Browsing all posts in Coffee blog.

417 Latte Art Throwdown was a success

The first 417 Latte Art Throwdown competition was a big hit last night!  Thirteen baristas representing 7 different coffee shops competed for the title of best latte artist in the Springfield area.
The event was hosted by The Coffee Ethic in downtown Springfield, Missouri, and was sponsored by PT’s Coffee, a coffee roaster out of Topeka, Kansas, [...]

417 Latte Art Throwdown contest is tonight

Tonight at 7 p.m. at The Coffee Ethic on Park Central Square in Springfield, Missouri, I’ll be one of the judges for the 417 Latte Art Throwdown contest.  This event came together through conversations between the guys who run The Coffee Ethic, Dancing Mule Coffee, Hebrews Coffee and The Hub Bike and Beans, and I’m [...]

The Art of the Barista

When thinking a barista “expressing art”,  many times we simply think of latte art. This is true, but we must not forget the primary art form of the barista, which lies in the espresso.
In mechanics, we learn to control systems through automation. The idea is to control all variables for a consistent desired outcome.  For [...]

Goodbye & good luck to barista Jon Freihofer

Jon Freihofer has been a foundational character and a competent barista at The Coffee Ethic in Springfield, Missouri for as long as I can remember.  Jon’s affection for great coffee, his brilliant tattoos, his artistic style, and his modest but sincere personality have added character to the Ethic’s coffee shop mystique in his time there, [...]

What does your coffee say about you?

This week, Rogersville-based coffee roaster Ed Kuhlman tweeted an article from Australia titled “Your choice in coffee says much about you” that I found humorous but also pretty accurate as well. An excerpt from the new book, The You Code, the article involves the work of body language experts Judi James and James Moore [...]

Latte art competition scheduled for March 7

It’s official! We finally have the first open invitation Latte Art Throwdown scheduled in southwest Missouri. Over the past several weeks, I have heard parts of discussions on the matter with details here and there, but today I finally got an invite to the event.

This latte art throwdown has been scheduled for Sunday [...]

Submit a photo of your favorite coffee mug

Everybody I know who drinks coffee has a favorite coffee mug. It’s funny how we get sentimental about coffee mugs, but I definitely have mine, pictured here (slightly out of focus). I actually have a favorite mug when I’m drinking coffee at home on the weekends and then a favorite thermal mug that I [...]

Siphon coffee brewing now at The Hub

Yesterday I got a text from the guys over at The Hub Bikes and Beans in Springfield that they had just taken delivery of a siphon coffee brewer.  This morning, I stopped by and let Jason brew up some coffee from Rwanda (roasted by Intelligentsia) in their new siphon pot.  I’ve actually never seen one [...]

If you haven’t tried the Mule, give it a chance

This morning I stopped by Dancing Mule Coffee in Springfield, Missouri, on the way to work. Because it’s on the other side of town from my typical path, I have to intentionally go out of my way to get over there, and I usually only make it once a week, but more and more, [...]

Springfield News-Leader features The Hub Bikes & Beans

Today’s Springfield News-Leader ran a story about The Hub Bikes and Beans, commonly known as The Hub.  It’s one of the newest coffee shops in Springfield, located at 811 North Boonville, just north of Chestnut Expressway on Boonville.  A store with a relaxed downtown feel, The Hub combines BMX bikes and manually-brewed high-quality coffees and [...]