May 24 2024
Starbucks changes with the seasons almost as reliably as the weather. Spring brings floral flavors and colorful iced drinks. Summer shifts toward cold brew, Refreshers, and shaken espresso. Fall means pumpkin, pecan, chai, and baking spices. Then winter arrives with pistachio, peppermint, caramel brulée, gingerbread, and the holiday drinks people wait all year to order. …
May 05 2024
Ascaso occupies an interesting place in the home espresso market. The Barcelona-based company combines distinctive European design with serious home-barista features such as professional 58 mm portafilters, PID temperature control, programmable pre-infusion, adjustable brewing parameters, stainless-steel components, and fast-heating thermoblock technology. Unlike many traditional prosumer espresso machines that rely on large boilers and long warm-up …
Apr 26 2024
Percolator coffee has a personality all its own. It’s typically hot, robust, aromatic, and fuller-bodied than the coffee many people associate with an automatic drip machine. Because a percolator repeatedly circulates hot water through the grounds during brewing, the beans and grind you choose can have an especially noticeable effect on the final cup. The …
Apr 25 2024
Coffee can be intimidating when you don’t already love it. Walk into a café and suddenly you’re choosing among lattes, cappuccinos, cold brew, macchiatos, flat whites, americanos, mochas, espresso shots, light roasts, dark roasts, flavored syrups, alternative milks, and half a dozen brewing methods. If you’ve tried coffee once or twice and thought, “Why does …
Apr 20 2024
Cold brew coffee is one of the easiest ways to make smooth, refreshing coffee at home. Unlike iced coffee—which is usually brewed hot and then cooled or poured over ice—cold brew is made by steeping ground coffee in cool water for several hours. The slow extraction produces a rich coffee concentrate or ready-to-drink brew that …
Apr 13 2024
The Hamilton Beach FlexBrew has always been built around one appealing idea: your coffee maker shouldn’t force you to choose between pods, ground coffee, and a full pot. That concept has expanded considerably. Today’s FlexBrew lineup includes compact single-serve machines, hot-and-iced brewers, FlexBrew Trio models that combine single servings with a 12-cup carafe, and newer …
Apr 11 2024
The Mr. Coffee 12-Cup Programmable Coffee Maker is designed for people who want a traditional pot of drip coffee without paying for features they may never use. There is no smartphone app, built-in grinder, milk frother, pod system, or complicated touchscreen. Instead, the emphasis is on familiar everyday conveniences: programmable brewing, a 12-cup glass carafe, …
Apr 09 2024
The AeroPress has become one of the most recognizable manual coffee makers around, and its appeal is surprisingly simple: it can make a flavorful cup of coffee quickly without requiring an expensive machine or much counter space. Part immersion brewer, part filtered coffee maker, and part pressure-assisted brewer, the AeroPress occupies an unusual space between …
Mar 17 2024
La Marzocco occupies an unusual place in the home espresso world. This isn’t a company that started with inexpensive countertop appliances and eventually moved into premium espresso. La Marzocco built its reputation making professional café equipment, and its home machines bring much of that commercial engineering into the kitchen. That means features such as: It …
Jan 04 2024
Coffee jelly is one of those desserts that looks elegant enough for a dinner party but is surprisingly easy to make. Dark, glossy cubes of coffee-flavored jelly are chilled until firm, cut into bite-size pieces, and spooned into glasses with a lightly sweetened creamy milk mixture. The contrast is wonderful: bold, slightly bittersweet coffee against …
