All About Coffee

The incomparable Ross Quail, president of the Australasian Specialty Coffee Association has posted on the AASCA site the exciting news that the William H. Ukers coffee text "All About Coffee" is now out of copyright and as such project Gutenberg have undertaken to make it available electronically - free of charge. This occurs whenever sufficient time passes after the death of an author to be sure that the author's estate has benefited as much as is reasonable from the product of that author - I think about 50 years or so.

There are a variety of formats available including ePub - which can be read on laptops, desktops iPhones and other smartphone - and naturally, iPads.

You can find the book here: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/28500

Thanks to Ross and AASCA for spreading the news as I know there are many people who cannot afford the several hundred dollars for a paper version of the text.

The Final Cafe

Yes - it is time for Cafe Grendel to expand and the already crowded cafe market on Earth means that we have no other option but to embrace the final frontier and launch into space:




If you want you name to be included on the upcoming launch of IKAROS, you might want to hurry up as the deadline is March 22, 2010.

Enter your message here.

The ultimate 'Irish' coffee

It felt almost sinful adding a full measure of golden, smoky Lagavulin into the perfect ristretto, but I had vowed and declared that I was going to attempt an Irish coffee the likes of which I would rarely see again.

Lagavulin is a single malt whisky produced on Islay (pronounce aye-la) and is one of the finest of the whiskys I have tried.

I was introduced to single malts by Kamran of Fiori Coffee - clearly a bloke who appreciates the finer things in life, and a colleague of mine introduced me to Lagavulin in particular.

It is a rare pleasure that I allow myself and it is an amazing thing to sip - smoky peat, almost medicinal and totally absorbing.

My preferred way to drink it is just with a little water to soften the alcohol - not adding water can actually detract from the experience as the alcohol burns away the subtleties.

I had not a few 'ethical' concerns about adulterating fine coffee with whisky on one side and adulterating fine whisky with coffee on the other.

My concerns were totally unnecessary - the sheer might of this particular single malt means that nothing was lost in combination with the coffee and cream and many aspects were enhanced.

It was a sublime experience and I would highly recommend it - DO NOT TRY THIS WITH SOMETHING CHEAP.

There, I've said it - you just can't do this with cheap spirits. Buy something that you are happy to sip on its own and you will be in the right ballpark.

The coffee I used was a blend I roasted last week comprised of Columbian Supremo (organic), Ethiopian Yirgacheff and El Salvadorian Bella Vista estate beans - it was a well rounded espresso blend and did not dominate the drink I made but did support the smokiness of the whisky beautifully.


Image Source: Wikipedia - Lagavulin

Faema Family Instruction Manual

Apparently I have one of the few entire copies of the instruction manual for the venerable Faema Family espresso machine - I have had a request for a copy already and then heard about another one today - I have scanned the manual and placed the images in my web album. If you have a Faema Family and no manual - now you can access this version. I'll eventually convert to PDF and make that available. The Family is a great little machine - one of Faema's best efforts in the domestic market - a shame to see the manual and the machine no longer available.

Anyway - the instruction manual is here:

Faema Family