33 - Matcha Is Everywhere Right Now — But Are Coffee Shops Doing It Wrong?

Batched Espresso Scares Me | Ep. 37

Batch espresso scares us. Not because it's bad, but because what if it's actually good?  When Valor Coffee posted that they were testing batch espresso, it got us thinking about the "shots die" rule and whether any of that actually holds up in a blind taste test. We get into the tradeoffs, the perception problem on the cafe side, and what you're really giving up when you pull the barista further from the drink.  What We're Drinking: https://www.mundosroastingco.com/coffee/p/colombia-cesar-ledesma-pink-bourbon [https://www.mundosroastingco.com/coffee/p/colombia-cesar-ledesma-pink-bourbon] Say hi: hello@equalpartscoffee.com [hello@equalpartscoffee.com] equalpartscoffee.com 00:00 Intro 02:29 What We're Drinking 10:14 Valor Coffee 11:35 The Batched Espresso Dillemma 13:44 Blind taste test 16:00 First Attempt 20:15 Round 2 22:52 Results 27:31 Batch Espresso vs. Cold Brew Concentrate 32:03 Speed, Quality, Perception 34:20 The Barista Experience 37:39 Wrap Up

The Espresso Machine That Does Everything (Is It Worth $2000?) | Ep. 36

Meraki Gen 2: https://tidd.ly/4ukKTDh [https://tidd.ly/4ukKTDh] Podium Coffee Club: https://tidd.ly/4qo2NCs [https://tidd.ly/4qo2NCs] We got our hands on the Meraki Gen 2 espresso machine and have been using it daily. Built-in grinder, dual boiler, integrated scales for both grinding and brewing. On paper it has everything. In this episode we share our honest first impressions, break down what makes it stand out, and compare it to other machines in the same price range. Meraki sent us this machine but did not sponsor this video. Full review coming soon. 0:00 Intro 1:33 Are We Espresso or Milk? 6:33 Podium Coffee Club 7:07 What We're Drinking 8:21 Potato Defect Tangent 9:40 Tasting the Coffee 10:50 Meraki Gen 2 13:08 Ease of Use & Build Quality 14:02 What's Included in the Box 16:06 Meraki vs ES1 18:10 Built-In Grinder 19:35 Integrated Scales 25:10 Dual Boiler Benefits 29:09 Steam Wand Performance 33:10 Temperature Probe & Auto-Stop Feature 39:04 Menu Settings & Customization 41:51 Pre-Infusion Settings 43:39 The Car Analogy: Where Does the Meraki Fit? 45:21 Who Is This Machine For? 47:04 What's Coming Next

You’re Not Ready for Coffee Competitions — Here’s Why | Ep. 25

Morgan Eckroth: 2022 US Barista Champion, content creator, and Onyx Coffee Lab team member, sits down with us for an honest conversation about what it takes to compete at the highest level of coffee, how she builds signature drinks from scratch, and why hospitality is the thing she cares about most. Find Morgan at @morgandrinkscoffee on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and on Substack at Coffee for Here. 0:31 Introductions 1:41 What We're Drinking 4:33 Who is Morgan Eckroth? 7:40 What is the US Barista Championship? 10:03 How Morgan Prepares for Competition 12:17 Bringing Competition Drinks to Cafes 14:06 Coffee Meets Cocktail Culture 16:49 Morgan's Creative Process 20:20 Culinary Influences in Coffee 21:29 Widening the Lens Beyond Coffee 22:44 From Barista to Career 24:10 When Coffee Became More Than a Job 25:55 Making Competition Accessible 27:40 The Power of Coffee Community 29:46 Advice for Aspiring Competitors 33:39 Defining Your Own Success 34:53 Morgan's Favorite Drink 37:44 Savory & Umami in Coffee 40:31 Fostering Creativity in Your Cafe 42:30 Barista League & Lowering Barriers 43:47 How to Start Preparing Now 45:25 The Future of Specialty Coffee 47:18 The Importance of Hospitality 49:19 Where to Find Morgan

The Fellow ES1 Changed How We Think About Home Espresso | Ep. 35

Fellow Espresso Series 1: https://fellow.sjv.io/series-1 [https://fellow.sjv.io/series-1] We've had some time with the Fellow ES1. Enough to move past first impressions and actually talk about it. In this episode we get into everyday home use, steaming, shot consistency, the price conversation, and where we think home espresso is heading. ☕️ What We're DrinkingColombia Finca El Chaferote II from Prodigal Coffee RoastersAiden Profile: https://brew.link/p/8jC2 [https://brew.link/p/8jC2] Firmware video: https://youtu.be/2CS3TP-9aBE?si=Gv7b46Kch5plRh4c [https://youtu.be/2CS3TP-9aBE?si=Gv7b46Kch5plRh4c] 0:00 - Open 1:12 - Intro 2:53 - What We're Drinking 7:24 - Owning the ES1 8:35 - Milk Steaming 10:33 - Full-size steam wand & drip tray thoughts 13:04 - Shot-to-shot consistency at home 15:18 - Why the ES1? 18:43 - App Integration Ideas 19:26 - The Bluetooth Lever Tangent 22:17 - Rabbit Hole 26:16 - Features we want to see fixed/added 27:30 - The hidden hot water spout. 33:46 - Who should (and shouldn't) buy this machine 38:33 - The home espresso grinder gap 41:22 - Fellow Opus 2 first thoughts 46:03 - Where home espresso is heading 49:34 - Outro

Home Espresso Has Always Been a Compromise. Fellow Changed That | Nick Terzulli | Ep. 34

Nick Terzulli didn't set out to reinvent home espresso. He started with a latte at Sightglass, a honeymoon in Barcelona, and a medical engineering background he couldn't stop applying to coffee problems. Now, as VP of R&D at Fellow, he's the person behind one of the most talked-about espresso machines to hit the market in years — the Espresso Series 1. In this episode, Nick breaks down the boosted boiler architecture that makes the Series 1 tick, why shot-to-shot consistency has been the white whale of home espresso, and how building the Aiden brewer laid the foundation for everything that came after. He also gets into burr design, why unimodal isn't always better, and what it actually takes to bring a product from a blank piece of paper to thousands of people's countertops. Find Nick: Instagram: @nicholasnumbers LinkedIn: Nicholas Terzulli Equal Parts Coffee is a podcast about the people, gear, and ideas shaping specialty coffee. New episodes drop every other week. Subscribe so you don't miss one. 0:00 Intro 0:40 Welcome & Guest Introduction 1:14 What Nick Does at Fellow 1:53 How Nick Got Into Specialty Coffee 3:30 From Coffee Lover to Coffee Engineer 8:24 First Espresso Machine 9:42 Was Espresso Always in Fellow's Roadmap? 17:17 How Aiden Influenced Series 1 18:40 The Boosted Boiler Explained 21:39 The Challenge of 120V Home Espresso 22:17 Designing Three Machines 24:06 Fellow's Growth as a Company 27:22 Series 1 Dev Time 34:44 For the Casual Home Barista 38:21 Designing for Everyone 41:38 Shot-to-Shot Consistency 44:40 Reliability & Longevity 48:21 Repairability & Refurbishment Facility 54:19 Unimodal vs Bimodal Grind Distribution 57:41 The Hardest Thing Nick Has Done 1:02:08 Rapid Fire 1:06:27 Wrap Up & Where to Find Nick