Subject:

Zach Dyer

  • Blogs

    January 19, 2010

    Hey, Baristas! Test Your Latte Art at Thursday Night Throwdown, 2.11

    User "Mortefot," Wikimedia Commons​As you might have noticed, our coffee column, Java Enabled, is taking a break, but author Zach Dyer was kind enough to send along word of an upcoming competition in which you can show off your skills at latte art. You know, drawing a leaf or some such in the foam ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 11, 2009

    Fifteen Shots Later, Part 2: Java Enabled Judges the Midwest Regional Barista Competition

    Photo courtesy Kaldi's Coffee​On Saturday, October 31, and Sunday, November 1, Zach Dyer helped judge the Midwest Regional Barista Competition, with the winner advancing to the national competition in Anaheim in April 2010. In last week's post, Dyer explained how the competition works and describe ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 5, 2009

    Java Enabled: Fifteen Shots Later, Part 1

    ​When I received an e-mail a few weeks ago inviting me to sit as one of the sensory judges at the 2009-2010 Midwest Regional Barista Competition, I jumped at the opportunity. At my most delusional, it sounded like "celebrity judge" -- at the very least, it sounded like a great time. Last weekend, ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 28, 2009

    Java Enabled Previews the Midwest Regional Barista Competition

    ​"It's like Iron Chef with baristas making coffee drinks."That's how Josh Ferguson, owner of Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company, describes the Midwest Regional Barista Competition. The competition gathers the best baristas from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dako ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 14, 2009

    Java Enabled: Lo Mejor de Monserrate

    Lo Mejor de Monserrate. It means, "the best of Monserrate." This perhaps presumptuous claim is the name of a tiny cooperative nestled high in the mountains of Colombia's Huila coffee region. Last month Tyler Zimmer and Mike Marquard of Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company visited Monserrate. This was a r ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 7, 2009

    Java Enabled's Postcard from Costa Rica: Typical Coffee

    At first glance it looks like a baby's sock hanging from a mini oil derrick, slowly dripping the black liquid into the cup below. OK, maybe it's closer to a Chemex than I'm making it sound, but the "typical" -- or "tipico," as restaurant menus across the country will remind you -- percolador style o ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 16, 2009

    Java Enabled's Best of St. Louis Coffee, Part 1

    With the release on October 1 of the Riverfront Times Best of St. Louis 2009, I decided this is a great time to set the stage with Java Enabled's own Best of St. Louis Coffee. I've decided to break up my Best Of into two umbrella categories: Cafés and Coffee. In this post, I'll list my picks for th ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 9, 2009

    Java Enabled: Southwest's Coffee Gets a LIFT

    It's been a while since I've taken a vacation and even longer since I've flown. So when a good deal on a Labor Day weekend in Orlando, Florida, popped up, I jumped at the chance to go. As I filed down the ramp with the rest of my fellow passengers, I was surprised to see an ad on the wall for LIFT, ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 2, 2009

    Java Enabled: Coffee's Big-Ass Red

    ​In What to Drink with What to Eat, sommelier Steve Beckta writes about the challenge of finding that perfect bottle of wine to meet the different tastes of every diner at the table: "Scientifically, there may be a bottle of wine they 'should' have. But...they're not going to like that at all. Wh ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 26, 2009

    Java Enabled: Is Yirgacheffe a Coffee or a Brand?

    Like Champagne and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe coffee takes its name from the region where it's grown. Sweet, fruity and well-balanced Yirgacheffe has become a household name among coffee aficionados. Now, due to changes in how Ethiopia regulates its coffee market, Yirgacheff ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 19, 2009

    Java Enabled: Probat, Unlike Any Other

    It's the Cadillac of roasters -- or maybe the Mercedes-Benz, considering its origin. The German coffee roaster Probat isn't a household name, but it's synonymous in coffee circles with high quality coffee roasting. Some of the best artisan roasters in St. Louis -- Shaw's Coffee Ltd., Northwest Coff ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 12, 2009

    Java Enabled: This One's Just Right

    Cups are a superstitious part of any coffee drinker's routine. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a regular coffee drinker that didn't have a preferred vessel for enjoying their dark drink. There's always that one cup or mug -- for some inexplicable reason, it just makes the coffee taste better. ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 6, 2009

    The Morning Brew: Thursday, 8.6

    The New York Times announces that Sam Sifton, the paper's culture editor (and former dining editor), will be its new restaurant critic.New York coffeehouses are pulling the plug on laptops at peak hours. Is it the beginning of a trend? (Wall Street Journal)(See Zach Dyer's take on this issue from hi ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 5, 2009

    Java Enabled: How Do You Store Your Beans?

