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A New Page: Coffee in the Media

I used to think I was a coffee expert, when I knew a whole lot less about coffee. Even still, though, coffee is the thing I know the most about and when I hear something in the news about coffee…

Read more

The Aroma of Coffee and the Memory of it…

Has Coffee Ever Lived up to it's Promise? Has the taste of coffee ever lived up to the seducing aroma of its first whiff? For me it has not. From the time I was allowed coffee as a child, I…

Read more

Some (slightly re-heated) comments on Climate Change (& Coffee)

Warning: This post contains curmudgeonly chest-beating, credit-taking and self-serving horn-tooting that some readers may find objectionable; especially in view of the tragic situation that the author is claiming to have foreseen. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< First the chest-beating: in 1996 I was Christmas…

Read more

“High Praise” for “Strong Coffee” (The beverage, if not my actual post…)

NPR has a podcast called “It’s All Politics” that I highly recommend and the two guys (Ron Elving and Ken Rudin) that put it together and are featured on it each week often refer to their “listener” in the singular…although…

Read more

So, what’s “strong” coffee?

So what do I mean by STRONG (see last post)? It is, after all, a relative term. Here is how I brew coffee: 1)   I use freshly boiled water that is either filterer or bottled (the important thing is getting…

Read more

Weak Coffee, Part One

Weak Coffee I do not understand weak coffee and never have… I used to think, when I first got in the coffee business, that this had something to do with the cost of coffee; that coffee drinkers were being stingy,…

Read more

He’s ALIVE! (My POST-Halloween, awaking from a coma, etc, Post.)

Oh, the slings and arrows (all self-shot*) of my outrageous fortune…I lift a listless paw, backhanded, to my deeply furrowed brow (can everyone see the furrowed brow?) and beseech my non-existent reader (almost made the plural, with an “s” —?!?hah!)…

Read more

“Issue” Coffee and “Sustainability”

"Issue" Coffee and "Sustainability" and our appreciation of it... It’s well documented that our preconceptions of a gustatory product have a strong influence on our perceived appreciation of it (whether it be negative or positive). Those preconceptions can be bundled…

Read more

The “best” coffee…a “favorite” coffee and what IS a Yrgacheffe, anyway?

Yrgacheffe and a favorite coffee… (a follow up to my previous post, for those of you with looong memories!). As a curmudgeon I take it with high dudgeon (cute, huh?) that people appreciate the transient nuances and subtle differences of…

Read more

What is the Best Coffee? Part One…

The Taste of Coffee The Taste FOR Coffee …and The Perfect Cup (Or, put another way, “What is the Best Coffee?”)     It is UNFAILING, that for those of us fortunate enough to be in the coffee business, that…

Read more

My First Post! (The Score on Cupping Coffee)

(This [my first blog post] seemed like as good, and important, a topic to embark with as any...the symbolism of the 4th of July might be addressed later...independence from dithering over which topic to start with, perhaps? Or maybe it's…

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TC-bw-Filter-1b2

TIM CASTLE

About the Coffee Curmudgeon…
The CoffeeCurmudgeon wants to stimulate thoughtful conversation among consumers and members of the coffee industry. In an effort to start that conversation, the Coffee Curmudgeon will, at times, take on the role of devil’s advocate or put forth a contrarian point of view in the hope of engendering constructive dialog. With any luck, that interchange will occur over a great cup of coffee. (Whether or not it is person-to-person or keyboard-to-keyboard.) The Coffee Curmudgeon is where you’ll find an intentionally provocative look at coffee by someone who has been working with and writing about the stuff for over thirty years. Topics are divided into those addressed to the coffee drinker and to those who work with coffee. (But you are allowed to read both!) Some future topics may cover… Is espresso bad for coffee? Do chefs hate coffee? Is Fair Trade fair? The language of coffee… The limits of cupping… WHAT DO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT?
TC-bw-Filter-1b2

TIM CASTLE

About the Coffee Curmudgeon…
The CoffeeCurmudgeon wants to stimulate thoughtful conversation among consumers and members of the coffee industry. In an effort to start that conversation, the Coffee Curmudgeon will, at times, take on the role of devil’s advocate or put forth a contrarian point of view in the hope of engendering constructive dialog. With any luck, that interchange will occur over a great cup of coffee. (Whether or not it is person-to-person or keyboard-to-keyboard.) The Coffee Curmudgeon is where you’ll find an intentionally provocative look at coffee by someone who has been working with and writing about the stuff for over thirty years. Topics are divided into those addressed to the coffee drinker and to those who work with coffee. (But you are allowed to read both!) Some future topics may cover… Is espresso bad for coffee? Do chefs hate coffee? Is Fair Trade fair? The language of coffee… The limits of cupping… WHAT DO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT?

