An Obsessive's Guide to Coffee

F&W editors spent 410 man-hours tasting 157 coffees and testing 67 coffeemakers (not to mention 10 grinders) to find the best of the best. Here you'll find the ones that appeared in the magazine as well as bonus web-exclusives.

TREND

COFFEE PILGRIMAGES
The American Barista & Coffee School has partnered with Norwegian Cruise Line to create trips for coffee fanatics, with onboard java experts (from $900; 800-655-3955 or coffeecruises.com). At Selva Negra, an eco-resort on a Nicaraguan organic coffee farm, travelers can help harvest beans (doubles from $30; 404-577-8673 or selvanegra.com). Participants in Global Exchange's nine-day trips to Nicaragua live and work with Fair Trade farmers during harvest ($650; globalexchange.org).
—Jen Murphy

TOP U.S. COFFEE BARS

La Colombe Torrefaction
Great pastries and people-watching; silky cappuccino (130 S. 19th St., Philadelphia; 215-563-0860).

Ritual Coffee Roasters
Mission District hipsters love the French-press coffee here (1026 Valencia St., San Francisco; 415-641-1024).

Ninth Street Espresso
Owner Ken Nye pulls some of New York's best espresso at this East Village spot (700 E. Ninth St., New York; 212-358-9225).

Aloha Island
All Kona coffee, all the time, from the owners' Big Island plantation in Hawaii (153 S. Beverly Dr., Beverly Hills; 310-786-8257).

Ruta Maya
Terrific coffee exclusively from Chiapas, Mexico, plus great live music (3601 S. Congress Ave., Austin; 512-707-9637).

Murky Coffee
This Capitol Hill spot is a hangout for politicos and staffers (660 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, Washington, D.C.; 202-546-5228).

Blue Bottle Coffee Co.
A 10-by-10-foot space that's more a stand than a shop, it grinds and brews terrific beans to order (315 Linden St., San Francisco; 415-252-7535).

Jack's Stir Brew Coffee
Owner Jack Mazzola has invented a coffeemaker that stirs the coffee grinds as it brews, giving each cup an even, smooth taste (138 W. 10th St.; New York City; 212-929-0821).

Gimme! Coffee
Ithaca, New York-based coffee fanatic John Gant air-roasts his beans so the roast level is perfectly uniform (495 Lorimer St.; Brooklyn, New York; 718-388-7771).

Café du Monde
Housed in a French Quarter landmark building, founded in 1862, it is still known for its coffee-chicory blends (1039 Decatur St., New Orleans; 504-587-0835).

Zoka Coffee Roaster & Tea Company
Zoka's head barista, Phuong Tran, is the current United States Barista Champion (2200 N. 56th St.; Seattle; 206-545-4277).

Espresso Vivace Roasteria
Husband-and-wife owners David Schomer and Geneva Sullivan started Vivace with a single street-side cart; now they're a Seattle institution. Their espresso is known for its gorgeous crema (901 E. Denny Way, Seattle; 206-860-5869).

Victrola Coffee Roasters
The friendly neighborhood vibe and flawless espresso drinks here are augmented by a wide menu of panini (411 15th Ave. East, Seattle; 206-325-6520).

Metropolis Coffee Company
Father and son owners Jeff and Tony Dreyfuss run a virtual entertainment center at their coffee house with rotating art displays, music and a film series (1039 W. Granville Ave.; Chicago; 773-764-0400).

THE BEST DRIP MACHINES

MACHINE Technivorm KB471 Clubline $230
WHY WE LOVE IT This Dutch import heats water rapidly to exactly 200°, the perfect coffee-brewing temperature.

MACHINE Capresso MT500 $170
WHY WE LOVE IT It's superfast, brewing 10 cups in under eight minutes. An internal water filter is a nice extra.

MACHINE Cuisinart Coffee on Demand DCC-200 $150
WHY WE LOVE IT This ingenious model dispenses a cup at a time so coffee doesn't scorch as it sits on a burner.

MACHINE Bodum Santos Electric Vacuum Coffee Maker $130
WHY WE LOVE IT An unusual design uses pressure differences to mix hot water directly with the coffee in a transparent chamber.

MACHINE Braun Impressions KF600 $80
WHY WE LOVE IT A big one-touch switch makes this very user-friendly; the stainless steel carafe keeps coffee warm for hours.

