Steve Zimmerman

Tasters use spoons and taste from bowls, instead of sipping from cups.

Getting deeper into coffee — how cupping classes teach regular folks to taste like the experts

May 31, 2019 at 9:02 p.m.

It’s five minutes before the weekly public cupping at Metric Coffee, and Harris Nash is a bundle of energy. While it’s clear he’s had his morning coffee, that’s not the...

Marcus Contaldo, of Aurora, measures coffee beans and adjusts settings on Modest Coffee's primary roaster, an Ambex 500, affectionately named Precious, at Modest Coffee's roasting facility in West Chicago.

Aurora couple brewing up support for shooting victims’ families with #AuroraStrong coffee

May 31, 2019 at 9:01 p.m.

In the wake of the deadly shooting at Henry Pratt Co., Marcus and Jenni Contaldo wanted to do something to help the community recover. The couple lives on Aurora’s West...

Passion House Coffee roaster has bagged its coffee, ground, into large bags for steeping right in the cup, like you're making some tea.

Passion House enters instant scene with bags of ground coffee that steep like tea

May 31, 2019 at 9:02 p.m.

Most of the time, when you want coffee, you want it fast. Passion House Coffee wants to help satisfy that craving. The Chicago-based roaster recently launched its version of instant...

Standard Market in Westmont has the area's most robust guest coffee program with three dozen varieties from 12 out-of-town roasters.

Like guest beers in bars, out-of-town coffee programs offer a taste of what’s beyond Chicago

May 31, 2019 at 9:02 p.m.

Drinking coffee from Chicago is a prideful practice. And why not? The demand for coffee is big here, some of the country’s up-and-coming brewers are based here, and there’s a...

Granules of Intelligentsia's new venture into specialty instant coffee are seen at the bottom of a cup at the roaster's cafe in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood.

Specialty instant coffee startups aim to change the way you drink a cup of joe

May 31, 2019 at 9:04 p.m.

Premium instant coffee. It sounds contradictory at first. Does such a thing even exist? For decades, instant coffee has meant jars of flaky granules that live on the lower shelves...

Metra riders await the arrival of a weekday train at the 80th Avenue Metra station in Tinley Park. The station, renovated in 2012, is the fourth-busiest railroad depot in the Metra system.

Zimmerman: Switch from Ryan to rails an eye opener

May 22, 2019 at 2:23 a.m.

Why didn't I try this before? That was what I kept asking myself during my hour-long commute on Metra's Rock Island line into Chicago last week. As a lifelong driving...

Hillary Lebeb walks along the seawall in Galveston, Texas, as Hurricane Harvey intensifies in the Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 25, 2017.

Orland-area students getting an education in how to help

May 22, 2019 at 2:19 a.m.

The response was swift and Cheryl Foertch, principal at High Point School in Orland Park, couldn't have been more gratified. It was Monday, the first day of classes at the...

The guilty side effect of online shopping

June 8, 2018 at 7:47 p.m.

To the men and women in the Southland who make a living making deliveries, on behalf of the online shoppers in my household, I'm sorry. We didn't mean to add...

The day after a snowstorm looks -- and sounds -- different in the suburbs than in city neighborhoods, as roaring snowblowers replace arguments over "dibs."

Oh rest ye weary gentlemen

June 8, 2018 at 10:07 p.m.

The sound of snowblowers still is something new to my ears. Winters in the city involved shovels, a sore back and a carpet of sidewalk salt in all directions. Folks...

Something as simple as a kitchen table can make a big difference to a family whose members are always on the go.

Thankful for room to dine, unwind

June 9, 2018 at 5:14 a.m.

When it comes time for Thanksgiving dinner and the moment to go around the room to say what I'm thankful for, I'm going to say the most recent addition to...

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