Barista Exchange

February 2008 Blog Posts (78)

A little thingy on CBS News

Aired on CBS News, Sunday February 17,… Continue

Added by Nick Cho on February 22, 2008 at 9:30pm — 4 Comments

Dr. Illy Celebration at American Barista & Coffee School Tonight!

Just a reminder to everyone in the Portland area that tonight is the Celbration of Dr. Illy's life at the American Barista & Coffee School. The party will start at 6pm with wine and Italian appetizers. Also, espresso will be flowing for sure! 7pm we will be watching the full Dr. Illy Milan interviews. Feel free to invite anyone who is interested in learning more from a true luminary and mentor to us all. See you tonight!

6pm - 9pm

ABC… Continue

Added by Matt Milletto on February 22, 2008 at 10:23am — 2 Comments

XV Espresso

Check out PT's latest espresso family member...mmmm tasty!

Added by Holly on February 21, 2008 at 1:45pm — 4 Comments

Your Weak Human Senses Have Been Replaced

Those crazy sci-fi kids over at the io9 blog have uncovered a future of pure, unadulterated horror: a world where humans will bow down to the coffee profiling dictates of the machine known simply as the Electronic Taster.

Indeed, friends, this is the end of coffee enjoyment as we know it--an end that could only have been designed by those nutty engineers at Nestle, who, mad with power, continue on in their quest to conquer the world through taste bud desensitization. Run for your… Continue

Added by Mary Dally-Muenzmaier on February 21, 2008 at 8:43am — No Comments

Baristas for Bikes Challenge

bX'ers - I am asking for your help in kicking off and then spreading the word about a fundraiser tied in with the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Western Regional Barista Competition (WRBC) called Baristas for Bikes.

The goal to get all competitors who enter the WRBC (March 28-30), attend the Pre-Competition Training with Heather… Continue

Added by Pacific Bay Coffee Co. & Micro-Roastery on February 20, 2008 at 11:16pm — No Comments

Jay Caragay's "Breakfast In Bed" MARBC performance.

It can be viewed here:

Enjoy! It was fun to watch!

Added by Jason Dominy on February 20, 2008 at 12:04pm — 4 Comments

Irish Eyes on Nicaragua

Ever traveled with a pack of Irishmen? Lucky for me I can say that I have. And it was the gift of a lifetime. I traveled to Nicaragua with representatives and affiliates of our long time supporter in Ireland, Java Republic. While it's always an adventure and an eye opening experience when our supporters visit Coffee Kids project participants, this was truly an extraordinary journey. ..

I don't know that I have… Continue

Added by Coffee Kids on February 20, 2008 at 9:00am — No Comments

New Coffeehouse Owner, New Barista, Chump?

Im both a new barista and a new coffeehouse owner. I attended the American Barista & Coffee School 3 yrs ago and absolutely fell in love with the industry. I'm proud to have learned from some of the best. I opened my own coffeehouse 7 months ago in Atlanta. I've attended trade shows subscribe to all the magazines, and visit all the coffeehouses.

Im currently practicing my latte art (almost got my rosettas down!) and my tamp is perfect maybe 80% of the time! lol

I work… Continue

Added by Loren Anthony on February 20, 2008 at 8:10am — 6 Comments

rats sure love yogurt.

i have two pet rats, Gretchen and Eloise. they are sisters, which is awesome because they love each other. the thing is, they don't like me very much. this is because i used to have another rat, Freya, who was sort of their surrogate mom. when Freya died last june (from being an old old lady), the baby rats stopped liking me as much. i've been trying to play with them more, but they are pretty skittish. i think it's also their genetics, because they were bred to be pretty rats, whereas Freya… Continue

Added by Amanda Lanyon-LeSage on February 19, 2008 at 7:59pm — No Comments

Late Start Sumatra Cup Session

Cupping Sumatra G-1's and a Retro sample.
Also have a pre-ship Harrar type sample to check out.

Starting late, 4pm Friday 2/22

Cheers,
Scott

Added by scott@herkimercoffee.com on February 19, 2008 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Coffee Fest DC 08

Just came back from one hell of a road trip. Andrew (Kopplin) and I drove to DC and back this weekend for Coffee Fest DC 08. That's the area that I grew up and most of my family is still there so the trip it self was nothing new. We left Thursday after we opened and drove the 17 hours thru the night. Arrived Friday afternoon ate, napped, and dropped Kopplin off with a friend so I could hang with my family and some friends. Saturday we went down to Coffee Fest early because I was entered in the… Continue

Added by Andrew Milstead on February 19, 2008 at 12:07pm — 3 Comments

How Not to Open a Café: A Hard Lesson in Wales

Costa Coffee, one of the largest roasters, wholesalers and retailers in the United Kingdom, opened a new café in Aberystwyth, Wales yesterday and managed to do it in the worst possible way. With your indulgence, I'd like to offer up a brief rant of just where this company went wrong.

