Reno, Nevada, calls itself the ‘biggest little city in the world,’ so I shouldn’t have been surprised during a recent road trip to find not one, but two specialty coffee roasters had set up shop – Hub Coffee Roasters, and Magpie Coffee Roasters. Better known for its gambling industry, I came to town expecting what I remembered from childhood visits – massive casino buffets, diner food, and my aunt’s home cooking. Great coffee is a welcome addition to this mix!

Hub Coffee Roasters

This shop is located in what used to be a two car garage in Midtown Reno, just off a strip of Virginia street dotted by shops selling recycled furniture and clothes, liquor stores, tattoo parlors, and bars. The cafe itself is small and easy to miss, but comfortable inside, and has a large patio area outside as well. While I was there I had a single origin Burundi espresso, as well as their blend. They were training a new barista that day, and she was doing great – both espresso shots were balanced, delicious, and I really enjoyed them! They also offer a variety of teas from Intelligentsia, and a mocha that has locals swooning on Yelp.

They recently opened up their roastery, which I didn’t get a chance to see when I was visiting. The roastery hosts a slow bar with breakfast snacks every Saturday from 8am to 1pm.

The Hub Coffee Roasters – Cafe
32 Cheney St.
Reno, Nevada

The Hub Coffee Roastery
350 Evans St.
Reno, Nevada

See their website for more details.

Magpie Coffee Roasters

Magpie is still a work in progress, but I was happily able to attend a cupping while I was in Reno. They are currently building out a roastery in a shared sort of co-op art space and should be opening a retail cafe later on. They were roasting on a small batch Franciscan roaster and pulling shots on a La Marzocco Strada when I visited, but I hear they’re currently installing a Probat L12 that will really increase their output. The space looks like it has potential to be amazing, and the coffee ain’t bad either. I recently tried a few samples and really enjoyed them. I’ll look forward to seeing how Magpie grows after they open – for now they are only open by appointment, so watch their Twitter feed for updates. Keep an eye out for developments on their website where you can also order coffee, and in the mean time check out the space they’re setting up to roast in below.

Here’s a map of Reno’s coffee spots mentioned above:

View FRSHGRND – Global Cafe Guide in a larger map

Roadtrip Photos

I took a lot of pictures on the road and around the area, I’ve picked a few to share below. Hope you enjoy! It really is beautiful driving up the 395 from Los Angeles.

Dan Leif at Fresh Cup magazine recently wrote a great piece on the specialty coffee industry in Korea. I’m quoted a couple times and was happy to provide background for the story. Definitely recommend reading if you’re at all interested in the state of the industry in Korea.

While growth in South Korea has been led and shaped by chains, independents have a firm footing as well. The country’s population skews young, and Korean culture dictates living at home until marriage. That means hordes of folks under 30 are looking for third-place locations to relax with friends.

A range of unique cafes has cropped up with a focus on feeding that need, and many aim to differentiate themselves through the environment they create. “The differences in design allow people to pick places that suit their personality,” says Aaron Frey, whose cafe blog FrshGrnd has reviewed dozens of Seoul’s independent shops. ‘There’s lots of innovation around providing different types of environments. … You’re really paying for the space and getting refreshment as a side.”

You can read the entire article online here.

And if you haven’t dug through my reviews of Koran cafes, you might like to check out my Korean Cafe Interior Design mega post with images showcasing the quirky design choices that make Korean coffee culture so interesting, or browse my reviews of the best cafes in Korea.

NPR (National Public Radio here in the US) is doing a special week of coffee related coverage. Here’s one of the first installments giving an overview of the global coffee industry and coffee in pop culture, with a nice amount of air time given to Counter Culture Coffee’s buyer & sustainability manager, Kim Elena Ionescu.

Check out more here (I think this link will update as new segments are aired).