    The only time I've ever had something remotely close to an argument with another coffee drinker was over how beans should be stored at home. How often have you heard of someone storing their beans one way and thinking, "Oh god, they're ruining that coffee"?For me, the greater question is why there's ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 29, 2009

    Java Enabled: 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea, Starbuck's New Detour

    15th Avenue Coffee and Tea opened in Seattle last weekend. While a coffee shop opening in Seattle hardly qualifies as "news," this was different, thanks to the "inspired by Starbucks" etched on 15th Avenue's front door. This is Starbucks' latest attempt to return to its roots with a greater focus ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 22, 2009

    Java Enabled: Have Coffee, Will Travel

    One of the things I love most about travel is getting the chance to try new cafés. (As I wrote last week, some coffee aficionados base entire trips on this premise.) But even when your travels won't lead you to some undiscovered java gem, you might not want to sacrifice the comfort and security of ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 15, 2009

    Java Enabled: On the Road, Coffee-Style

    There was a time when Alex McCracken was the most quoted man on coffee in St. Louis. When he was Kaldi's trainer, McCracken was regularly interviewed by St. Louis publications whenever they had a caffeine-related question. But you can only field questions about someone else's café so long before y ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 8, 2009

    The Best of Gut Check: Java Enabled

    Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.While Gut Check i ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 1, 2009

    Java Enabled Visits Kaldi's Barista Jam

    Crowds, kegs out back, live music and coffee -- lots of coffee. While it might sound like that college party you don't remember very well (the one that ended up at Uncle Bill's at 4:00 am), it was, in fact, Kaldi's Summer Barista Jam.Last Friday, Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company hosted its third bar ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 24, 2009

    Java Enabled's Day at the Roasters

    "It smells sweet, like candy," my friend said as I extended my wrist to his nose. My skin had absorbed the caramel flavors that had been wafting around me all day like a welcome second-hand smoke. It was the smell of coffee roasting.It was a bad day to hang out near a coffee roaster -- much less two ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 17, 2009

    Java Enabled: Chill Out with Cold-Brewed Coffee

    Last summer I was in New York visiting friends over Memorial Day when I first saw the signs. Walking between friends' apartments, going to restaurants and even a backyard barbecue in the West Village, I kept seeing café windows advertising cold-brewed coffee. Between the cafés and people I spoke ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 10, 2009

    Java Enabled: Mokka Express, Revisited

    My Bialetti Mokka Express stovetop coffee maker was the first specialized percolator I ever bought. With a newly christened driver's license, I used to drive to J. Viviano's and Sons on the Hill to buy Italian coffee in search of the promise of real espresso at home. It will be no surprise to the h ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 3, 2009

    Java Enabled: Dedicated to Coffee and Free for All

    "If you look out that window, you can still see the original smokestack that they put in when they started roasting coffee here," said Mike Marquard, a barista trainer for Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company.We were sitting in the back room of the roaster's DeMun café. Sure enough, tucked away behind ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 27, 2009

    Java Enabled: Coffee Break Point

    Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.The first shot was ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 21, 2009

    Java Enabled: Coffee Farmers in the Mist, Pt. 2

    Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.In last week's arti ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 6, 2009

    Actually, Java Enabled Meant to Say Expresso

    Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.When I was in high ... More >>

  • Dining

    May 6, 2009

    Gut Check: A smorgasbord of delights awaits on Ian's blog

    Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.When I was in high ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 29, 2009

    Can Java Enabled Win the One-Cup-a-Day Bet?

    Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.I am not addicted t ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 15, 2009

    Jave Enabled: Coffee for One

    Zach Dyer is a writer living in Saint Louis. He did his thesis research on coffee farmers in Southern Mexico. Since then, he has visited coffee plantations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as roasters and cafés across the U.S. He blogs about coffee for Gut Check every Wednesday.Betrayal was the fi ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 27, 2009

    The Week in Gut Check, Regurgitated

    Jennifer SilverbergThe week peaked early here at Gut Check International Headquarters. On Monday came word that Riverfront Times favorite Gerard Craft of Niche is one of five finalists in the "Best Chef - Midwest" category of the 2009 James Beard Foundation Awards. As if that wasn't exciting enough, ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 13, 2009

    The Week in Gut Check

    We can't wait for movies in the courtyard this summer, either!Well, a few hours have passed, and the Map Room Fan Club has yet to take issue with my post teasing their excitement about the new Benton Park spot. Stay tuned, though: I don't think we've heard the last of them!What else found its way in ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 6, 2009

    The Week in Gut Check

    Zach Dyer It was a busy week here at Gut Check International Headquarters: Zach Dyer showed us the person behind the coffee, while Dave Nelson tried to convince those who hate chardonnay that the grape isn't all bad.I heard from the Corn Refiners Association -- and gave it right back to 'em -- while ... More >>

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