How to Brew the Perfect Cup of Coffee

Tristan Coulter of Chicago's Metropolis Coffee Explains the Pour-Over Technique

I discovered the first inklings of my obsessive nature while making coffee in college. So many things can go wrong. So many ways to go right off the cliff. What should be routine and pleasurable becomes stressful, maddening, disappointing. The beans, the water, the tools, the process, and the thin line between greatness and mediocrity. None are exempt from mistakes.  And of course, no one has i...

Steingarten on Why We Turn to Espresso

From Jeffrey Steingarten's essay "Explaining Espresso," via his collection It Must Have Been Something I Ate :

It's no wonder that humankind's most persistent activity over the past few hundred years has been inventing new ways of making coffee.  How many coffeemakers you have at home depends on 1) your age 2) your love of coffee 3) your love of toys, and 4) your total inability to...