TONX: New, subscription-based “artisanal coffee” by mail

My friend and fellow coffee-lover Tony Konecny, aka @tonx, has launched a cool new business with co-founder Nikolaus Bauman at tonx.org. For $35 a month, they'll ship you a 12-oz bag every two weeks of their favorite beans fresh-roasted (like, within the last few days). That's it. You don't have to drive anywhere or remember much or make any decisions.

They're doing other interesting things with email alerts and flash-sales via Twitter, but all I care about is that Tony is obsessed with coffee like a record store nerd is with vinyl. You can read his blog to get inside his head and learn more about the nuances of coffee production, selection, roasting, and brewing, and cupping, and on and on —or not. Me, I trust the guy's taste. I just want really good coffee. Send me the beans.

I met up with Tony in Los Angeles yesterday, and got a bag of the current offering. He roasted it two days ago. I brewed some this morning. It was heaven. These were from La Antigua, Guatemala, and a finca I've visited in person before. I felt like I was back in Guate, and could taste the air and flowers and caramel-colored earth in the beans. They were fresh and exquisitely crafted.

I will be subscribing today.

(photo by tonx)

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WikiLeaks fundraiser auction includes “Julian Assange’s Prison Coffee, Signed and Fingerprinted.”

Wikileaks has a history of colorful fundraising stunts. Assange's latest: an eBay auction of various and sundry memorabilia, including "Julian Assange's Prison Coffee, Signed and Fingerprinted."

Scarce item of memorabilia from Julian Assange's time in prison. Julian Assange spent ten days in prison in Decmber 2010. When he left to go under house arrest in Norfolk he smuggled out this, one of three sachets of coffee. This rare item has been signed on one side: 'Julian A, Prison coffee, smuggled out of Wandsworth Prison by me on Dec 17 2010'. On the other side of the sachet Julian has inked a fingerprint. The sachet is unopened and is being sold to raise money for WikiLeaks.

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How-To: Roast Coffee with a Popcorn Popper

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a piece for credit.com about roasting coffee at home. Today, Craft published a more in-depth piece I wrote about how to do it.

Relaxing in a coffee house with a professionally made cup of espresso or cappuccino is one of life's simple pleasures, but I also enjoy making my own coffee drinks at home. I buy whole beans online and grind them in a coffee grinder. I'm a pretty good home barista, if I do so say myself.

The one coffee-making activity I've always avoided, though, was roasting coffee. I assumed that coffee roasting required large, expensive machinery and considerable training. But a few weeks ago, I heard about a way to roast coffee using a hot air popcorn popper. I gave it a try and found out it was fun and very easy. It takes less than 15 minutes to roast a small batch.

How-To: Roast Coffee with a Popcorn Popper

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The Mean Men of coffee advertising

Shaun Clayton compiled a collection of scenes from old coffee commercials, which often shared a theme: "men being jerks to their wives about coffee." [via Peter Serafinowicz]

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