Guides, explainers and deep-dives on specialty coffee.
The ice-lolly board is out at Big Bay, so as far as I’m concerned it’s iced coffee season. Cold brew and flash brew make two pretty different drinks, and the whole ‘cold brew is less acidic’ thing is only half true. Recipes for both inside 🙂
Cold Brew vs Iced Coffee: Which One Should You Be Making This Summer? Read More »
We sell a few second-hand machines and grinders now, so I figured I’d write down what I’d actually check before buying one in Cape Town, from us or from anyone else. Pull a shot on every group, read the rating plate, ask about the burrs, and please get an electrician in before you plug 3kW into the toaster socket.
If you only upgrade one bit of coffee kit, make it the grinder. I worked that out fiddling with a cheap secondhand one on an office floor years ago, and I still think it’s the most boring thing you’ll buy and the one that does the most work. What your grinder is doing for you, or not doing, depending on how cheap it is.
Your Coffee Grinder Matters More Than Your Machine Read More »
For years the espresso rule was simple: grind finer for a stronger shot. A landmark study in Matter tested that and found the opposite past a point, because too fine and the water just channels straight through the puck. Here’s what the team found, how sure we can be about it, and what it means next time you pull a shot at home (for me: not that much, but it can save you costs potentially… and its really interesting!)
Grinding Espresso Finer Won’t Always Make It Stronger Read More »
A few of you guys keep asking why your moka pot makes bitter, angry coffee. It is almost never the pot. Its the grind, tired beans, or leaving it on the heat like youre boiling potatoes. Heres how I stop fighting mine (plus the hot water trick I stole off James Hoffmann).
A few of you guys asked how roasting actually works, so here it is: green beans, first crack (aka “who put popcorn in my roaster?”), and the day I turned perfectly good coffee into expensive braai charcoal. Part science, part art, occasionally part disaster.
What Actually Happens When We Roast Your Coffee Read More »
For years, blooming your pour-over was treated as gospel. Now some of the best brewers are skipping it. We dug into the CO2 science and the latest swirl-vs-stir tests to see whether the bloom earns its place, and how sure anyone really is.
Does Blooming Coffee Actually Matter? What the Latest Tests Show Read More »
Confused by the legal side of starting a food truck or coffee trailer in Cape Town? Here’s the clear version. We made all the mistakes so that you don’t have to! This guide includes the licences and permits you need, health rules, and where you can (and should) trade.
The Only Good Guide to Food Truck & Coffee Trailer Permits in Cape Town in 2026 Read More »
Hard-won tips for running a Wega commercial espresso machine in SA: gas conversion for load-shedding, draining it for transport, volumetric dosing and buying used.
Sour, gushing, bitter? A humble, honest starting point for dialling in espresso at home, from someone who roasts it for a living and still gets it wrong.
Dialling In Home Espresso Without Losing the Plot Read More »
Small Batch. Big Soul. A micro-roastery in Blouberg, Cape Town, roasting to order since 2021.
Find the trailer at the Big Bay Lifesaving Club on Sunday mornings, and at Echium Park Markets every second Saturday.
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