Operator Solutions Using Mocafe

Last night, a perfect New England summer night, I was talking about cafe and restaurant management with an old friend, a…

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Hi all,

 

In light of some recent comments regarding the continued usefulness of online discussion communities, I wanted to take a second to say thank you.

 

Thank you, Barista Exchange community, for continuing to make this a place where we can come together to ask questions, discuss (and sometimes argue) with each other, learn from each other, and grow together in our understanding. Together, we've created a…

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The week before Christmas, David Heilbrunn of Coffee Fest took me to Fresh Cup Magazine's Holiday Open House.



As a former Executive Chef, who did a two year sabbatical studying architecture in Boston, I completely understand having passion for a craft or trade. I'm quite passionate about creative culinary, gastronomy, sustainability and being a superior craftsperson.



Over the times I was Exec Chef, I participated in a number of coffee/tea purchasing decisions; I was aware… Continue

The endless blue ocean that is the Arafura Sea meets Papua with a violent shudder of breaking surf on rocky beaches. Papua simply rises out of the water like some strange prehistoric animal. Ponderous, enormous, mysterious. The mountains climb endlessly, effortlessly towards the sky. These are some mountains: craggy, monumental- a darker kind of bruised and violent blue. This is a land stuck in time.



And the Jungle. Having traveled all over… Continue

Hello bXers!



I mentioned earlier this month that we will be rolling out our bX partners discount series, and we have the first opportunity available now. This first discount is offered by the American Barista & Coffee School.



For the next three months the American Barista & Coffee School is offering the following discount exclusively to Barista Exchange members.



Any Barista Exchange member will receive the… Continue

In Celebration of reaching the 3000 member mark at Barista Exchange. Espressoparts.com and bX have joined together to create the first of many Barista Exchange T Shirts.



The Viva Barista logo has been screened onto the front of 100% cotton T shirts and on the upper mid back is the Barista Exchange logo.



Click… Continue

Thought I would re post this article from barista magazine by kyle and I. Some great info.



Café Design

Matt Milletto & Kyle Larson



Photo by Kenneth R. Olson

Reprinted from Barista Magazine



Let’s face it, not to sound too terribly clichéd, but first impressions really do matter. What is the first thing your customers are going to notice when they walk in the door? That’s right, the café itself.… Continue

I love visiting other coffee shops. It is generally both a great experience in both learning and indulging the senses, and I've always especially appreciated my visits to Intelli. I remember my first visit just two years ago when I was at coffee fest Chicago for the weekend. I was new to the upper echelons of coffee when I walked in to Intelli Millenium Park, and I was greeted by both a friend barista by the name of Goodrich (whom I met up with in competitions just a year later) and my first… Continue

Counter Culture Coffee cordially invites the barista exchange community to join reigning United Kingdom and World Barista Champion James Hoffmann for his 2008 U.S. East Coast Tour, March 2-15!



The 8-stop tour will include coffee presentations, skill demonstrations, barista workshops, and more at Counter Culture regional training centers and other locations listed below. Hope to see many of you at… Continue

Tragedy at our farm Partner Finca Vista Hermosa in Guatemala.



Carlos of FVHfvh logo



On February 15th, 2008 a tragedy struck our farm partners at Finca Vista Hermosa in Guatemala. For the last decade or more Carlos has managed the day to day operations of Finca Vista Hermosa. He has labored tirelessly to bring exceptional quality, exquisite farming methods, demanding harvesting and processing procedures and intense cross training for all farm workers. The results have been… Continue

It has been about 5 years since I was last in Vancouver B.C. and my wife and I made the time to take a short road trip up there.



Two nights before we spent a wonderful evening with Chris Owens and M'llissa Muckerman here in Portland and had a dinner to remember at Le Pigeon with the addition of Sarah Allen and Phuong Tran. We ate everything from Cows Tongue, Foie Gras, Sea Urchin, Beef Cheeks, Lamb Shank, Local Truffles, and so much more… Continue

As many have noticed we have a new header and overall design for Barista Exchange. I will be experimenting with the best look and feel for the site as it continues to grow.



we are no longer in BETA mode! woohoo. I will be introducing new functionality each month. A couple things I am working to add soon are:



• Google map/location finder. This is a huge task but I am hoping to

create something like this soon. This may also… Continue

I received an email from Peggy of Rock Creek Coffee Roasters this afternoon and thought I'd share the link. It is interesting how the author compares what people may be looking for in a cafe, to what they may also be looking for in a blog or website.



After reading the post I was curious to apply some to Barista Exchange ... first impression, friendly environment, interaction with the… Continue

I have known Jeffrey Goldsmith for a few years now, meeting him first at a Las Vegas Coffee Fest Tradeshow. At that time he was promoting his new book Cafe Haiku, which some of you may know and love, and was getting his feet wet in the world of coffee. His book was a success and he spent a while promoting poetry readings in cafes around the US.… Continue

I have added a music player to the website which can be found in the bottom left column on the main page. If I am not mistaken, only administrators can upload music, but if you have something you would like to send, I can upload it for you. Podcasts are great, also any original material. I may put a few cool songs up but want to keep it mainly to stuff created by barista exchange members. You can email me a link to the mp3 file.

Feedback is appreciated.

- Matt