MACHINE Rowenta Morrison Coffee Machine $150
WHY WE LOVE IT We loved this model's streamlined concept from famed British design group Jasper Morrison. A hidden storage compartment holds filters and a measuring spoon.
HOW TO FIND IT unicahome.com

MACHINE Chemex Filter Drip Coffeemaker $36
WHY WE LOVE IT Invented by a German chemist in the 1940s, this low-tech, nonelectric, hourglass-shaped glass carafe has a wooden collar around the middle. We loved its foolproof simplicity: A cone-shaped paper filter fits in the top of the pot and boiling water is poured through the coffee grinds.
HOW TO FIND IT amazon.com

MACHINE Saeco Incanto Sirius $1,500
WHY WE LOVE IT This fully automated Italian import grinds the beans then brews them, and it has easy-to-use touch-screen controls.
HOW TO FIND IT williams-sonoma.com

Check out F&W's staff picks for the Best Boutique Roasters.

GO-TO GRINDERS

Instead of blades, burr grinders use discs, which experts prefer. The KitchenAid Pro Line works as well as some models twice the price ($200; kitchenaid.com).

Mazzer Mini Espresso Grinder
Minutely adjustable grind settings make this super high-end grinder perfect for espresso fanatics who like to experiment until they find their ideal grind. Has a powerful 250 watt motor and a mechanism that dispenses the ground coffee directly into any espresso machine portafilter.
Details: $430; 1st-line Equipment; 1st-line.com; 888-933-5947 OR wholelattelove.com.

Which of the Best Big Roasters did we prefer? Find out now.

THE BEST ESPRESSO MACHINES

MACHINE Olympia Cremina $2,195
WHY WE LOVE IT This Swiss manual-lever machine has a cult following; only 40 come to the U.S. each year.
HOW TO FIND IT 1st-line.com

MACHINE Ala di Vittoria La Valentina $1,295
WHY WE LOVE IT This features a professional-quality heat-exchange boiler. We liked the semiautomatic model best.
HOW TO FIND IT 1st-line.com

MACHINE Nespresso D290 $500
WHY WE LOVE IT The top pod machine we tested; takes the guesswork out of making espresso.
HOW TO FIND IT williams-sonoma.com

MACHINE Breville Espresso Maker $400
WHY WE LOVE IT The best value in quality espresso makers, this compact unit has sturdy construction and simple controls.
HOW TO FIND IT williams-sonoma.com

MACHINE Moka Espresso Pot $16
WHY WE LOVE IT A staple in every Italian house, this compact stovetop brewer (first introduced in 1933) is incredibly easy to use: fill the base with water, fill the filter-funnel top with finely ground coffee, then screw everything together and set it all on a stovetop.
HOW TO FIND IT bialettishop.com

CHARACTER STUDY

Experts can often tell a coffee's origin from a single sip. Here's a quick guide to local character.

Africa
Top-quality beans, mostly from Ethiopia or Kenya, are known for floral and chocolaty notes as well as vibrant acidity.

Central America
The best producers are Costa Rica and Guatemala; their coffees tend to be lighter-bodied and fruity.

Indonesia
These coffees are usually full-bodied with low acidity and earthy flavors.

TREND

ROAST YOUR OWN
For perfect freshness, coffee devotees once resorted to roasting green coffee beans on a stovetop in a cast-iron skillet, or even in a popcorn popper. Today's compact home-roasting machines make the process easier, with results that are far more palatable. The best, like the Hearthware i-Roast 2, let aficionados fine-tune temperatures and store preferences in the machine's memory, creating a perfect custom-roasted bean ($200; i-roast.com). Wondering where to buy unroasted beans? Last year Whole Foods started selling 10-ounce packages from Kenya, Sumatra and Guatemala ($9).
—J.M.

THE BEST COFFEE-SPIKED DISHES

People have been using coffee in desserts ever since an inspired Italian chef first invented tiramisù, but recently more and more chefs are dosing their main courses with a jolt of java, too. At Manhattan's Cru, F&W Best New Chef '05 Shea Gallante serves his roasted dayboat cod with an espresso soubise, a puree of cooked rice and onions (24 Fifth Ave., New York City; 212-529-1700). Coffee-rubbed kurobuta pork chop is on Chris Ennis's menu at L.A.'s Vibrato (2930 Beverly Glen Circle, Los Angeles, CA; 310-474-9400). And in Boston, Pino Maffeo uses coffee and cocoa to crust venison at Restaurant L (234 Berkeley St., Boston; 617-266-4680).
—J. M.

Additional research by Andrea Browne and Anja Fistanjic

Published March 2006