1. new coffee
Within a couple of minutes roaming around Hamburg for a day this summer, I ran into Playground Coffee. Talk about coincidence. It was the best coffee we had during our German Coffee Crawl.
We enjoyed this Tanzania beyond anything else we tried. It was sweet, juicy, fruity, fresh. And the packaging....beautiful. And a lot of fun to open up as well, with a surprise stamp placed on the inside of the box.
All coffees come in these beautifully designed packages, and you know what the Dutch say: "The eye wants something as well"...meaning that the way something looks might just be as important as what's on the inside.
2. new gadget
Just on the corner of my cupping table at work, there is this one spot. This one spot is the place that brings on all the comments and critiques.
Because of the lighting, all the coffees placed in this spot look just that tad bit darker roasted. They.Are.Not. To stop my co-workers being yelled at, by me, given that the lighting situation has proven difficult to solve, I bought a My Tonino. This little device can measure the roast colour of your ground roasted coffee. Great! As it is much more cheap than an Agtron and you only need 20 grams to measure roast degree. It does take some patience to calibrate.
3. something not coffee
Dried hibiscus is not that easy to get your hands on, but if you can, do! It has been said to have certain health benefits, such as being beneficial for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and hypertension, however more importantly it is a gorgeous drink both visually and flavourwise.
Just drop some dried petals in a pitcher and add boiling water. The colour is this rich vibrant pink, while the taste is very bright and cranberry-like. Try adding some fresh mint for some sweet spice.
4. new brew method
Here we go again with the cold brew. But people, it's summer and it's hip. Deal with it. This Hario cold brew bottle was a gift bag gift at Re;Co symposium, which makes it even better of course.
In the bottle, which is a new product by Hario, sits a very fine mazed filter which is closed off at the top, meaning that when your cold brew is done brewing, you can just start serving, without having to worry about sieving out the ground coffee first. Genius. Need a cold brew recipe? Check out my cold brew post.
5. new coffee cocktail recipe
And after you have brewed your cold brew in your Hario cold brew bottle, make a cocktail. This is a virgin cocktail, but if you need some alcohol in your life I suggest a nice, quality dry gin.
We have all seen, heard of and tried the tonic espresso, right? And you have either loved or hated it. Sometimes because an espresso can have quite a high tarty flavour, the combo does not work very well. A sweet and fruity espresso works best. Still it can be difficult to get right.
You know what's easy? Replace the espresso with cold brew. Brew a slightly more chocolaty and sweet cold brew, for example Brazil or a blended coffee, it may also be a little bit more dark roasted. Once your brew is done, create a 50/50 cold brew/tonic drink that will blow your mind away with refreshingness.
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That were my Summer favourites. Tell me yours! Follow this blog, or the facebook, google+ or other outlets to stay up to date on the Autumn fav's.
Great work, very informative and amazing post. Please visit Custom Coffee Boxes for information.
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