Ingredients

• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/4 cup 2% milk
• 6 oz dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 oz. freshly pulled espresso (or more, to taste)
• Zest of 1 large orange, finely chopped — about 1 tablespoon
• 1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt

Directions

• Put milk, espresso and orange zest in a heavy medium saucepan, whisk until all is incorporated, set aside.
• Put egg yolks, sugar and salt in a bowl, set aside.
• Warm milk mixture; stir occasionally until small bubbles appear around the edge of the pan.
• While waiting for bubbles to appear, whisk egg yolks, sugar and salt until well blended.
• When bubbles appear in milk mixture, remove pan from heat and whisk a small amount of milk into the egg mixture to lighten it, then slowly whisk in the rest of the warm milk.
• Return the egg and milk mixture to the saucepan, place on stove. Warm on medium-low, stir with a wooden spoon until thickened and mixture leaves a trail when you run your finger down the back of the spoon. Remove from stove.
• Add chopped chocolate and vanilla, whisk until chocolate is melted and pudding is smooth.
• Pour pudding into 4 ramekins, martini glasses, champagne classes or custard cups.
• Cool for about 20 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours, overnight is even better.

Recipe: Erin’s Weekly Hometown Recipes

This infographic from awhile back

Ever thought about what sucking down 68 strips of bacon would be like? Stop into your local Cold Stone Creamery to find out. Ijole!

Yeah, we’ll stick with our straight espresso shots, thanks.

Like so many things in life these days, the geeks have taken the intake of caffeine to the limit and devised a guide on how to get the most out of it. This is a fun and fact-filled read that will teach you some tips on how to keep your caffeine use high and tight.

This amazing recipe from Amanda is well worth the work and highly recommended. We’re adding it to our summer picnic menu rotation — and you should, too! Check out the play-by-play on her blog for in depth recipe info and prep photos.

So the art featured in WebUrbanist’s post on 50 Incredible Works of Coffee & Latte Art really blew us away! We love the natural artistry of some of the abstract designs, but we also appreciate a little bit of (assumed) re-working that is apparent in the animals and faces also presented. Really gorgeous — and inspiring!

Since spending a nice chunk of time in its rolling hills in our youth (St. Mullins reprazent), we have always had a soft little spot for Ireland. While the coffee scene in the rural areas was non existent, we didn’t really see much of anything going on in the major cities we visited, either, but that was 15 years ago and a lot has changed since then.

There are a few people holding it down for the bean in Ireland, making great strides to bring quality, experimentation and true gastronomic appreciation for coffee to their communities. We love reading the work folks like Colin Harmon (2009 Irish Barista champ) are doing and we stumbled upon the musings of David Walsh via Twitter. His blog, The Other Black Stuff, provides excellent tips, opinion, perspective and experience on a variety of coffee and equipment related subjects — a great read for anyone interested in how coffee is changing in Ireland, but also interesting from a general coffee perspective as well.

We were recently pointed to this blog because of an entry on strange and beautiful espresso machine designs. The entry features models of our beloved Pavoni, highlights the multiple group options of the Elektra (yummy!) and shows off some cool designs from a contest by Nespresso.

Oh, and it also introduces us to a peculiar curvy wood grinder that is specially shaped for your loving embrace. Yeah, we don’t know, either…but whatever works, baby.

We love checking in on it every now and again to see how the ‘other half’ live — you know, the highly skilled professional baristas who work with each other on an international level to explore and push the limits of what people define as specialty coffee. It’s not our corner of the coffee industry, but we learn a lot by watching from the sidelines, and you might, too.

What’s going on this month? Cancers should address any of their snafus right out of the gate if they want their coffee to rock all month long, while Scorpios will be a little conflicted about trying something new or sticking with the tried and true. Check out what’s going on for your sign.

While we have a deep and enduring love for coffee and all that it entails, we know we’re not the place to turn to if you’re looking for the defining principles of balance in espresso or a comprehensive analysis (parts one, two and three) of the state of coffee in San Francisco, but God Shot is. We appreciate the passion, the detailed assessment and the truly geeky nature of this blog — and we think you will, too.