If you’re an NPR listener just perking up to the specialty coffee world, welcome! Any of the cafes & roasters highlighted here on FRSHGRND will give you a solid introduction to quality focused coffee. Take a look at my map of recommended cafes by clicking the ‘Maps to Best Coffee in the World’ link above.

UPDATE: Looks like this event has sold out now!

If you’re in Los Angeles, the LA Coffee Club and Caffe Luxxe are hosting what looks like a pretty fun coffee and whisky tasting later this month. Check the details below:

Join LA Coffee Club and Caffe Luxxe for a coffee and whisky tasting seminar, hosted by the owner of Caffe Luxxe, Gary Chau. Gary’s experience spans 20+ years within the drinks industry, ranging from coffee to spirits, where he spent a significant time working with distilleries in Scotland.

Did you know that both coffee and whisky take on the characteristics of the land they come from, which ultimately affects the flavor of what you taste? Both of these drinks are dramatically affected by the soil, water, and general environmental factors.

The event is scheduled for Thursday, April 25th at Caffe Luxxe’s Montana Ave. location in Santa Monica, starting at 6:30PM. Tickets are limited and cost $10; they can be purchased here. It doesn’t say on the website, but I hear that participants will be walking away with a free bag of coffee from Caffe Luxxe – sounds like a good time and a great deal!

Also keep an eye out for a post on Caffe Luxxe soon. I visited several of their locations last summer to take photographs, and way back in the mid-2000s they were one of the first cafes that introduced me, then a fledgling coffee geek, to what an espresso could taste like :)

Today was the final round for the US Barista Championship and the US Brewers Cup. These competitions focus, respectively, on espresso based drinks and hand-crafted brewed coffee. The winners from today will go on to Melbourne later this year to compete in the world championships. I’ve listed the winners and finalists below – keep an eye on them and their companies; if you live nearby, definitely give them a visit!

I really think that anyone who reaches this level of competition is a winner, and if you’re a consumer you should seek out the baristas, cafes, and roasters who are taking the time to compete themselves or to support competitors in raising the bar in the craft of coffee. Congrats to all the winners and the finalists!

US Barista Championship

1. Pete Licata – Parisi Coffee, Kansas City, MO
2. Charles Babinski – G&B Coffee, Los Angeles, CA
3. Trevor Corlett – Madcap Coffee, Grand Rapids, MI
4. Sam Lewontin – Everyman Espresso, New York, NY
5. Nick Purvis – The French Press, Santa Barbara, CA
6. Charlie Habegger – Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, Chicago, IL

If you want to watch their presentations, you can check out the archived Livestream videos here.

US Brewers Cup Winners

1. Erin McCarthy – Counter Culture Coffee
2. Jonathan Bonchak – Counter Culture Coffee
3. Sean Stewart – CREMA, Nashville, TN
4. Dean Kallivrousis – Parisi Coffee, Kansas City, MO
5. Phillip Ma – Ma’Velous, San Francisco, CA
6. Brandon Paul Weaver – Slate Coffee Roasters, Seattle, WA

I was lucky enough to try Sam Lewontin’s drinks while acting as a mock judge in one of his practice runs here in New York (pictured below), it was really impressive! The same coffee, a Burundi roasted by Counter Culture Coffee, is probably still available at Everyman Espresso’s Soho shop. In fact, during a coffee crawl with Kalle Freese, Finland’s 2013 Barista Champion, Everyman Espresso produced perhaps the best shots we tried all weekend.  If you’re in New York, do pop over to say congrats – and try some great coffee! If you’re elsewhere in the States, check the list above to see who you’re near :)

This is a fun little campaign by La Marzocco highlighting their venerable Linea espresso machines. First released in the 1990s, these boxy, utilitarian beauties were the mainstay of Starbucks’ big expansion after they went public, and have been (and still are) the backbone of many an indie cafe despite all the fancy new machines you often hear about:

For many people, the Linea holds a great deal of nostalgia – it may have been the first espresso machine they learned to prepare espresso on, or it was the first machine they purchased, or they have incredible stories about the Linea’s ability to deliver in the highest-volume situations. The Linea Love campaign invites the specialty coffee community to share their fondest memories, and what the Linea means to them.

