Over 350 million espresso based drinks are made in the United States every day. Espresso is a drink made up of two ingredients: coffee and water. It is made using an espresso machine, which uses high pressure (usually 9 bars of pressure) to push the near boiling water (92 degrees) through finely ground coffee. History […]

  Brewing (Not-So-Bad) Coffee At Home   I often get asked questions along the lines of “How do you brew your coffee at home?” Or “What’s the best home set-up?”   Working in a coffee roastery I am spoilt from the choice of brewing equipment available on a daily basis. Which means when I brew […]

Speciality coffee has a couple of definitions that go with it. The most common probably being: “Association of America (SCAA), coffee which scores 80 points or above on a 100-point scale is graded “specialty.”[1] Specialty coffees are grown in special and ideal climates, and are distinctive because of their full cup taste and little to […]

    “Have you got anything stronger?” is a question I often hear working with Cloud Picker. We are a roastery set out to source, roast and serve the best coffee our resources allow us. We showcase these coffees by roasting them light.   What does light roast mean?   Well, it’s the equivalent of […]

  During my brief time in the coffee industry, I have come to realise – a lot of people who are introduced to dialling in espresso find the whole ordeal quite intimidating and seem to think it is far more complicated than it is.  If you are completely unfamiliar with the process, keep reading, but […]

Before working in a roastery, I had no idea what the job entailed. It was only towards the end of my stint as a barista that I really grasped the importance of roasting and how it affects the coffee. I feel there is a lack of a somewhat simple explanation of what we do, so […]