A New Page: Coffee in the Media

I used to think I was a coffee expert, when I knew a whole lot less about coffee. Even still, though, coffee is the thing I know the most about and when I hear something in the news about coffee…

Read more

The Aroma of Coffee and the Memory of it…

Has Coffee Ever Lived up to it's Promise? Has the taste of coffee ever lived up to the seducing aroma of its first whiff? For me it has not. From the time I was allowed coffee as a child, I…

Read more

Some (slightly re-heated) comments on Climate Change (& Coffee)

Warning: This post contains curmudgeonly chest-beating, credit-taking and self-serving horn-tooting that some readers may find objectionable; especially in view of the tragic situation that the author is claiming to have foreseen. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< First the chest-beating: in 1996 I was Christmas…

Read more

“High Praise” for “Strong Coffee” (The beverage, if not my actual post…)

NPR has a podcast called “It’s All Politics” that I highly recommend and the two guys (Ron Elving and Ken Rudin) that put it together and are featured on it each week often refer to their “listener” in the singular…although…

Read more

So, what’s “strong” coffee?

So what do I mean by STRONG (see last post)? It is, after all, a relative term. Here is how I brew coffee: 1)   I use freshly boiled water that is either filterer or bottled (the important thing is getting…

Read more

Weak Coffee, Part One

Weak Coffee I do not understand weak coffee and never have… I used to think, when I first got in the coffee business, that this had something to do with the cost of coffee; that coffee drinkers were being stingy,…

Read more

He’s ALIVE! (My POST-Halloween, awaking from a coma, etc, Post.)

Oh, the slings and arrows (all self-shot*) of my outrageous fortune…I lift a listless paw, backhanded, to my deeply furrowed brow (can everyone see the furrowed brow?) and beseech my non-existent reader (almost made the plural, with an “s” —?!?hah!)…

Read more

“Issue” Coffee and “Sustainability”

"Issue" Coffee and "Sustainability" and our appreciation of it... It’s well documented that our preconceptions of a gustatory product have a strong influence on our perceived appreciation of it (whether it be negative or positive). Those preconceptions can be bundled…

Read more

The “best” coffee…a “favorite” coffee and what IS a Yrgacheffe, anyway?

Yrgacheffe and a favorite coffee… (a follow up to my previous post, for those of you with looong memories!). As a curmudgeon I take it with high dudgeon (cute, huh?) that people appreciate the transient nuances and subtle differences of…

Read more

What is the Best Coffee? Part One…

The Taste of Coffee The Taste FOR Coffee …and The Perfect Cup (Or, put another way, “What is the Best Coffee?”)     It is UNFAILING, that for those of us fortunate enough to be in the coffee business, that…

Read more

My First Post! (The Score on Cupping Coffee)

(This [my first blog post] seemed like as good, and important, a topic to embark with as any...the symbolism of the 4th of July might be addressed later...independence from dithering over which topic to start with, perhaps? Or maybe it's…

Read more

A New Page: Coffee in the Media

I used to think I was a coffee expert, when I knew a whole lot less about coffee. Even still, though, coffee is the thing I know the most about and when I hear something in the news about coffee…

Read more

Yet More On Coffee in Restaurants

There’s was some discussion several weeks ago about the efforts that a particular restaurant, Noma in Copenhagen, was making to serve a very good cup of coffee. First, there was this article by Oliver Strand on Sprudge.com, Oliver Strand On…

Read more

Some (slightly re-heated) comments on Climate Change (& Coffee)

Warning: This post contains curmudgeonly chest-beating, credit-taking and self-serving horn-tooting that some readers may find objectionable; especially in view of the tragic situation that the author is claiming to have foreseen. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< First the chest-beating: in 1996 I was Christmas…

Read more

So, what’s “strong” coffee?

So what do I mean by STRONG (see last post)? It is, after all, a relative term. Here is how I brew coffee: 1)   I use freshly boiled water that is either filterer or bottled (the important thing is getting…

Read more

Weak Coffee, Part One

Weak Coffee I do not understand weak coffee and never have… I used to think, when I first got in the coffee business, that this had something to do with the cost of coffee; that coffee drinkers were being stingy,…

Read more
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