There’re quite a few interesting and amusing reads as coffee pros from companies like Intelligentsia, Stumptown, Coava, Ecco, and more reminisce about their beginnings in coffee and their experiences with the Linea. Brew up a fresh pot of coffee and read more over at Linea Love. If you’re a barista, share your own story to receive a Linea Love shirt.

A few highlights:

Gwilym Davies, Prufrock Coffee & 2009 World Barista Champion
Terry Patano, DOMA Coffee
Michael Philips, Handsome Coffee Roasters & 2010 World Barista Champion
Kevin Knox, Coffee Specialist at Starbucks during their initial expansion – interesting read!

And a little bit of Nick Cho humor:

I’ve been driving all over New York for the past couple months doing fieldwork for an energy consulting firm, which has given me a chance to visit some of the city’s cafes that are off my beaten path. One of these recent visits took me to Little Skips in Bushwick, which comes recommended by Oliver Strand via his indispensable coffee guides included in the New York Times’ app, “The Scoop.”

The cafe is camoflauged by its unassuming, slightly sketchy looking exterior. Once you enter, it’s all brick and wood, with a smattering of folks absorbing rays from their Macbooks. I wasn’t expecting anything amazing going in, but I really enjoyed the espresso, a special blend from Counter Culture, and their batch-brewed coffee was good too. They have ambitions to provide pour-over service sometime down the road, and they do occasional evening coffee tastings if that’s your thing.

There’s also a good sized food menu with pretty great sandwiches. Worth a visit if you’re in Bushwick!

Address:

941 willoughby
brooklyn, ny 11221

Hours:

M-F 7AM-9PM
SAT-SUN 8:30AM-9PM

Website: www.littleskips.com

Map:

View FRSHGRND – Global Cafe Guide in a larger map

The first step in improving your coffee at home is to start with fresh beans from a quality focused roaster. If you can find one locally, even better. I recently realized that I don’t have a consolidated list of recommended roasters on FRSHGRND, so I’ve started making a list here. I plan to update & improve it over time as we crowd-source recommendations from the comments and Twitter.

I’ll try to stick to roasters that I can personally vouch for in terms of quality, but will include (or remove) some based on trusted third-party recommendations and your own comments and suggestions. My goal is not an exhaustive list of every single specialty coffee roaster, but rather those that have established a fairly strong reputation for quality, sourcing, few if any darker roasts, and consistency.

The order doesn’t reflect any kind of ranking, though I welcome your own opinions in the comments. An asterisk denotes a roaster I can vouch for from personal experience. Given the breadth of US roasters, it might be helpful eventually to break the list up into national and local roasters. If you have suggestions, or requests for additional information that might be useful (we can turn this into a spreadsheet or something), sound off in the comments!

If you’re a roaster, feel free to get in touch. As you can imagine, this post generates a ton of correspondence and I can’t reply individually due to time constraints. So, in advance, I thank you for getting in touch and will follow up on your recommendation :)

USA

• Intelligentsia *
• Counter Culture *
• Stumptown  *
• Ritual *
• Verve *
• Heart *
• Coava *
• Kuma *
• Terroir *
• Irving Farm *
• Wrecking Ball
• Sightglass *
• Gimme Coffee *
• Grumpy
• Tonx Coffee (Subscription Only) *
• Handsome Coffee Roasters *
• Barefoot *
• Klatch *
• Paradise Roasters *
• Toby’s Estate *
• Joe Coffee NY *
• PT’s Coffee *
• Magpie
• Portola Coffee Lab
• Gaslight
• Madcap
• The Hub
• Four Barrel
• Ceremony
• Populace
• De la Paz
• Metropolis
• Dogwood
• Case
• Entimos
• Quills
• Halfwit
• Passionhouse

