Slow pour-over coffee resists the haste of 'espresso' and commodification of drip

Different brewing methods require different grinding methods

With so many brewing methods—AeroPress, Moka Pot, and French press to name a few—knowing the right grind size for your coffee beans is essential. Danish coffee expert Asser Christensen, also known as the Coffee Chronicler, explains how grinding works and recommends the best grind choice for different coffee makers.

High-frequency sound waves have been used to brew espresso with room-temperature water and about one-fourth the energy of a traditional espresso machine, which relies on hot water and pressure.

The history of coffee

From its likely origins in what is now Ethiopia to today's worldwide consumption, this video uses a map to show how coffee conquered the world. Follow along and see how pilgrimages and centuries of trade influenced the spread of the beverage we all know so well.

Understand distinctions between coffee types and other popular cafe beverages with this visual guide.

Coffee brewing likely originated in Ethiopa and the Arabian Peninsula

A mixture of merchants and colonialism then launched the drink across Europe and the New World. Many European coffee traditions, like the Viennese custom of serving it alongside a small cup of water, are remnants of how coffee has been prepared in the Middle East for centuries.

Roasting controls how your coffee will taste

James Hoffmann, winner of the 2007 World Barista Championship, is the best person to break down the importance of the roasting process. Arguably, along with where beans are grown, roasting is the most important variable in the flavor of your favorite drink.

In the 1600s, coffee had religious significance

In the 1600s, coffee was important in multiple religious traditions. In Yemen, it was the drink of choice for Sufi mystics to improve their focus and fuel their grueling meditations. Pope Clement VIII's approval spread coffee’s popularity from the Muslim to the Christian world, paving the way for the cappuccino.

Why the James Beard Awards finally recognized a coffee professional

Jack Benchakul is the sole coffee maker at Los Angeles' Endorffeine and the first in the coffee world to be recognized by the prestigious food and drink awards. His attention to detail mirrors the level of craft cocktail makers whom the awards have historically praised.

European colonization contributed to coffee's spread

European colonization created channels for large-scale coffee exports with workforces based in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Trade routes throughout the Middle East and the rest of the world carried the drink to new shores and changed the agricultural and economic landscapes of the countries in the Bean Belt.

Coffee is made by brewing the seeds from the coffeea plant

The cherries from the coffeea plant are milled into coffee beans. After processing, the beans are dried and roasted.

Cultivate your coffee taste with this interactive flavor wheel

Coffee is one of the more complex things humans consume, and taste can vary drastically based on bean genetics, roasting technique, and more. Using this flavor wheel, you can more accurately describe your coffee's aroma by starting from the center and moving outward.

Explaining the Leidenfrost effect, where water can hover and move against gravity

Water droplets can glide across surfaces whose temperatures are well above water's boiling point. This heat instantly vaporizes the bottom of the droplet, creating a layer of steam that the rest of the droplet rides and bounces upon. This can be seen when sprinkling water on skillets to determine if the surface is hot enough to cook on.

Before it was a drink, coffee was used for handwashing.

Coffee is, generally, good for your health

While overconsumption certainly has its drawbacks—hello, not sleeping until the sun rises—on the whole, coffee is fine, even beneficial, for your health. It can even help prevent serious health conditions, like heart attacks and liver cancer.

Coffee production took off in the 1800s

Coffee production in South America took off in the 1800s, with Brazil establishing itself as the largest global producer in the 1840s. Today, the country grows over one-third of the world's beans and consistently leads in global coffee production, with other Latin American countries like Colombia and Guatemala.

'Cat poo coffee,' the colloquial name for civet coffee, is one of the most expensive coffees in the world.

Coffee contains an average of 15mg of caffeine per fluid ounce

Coffee has three times the amount of caffeine contained in most caffeinated sodas, but significantly less than espresso and cocoa powder.

The medieval influencer who convinced people to drink tea

This article explains how the world shifted from mostly eating tea, whether as leaves to be chewed or caffeinated soup to be slurped, to drinking it. Lu Yu's first exposure to tea in the 700s didn't go so well, with him reviewing the concoction as...

