Article / Features - 5
Coffee Culture: Pouring Over the Perfect Cup
Pour-over is actually an old-school technique experiencing a revival. Learn the art to doing it correctly.
Don’t tell Ferris McIntyre she’s too young to love coffee. The 17-year-old Adolfo Camarillo High School senior is a self-described “coffee nerd” and barista-in-training, mastering the art of the perfect pour-over under the tutelage of coffee guru Mike Colston, owner of Element Coffee in Camarillo.
Pour-over is the hot new trend that’s actually an old-school method of making coff ee. In simplest terms, it’s pouring hot water over coff ee grounds, but there’s definitely a technique to extracting all the nuanced flavors from the beans.
Fresh (Ingredient) Take on Oxnard
When my husband and I first discovered Oxnard, we were blithely unaware of the prejudices against it. All we saw were the wide open beaches edged by grassy dunes reminiscent of Martha’s Vineyard and an air temperature 20°–30° lower in August than that of our Glendale home. It wasn’t until we bought our townhome seven minutes’ walking distance to the sand that we started getting hit with the barbs, mostly making fun of the name.
Giving 'Local Coffee' a New Meaning
There’s something innovative brewing in Ventura County, thanks to the efforts of a Goleta-based coffee grower.
Nearly nine years ago, Jay Ruskey, a subtropical fruit grower whose primary crops are cherimoyas, caviar limes and other citrus, planted coffee trees at his farm Good Land Organics. Located in the coastal foothills of Santa Barbara County, Good Land Organics is far from the “Bean Belt” usually considered optimum for coffee growing: within 20° latitude of the equator.
How to Roast Coffee Beans at Home
Three home roasters explain why roasting your own coffee beans is far superior to purchasing pre-roasted beans (or even worse, coffee grounds).
Roasting coffee at home?
You can do that?
I had no idea until about 10 years ago when a dinner party host tossed some Papua New Guinea peaberry green coffee beans into a small pan and roasted them in the outdoor pizza oven still blazing-hot from dinner. In no time, the rock-hard, raw green beans transformed into bronzed baubles. It was a revelation. And after tasting coffee freshly brewed from these just-roasted beans, I was hooked.
Drink in these stories from three others who are equally passionate about home roasting.
Ojai Valley Bee Club on Nature's Sweetest Insect
Buzzing With Activity. California honey producers explain how flavor reflects local agriculture.
If you’ve ever had a fascination with bees or just love your local honey, you’ll be glad to know the Ojai Valley Bee Club is busy as, well, a bee. I met with a few founders to find out how they got started and just what they do.
“We’re here to provide support and community for those out there who want to keep bees,” says Glenn Perry, a local beekeeper transplanted from the East Coast.
They’re also there for the love of bees.