Canada

• 49th Parallel *
• Transcend
• Social Coffee
• Phil & Sebastian
• Bows & Arrows

Sweden

• Koppi *
• Johan & Nystrom *
• Lilla Kafferosteriet *
• Love Coffee *
• Stockholm Roast *
• Haugaard *
• Drop Coffee *
• Solde Kafferosteri *
• Da Matteo
• Åre kafferosteri
• Per Nordby

Denmark

• Coffee Collective *
• Kent Coffee *

Norway

• Tim Wendelboe *
• Solberg & Hansen
• Kaffa
• Supreme Roastworks

United Kingdom

• Squaremile *
• Hasbean *
• Monmouth
• Union Hand Roasted
• Workshop Coffee Co.

Greece

• Taf Coffee

 Korea

• Coffee Libre
• Coffee Graffiti (Lee Jong Hoon’s soon-to-open cafe/roastery)
• Caffe Themselves
• 5 Extracts
• Coffee LEC
• Club Espresso
• Paul Bassett
• Apgujeong Coffee House (압구정 커피 집)
• MOMOS
• Coffea
• Alegria
• Tailor Coffee

Australia

• ST. ALi
• Mecca Espresso
• Market Lane
• Single Origin
• Reuben Hills
• 7 seeds
• Small Batch
• Proud Mary’s
• 5 Senses
• Coffee Alchemy
• Toby’s Estate

A guide to getting the best out of your entry level home espresso machine

Every coffee geek has a moment where they fantasize about having cafe quality espresso at home. While the simple convenience of not having to go out to a cafe to have an espresso or cappuccino may be the deciding factor for some, there’s a subset of espresso enthusiasts whose goal is to achieve the mythical ‘god-shot*‘ at home by tweaking their machines, studying the science behind extraction, and perfecting their technique through (endless) trial and error.

A great espresso, let alone a ‘god-shot,’ is hard to come by even in many above-average cafes, so one should have few illusions about what is attainable on a budget espresso machine. Nevertheless, many people are tempted to give it a try, and in fact you can get pretty decent espresso most of the time, and great shots occasionally. To get a sense of what that takes I’m sharing my experience with the Saeco Via Venezia ($299), a popular entry level machine that has gone through several generations and multiple iterations, once sold at Starbucks under the model name ‘Barista.’ It has a following among budget-minded home baristas tempted by its affordability and the ability to snag them on the used market for a bargain. My review is based on a review unit sent by Saeco.

The Via Venezia

This model coexists with a number of other Saeco manual espresso machines – the Aroma and Poemia – that seem to share the same basic internals. What sets the Via Venezia apart is a rather attractive case made of curved pieces of stainless steel, a larger water reservoir (2.9 liters), a nicer portafilter handle that has soft rubber and a nice heft to it, a decent sized drip tray with a small storage drawer on the bottom, and a steam-wand with a ball joint that allows it to move much more freely than other Saeco models.

However, as you can see below, the plastic steam wand isn’t what you’d find on a higher end machine and doesn’t really allow you to produce finely textured micro-foam. Instead, it’s a small nozzle that connects to a large, hollow plastic wand. You end up with the classic merengue-like puff of tasteless milk foam you find at the worst diners and coffee shops. It may be possible to modify the wand using odds and ends from other espresso machines, including the old Starbucks Barista iteration of this machine that came with a more standard style wand, but that’s a challenge for another day.

But can it really make good espresso?

Yes – with quite a few caveats that apply to almost every espresso machine in this price range. Espresso is a fickle, finnicky beverage that requires a lot of adjustment to hit a small, constantly changing sweet spot. The best cafes invest a lot of money into controlling the variables that make this task difficult – from reverse osmosis filters to control water chemistry, to careful coffee sourcing and roasting, to barista training and expensive professional machines that offer temperature stability and pressure control.

