http://www.corridorkitchen.com Necessity is the mother of invention. Tue, 23 Feb 2021 23:46:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.38 http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2012/03/what-makes-good-coffee-place/ http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2012/03/what-makes-good-coffee-place/#comments Tue, 13 Mar 2012 05:17:41 +0000 http://www.corridorkitchen.com/?p=3190 Recently I’ve had some feedback from y’all that some of the places I’ve loved aren’t always up to scratch for you or you’ve had a less-than-brilliant experience at one of them. And I’ve realised I need to dig deeper into what makes a good coffee place (notice I didn’t say ‘what makes a good cafe’ as that’s a whole other kettle of fish).]]> http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2012/03/what-makes-good-coffee-place/feed/ 6 http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2012/01/review-philips-saeco-intelia/ http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2012/01/review-philips-saeco-intelia/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:15:01 +0000 http://www.corridorkitchen.com/?p=2732 Intelia, which was handy as my ever faithful Sunbeam had been playing up. I’m skeptical when it comes to automatic coffee machines, not least because I’m a control freak bus also because I just can’t see a automatic machine living up to a hand-tamped coffee. After three weeks of using this machine daily, I feel qualified to review it. I thought the best way was to show you the machine in a kind of how-to video of about 12 minutes. I’ve followed that up with a summary of what I like/don’t like about the Philips Saeco Intelia, skip straight to that if you're after my final verdict.]]> http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2012/01/review-philips-saeco-intelia/feed/ 18 http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2011/05/sparkling-long-black/ http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2011/05/sparkling-long-black/#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 09:09:31 +0000 http://www.corridorkitchen.com/?p=1569 Don Campos in Alexandria, I noticed a sparkling long black on their menu. I’d always wondered what it was and how it was made, but of course I didn’t do anything as obvious as to ask what it was or better yet, order it. It remained an elusive espresso mystery. I’d pretty much forgotten about it until I visited the Cupping Room a couple of weeks ago. I asked Todd who was hosting the session what it is and he said it basically a frozen latte glass containing a ristretto topped up with iced mineral water. It’s a cooling summer coffee for those of us who aren’t so fussed on the creamy, milky or sweet iced coffees you usually come across.]]> http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2011/05/sparkling-long-black/feed/ 8 http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2011/05/the-cupping-room-newtown/ http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2011/05/the-cupping-room-newtown/#comments Mon, 02 May 2011 21:16:50 +0000 http://www.corridorkitchen.com/?p=1512 When I arrive at 5 to 3 on a Saturday, it’s hot and crowded and I can’t move for the customers. I’m not surprised, it’s one of the reasons I don’t come here that often, but when my partner in crime arrives, she’s shocked. ‘It’s as if there aren’t any other coffee shops in Newtown,’ she marvels. Well, for some, that may be true. We elect to wait outside. 10 or so minutes later we’re led through the crowd to the back of the store, up the steep stairs lit by a single dangling light bulb. Like an old-time speakeasy, a panel in the door slides open and a pair of eyes peer out. ‘Two?’ Asks a voice. We nod. We enter. The space is pitch black save for a long wooden table, stainless-steel edged and lit by a line of spotlights. Our host, Todd has laid out 6 small bowls of coarsely ground coffee for each of us to ‘cup’ or taste. Cupping, he explains, is standard practice for roasters all over the world. The idea of cupping is that because you’re removing all the variables inherent in brewing coffee, you’re levelling the playing field and you really are just tasting the coffee. Each step of the cupping is usually given a score and that’s how a coffee is chosen by buyers.]]> http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2011/05/the-cupping-room-newtown/feed/ 11 http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2011/04/the-coffee-roaster-alexandria/ http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2011/04/the-coffee-roaster-alexandria/#comments Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:12:00 +0000 http://www.corridorkitchen.com/?p=1374 So when my aunt suggested the coffee roaster for a family get-together, I was more than happy to oblige. And when the owner Dan Fitzsimmons (a friend of my aunt’s) offered us a tour of the roasterie, I was excited. Another step in the coffee-making process revealed.]]> http://www.corridorkitchen.com/2011/04/the-coffee-roaster-alexandria/feed/ 6