You Oughta Know #29
In this issue: Keep spilling your coffee? Spill no more!; The BIRD takes pour-over to new (price) heights; Ultra-rare coffee varieties: How they rise and fall.
Nau mai hoki mai! Welcome back to The Magic Roast.
Happy new year to you, yes, YOU. I hope you manged to find some excellent coffee, spin some fantastic yarns, and create amazing memories.
And if you weren’t able to tick those things off your list, I hope good things are coming your way really soon.
I’ve been spending my summer hitting the water, skating and smashing great coffee.
In this issue: Keep spilling your coffee? Spill no more!; The BIRD takes pour-over to new (price) heights; Ultra-rare coffee varieties: How they rise and fall.
Always spill your coffee? Let science keep your shirt clean
Did you know that when you walk with a coffee in your had, the liquid goes back and forward about four per second? Yeah, me neither!
Back in 2016, a smarter cookie than I, Jiwon Han, wrote a paper about how to avoid spilling your coffee as you walk.
It’s got a lot of stuff in there…
Fortunately for us, back in 2021, Sophie Abrahams, who is a PhD student in applied mathematics at Oxford, did her own research. She produced an awesome video about how to avoid this, in really simple language.
I’m not entirely sure why the TikTok algorithm put this in my feed in 2024, but I’m glad I did. I am now able to walk around my home, in a whimsical and carefree manner, without fear of spilling my cup.
The BIRD by Weber Workshops
If you follow any coffee fan on Instagram, you have probably been tagged in a post to win The BIRD, by Weber Workshops.
The BIRD (which stands for Brew In Reverse Direction) is the latest brewer that attempts to merge three classic brew methods. It combines the French Press, pour-over and espresso into one brewer.
I’ve watched a few of the hype videos, it’s really hard to tell how much this differs from other brewers that do this. You know, like the AeroPress.
But, this thing is BEAUTIFUL. On looks alone, this is something that reaches deep into my soul and screams “YOU MUST HAVE ME”.
While Weber Workshops is known for its amazing design, looks and beauty, they’re not known for their affordable brew gear. It appears that The BIRD is no exception, with the price reported to be around $360 US dollary doos.
That’s right. It’s around $575 NZD. You can buy more than eight AeroPress’ for that price. And you’ll get a more versatile, portable brewer that is easier to use.
To own one of these bad boys, I have two options:
Encourage everyone to become a member of The Magic Roast (see below); or
Spam everyone on Instagram so I can win one (see your DMs).
Check out more on their YouTube.
A Perfect Daily Grind: Ultra-rate coffee varieties: How they rise and fall
If you have spent any time in the weird world of specialty coffee, you would have come across the variety ‘gesha’. It was once a rare coffee that fetched record prices (for 2004) of $42USD/kg. It now fetches over $10,000 USD/kg.
Perfect Daily Grind looked into how ‘ultra-rare’ coffees like gesha, and others, get popular and then fall out of favour with the coffee public.
This is a pretty interesting article.
Become a member of The Magic Roast
You can support The Magic Roast by becoming a member, for as little as a cup of coffee a month.
Supporting The Magic Roast allows us to try more roasters and cafes, and provide even more support to the Aotearoa coffee industry. Supporting The Magic Roast really does support everyone in coffee.
Not everyone is able to commit to financial support, and that’s all good! You’ll still get access to all the new stories, reviews, interviews and of course, You Oughta Know. You can support The Magic Roast in other ways - share the news, like this post, comment below or just go out of your way to try a new coffee.
Read more about the move to a membership model, and what it all means for you and The Magic Roast.
Coming up on The Magic Roast
We’ve got heaps of great yarns coming up on The Magic Roast. Including:
An interview with 2023 World AeroPress Champion, Tay Wipvasutti
A tour of the Tokyo coffee scene, thanks to TMR writer Matty T
Roaster of the month: Kū by Coffee Tech
It’s all happening!
Thanks for reading.