The Saeco via Venezia is meant for home  use and sits comfortably at the entry level, designed for a mass market audience. As a result, it has a number of ‘convenience’ features designed for people who aren’t willing or interested in achieving the best espresso possible. In order to make things more accessible, a number of compromises have been made which amount to handicaps for those seeking a very good espresso. That makes it pretty hard to get a consistently good shot, and requires a lot of motivation to get even a decent shot.

First step to better espresso: depressurizing the portafilter

Saeco bills their machines as ‘no-tamp’ – meaning you’re supposed to just dose the old, pre-ground coffee (Illy, Lavazza, etc.) and then mount the portafilter to brew. And that’s fine if you’re okay with that flavor or if convenience is your overriding concern. This system works because of a pressurizer or “crema enhancer” installed in the portafilter. Without it, there would be very little crema and the coffee would resemble something akin to what you get from a moka pot (or worse). It’s the orange thing in the image below. We’ll be removing this because we, presumably, know what we’re doing and actually want to have control over how the coffee is extracted using freshly ground, recently roasted beans.

Removal is simple: unscrew the bottom of the portafilter, pry off the white plastic assembly, pop out the orange stopper, and then screw the base back on to the portafilter. See the photos below. It takes less than a minute and now the only thing restricting the flow of coffee is the grind setting you choose and how hard you tamp. Most entry-level machines have these pressurizers, but I can’t say for certain that they are all as easy to remove.

Unscrew the bottom and pop the white plastic piece off.

Pop the pressure gasket out (the orange-rimmed stopper).

What else do I need to do to get a drinkable shot?

Now that you’ve removed the training wheels, you’ll need to invest in a good burr grinder in order to control the flow of coffee, and thus the extraction. You should actually do this before you even think of getting an espresso machine. I used an old Baratza Virtuoso, but you’d be better served with the Baratza Preciso ($299) or Vario ($449) grinders that have a wider range of espresso adjustments. You can also invest in professional machines if you’re cool with taking up all your counter space. With espresso, constant minor changes in grind are needed to get the best extraction as the beans age day to day, and as you switch between different types of coffee and roasts. If your grinder has only a couple settings that work with espresso, you’re vastly limited in what you can do.

If an electric burr grinder’s $200+ price tag is out of reach, you can get by using a hand mill like the Hario Slim or Porlex, but you’ll be spending several minutes per shot grinding – and if your grind is off, you’ll be doing this over and over until it’s on target. It gets old, fast.

Additionally, you’ll have to buy a few things that aren’t included in the box: a 53mm tamper (I got this cheap one from Rattleware but do yourself a favor and get a more ergonomic one), a milk pitcher for steaming, and a knock box. If you’re just planning to make one shot at a time, you can get by using a sturdy mug for spent coffee grounds as the Venezia’s portafilter has a soft rubber handle that cushions the impact. A dedicated knock-box will, however, make cleanup and dialing in a lot quicker.

Temperature Surfing

Now that you’re ready to actually start pulling shots, you’ll run into a new problem – temperature stability. High end espresso machines, usually over $1000, allow you to set a desired temperature through a device called a PID. You can actually buy aftermarket kits to install one on your Saeco machine for greater control, though at that price you might as well just save and invest in a better macine to begin with. Without one, however, you’re going to have to get familiar with something called temperature surfing.

The point of ‘surfing’ is consistency. You want to be able to hit the same, hopefully optimal, point on the boiler’s temperature curve, and then to adjust accordingly based on how your espresso shot tastes (in general, all other variables being perfect, bitter = too hot, and sour = too cool). More expensive entry level machines like the Rancilio Silvia have metal components usually made of brass that store heat better once they’ve warmed up, whereas a primarily steel machine like the Via Venezia can vary in temperature rapidly and requires a lot of adjustment, precision, and luck to hit the same temperature repeatedly. The only upside is that the machine warms up a lot faster than a Silvia, meaning you can start making coffee sooner if you’re pressed for time.

