the other black stuff
a coffee blog

Archives

March 23, 2011 //
0
  • 2012.01“... ...”
  • the worst of coffee in 2011

    Lists are great. There should be more lists. Here's one with a negative tone: 1. The sile ...

    1 Jan 2012

  • 2011.12“... ...”
  • burrs again

    Grinding coffee for non-espresso brewing at home is a pain in the tits. Short of finding s ...

    22 Dec 2011

  • 2011.11“... ...”
  • confounding variables

    Observation 1. Batch brewing is often associated with bad tasting coffee. Observation 2. ...

    28 Nov 2011

  • speciality

    speciality or chiefly  ( US and Canadian ) specialty — n , pl -ties 1.a special interest ...

    18 Nov 2011

  • 2011.08“... ...”
  • batch brewing

    Disclaimer: Though this pertains to a product category manufactured by my employer, Marco, ...

    29 Aug 2011

  • sledgehammer of deliciousness

    ...

    1 Aug 2011

  • 2011.07“... ...”
  • Iced Coffee

    It's a bit shit. Discuss...

    29 Jul 2011

  • Paper

    Gonna keep this one short. Can we do filter papers better please? Rinsing paper filters ...

    1 Jul 2011

  • 2011.06“... ...”
  • ethiopia

    I recently met Joseph Brodsky of Ninety Plus Coffees and spoke to him about the work he do ...

    12 Jun 2011

  • Bogotá In Review

    Writing this now (or at least beginning it), I'm about 7 hours from home. My hopes of a bl ...

    8 Jun 2011

  • Bogotá Day Two - Mini Update

    After not a whole lot of sleep, I'm up and sort of awake in Bogotá. I'm a bit breathless a ...

    1 Jun 2011

  • Bogotá Day 1 & Overdue Thoughts

    Barack may have come and gone amidst a touchy-feely fuzzy whirlwind tour, but I guess he d ...

    1 Jun 2011

  • 2011.04“... ...”
  • Shocking Espresso

    Some things inherently sound like bollox. That espresso can be "shocked" is one of those t ...

    23 Apr 2011

  • 2011.03“... ...”
  • ETCC 2011 in review: Day Four & Conclusion

    Day Four On the final day the final journey to the PSKK was spiced up for Karl and I, h ...

    23 Mar 2011

  • ETCC 2011 in review: Days Two and Three

    Day Two With mistakes made over the breakfast buffet, terrible haunting mistakes that no ...

    22 Mar 2011

  • ETCC 2011 in review: Intro & Day One

    The purpose of these posts is to honestly recount my experience during the four days I spe ...

    21 Mar 2011

  • 2011.02“... ...”
  • the dark age of grinding

    The topology of the coffee extraction and strength landscape remains rather poorly charted ...

    16 Feb 2011

  • in all seriousness

    It has been quite a couple of days. I thought I was done with the saccharin thank-yous and ...

    12 Feb 2011

  • severance

    Dear Marie, Fergus and Paul: It is without sincere regret that I must inform you that you ...

    11 Feb 2011

  • 2011.01“... ...”
  • coava disk & aeropress = ghetto trifecta & weirdness

    I've found the Coava Disk filter for the Aeropress to be a very impressive piece of work. ...

    25 Jan 2011

  • we welcome our new coffee overlords...

    So, next Sunday, the WCE descends on Dublin for meetings about the WBC and other prestigio ...

    11 Jan 2011

  • 2010.12“... ...”
  • What's Next

    As many who read this and who know me personally will be aware, I am a scientist. I have s ...

    23 Dec 2010

  • Happy Christmas - WBC Style

    ...

    20 Dec 2010

  • 2010: A Personal Coffee Year in Review

    Writing this now, without a clear grasp on its final direction, I fear I may stray into se ...

    16 Dec 2010

  • 2010.11“... ...”
  • Joy

    I've asked myself this question a couple of times over the last week or so. It concerns my ...

    24 Nov 2010

  • Gee In Review

    I was going to start off this review with some bad vague allusions to the unfortunate nami ...

    12 Nov 2010

  • 2010.10“... ...”
  • fillet steak with everything

    I love steak. I’m pretty sure if I had to restrict myself to one food for the rest of my l ...

    30 Oct 2010

  • A Blog Post Ostensibly About Blending

    It is now an old adage I suppose, though not so long ago it seemed like a bleeding edge de ...

    7 Oct 2010

  • 2010.09“It was AWESOME!”
  • The Death of Coffee: Kenya

    This is at least the third time I've tried writing this blog post. For as long as I've w ...

    27 Sep 2010

  • 2010.08“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
  • Enough already

    Everyone has an opinion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Lately it seems the opinio ...

    26 Aug 2010

  • a cleaner french press method?

    Ok, so I was messing about with my french press. Check out the video below. I will say, nu ...