Mistake #1: Opening the café on high street without planning permission from the Ceredigion County Council.

Mistake #2: Ignoring a letter from Aberystwyth Town Council requesting that they… Continue

Added by Mary Dally-Muenzmaier on February 19, 2008 at 8:07am — 3 Comments

The weather on Kauai

Hi, everybody. I often lament that I am so far isolated out here in the Pacific and I can't attend any barista events without a criminal amount of travel and expense, or that I haven't been to a coffee shop in so so long that's not my own. And I think about how all my training comes from videos and magazines, websites and things we learn together, or the odd traveller who comes out here to tell us about coffee. And I lament that all my beans come by aeroplane (thank heavens for Fedex). And it's… Continue

Added by Anni Caporuscio on February 18, 2008 at 5:26pm — 3 Comments

A Good Coffee Day

A good coffee day…

It starts before the sun. Opening the shop is my time. The music is loud (Michael Jackson, pre – Neverland Ranch creepiness) while I wake up the machines. The Clover bubbles and snorts while going through its cleaning cycle; the Synesso clicks awake as I dial in the espresso. The ‘spro is creamy and sweet with those chocolate and cherry notes that always make me smile. The machines, the spro, and I are all happy little campers as the sun breaks open in the sky.

The… Continue

Added by ZZZZZZZZ on February 18, 2008 at 5:17pm — 1 Comment

Spring Bash in Billyburg!

Dear Coffee, I love you. I have many friends that love you too. Many of them also have another friend named Beer who they also love dearly and a few others have a delightful young friend named Whiskey. I am writing to let you know that my friends and I will be visiting our other friends, Beer and Whiskey on March 9th at Harefield Road in Williamsburg at 9pm. Now don't get upset Coffee, don't be jealous. Many of us will be back early the next morning to care for you as we always have. We might… Continue

Added by Ed Kaufmann on February 18, 2008 at 12:00pm — 1 Comment

My thoughts on the DC Coffee Fest.

Well, I have gotten back, and am now settling my thoughts, trying to capture them on paper so I don't forget all the things I wanted to remember. So, this will help to solidify those thoughts. This is how I remember it.

Friday, I arrived in DC, met up with Michael Feemster, a great barista who works with us at Dilworth Coffee. He got there early, so met me at a Metro stop. We proceeded to our hotel which was in Bethesda. I know, it ain't close, it's where Orbitz put me. We got to the… Continue

Added by Jason Dominy on February 18, 2008 at 10:00am — 2 Comments

The Mark of A Champion

Belle Batista's (Aldo Coffee) been a champion long before Nick announced the winners on Sunday afternoon at the Mid Atlantic Regional Competition in Washington DC. Few competitors (or people for that matter) have the compassion and grace that Belle exudes every time I have talked to her. Saturday evening, after I totally blew my performance at the MARBC, and I was wallowing in anger at myself and at the world in general, and good dose of self-pity, Belle came up to me and said some very nice… Continue

Added by Troy Reynard on February 18, 2008 at 4:28am — 4 Comments

MARBC Follow UP

I didn't get to watch all of the finalists today as I was in the booth, but did try to follow the comp as much as I could. A big congratulations to all who competed, and instead of trying to re-post everything here, for now, check out the sweet blog put on by Octane at www.coffeerevelation.com

Also congrats to Ben from Octane for winning the Millrock Latte Art Competition, along with Justin… Continue

Added by Matt Milletto on February 17, 2008 at 7:03pm — No Comments

The only drip in the shop is me...Pour-over?

I have this 2 unit pour-over contraption on a shelf at my shop that we've never used for the same reason we don't make drip for our "regular coffee". For the 25% of our clients who don't ask for espresso-based drinks we make French Press. The French Press coffee is made in 1.5 litre presses then decanted into airpots and refreshed/replaced as need be depending on how it ages and tastes (+/- 30 minutes) depending on the beans and their roast. But when someone wants a coffee other than what is… Continue

Added by Stickman on February 17, 2008 at 11:04am — 11 Comments

A Typical Day in Guatemala . . . kinda

Just a general idea of what's going on with my apprenticeship. Got into the shop at 6:00 A.M. and started up the roaster. I've gotten to the point where I (get to) start early by myself and clean things up and get the roaster started and ready for the day. Today was light, we roasted about 60 lbs. of Hue Hue. Mike comes down finally with coffee and a little something to eat. He reminds me (again and again) what I"m looking for in the roast and when to drop it in and when to take it… Continue

Added by James Spano on February 16, 2008 at 7:28pm — 1 Comment

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