Stories & Insights

The Journal

Long form writing on coffee, cocktails, and the hard lessons from everything we tested that crashed and burned. Plus a few things that actually worked.

PhilosophyAug 22, 2026

The Common Tongue: What Coffee and Cocktails Actually Share

Good baristas and good bartenders already make the same physics-correct decisions by feel. The gap between them is vocabulary, not knowledge. A translator's guide to the two trades.

10 min read

TechniquesMay 6, 2026

Brewed to Order: The Science of the Perfect Irish Coffee

The Dead Rabbit is the king of Irish coffee, at least at volume. But what if you had time? A deep dive into fresh brewing, the tools that make it possible, and when brewed to order actually makes sense.

15 min read

TechniquesMay 4, 2026

Three Years Into the Light Roast Espresso Martini

A working journal from three years of obsessing over foam physics, extraction chemistry, and why light roast is both the most interesting and most punishing ingredient you can use in a cocktail.

24 min read

TechniquesGuest: Ray LamFeb 28, 2026

Coffee Bitters: A Framework for Building Structure

Use coffee to create a bitter that adds complexity without muddiness. A framework for building structured, repeatable coffee bitters using pressure infusion and classic aromatic bitters logic.

9 min read

TechniquesFeb 21, 2026

Espresso Martini Shots: When Bad Is Useful

Great espresso martinis aren't about pulling café-perfect shots. They're about understanding extraction and dilution, and why that sharp, acidic espresso you just pulled might be exactly what you need.

7 min read

PhilosophyFeb 13, 2026

Our Approach to Building Tools: A Note on Open Sourcing

We built complex tools so you don't have to. And we're not keeping them. Here's why open sourcing the future of coffee cocktails matters more than proprietary advantage.

6 min read

Coffee 101Feb 7, 2026

The Experimental Methods: Anaerobic, Carbonic Maceration, and Thermal Shock

These aren't marketing gimmicks. Anaerobic fermentation and carbonic maceration are documented in peer-reviewed literature, and they do genuinely different things to coffee's chemistry.

8 min read

TechniquesFeb 4, 2026

Fruit Acids: Understanding Structure

Fruit flavors aren't vibes. They're architectures of acids. Learn how to understand, blend, and design acidity intentionally in coffee cocktails.

12 min read

TechniquesJan 24, 2026

Polydextrose: A Functional Favorite

A tool that separates body from sweetness. How polydextrose transforms coffee cocktails by adding weight and presence where modern techniques strip it away.

5 min read

PhilosophyJan 16, 2026

Milk Drinks: Bridging Café and Cocktail

Barabica started with coffee. But the longer time was spent behind the bar, the more obvious it became that coffee shops have a lot more to offer than just the coffee.

5 min read

Coffee 101Jan 14, 2026

Coffee Processing 101: Washed, Honey, and Natural

The way coffee is processed after harvest doesn't just affect flavor. It restructures the bean's entire metabolite profile. Here's what the science actually says.

6 min read

TechniquesJan 7, 2026

Cordial Brewing: Extracting Coffee for Syrups

A technical guide to brewing pour-over coffee for sweetened, acidified syrups, borrowing from Rao, Hoffmann, and competition coffee.

8 min read

PhilosophyDec 29, 2025

Why Coffee Is Objectively the Most Complicated Beverage on Earth

Wine has terroir. Spirits have fermentation. Coffee has all of that and then some. Plus roasting. Plus the fact that you can absolutely fuck it up as the person drinking it. Here's why.

5 min read

TechniquesDec 18, 2025

Forced Carbonation: Best Practices

A technical deep-dive into carbonating cocktails with CO₂ tanks—covering pressure physics, temperature control, multi-stage charging, and why oxygen is your enemy.

10 min read

PhilosophyDec 10, 2025

Coffee Deserves Better: Reimagining Hospitality for a Misunderstood Product

Most coffee interactions last three minutes. For a product that represents centuries of cultivation and hundreds of hands, that's not nearly enough. We explore how hospitality, not transactionalism, is the only model that truly respects coffee.

6 min read

TechniquesDec 3, 2025

Espresso Martini Foam: Making It Better

A frozen bottle doesn't seem revolutionary until you understand what's actually happening. Here's how temperature control, CO2 collapse, and dilution science taught us to make espresso martinis worth drinking.

24 min read