In my own testing with the Via Venezia I had the best results by letting the machine warm up until the red ready light was on, then flushing water through the portafilter to heat it up, until the ready light turned off. This means the boiler’s heating element has turned on and is bringing the water back up to temperature. While waiting for the light to come back on, I quickly dose and tamp, and then when the red light comes back on I immediately insert the portafilter and pull the shot. If you find this to be too hot, you can flush some water to cool things down a bit before pulling the shot. Some users also suggest putting the machine into steaming mode and waiting for the boiler to hit steam temperature before flushing water briefly to bring it back down to brew temperature. You could get as convoluted as you like with temperature surfing, and may very well find a better method (post it in the comments if you have one!).

Bottom Line

It may not be easy, but it is possible to get a pretty nice espresso using an entry level espresso machine like the Via Venezia. If I had been using a grinder with finer adjustments and had spent more time fine tuning my temperature surfing technique, I could get even better results. Even so, I had a few really pleasant espresso shots using Intelligentsia’s Black Cat blend, and even my average shots were better than most chain cafes. That said, if you’re accustomed to really great espresso at cafes of the sort featured here on FRSHGRND, you’ll probably find yourself more often frustrated by the results you get. If, on the other hand, you live in an area unserved by a quality focused cafe, you are willing to make compromises in exchange for espresso at home, or if the idea of mastering a difficult process on the cheap with your own effort and ingenuity sounds appealing to you, then by all means – consider getting one of these machines!

If you take the plunge, be sure to check out the Home Barista and Coffee Geek forums, where you can find other’s tips and ask for advice with this machine.

P.S. – Given all the talk above about temperature stability, I should mention that there is a machine coming out soon worth watching, though it sits at a higher $500 price bracket. The ZPM Espresso machine, called the Nocturn, is a new design created by a couple of guys with a Kickstarter campaign. It’s aimed at the enthusiast market and comes with a built in PID and a new design that promises to bring many of the features of high end machines down to the entry-level. Worth keeping an eye out on that when it’s released, if you’re in the market.

Long overdue but I wanted to quickly wrap up my time in Sweden with a few more cafes that I enjoyed and thought you should know about!

Lilla Kafferosteriet

Blog | Website
This cafe is actually one of Sweden’s older specialty coffee roasters and importers. They occupy a central place in Malmö, located off the main shopping street in a large house built in the 1600s. The multi-level home is decorated with antique furnishings, rugs, and paintings. It’s really one-of-a-kind, I’ve never seen anything else like it! Once inside, you’ll find two bars. To the left of the entrance you can find a quick drip coffee or espresso, pastries, and sandwiches. If you turn right and head to the back, you’ll find a more relaxed bar focused on slower, hand-poured drinks and espressos, as well as bean purchases. Every sunday the back bar hosts cuppings that are a great way to meet other coffee geeks in Malmö while sampling Lilla Kaffe’s offerings. A great space worth visiting while you’re in town.

Djakne Kaffebar, Malmö

Website
This is one of Malmö’s newest cafes, providing office space for rent up stairs, with sandwiches and multi-roaster coffee downstairs. They host quite a few events for Malmö’s growing number of entrepreneurs and tech companies. The coffee program seems to be steadily improving, offering a rotating variety of coffees from all over Sweden. Some are better than others, so be sure to tell your barista what you like if you’re uncertain of what to order.

 

St. Jakobs Bageri, Lund

Website

The coffee at this popular bakery got an upgrade when they installed a Faema E61 and started using Love Coffee roasters. While their coffee brewing chops could use some additional refinement, the baked goods are so delicious that I have to recommend a visit!

Hope you enjoyed these posts, here are a few more images of Malmö. If you like the travel photos, let me know and I’ll post a lot more! :) If you’re looking to find other great cafes in Sweden, click the link to see my older guides.