ten am morning reflections.

Here Comes The Summer Staff…

Ethical Bean

Last week I had the chance to go to the ethical bean roastery and cafe with my dad and a friend and, lucky for us, the first person we saw when we walked in was Jeff Linton, the Foodservice Manager for ethical and our coffee rep at crema while he was still with JJ not too long ago. Needless to say, we were greeted with open arms and the “25 cent tour”, as Jeff called it, began. (more…)

Last Day of Classes

So long JJ Bean pen that I use to take down notes with and tall terra del sol/dark guatemala/espresso blend/eastside to go, you made the term much more bearable.

School’s out, coffee’s in.

My Kinda Flowers.

It was one of my best friend’s birthday this week and my cousin came up with a great gift for him - gift cards from a few of the city’s finest. Talk about a perfect gift for all coffee junkies alike. From back to front, we have 49th Parallel, Crema, Minks, and JJ Bean.

The “soil” in the pot is actually espresso beans - a nice finishing touch on presentation. Needless to say, it was a hit. (more…)

Starbucks Espresso//retro’d and ristretto’d.

We’re taking Starbucks beans back to their roots. No fully automatic machines, it’s time to get down and dirty.We’re going to load up the Mazzer. Grind and dose into a portafilter. Tamp it, and run it through a Synesso. (more…)

How do you know when cleanhotdrys been to your place?

Besides the instant slam of 4 maks and 4 espressos, you could just check our blog. Some of our more hardcore fans may have noticed a little something extra special the last few days at chd and that is the “last seen drinking at” widget on the right. This is a cool little feature us clean hot dryers have popped in for sheer novelty. Here’s how it works: (more…)

The Commercial Coffee Crawl

It was a dreary Monday afternoon, with the usual unsparing rain, crowded buses, and the mundane faces that longingly await the next day, as the week would indefinitely progress towards the weekend. Having been assigned to read several lengthy technical papers—side effects of which are similar to ingesting heavy sedatives—I decided to embark on a more interesting-than-usual Monday afternoon study. And what better way than to keep oneself entertained and awake than to visit several latte-art-enabled coffee shops on Commercial Drive. So the plan was to visit several trendy places, take in the decor, drink several espresso drinks, engage the baristas in conversation, and then be energized enough to pull through 2 more of the 24 remaining pages, until the next stop. The plan was flawless… (more…)

In Search of Espresso’s Best Friend: The Perfect Water

Espresso is good. Espresso with a glass of water, is better.

Yes.

The last few days I have been on a mission, and it wasn’t to find the best espresso. I already know where to find that. I wanted to find the cafe that has the best water to cleanse my palate from the ounce or 2 of crema filled goodness. At first I did what any barista would think to do - a coffee crawl. And crawl we did. I grabbed a fistful of quarters for parking, threw all my radiohead CD’s into the car, and picked up 3 of my closest allies/fellow cleanhotdryers. (more…)

The Cappuccino.

Picture the following:

It’s busy. It always is. You’re handing out drinks left and right, as if you have Octopus genetics inside you which enable you to use your 2 hands as 8. People are waiting at the bar - ready to take on the day after their daily, or sometimes bi-daily, intake of caffeine. Time is money. You hand someone their Cappuccino. It’s to-go. The one’s who comment always are. They lift it up - it’s a bit heavier than they are used to.

Rush Hour