Author: Pedro Freeman
Pedro Freeman
Pedro Freeman is a Long Beach-based coffee aficionado, café owner, and writer whose life quite literally runs on caffeine. A self-confessed coffee devotee, Pedro firmly believes there's no surviving a day without a great cup — and with a full-time café to his name, he's made sure he never has to find out otherwise. Pedro is a coffee expert who has worked behind the counter for years and has a deep passion for both the art and science of coffee. He can taste everything from perfectly brewed hot espresso to creative cold coffee drinks and specialty drinks. The coffee shop he runs is more than just a business. Each cup of coffee there has a story to tell. Pedro uses the same energy and skill when he's not making the perfect drink to write. As Chief Editor at diamondespresso.com, he leads the editorial team with the same care and attention to detail that he brings to his café. They create content that teaches, inspires, and thrills coffee lovers of all levels, from those who are just starting out to those who are experts.
If you spend ten minutes on any espresso forum, you will come across a dispute regarding the Breville Barista Touch. It’s the friendliest way to get real espresso, according to one camp. It’s like a plastic tuxedo to the other. The fact that both sides seem confident usually indicates that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Table DetailInformationMachineBreville Barista Touch (also sold as Sage in some markets)What it doesGrinds, doses, tamps assisted, pulls espresso and textures milk from a touchscreenList priceUS$799.95 on Breville’s US siteHigher-end siblingBarista Touch Impress, with automatic tamping and milk settings for different plant milks; owners…
In Cabo San Lucas, there is a section of beach along El Ríoano where the water appears unbelievably blue from a distance and the sand remains golden for the majority of the year. The Hotel Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas, a sizable, cream-colored building with redbrick cupolas that you can see from down the shore before you can read the sign, is located directly on that stretch, approximately four and a half kilometers from the town center. It’s difficult to overlook. In a way, that’s the point. The hotel opened in 2004 and underwent its most recent renovation in 2016,…
The first thing you notice when you walk into any BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse on a Friday nite is the noise: crowded booths, beer taps running, and a server carrying a cast iron skillet with something still bubbling in it somewhere nearby. Even though the chain has been around long enough that most cities hardly need an introduction, people are still somewhat taken aback by the breadth of the menu. It goes beyond pizza. It goes beyond burgers. It goes beyond beer. In some way, it’s all there at once without feeling dispersed. The obvious place to start is with…
On any weekday morning, you can see the change if you walk through the PATH, Toronto’s underground network of walkways that runs under the Financial District’s glass skyscrapers. It’s still possible to find the grab-and-go fridges that used to hold rows of neon cans, but the section has quietly shrunk. What has grown is the line at the espresso bar. It’s two shots of coffee that have been poured cold over ice and are strong enough to be real caffeine, not the kind that comes in a 473ml can with a brand name based on a comic book character. It…
Before a big sprint final, some athletes walk around, stretch, or shake out their legs in the staging area. Other athletes do something that seems pretty normal: they drink coffee. These are some of the physically fittest people in the world, so it’s not because they need to be woken up. Instead, the cup is being held just 45 minutes before the competition on purpose. It’s been years. The ritual is based on how the body handles caffeine, and there is a lot more science to it than most people think. Within 15 minutes of drinking coffee, caffeine starts to…
It’s been great for your health to talk about mushroom coffee lately. It comes in nice packaging and is marketed with confidence. The promise of “smoother energy, sharper focus, and fewer crashes” really appeals to anyone who has ever felt jittery and wired after drinking three cups of regular coffee. But there is one type of product that does very well when it is brand new. When something is new, the pros get to talk more and the cons can be quiet for a while longer. Things that are hard about mushroom coffee are beginning to become clear. DetailInformationTopicDownsides and…
More often than not, you’ll see it on the chalkboard menu of any specialty coffee shop these days, usually between the oat milk lattes and the cold brew. Mocha with mushrooms. People are stopped by the name alone. There’s that short pause, a slight narrowing of the eyes, and then either interest or dismissal right away. You can feel both ways. DetailInformationTopicIs Mushroom Coffee Better Than Real Coffee?What Is Mushroom CoffeeCoffee blended with powdered medicinal mushroom extracts, typically in a 50/50 ratioCommon Mushrooms UsedLion’s Mane, Chaga, Reishi, Cordyceps, Turkey TailCaffeine – Regular Coffee~95–100 mg per 8 oz cupCaffeine – Mushroom…
Some people who get up early don’t like making things harder than they need to be. Coffee, hot water, and a cup. Done. Everyone else is reading ingredient labels at 6 a.m. and wondering if switching from coffee to something made with Lion’s Mane mushrooms could really make their life better. For a few years now, mushroom coffee has been slowly gaining fans. Recently, it has moved from health-focused food aisles and social media feeds to more general grocery stores and coffee shops. The sales pitch is pretty simple: mix powdered medicinal mushrooms like Chaga, Reishi, or Cordyceps into regular…
When you get up to make coffee before your feet have been on the floor for five minutes, you feel guilty in a certain way. I don’t feel real guilt, but the kind that keeps coming back after reading too many wellness influencers say that your morning routine is ruining your whole day. The two-hour coffee rule is at the heart of this new wave of caffeine anxiety. This idea has been going around on health podcasts, social media, and biohacking communities for the past couple of years. DetailInformationWhat is the 2 hour coffee rule?A wellness strategy advising people to…
Someone is looking at a coffee maker in their kitchen right now, the morning after having a tooth pulled, trying to decide if the risk is worth it. It happens a lot of the time. And the real question, “Can coffee cause a dry socket?” needs a more honest answer than what most people get from a quick web search. DetailInformationCan coffee cause a dry socket?Yes — hot coffee, caffeine, and acidity can each contribute to clot disruption after a tooth extractionWhat is dry socket?A painful condition (alveolar osteitis) where the blood clot in a tooth socket is lost or…