I’ve been using Bonavita as my primary kettle for about 4 months now, and I love it. Not only does the electric kettle have a quick boil time (5 minutes) but it has a great gooseneck spout that gives great control over pouring speed and location.
At only $59.99 for the electric, and $39.99 for stovetop, Bonavita has balanced the line of quality coffee brewing equipment and affordability for home users.
I’ve had the chance to talk with Todd Larrabee from Bonavita a few times, and I’m always impressed at the passion, excitement, and creativity he envisions for the future of Bonavita and for the coffee industry.
Part of that excitement can be seen in the Bonavita’s recent explosion into the coffee scene with their coffee brewers and kettles.
We are happy to report that Bonavita has once again provided an excellent product at a rather unbelievable price. The internal microprocessor keeps the water within .5 degrees of the set temperature and will hold it there for 20 minutes. The gooseneck pour spout offers the control you need for pourover. One of our favorite features is the solid state memory, which means the kettle will recall your presets even when unplugged. For a fast, accurate electric kettle, we feel the Bonavita variable temperature unit offers a great value.
I’m excited about what Bonavita is doing, and look forward to trying out some new, innovative products.
You can grab one of the new kettles from Clive Coffee starting in July.
*Variable Temperature Kettle photo from Clivecoffee.com
I grew up with the Indians. I was born just before the golden age of Tribe baseball, setting me up with a childhood full of exciting pennant races, record setting home sell-outs, and a team that I lived and died by.
I remember sneaking a radio under my pillow on school nights when the team was on the west coast just to hear Tom Hamilton call the game. I clapped along at home during Tribe rallies, prayed for a homerun before each Albert Belle at-bat, and stood with 43,000+ screaming fans as the Indians clinched the pennant in 1997.
To me, it will always be Jacob’s Field. I’ll always be disappointed when there isn’t a sellout. There will never be as great of a home run call as Tom Hamilton’s “A swingandadrive!”
Honestly, I get teary-eyed and nostalgic writing this. There will be a ton of people who don’t understand that, and that’s okay. My childhood is all wrapped up with the Cleveland Indians, and they gave me a ton of great memories. Here’s to the Cleveland Indians – of past and present. All the players, coaches, announcers, stadium workers, fans, and Slider. Together, you gave me moments I’ll never forget.
I had a brief moment of inspiration today when simultaneous tweets came through my feed from Homage – an Ohio based vintage style sports clothing company – and Grantland – a Bill Simmons project.
Really enjoyed doing this – I rarely color my drawings, but the basketball was begging for it.
Not many brewing devices call as much attention to themselves as the Chemex. Its aesthetically appealing shape, materials, and design only further sweeten and enhance the end result that comes out into your cup.
It was designed in 1941 by a German chemist, Dr. Peter Schlumbohm, who immigrated to the United States in 1935. The modern hourglass shape of the Chemex, hugged in the middle by a wooden collar and leather tie, became a part of MoMA’s permanent collection in 1944—just a few years after its invention.
The Chemex was my first Pourover brewing device, given to me by my cousin as a wedding gift. Its easily remained one of my favorite ways to make coffee because it looks pretty and produces a sweet, smooth cup of coffee.
Thanks to the good Doctor for being interested in blessing coffee lovers all over the world with his invention.
January not only marked the start of all of this doodle stuff for me, it also marked my introduction to all things specialty coffee.
Pretty early on, I was introduced to Sprudge, but basically dismissed them — that is, until I saw they had featured some of my doodles on their site. That’s when I knew they were for real.*
Since then, I’ve come to know the gang at Sprudge not only as highly entertaining and funny writers of coffee-related stories, but also as extremely passionate, dedicated, and respected ambassadors within the coffee industry. No matter the event, you can almost guarantee that the Sprudge guys will be there – and all of us around the country and world who follow along on Twitter benefit greatly from it.
Im looking forward to spending some time with Sprudge while I’m in Portland in a couple weeks, and I anticipate many more Sprudge doodles in the future.
Thanks for all the work you guys do to keep us on all the latest coffee happenings. It’s much appreciated.**
*this awful, self-depreciating attempt at humor is why sprudge is completely necessary in the coffee industry, to keep it laughing and not rolling its eyes
Earlier last week, Austin Graham Amento, a roaster at Augie’s Coffee in Redlands, California sent me a couple bags of some coffee he had been working on. I’ve written about Augie’s in the past, and so far have really enjoyed everything I’ve tried. He’s really doing some stellar work.
