Perking Up Down Under

We love reading about the history of coffee and, in particular, how different extraction methods developed over time. But it’s also interesting to track how coffee — and the different prep methods — were introduced in different parts of the world.

Apparently, the history of espresso in Australia is a debated subject — who brought it first and where. According to this article, the providence of espresso in Australia was the result of a competition between Gino di Santo and Peter Bancroft. They imported a Cimbali and a Gaggia, respectively, and installed them in cafes within weeks of each other in 1954. Another contender for Australia’s godfather of espresso is Nando Verrenti, who installed a Faema machine in Melbourne, also in 1954.

Whoever is responsible for getting Oz on the java track, it’s no doubt that today they have one of the most fervent and creative cafe and espresso cultures in the world. With awesome experimental joints like The Sensory Lab in Melbourne or the creators of the uber-sexy all stainless steel stove top espresso/steamer combo OTTO hailing from Sydney, the Aussies are taking their rich history with espresso and pushing it forward in fun and inventive new ways.

Unplug From the Digital Plantation

A cafe in the San Francisco Bay area is taking a stand: On the weekends, during the month of February, wireless access will be shut down and no laptops allowed.

Sal Bednarz, owner of the Actual Cafe near Golden Gate Park has decided to try this social experiment in an effort to spur his neighborhood customers to get to know each other a little bit better. He founded the cafe to create more of a meeting/social space for his community and wants to try this out to see how folks respond. Since it’s not inspired by trying to move customers through and keeping seats free (like what caused a number of NYC-area cafes to outlaw laptops during certain hours last year), it will be interesting to see if this does influence folks into talking to each other more, engaging and taking back the space from those using the cafe as an office outside of the office.

If you’re in the area and have a chance to check it out or participate in Bednarz ‘experiment,’ please comment and let us know your thoughts!

Recipe: Chocolate-Dipped Espresso Shortbread Cookies

We have been sitting on this recipe for awhile, but we’ll be trying it out this month during our Valentine’s Day Fiesta. Sounds delish!

Ingredients

Shortbread

• 1/2 pound (1 cup) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 10 ounces (2 1/4 cups) unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons finely ground espresso coffee beans

Dipping Chocolate

• 9 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

Directions

Shortbread

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. With a stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle, or in a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar and salt. Mix on low speed until the butter combines with the sugar but isn’t perfectly smooth, 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the flour and espresso and mix on low speed, scraping the bowl frequently until the dough has just about pulled together, about 3 minutes; don’t over-mix.
4. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4-inch thick. Aim for uniform thickness to ensure even baking.
5. Use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter, or one of similar size, to cut out shapes.
6. Press the scraps together, roll them out, and cut out more cookies.
7. Arrange the cookies on the prepared baking sheets and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 20 minutes.
8. Heat the oven to 300F degrees and bake the cookies until the tops look dry and the color has darkened slightly, about 30-60 minutes.
9. Let the cookies cool on a rack before dipping them.

Dipping Chocolate

1. Set a sheet of parchment or wax paper on a work surface.
2. Put the chocolate and shortening in a small, heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a pan of simmering water.
3. Melt the chocolate, stirring until smooth and warm; don’t let it get hot.
4. Dip half of each cookie into the chocolate, set on the parchment and let cool at room temperature, about 2 hours.

Source

The Grind: February 2010

Seattle Coffee Gear’s monthly newsletter, The Grind, landed in an email box near you today — and if it wasn’t near enough for you to actually read it, you can do so here on the site or make sure you get up close and personal next month by signing up for future editions.

This month, we talk about the different functional types of espresso machines, include a recipe for Indochine Lemon, point you to our manufacturer manual resource on Brown Bean and introduce you to a few new products we have in the store. What you won’t see, however, is The Grind Special, which is for subscriber-eyes-only. Sign up to get that little bit o’ goodness every month.

Health Watch: Caffeine & Brain Cancer

A recent study by a group of South Korean researchers indicates that the amount of caffeine present in coffee and green tea may have a positive impact on the development and growth of brain cancer causing cells.

Collecting the data through unidentified animal testing, the researchers found that the caffeine equivalent of two to five cups of coffee or green tea per day suppressed the growth of inositol trisphosphate receptors IP3R), which are closely linked to the most common and aggressive type of brain tumor in humans, the glioblastoma. The researchers note that calcium plays a part in spreading these tumor cells, but the caffeine counteracts it.

Javastrology

It’s that time of the month again! Curious what February will bring to your coffee-makin’ ways? Check out what the stars have to say about your espresso and coffee creations.

Now, we’re really not sure that the cosmos has anything to do with our espresso machine, but it never hurts to get all our ducks lined up in pursuit of a better cup of coffee, right?

Crew Review: MyPressi TWIST

We have been using the Handpresso for awhile now for our portable espresso maker needs, but thought we’d give the MyPressi TWIST a try to see how it compares. Watch as Gail uses the MyPressi with the regular basket, pod basket and pressurized basket (for coarse or variable grind) to see how they compare, shot-wise. Great quality on the ground basket shots, but not so good on the pod basket. We think this might be because it’s designed for the double-pods you can’t easily find in the US…but we’re not sure.

Look for this as a new addition to our products at Seattle Coffee Gear within the next few weeks.

Crew Review: Ascaso Uno Pro with PID – Round Two

We took a first look at the new Uno Pro with PID by Ascaso in December, and now that we’ve had a little bit of time to play around with it, we’re taking a second look. In this new video, Gail talks to us about programming the PID, pulls some shots, steams up some milk using the other steam wand attachment and shows us the included accessories. The jury is still out on the longevity/build quality/reliability of this machine — since it’s new on the market — but so far so good, functionality-wise.

Magical Rinza!

Not that we’re suggesting that you let your espresso machine’s steam wand get as caked up with dried milk as the wand we use in this demonstration, but if that ever is the case, Rinza is the product you should turn to for your easy cleaning needs. Gail shows us how a diluted solution of this stuff can break down the milk on even one of the gnarliest of steam wands!

Crew Review: Handpresso with Domepod

As we wrote about earlier this month, Handpresso has a new model available with a little filter basket that you can use with pre-ground coffee. It’s a great option because it gives you brewing flexibility — you can choose whatever coffee you love instead of having to rely only on the coffee produced in ESE pod format — but it is definitely a little messier. The results were markedly better than with a pod, however, as Gail shows us in this video.