Hey guys!
I’m doing a new segment where its just a first take, first latte art attempt of the day! It could be the dopest rosetta or maybe even a 16 layer tulip, but hopefully it won’t just be a total FLOP.
No pressure.
coffee
Coffee Ice Spheres
Keep your cold brews cold without worrying about your ice diluting your meticulously crafted drink.
Ice Molds can be found here: http://www.target.com/p/prepara-ice-spheres/-/A-14872040#prodSlot=medium_1_3&term=ice+mold
Tsheya eya!
The first time we ever had Tsheya was at Joule in Downtown Raleigh. Joule is a part of the Ashley Christensen empire, and is currently the most upscale Coffee shop/Bar/Restaurant hybrid in the area. I think the only other place that serves coffee, alcohol and food all in the same place is Helios. But, more on Joule in an upcoming post. This post is about Tsheya.
Since we were on the go and just wanted a quick(er) fix, we ordered a pour over to-go. All I could taste and smell was the overwhelming aroma of peanuts. Boiled peanuts, to be exact. Ever since then, I haven’t touched Tsheya.
However, I gave it a try this week because the description says bright citrus, stone fruit and only light savory notes, which was nothing like the first time I tasted it. When I brewed it as a pour over for the first time, it was nothing like what we had at Joule. It was super bright with a mouth watering fruity aroma. The tartness was so refreshing and juicy to me, while the slight savory notes gave it a balancing factor.
So what happened at Joule? I have to say it was the paper cups! I think that maybe the paper cup was not rinsed, or it was a bad choice in the selection of paper cups to use. I’m really glad to have experienced this whole series of events because we now have made a mental note to make sure that the paper cups we use to serve our coffee will not carry any weird tastes.
We’ve been back to Joule a few times and we love that place! As mentioned earlier, we’ll have a post about Joule soon!
Updated D.I.Y. Slow Drip Cold Brewing Station
On the journey to perfecting coffee, you set a general direction for where you want to go, but at the same time, each new step opens the door to countless other paths. It’s really easy to get lost and overwhelmed at first, but at the same time, it brings excitement. There’s no such thing as perfect coffee, but that’s the fun part. Perfecting coffee is something you can devote your whole life to and will still be able to learn something new everyday. Here is our more updated version of the D.I.Y. Slow Drip Cold Brewing Station. We used the pour over stand Jimmy beautifully built and stained for me to told up a blender jar, which just so happens to hold a Deer Park water bottle perfectly. This additionally height allows the water droplets to disperse wider throughout the coffee bed, leading to a more evenly extracted cold brew. 
At this point, we’ve brewed about 5 more times, tinkering with different variables. Your variables are going to be: -water temperature and amount of water -drip rate, which determines your brew time -coffee grind and coffee dosing -pre-infusing or not pre-infusing, as well as the temperature of pre-infusion and length With all those variables, it makes for a hell of a science experiment!
Troubleshooting:
My coffee tastes just like “coffee”: Cold brewing allows for some flavor nuances to express (which happens less often), and some favor nuances to be latent, such as acidity and sweetness. It just all depends on the type of coffee. We’ve found that pre-infusing or even pre-brewing with hot water can help bring out subtle flavors.
My coffee is under-extracted: Play around with your grind size and make sure your coffee is even and level to prevent water from channeling. Also, we prefer hotter water to bring out the flavors of lighter roasts, so perhaps a cold brewing method is more suitable for darker roasts. However, as Counter Culture says, ANY COFFEE AND BREW.
My drip rate is too fast or too slow: Experiment with different size needles. In our next version of the D.I.Y. Slow Drip Cold Brewing Station, we will address this issue by adding a 2-way drip valve. Please leave us some questions and comments below! We’ve love to hear from you!
D.I.Y. Slow Drip Cold Brewer
Everyone’s drinking cold brew. A few companies, like Stumptown Coffee, have even started bottling it to sell at coffee shops and grocery stores. Popularity is on the rise because the cold brew method prevents certain acidic, bitterness-inducing compounds from appearing, creating a smooth and syrupy finish well-suited for iced coffee. That, and the equipment used to achieve that delicious nectar looks totally badass.
Photo by cafeculture.com
This is the Yama cold water drip tower. It makes delicious cold brew coffee, but more importantly, it looks like a steampunk meth lab (think Heisenberg in goggles and a top hat). It also costs $295 and takes up a lot of counter space. No, we’re not expecting you to use this at home.
A little searching online got us to Cafe Prima’s DIY Cold brew tower using the Aeropress and just a standard water bottle. We decided to give it a test run.
As you can see by the slow, methodical dripping, this D.I.Y. method is essentially an unholy combination of an Aeropress and Chinese water torture. The brew took a total of 1.5 hours for 330 mL of water to pass through and we ended up with 280 mL of brewed coffee. If you’re interested in why we used 185 degree water for pre-infusion, check out this really interesting article about combination hot and cold brewing.
Sometime in the near future, we’re going to attempt to create a more advanced model that more closely resembles the Yama Brewing tower. Expect more glass, controllable valves, and gnarly wood.
Aeropress: Inverted Method + Almond Latte
Leave any comments, suggestions and/or questions below!
Coffee filter was pre-rinsed. I didn’t include exact measurements because I think everyone should have fun experimenting and coming up with their own unique recipe for each roast and style of coffee.
Vietnamese Style Black Eyed Pour Over
It’s finally getting warmer outside now! This past winter was long and brutal for the South. The only acceptable type of polar vortex here is the one happening in our drinks.
So, we’ve finally begun to dedicate some time into developing specialty coffee drinks that we can offer seasonally (or permanently based on popularity) on our truck! So exciting! After filming the video, we roamed through the aisles of Whole Foods picking out various spices, dried flowers, berries and fruits that we can incorporate to enhance and compliment the flavors already present in various coffees.
The whole car smelled amaaaazing. More drinks coming soon!
Bookman Bicycle Cup Holder
Sick of people questioning how hipster you are? Worry no more! Bookman has created a cup holder for your coffee that clamps on to the handlebars of your bicycle! (Fixed gear, of course. Brakes are for pussies.)
This easy to use cup holder from Bookman, a company based out of Stockholm that specializes in accessories for bicycles and the urban cyclist, is aptly named, the “Cup Holder” (So meta, right?). All you do is squeeze the two rings together, place the clamp somewhere on the handlebars, and thats it. The two ring design not only facilitates the clamping, but it also accommodates for different size cups. If your cup doesn’t fit, simply flip the cup holder over. It won’t slip, and due to the spring steel construction, durability shouldn’t be an issue. Its assembled without screws or glue, and its ridiculously easy to disassemble if the need arises. Comes in black, white, green, and red.
Check out Bookman’s video demonstrating the Cup Holder. Complete with a soundtrack that Ryan Gosling would drive to in a silent, brooding manner.
So if that ironic mustache and iTunes account riddled with Arcade Fire songs isn’t raising your hipster street-cred fast enough, Bookman’s new Cup Holder will help you kick it into ludicrous-speed (because warp speed is soooo mainstream)!
Pre-order yours here.
Pour Over #3 with the Hario V60
For next week, a review of the Hario V60 Dripper. Stay tuned!
Sputnik Coffee 