    10 Aug 2010

  • 2010.07“... ...”
  • at odds with unevenness

    I very recently acquired Scott Rao’s new book, Everything But Espresso, and having turned ...

    26 Jul 2010

  • Passed It On

    A little over a month ago, on a Friday evening, nursing a bottle of wine, and feeling rath ...

    20 Jul 2010

  • 2010.06“... ...”
  • London In Review

    It was an odd few days, a very different WBC to last year's. The atmosphere at the show wa ...

    27 Jun 2010

  • Passing It On

    One of the great things I enjoy about coffee, is sharing a coffee I love with someone. Rec ...

    11 Jun 2010

  • the 90 point roast

    You may have seen the poll I recently posted to the blog asking you to make a choice betwe ...

    7 Jun 2010

  • 2010.05“... ...”
  • A quick question

    Putting aside the merits of the 100 point scale, not getting hung up on semantics if you w ...

    31 May 2010

  • When Paul met... The Xpress Cup

    During some recent shenanigans at Marco HQ, Paul Stack (El Grande Uber himself) whipped ou ...

    27 May 2010

  • latte art

    What does it say about speciality coffee that the SCAE has a very well supported annual la ...

    23 May 2010

  • Bruperstitions: In defense of omni-grind

    One of the first "truths" I learned as I became exposed to the world of better coffee was ...

    8 May 2010

  • 2010.04“... ...”
  • can my coffee be better?

    This post is actually somewhat inspired by a recent rant. I do like a good rant, and Karl ...

    21 Apr 2010

  • Baratza Grinders

    I have spent hundreds, nay thousands of euros on coffee equipment. I did not start that wa ...

    15 Apr 2010

  • Post-Mortem

    I'm writing this now, reflecting at home after the semi finals of the Irish Barista Champi ...

    8 Apr 2010

  • MoJoToGo

    I've posted at some length previously regarding extraction, TDS, meters and all that. I da ...

    1 Apr 2010

  • 2010.03“... ...”
  • Consistency Vs Craft

    Craft, for me, has become a bit of a dirty word. It should be a positive word. It should i ...

    22 Mar 2010

  • 2010.02“... ...”
  • and now for something completely different

    For the last 12-18 months, it seems there has been a steady succession of challenges and a ...

    24 Feb 2010

  • Caption Competition

    Ok, so I got a gift of an aeropress at Christmas, something which I already own. I can no ...

    18 Feb 2010

  • 2010.01“... ...”
  • Stats of Excellence 2: The Restatening

    I'm giving up predicting things. My predictions for the Brazil CoE, frankly, did not cor ...

    29 Jan 2010

  • Stats of Excellence

    Lies, damned lies, and statistics. The Cup of Excellence is now in its third decade of e ...

    14 Jan 2010

  • 2009.12“... ...”
  • Bacchi to the Future

    This is a ropey video I threw together. Apologies in advance. Stovetop espresso is no l ...

    24 Dec 2009

  • Challenging Flavours

    Amaro, a word literally meaning bitter in Italian, is also the name of a digestif that pro ...

    22 Dec 2009

  • Gifts for Coffee Geeks

    Some lighter blog fair this time. As the annual gift giving orgy is a mere days away, the ...

    1 Dec 2009

  • 2009.11“... ...”
  • Arguing and Criticism

    Oh dear. I was involved in a bit of a Twitter kerfuffle over the last week. I think the ...

    19 Nov 2009

  • London 2009: 200 Channels and Nothing But Cat

    About a year ago I went to London, primarily to attend a Square Mile "Taste of ..." event, ...

    6 Nov 2009

  • London: UBF Video

    I went to London. They have strange people there, with strange customs. As always b ...

    3 Nov 2009

  • 2009.10“... ...”
  • Tedious Meters

    There persists a deluded, quasi-philosophical resistance to the use of electronic devices, ...

    19 Oct 2009

  • The Leading Cause of Tooth Decay

    I guess this isn't going to be news to many, as it has already been tweeted, sprudged, ...

    1 Oct 2009

  • 2009.09“... ...”
  • Into The Breach: Preground Supermarket Offerings

    I remember when I started blogging, the idea was to be very Irish consumer-centric, to ...

    16 Sep 2009

  • 2009.07“... ...”
  • Further Ruminations on Filter Grind

    This is a heady time for filter brewing. I don't think at any time in recent memory has th ...

    14 Jul 2009

  • 2009.06“... ...”
  • Gold Cup / Pyrite Grinder

    I was really lucky to be able to attend the SCAE Brewmaster course held at Marco H ...

    25 Jun 2009

  • Abid Clever Coffee Dripper

    I'm going to be honest here, though I've had long-standing love affairs with the French ...

    8 Jun 2009

  • 2009.05“... ...”
  • Suckin' on Robusta (and two others from Paradise)

    Here's the hypothesis: Robusta isn't inherently crap. If grown and processed with the sa ...