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

After the Boston Tea Party (1773), colonists boycotted tea and turned to coffee, with coffeehouses becoming hubs for revolutionary discussions. The stimulating import from the Caribbean helped shape the nascent American taste.

Beanless 'coffee' is an eco-friendly alternative

As we consider the role of agriculture in climate change, many people are seeking alternatives to the most resource-hungry crops—coffee included. Are new synthetic alternatives the answer? Startups are exploring beanless “coffee” made in a variety of ways.

Coffee gives you energy, but it ultimately makes you more tired

The caffeine in coffee delays your brain's fatigue signals. Caffeine blocks adenosine, a compound that builds up as you burn energy and signals rest. Once caffeine wears off, adenosine floods back, leaving you even more tired.

How tea gets made

Tea is one of the most consumed beverages in the world, and this video walks us through the process of supplying it from farms to our mugs. Workers handpick leaves, ferment them, and dry them as part of this involved operation. Follow along for a scientific understanding of the many steps it takes to produce tea and appreciate the detail and effort to create its flavor, aroma, and color.

Exclusionary ads can help win over customers, some marketers argue

Slogans like "if you don't like dark roast, this coffee isn't for you," also known as "dissuasive framing," can entice specific groups of customers, some marketers say. The shift comes from the perceived authenticity of a company admitting that a product is not perfect for everyone.

'Slow productivity' as a humane approach to work

Work is increasingly encroaching on every part of our lives, while digital technologies enable supervisors to micromanage every part of an employee’s day. “Slow productivity” is a movement to alter the pace and quality of one’s work to avoid burnout and provide a more humane approach to work.

The benefits of sous vide: cooking food in bags immersed in water

Through this technique, food can be prepared to precise temperatures lower than those of open flames, without the risk of overcooking, with less oil, fat, and salt, and without requiring ongoing attention. By allowing for long cooking times, tougher cuts of meat can also be prepared at lower temperatures.

How freeze-drying leaves food with less than 4% of its original water content

In specialized equipment, foods are brought down to temperatures below freezing before a vacuum pump removes the air from the container, lowering the pressure around the food and the boiling temperature of water. Heaters beneath the food slowly raise its temperature above the now-reduced boiling point, causing the water to go from a frozen to a gaseous state.

Most coffee is grown within the coffee belt, a geographic region characterized by mild climates, regular rainfall, and higher altitudes.

'Dirty soda' took off in Utah before exploding on TikTok

The concoction is a combination of Diet Coke, coffee creamer, and citrus. This Eater article delves into the history behind the sugary drink, pinpointing its start as a Mormon-friendly alternative to alcohol and caffeine. The explainer also explores why the drink became so popular on social media and offers helpful hints for crafting your own recipe.

High freezing speed restricts the development of gritty crystal chunks in ice cream

For this reason, ice cream does not maintain its smoothness when refrozen in a traditional freezer over several hours. The smooth texture is also made possible by balancing fat, sugar, and emulsifiers.

Explaining concentrate and how concentrate-derived juice differs from its source

Developed to reduce the volume of goods—thus lowering storage and shipping costs—the concentration process uses pressure and heat to remove water, pulp, and skin from fruits. Concentrates provide significant flavor, sugar, and calories to foods in small quantities, but do not retain most of the fiber, vitamins, and other nutrients from the source fruit.

Beats emphasized the importance of 'spontaneous prose'

Beat writer Jack Kerouac believed literature should aim to be more like jazz, using improvisation to burrow down to the root of the subconscious. In this video from the University of Pennsylvania’s Modern and Contemporary Poetry course, Professor Al Filreis directs a conversation of Kerouac’s manifesto, “Essential of Spontaneous Prose.”

American farmers—including George Washington—experimented with coffee farming

Two coffee plants—an arabica strand and a Kentucky Coffee Tree—continue to grow at Mount Vernon, Washington's iconic Virginia home. The Marquis de Lafayette requested the agrarian commander send him some beans in France.

