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Mar
29
As promised, here are the “How To” videos, showcasing 3 methods of brewing delicious coffee.
First up is the French Press brewing guide, followed by the Chemex and the Hario v60 brewing guides.
Brewing Guide/French Press from Square One Coffee on Vimeo.
Brewing Guide/Chemex from Square One Coffee on Vimeo.
Brewing Guide/V60 Pour Over from Square One Coffee on Vimeo.
(These videos were created by the fantastic Jason Pohlig. Thanks again, Jason!)
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Our roasting operation has moved a step closer to our customers! If you’ve been to our shop in Lancaster lately, this won’t come as a surprise to you at all. (It’s hard to miss that big, shiny, beautiful piece of machinery smiling at you while you wait for your drink.)
That’s right! The back room has been converted into a space for roasting coffee and holding coffee cuppings/tastings and brewing classes. There is still overflow seating for 6-10 people back there, (which is half the seating), but we are excited for all of our customers to be able to watch the process of coffee being roasted and have an opportunity to participate in more tastings and educational events. It’s also a great place to meet with people who are interested in partnering with us by brewing Square One Coffee at their café/restaurant/establishment.
“The Roasting Studio” is still a work in progress, but we couldn’t be happier to have finally taken the plunge! So stop by for a bag of coffee or a delicious beverage, and feel free to grab a seat in the Roasting Studio where you’ll have front row seats to watch the magic happen.
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Dec
07
Jess visits Kenya
Posted in Education, On The Road | Comments (1)
At the end of October, Jess had the incredible privilege of traveling to Kenya and visiting some of the coffee farms that work together to produce the amazing Karie Microlot #2 (click that link to learn more about this coffee). You can check out a few pictures from her trip here.
And here is a video clip from her time on the farm with Richard Kimondo, an expert coffee farmer. (Richard took a very short break from teaching Jess all about coffee farming to tell her how long he’s been involved as a coffee farmer. And then he jumped right back into the lesson.) ;)
More pictures, videos and stories from this trip will be coming soon!
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Did you notice? We painted! At the end of May, we closed the shop for a day and a half, and all of our baristas pitched in to make it happen. (Thanks guys! You’re the best!) The color scheme went from being several shades of brown to being several shades of gray. Gray? Yes! The space is very long, but narrow. So we’ve always felt that it would feel more open and fresh if the colors were a bit cooler. We’ve wanted to do this ever since we took over (4 years ago!), but only just now found the time. We’re really pleased with the result! (We even ordered new matching ceramic wares! So if all of this is news to you, you should definitely come over, get a 6 oz. cappuccino and stay awhile!)The other “newness” is the re-opening of our outdoor space (our “courtyard”). It had been closed for over a year, but now it’s back and better than ever! A big shout out goes to Sarah W., who overhauled the entire space. Thanks, Sarah! We’re excited to be able to offer our customers an cozy outdoor space to enjoy their beverages, so come take us up on that offer!
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Jun
30
June Lancaster TNT
Posted in Blog, Lancaster TNT | Comments (0)
Thursday Night Throwdowns (TNTs) are held on the second Thursday of the month at one of our awesome Lancaster coffee shops. The June Lancaster TNT was held at Prince Street Café. Jess from Square One took home the pitcher of glory and the cash, Nate from Square One got 2nd place and Eric from Prince Street earned 3rd place. I say “earned” because we gave everyone who lost their first round a second chance by setting up a loser’s bracket with a catch: They all had to pour macchiatos. So Eric ended up having to pour 3 or 4 macchs to secure his 3rd place victory! Nice job to everyone! (Next month’s Lancaster TNT will be held on July 14th at Chestnut Hill! See you there!)
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May
16
In the next few blogs, we’ll be talking about several different methods of brewing drip coffee at home. We’ll give you a step by step guide for each method and also talk a bit about the benefits of each.
In the meantime, check out this clip from America’s Test Kitchen about automatic home coffee makers. Since this method is one of the most common ways that people brew coffee at home, we think it’s important to look at (even though connoisseurs might scoff). They tested a lot of home brewers (based on the initial criteria that the brewer needed to brew into a thermal server of some kind because of the fact that adding external heat to brewed coffee makes it deteriorate much faster). Check out their findings to see if your brewer made the cut*.
America’s Test Kitchen video: Best Coffee Maker
*Spoiler alert: Unless you use a Technivorm MoccaMaster ($250), it didn’t.
A more complete explanation of the testing can be found at the link below, although you can’t see the full results without signing up for the trial. However, the winner was the Technivorm brewer (with all the other brewers pretty much failing in every category tested).
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“How much coffee should I use???”It’s probably the hardest thing for people to agree on. That’s because taste is subjective. However there are some obvious indicators that your coffee isn’t performing to its full potential. So it’s part taste and part science.
The Specialty Coffee Association of America has stated the proper amount of coffee to use for a certain amount of water, but as I talk to customers I can see that they are often skeptical of that advice. The SCAA recommends using 10 grams (about 2 tablespoons) for every 6 ounces of water. And I can understand people who secretly think, “Yeah! I’m sure they’d like me to blow through that much coffee! Can you say ‘conflict of interest’?”
But, believe it or not, there is a method to the madness. Using fancy gadgets like TDS meters and refractometers, and also professional palates and mass taste tests, they’ve tested brews at different strengths and determined a range of desirable results. (A range…so there is some wiggle room.)
So what happens if you use less coffee? Say, half as much (which would be 5 grams of coffee, or about 1 tablespoon, per every 6 ounces of water)? The coffee will be over-extracted. What that means is that the water has washed over the coffee grounds and eroded the bed of ground coffee, pulling out (extracting) all of the coffee solids that were meant to be tasted and consumed (all the good stuff), but then, instead of quitting while it was ahead, the water kept on coming (remember, this situation involves less coffee than recommended, so the proportions are off). Now the water is extracting undesirables; solids that are more volatile and bitter. There’s a reason that you discard a filter full of used coffee grounds. You don’t try to brew a second pot with the same grounds, right? And you don’t eat the grounds with a spoon. That’s because we all know that there is part of the coffee that is useful for consumption and part that isn’t. If you don’t use enough coffee, you risk extracting too much from your coffee…which spoils the flavor of the entire pot. What does over-extracted coffee taste like? Read more -
You’re getting closer and closer to creating the best coffee you’ve ever brewed! You’ve got your geeky “coffee water”, your super fresh and delicious coffee, and now you want to grind some (right before you need it, of course) so that you can brew it. So which grind setting should you use?Well, that depends on how you’re brewing your coffee. You need to make sure that you use the appropriate setting for your brewing method because each method requires your coffee to be in contact with the water in a different way and for a different length of time, so a different size granule of coffee is required. If the coffee is ground incorrectly, the coffee will be either very thick and bitter or very thin and astringent. Finding the right grind for each brewing method will most likely involve some experimentation to see what works best. With every brewing method there is a degree of flexibility. You can usually go a touch finer or coarser and still be within a good range. If you’re doing everything right and you find your coffee is weak (or brewing too quickly, especially for pour-over methods or espresso), try grinding a little finer (and vice versa: if your coffee is thick and taking a long time to brew, you should coarsen the grind).
In general, french presses Read more
