Featuring James Hoffmann

James Hoffmann
Meet James Hoffmann!

You thought that the British only drank tea? Well, James Hoffmann dispels that mistaken notion by being what I and others might call the U.K.’s Guru of Coffee. (By the way, he also knows a lot about tea)

This charming man combines what he calls the scientific approach to evaluating your choice of hot brews with exhaustive taste tests.

And he is certainly thorough. Not only does he compare coffees and teas, but he also looks into add-ons such as milk and creamers, and even looks into variations such as so-called instant or freeze-dried coffee.

In a nod to his cousins across the pond, he even compares coffee and tea products available in the U.S. and the U.K.

He is a fanatic when it comes to exploring the different brewing devices available in different markets. He is eminently fair, trying out the cheapest $100 gadget on Amazon, for instance, to maybe a $1000 device available in a specialty store. Hoffmann pulls no punches in pointing out the positive qualities of these products, while criticizing their failures.

If you really want to have fun with James Hoffmann, you have to experience his laboratory-like experiments with the effects of nitrogen on coffee – or subjecting coffee to a centrifuge.

I can hardly wait to see what Mr. Hoffmann does next to test his coffee. Wait – he actually added salt to his coffee?