18-07-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
How Coffee Snobs Make a Great Cup Anywhere—From the Office to the Top of a Mountain
When Trish Rothgeb travels to Los Angeles, Mexico City or Bangkok—or any other city that she knows has a rich coffee culture—she packs lighter. But the co-founder of San Francisco-based Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters takes no chances when she's heading to a place where she's less sure what sort of cup she might get. 'I bring a collapsible kettle that I got, I think, on Amazon,' she said. 'A pouring kettle with a gooseneck. A pour-over dripper. A scale. Filters.'
Having made coffee her profession for 40 years, Rothgeb approaches the morning ritual pragmatically. 'If I'm going on a three-day trip, I might even grind all the coffee at home,' she said. 'Some nerds would freak out if they heard me say that.' Freshly ground beans are, among certain connoisseurs, nonnegotiable. But whatever your level of dedication, it's never been easier to brew a very good cup just about anywhere.