The Rwanda Tumba Cocatu is a nice coffee with a good mix of grape-like acidity and cocoa finish.
Today’s doodle is inspired by that coffee, but it also draws inspiration from designer Jon Contino. I came across some of the work he did for La Marzocco, and really enjoy his unique, vintage New York style of design and drawing.
In an attempt to learn a new style and put this coffee onto paper, I came up with a coffee bag concept.
One final thing: a huge congratulations to Austin on his engagement! Best of luck these next few months!
During my visit to London, I met up with Nathan Retzer from Brewed By Hand – the UK’s primary Hario importer. I did a doodle for him to be used at the UKBC, and he kindly hooked me up with some Hario gear. One of those things was a Woodneck.
I’ve been using it for about a month now – each day I care for the high maintenance cloth filter, storing it in cold water when not in use, rinse it religiously, and remove it from the wire holder. Its kind of like taking care of a very small pet. A small chore.
I know a lot of people dislike it for this reason, but the visual appeal and clarity of coffee it produces have overshadowed any of the negatives for me. I’m dialed in to a recipe thanks to Gwilym Davies of Prufrock Coffee and I’d say it’s my preferred method right now.
Today I brewed a few cups of an Intelligentsia Seasonal Select I picked up from the brand new Earth Fare in Columbus. It’s kind of a big deal that they consistently carry Intelligentsia, Counter Culture, and other roasters, as my exposure to each typically comes from a vacation or through an online order.
The Intelligentsia I picked up was a Brazil Yellow Bourbon – Carmo De Minas. It’s full of a sweet, smooth honey almond with a bit of a tartness wrapping it up. It’s my first Brazil from Intelligentsia, and I’m really enjoying it on my Woodneck.
The doodle I came up with feels a bit more modern than I usually do, and is probably inspired as much by my visits to Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
as it is by my recent explorations of dribbble.com.
The outer ring is my brewing recipe for this coffee: 15g coffee to 250g pur filtered water. Grind 18-20 on a Baratza Virtuoso. Bloom at 30g for 30 seconds, finish with a center pour.
Not too long ago, Joyce Tombran-Tink got into hand-turning pens on a wood lathe. Joyce happens to be my mother-in-law, and it quickly became evident to those of us around her that she has a natural talent when it comes to working a wood lathe.
Joyce has turned some incredible pens over this past year, and uses unique materials in her work. She seeks out rare and exquisite materials to turn into pens – any where from a simple curly maple wood, to a block of green Jade from Tibet, to a rare, fossilized mammoth tusk excavated from Siberia. It’s become a bit of a running joke, because it’s not uncommon to hear her say “I want to turn that.” You never know what she might turn into a pen next.
Recently, she approached me about doodling on some pen blanks she had turned. She turned the wood and gave them to me to draw on – once finished she put them back on the lathe to finish with a few layers of acrylic, and topped them off with the pen fittings. THey came out pretty nice.
Thanks to Joyce for thinking of me – be sure to look for her work online in the near future. Check out the pictures below, including a really nice bowl she finished last week.
I’ve mainly been woodnecking it at a 15:250 ratio, and it’s turned out wonderful. Tons of bright, juicy, sour cherries, leveled off by a bit of creamy something and an almost chai-like spice.
Pretty much the only exposure I’ve had to Drop Coffee has been through – surprise, surprise – a DCILY post, but they seem to be doing some really great things in Sweden.
Check it out, then get some friends together to place an order.
Adam Lisagor is in love with his AeroPress. A few years back, for his 32nd birthday, his friends Neven and Christa gifted it to him and it was “love at first use.”
“It gives me a reason to get up every day,” he said. “Before the AeroPress, I didn’t care about the quality of my coffee. Now I know when its polite to literally pour a bad cup of coffee on the floor in front of the person who made it.”
Back in 2009, Adam co-developed an iOS app and created a video to promote it. The video caught on, and soon, companies started to ask Adam to make videos for their own products. This gave way to Sandwich Video Inc., whose impressive portfolio includes “neat” videos made for tech clients such as Groupon, Square, Flipboard, Yahoo!, and Instapaper, just to name a few.
Recently, Adam’s love for his AeroPress inspired him to shoot a video as a tribute to it. You may have already seen it, but it’s worth multiple views. Not only is it a beautiful video, but it also demonstrates the simplicity of making an AeroPress. I think Adam speaks for AeroPress lovers everywhere throughout this entire “AeroPress Poem Tribute.”