    12 May 2009

  • 2009.04“... ...”
  • Drawing a Line Under Atlanta

    I met Colin Harmon through this thread on Boards.ie. A group of us were buying some Intell ...

    28 Apr 2009

  • Video From Octane ft Steve, Ben, Colin

    Great video from Steve Leighton. I was too hung over to form sentences, so I am joyously a ...

    22 Apr 2009

  • Colin Harmon - WBC Last 6

    What can I say? Congratulations to Colin. He knocked it out of the park today. Everyone ...

    19 Apr 2009

  • Dear God Not Another Post About the Mahlkönig Vario or Why t ...

    I'm gonna keep this one short. I've seen the good and bad the Vario has to offer, and as m ...

    1 Apr 2009

  • 2009.03“... ...”
  • Video: Mahlkönig Vario - Some Observations

    *Can be watched in HD on Vimeo* Mahlkönig Vario: Some Observations from The Other Bla ...

    12 Mar 2009

  • Review: Mahlkonig Vario Grinder

    I first heard about the Vario grinder back in May of last year. Coffeegeek had some ph ...

    10 Mar 2009

  • 2009.02“... ...”
  • Snow, Rome, and a bitter aftertaste.

    February was not a good month for flying in or out of Dublin airport. My planned two l ...

    25 Feb 2009

  • The 2009 Irish Barista Championship

    Well the main course of this post is the video below. It's sloppily edited and compose ...

    16 Feb 2009

  • 2009.01“... ...”
  • Bean Review: James Gourmet Coffee Selection

    I've been meaning to order coffee from James Gourmet Coffee (from hereon JGC) for some t ...

    26 Jan 2009

  • Coffees of 2008

    What a year for coffee 2008 was! I've had stunning cups throughout the year, and could ...

    12 Jan 2009

  • Machine Review: Behmor 1600

    Home roasting of coffee beans is a funny business. Indeed there are many reasons why p ...

    5 Jan 2009

  • 2008.12“... ...”
  • Behmor Video Clip

    Hope to have a review of the Behmor up by the end of the week, but in the meantime... ...

    17 Dec 2008

  • Machine Review: Anfim Haus Self

    Every grinder involves a set of compromises. The general trend is that these compromis ...

    8 Dec 2008

  • 2008.11“... ...”
  • A Matagalpan pictorial hodgepodge – Views of Nicaragua’s cof ...

    Sitting in a lounge at Atlanta airport on my way home from Nicaragua, I take some time to ...

    25 Nov 2008

  • London: Café crawl and Square Mile Tasting

    While improvements in the Dublin coffee scene over the past couple of years are plain ...

    20 Nov 2008

  • New Toys

    After a month of hiatus on the site, which entailed creating the new look and format, here ...

    15 Nov 2008

  • 2008.10“... ...”
  • Bean Review: Supreme Roastworks Selection

    I guess the website, and my ramblings on various forums give away the fact that I li ...

    17 Oct 2008

  • Videos from SHOP

    ...

    4 Oct 2008

  • 2008.09“... ...”
  • Bean Review: Ristretto Espresso Blend

    I feel like I’m going to develop a music analogy theme on these bean reviews that I ...

    29 Sep 2008

  • Machine Review: Bodum Antigua Grinder

    Surely Bodum are the Apple of the kitchenware world. The Danish company seems to have ...

    18 Sep 2008

  • New York: Some disjointed thoughts

    Having recently returned from New York I thought it might be a nice idea to write a fe ...

    11 Sep 2008

  • 2008.08“... ...”
  • Bean Review: Square Mile WBC Espresso

    Not since members of Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds and The Hollies came together ha ...

    29 Aug 2008

  • Bean Review: M&D Java

    I wasn’t sure if I’d write this review. In fact, I had completely scrapped it. In th ...

    8 Aug 2008

  • Espresso: Anticipation

    Espresso: Anticipation from The Other Black Stuff on Vimeo. Anticipation Espresso V ...

    3 Aug 2008

  • 2008.07“... ...”
  • Introducing: The Other Black Stuff

    Sitting in a courtyard in Covent Garden, drinking a cappuccino, this is where coffee c ...

    11 Jul 2008

no comments leave your own, follow the feed, or trackback

Leave a reply

Cancel reply

required

required, will not be published

Your comment

Submit

  • other stuff

    • About
    • Archives
    • Contact
  • on twitter

    • @LorcanF prepay - top up by 20euro a month - all you can eat data 3 hours ago
    • @LorcanF less than half 3 hours ago
    • Goodbye O2 hello Three 5 hours ago
    • hahaha “@missjnz: Chadwoozled! “@sprudge: UKBC Mildly Confusing http://t.co/5EykCT5X”” 2012/02/20
    • The term hacking or hacker is now completely meaningless as it is used to convey all manner of horseshit. 2012/02/18
  • find

Wu Wei by Jeff Ngan.
back to the top