusta: Why Italian Espresso Blends Still Use the Cheaper, Stronger Bean
Nearly all the coffee in the world comes from two species: Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora, better known as robusta. Specialty coffee has spent decades teaching people that arabica is the good one. The truth is messier, and Italian espresso bars have known it all along. Two Very Different Plants Arabica is a natural cross between robusta and another species, … [Read more...] about Arabica vs Robusta: Why Italian Espresso Blends Still Use the Cheaper, Stronger Bean
The EU Deforestation Regulation and Coffee: What Changes on December 30, 2026
From December 30, 2026, a large or medium-sized company can only sell coffee in the EU if it can show the coffee wasn't grown on land deforested after 2020. That's the heart of the EU Deforestation Regulation, or EUDR, and for coffee it's a big change in how the trade works. Here's what it asks for and what it means for the coffee in your cup. What the Law Covers The regulation … [Read more...] about The EU Deforestation Regulation and Coffee: What Changes on December 30, 2026
Single Boiler, Heat Exchanger or Dual Boiler: Which Espresso Machine Design a Milk Drinker Needs
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Every espresso machine that steams milk has the same problem to solve. Brewing wants water a little under boiling, around 90 to 96°C (195 to 205°F). Steaming milk wants a lot more heat than that. How a machine handles the two jobs decides how fast you can make a milk drink, and a big part of what you pay. There are four … [Read more...] about Single Boiler, Heat Exchanger or Dual Boiler: Which Espresso Machine Design a Milk Drinker Needs
Bottomless Portafilters: A 58mm Handle Won’t Fit Every 58mm Machine
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. A bottomless portafilter is a handle with the bottom cut away. No spouts, no metal underneath the basket. You watch the espresso come straight out of the coffee bed and into the cup. That sounds like a gimmick. It isn't. It's the cheapest way to see what your puck prep is really doing. What You See On a good shot, … [Read more...] about Bottomless Portafilters: A 58mm Handle Won’t Fit Every 58mm Machine
Coffee Culture in the Influencer Era: Cafés Built for Photos and Drinks Made for TikTok
Both photos on this page came from café tables. In one, a Canon A-1 film camera sits in the sun on a slatted terrace table next to two cups of coffee. In the other, a mirrorless camera shares a wooden table in New York with a flat white and an almond pastry. You've probably seen a thousand pictures like them, because coffee has become one of the everyday things people … [Read more...] about Coffee Culture in the Influencer Era: Cafés Built for Photos and Drinks Made for TikTok
Vietnam’s Robusta Harvest: How the Central Highlands Set the Price of Espresso Blends
Vietnam is the world's second-biggest coffee producer after Brazil and the biggest grower of robusta. Most of it comes from the Central Highlands, around provinces like Dak Lak and Lam Dong, and nearly all of it is robusta. When that harvest is big, the price of robusta falls, and with it the cost of instant coffee and of the Italian-style espresso blends that use it. The … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s Robusta Harvest: How the Central Highlands Set the Price of Espresso Blends
Bialetti Brikka: The Moka Pot With a Pressure Valve Makes a Stronger, Foamier Cup for Milk
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The classic Moka Express lets coffee trickle up into the top chamber as soon as there's enough steam pressure to push it. The Brikka holds it back. A valve on top of the column stays shut until the pressure builds, then the coffee comes out in one quick, foamy rush. The result is shorter, stronger and topped with a … [Read more...] about Bialetti Brikka: The Moka Pot With a Pressure Valve Makes a Stronger, Foamier Cup for Milk
Latte Art Explained: What a Heart or a Rosetta Says About the Milk
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The heart on top of a flat white is decoration, and it's also a report on the milk. To pour one, a barista needs milk steamed into microfoam, a fine, glossy texture that flows like wet paint. Get the milk wrong and there's no heart, however steady the hand that pours it. So when your cup arrives with a crisp white shape … [Read more...] about Latte Art Explained: What a Heart or a Rosetta Says About the Milk
Breville Bambino Plus: Hands-Off Milk Steaming at $500, and the Compromises That Come With It
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The Breville Bambino Plus is a small espresso machine with one standout trick: it steams milk for you. Put the jug under the wand, pick a temperature and a texture, and it stops on its own when the milk is done. For anyone who drinks cortados or flat whites every morning and doesn't want to learn milk steaming, that's … [Read more...] about Breville Bambino Plus: Hands-Off Milk Steaming at $500, and the Compromises That Come With It