Fundamentals

The Fundamentals section of GUSTATORY's Journal & School aims to arm you with additional knowledge to help you get the most from your coffee - or any other beverage that we may cover - as much as explore other general topics and reads we share. By understanding any quality drinks' journey and how they may have been prepared for your consumption, our editors hope we can help you to appreciate every sip just that bit more. We’ll provide you with a glossary of coffee terms, brew guides, overviews of differing roast profiles, as well as talk you through the bean-to-cup process, and more; and these are just for coffee, let alone considering other beverage types.

Learning To Taste Coffee At Home

...Gaining a greater understanding of better coffee is a very gradual process that only develops with practice and repetition but rest assured, over time you’ll become more tuned to what you’re tasting and smelling...

Matcha Coffee Lattes. Benefits & Recipes

...Its vivid green colour looks very appealing and with a variety of documented health benefits, matcha and matcha coffee lattes have gone from a relatively unknown and niche choice to a trendy icon within the tea and coffee space...

Espresso Coffee: How To Reduce Channelling

...Beyond how coffee grind size affects over/under extraction, channelling is another of the most common reasons behind an espresso shot not quite tasting right. Here we explain how to diagnose and troubleshoot channelling so that you can make better espresso coffees at home...

Coffee Processing: Honey Process Coffees (Pt.3)

From a coffee drinker’s point of view, the key thing to remember when you see a honey processed listing is to expect a sweeter coffee with less acidity, or as many consider, a process somewhere in between natural and washed.

Coffee Processing: Natural Coffees (Pt.2)

If you like your coffee sweet and fruity then we would recommend considering naturally processed coffees. As we mentioned with washed coffees, some coffee drinkers love funkier, fruitier coffees, whilst others simply don't. It’s all a matter of personal preference.

Coffee Processing: Washed Coffees (Pt.1)

There are a few different processing methods and we’ll be covering three, but to begin, we’ll start with the washed coffee method given this is perhaps the most common one and is hugely popular in the speciality coffee industry.

Simple Hacks For Brewing Better Espresso Coffees

..Espresso coffees are a notoriously tricky brewing method to master. There are so many variables and even the smallest changes can make or break your shot, making espressos often challenging to consistently perfect. Here we share some simple espresso coffee hacks and processes that may seem so simple, but are...

Quality Teas. What's The Differences?

...Rather surprisingly, all teas - white, green, oolong, Pu'erh, herbal and black - are made using leaves of the same plant species. Whilst there are a number of varietals of the Camellia sinensis plant, as well as a range of climates, topographies and soils in which it is grown, the...