The world's longest-running science experiment aims to prove if pitch is a liquid

Having run continuously since 1927, the pitch drop experiment is designed to show that the seemingly solid derivative of tar is a liquid by watching to see it drip through a tunnel. From 1930 to 2025, the substance has only produced nine drops, such that its viscosity—resistance to flow—is about two million times more than honey.

Under certain conditions, very hot liquids can freeze more quickly than cooler ones—a phenomenon called the Mbemba effect, after the Tanzanian high school student who accidentally observed it.

In Japan, elders lead toasts

Older family members and colleagues, or senpai, are expected to take the lead at formal gatherings, pouring drinks and offering toasts. Younger people should accept pours by holding their glasses with both hands and waiting to drink until their older adults have done so. Finally, before drinking, participants should say “kampai!”

Low-and-slow smoking transforms tough cuts into tender, flavorful cuisine

Cooking meats at low temperatures over many hours breaks down muscle proteins and collagen into gelatin, making the meat juicy and soft. Patience, gentle smoke, and moisture retention are needed to avoid dry or chewy results.

The American Heart Association says adults can safely drink up to five cups of coffee per day and regular consumption may improve cardiovascular health.

There's a grading room on the eighth floor of the New York Stock Exchange where experts loudly slurp coffee and then spit it out to test its quality.

Watch a server submerged in a fluid continue to run and stay cool by boiling the liquid away.

Understanding time dilation

The faster you go, the slower time ticks for you. And the stronger the gravitational field acting on you, the slower time ticks for you. These phenomena – collectively called time dilation – were first explained by Albert Einstein’s theories of general and special relativity. In this 11-minute video, beloved astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson explains them to comedian Chuck Nice.

How smooth jazz took over the '90s

As jazz entered the '70s, it was at a crossroads. While the genre's figureheads explored fusion and free jazz, which intentionally flouted mainstream convention, other artists began veering towards pop. Eventually, that sound would be called "smooth jazz."

The history behind New Orleans' drive-thru daiquiris

New Orleans attracts millions of annual visitors with its freewheeling drinking culture, reaching its apex during the weeks-long Mardi Gras celebration. But even the most intemperate tourists might be confused by the city's drive-through daiquiri stands. This resource offers a brief history of the quirky staple and explains how it has survived changes in the law.

Lava flow viscosity plays a significant role in the type of volcano formed

Thin, runny flows spread quickly before cooling, producing expansive layers that build over time into wide shield volcanoes. The ejection and fast hardening of thicker lava flows and pyroclastic material create steep slopes and the characteristic cone shape of composite volcanoes.

Wine connoisseurs say proper tasting requires looking, smelling, tasting, and thinking

Tasting wine can be intimidating, which is why Wine Folly cofounder Madeline Puckette breaks down the four steps in this helpful video, encouraging viewers to pour a glass and follow along.

In 1694, a Sicilian in Paris opened the first gelateria, a precursor to the ice cream parlor.

The first coffeehouse opened in Constantinople

Coffeehouses began opening in modern-day Istanbul sometime in the 1500s. These cafes quickly became invaluable spaces for gathering and exchanging news and ideas.

Paying a fee to delay paying back a loan in full is called 'rolling over' the loan

Borrowers sometimes roll over loans when they aren't able to pay back the full principal balance and accrued interest. A rollover extends the amount of time the borrower has to repay the loan, but does not decrease the amount of money the borrower has to pay back.

Bottled water started as a 19th-century wellness trend

Selling drinking water in America began at resorts in New York and West Virginia, where tourists were encouraged to take the regenerative mineral water back to their homes.

A caffeine calculator

This simple calculator takes your preferred caffeinated drink and your body weight to determine how much is the right amount, and how much might kill you. In case you've ever had the morbid curiosity about just how much of that tea you'd have to drink to doze off forever. Find out your moderate and lethal doses here, as well as some extra info on caffeine consumption.

Coffee prices have reached record highs in 2026, with experts citing rising costs driven by war and tariffs.