College Station Coffee Delivery

  My friend Lee Safar has spent the past year developing “Map It Forward,” a workshop to help coffee professionals plan their coffee careers.  Lee wanted help to offer a similar workshop for those interested in mapping a career in roasting, so last week at...

Several readers recently requested a post explaining the differences in measuring extractions of drip vs. immersion brews. I have always wanted to write about this, but didn’t think anyone would want to read such a post :). I’m glad I’ve got a few geeky...

Good news, Melbournians! John and Bugs of Decent Espresso will be in Melbourne to demo the DE1+ machine during MICE. I'll be helping them (aka acting like I understand what John is talking about while I pull shots and keep the coffees dialed in) for a demo off site as...

For years I’ve been promoting the idea of a steady decline in the ROR (rate of rise) during roasting.  Recently I’ve heard of some "educators" publicly discrediting the idea of a steadily declining ROR, so I think it’s time to address this issue. What is an...

 I'm happy to announce that I'll be in Melbourne during MICE to offer a roasting masterclass on March 21. I'm grateful to my friends at Five Senses Coffee for hosting the class, which will be held at their training center near the CBD.Beyond the...

Two of my favorite coffee people, Lee Safar and James Marcotte, will be co-hosting this event on March 11.  You can attend virtually, or in person if you're in the Los Angeles area.  Lee founded Elixir Specialty Coffee and the Map It Forward series....

I'm pleased to announce that tickets are selling like, well, like flat whites, for the Melbourne Roasting Masterclass, so I've decided to add a second class on March 23 from 8am--11am.  This class will also be held at the Five Senses Training Centre.  Please...

As some of you know, I've begun a daily Instagram feature "Coffee Tip of the Day." I'm attempting to offer bite-sized bits of coffee knowledge as often as possible.  If you'd like to check it out, follow me @whereisscottrao.  I aim to be the first IG user to...

My good friend, the irrepressible Lee Safar of Map It Forward, will be offering two classes this April in Seattle during the SCA Expo week. Lee…

My good friend, the irrepressible Lee Safar of Map It Forward, will be offering two classes this April in Seattle during the SCA Expo week. Lee has partnered with established, successful coffee pros to put on the Map It Forward series in an attempt to mentor...

This April, I'll be sharing the back building at the charming Ada's Technical Books in Seattle with my friends Lee Safar of Map It Foward and Lucia Solis of Solis Coffee Solutions.  We'll all be offering various classes there.  I'll be co-hosting one of...

It’s clear that roast quality interferes with green evaluation to some degree, so isn’t it time we created a separate scoring system for roast quality?…

  Coffee Roaster Controls    Coffee professionals almost universally use a 100-point scoring system to evaluate green coffee. The system is silly in some ways; for instance, in specialty it’s really a 20-point system, and realistically, readers of this...

After last year's sold-out, fantastic roasting masterclasses in Seattle, I'm excited to offer an even better set of classes this year.  The classes will again be held at The Lab at Ada's Technical Books in the lovely Capitol Hill neighborhood.  There will be...

First, please let me apologize for taking so long to offer the “Roast Development Kit” I had promised in The Coffee Roaster’s Companion.  It’s finally here, and I am certain it is going to have a beneficial influence on roasters’ understanding of coffee...

UPDATE APRIL 21:  The Seattle classes have passed, but the virtual class will be available until May 21.  If you purchase the virtual class you'll be able to view it as many times as you'd like until May 21.  Virtual attendees will receive an email...

About five years ago, I began pestering my friend Ryan Brown to write a book about green-coffee buying.  I thought Ryan was the perfect person to write such a book, as he was the most competent coffee buyer I'd ever encountered. It took those five years, but last...

By Ryan BrownAuthor of Dear Coffee BuyerA sentiment I hear often from buyers representing smaller roasteries is, “How can I compete with bigger buyers for the best green coffee? They have all the purchasing power!”I’ve been at both the small (Ritual, Tonx) and the big...

I'm pleased to announce that I've just released the second ROAST DEFECT KIT today, in conjunction with Regalia Company.  We were waiting for Regalia to receive some lovely new-crop Kenya AA from the Karumandi Factory in Kirinyaga.  Paolo gave it a few...

Sample slide from class of a suggested, generic starting point for settings when approaching an unfamiliar machine and coffee. It's a bit last minute, but I hope if you're in Amsterdam for World of Coffee that you'll join my Roasting Masterclass on June 23,...

I've had a DE1+ at my house for the past few weeks and I've already learned a ton. In this post, I'd like to introduce readers to the "pressure" and "flow" modes of the Decent. In the next installment we'll discuss the "Advanced" mode and I'll introduce some new...

Probably the most exciting feature of the DE1+ is its ability to manage shots by flow rate.  That may not sound like a big deal, but read on to have your mind blown.  The flow mode recipe screen. It's simple and intuitive. Most espresso machines apply a...

Last year I had plans to open a cooperative roastery in LA but various problems with the landlord and the building forced me to cancel that project, I'm sorry to say.  However, I've been quietly involved in a similar project in NYC and it is now open for...