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Ranting

Posted by kirk knipmeyer on January 18, 2010 at 11:21am
What up folks, checking in with ya, just letting you know how the first competition went. “So how did it go?” you ask. I it was okay, for a first try. We 've all learned a lot in the past week in what it means to compete in a barista competition. I think a pretty good explanation is somewhere between Iron Chef and Figure Skating in the Olympics. Its funny, how the addition of seven guys with clipboards can get under your skin. We all do the same motions everyday: grind, dose, tamp, pull, serve, repeat. There you go BGA it stuck. I think that all baristas should compete , it makes you appreciate what you do in a whole new light.All right, lets get the gripes out of the way, don't worry there aren't a lot. First please test all power strips . I know it sounds like a funny request, but seriously as much money that gets pumped in from all of the sponsors,( thanks Coffee Roasters of New Orleans, and Mahlkonig I think I'm in love with the Vs30, I just wish I had more time with her)that they would have all equipment working. Now for the response, My competition was going to be mediocre at its best it can only get worse when you go to use an electric device and it does not work. 1% there fault 99% my fault . It was a great test for a barista to see how they can overcome such obstacles and keep going.Belive Dan Streetman said those exact words. I do appreciate the time I was given back, I just wish y'all could have given me back my rhythm and confidence. But hey I said my comp. was going to be mediocre at its best, I'm quite sure it was worse. There is always next yearMy second suggestion, is this. There doesn't seem to be any promotion of the BGA, I seems likes it's up to the individual members to help find and recruit new members. And that the BGA excluding advertisements doesn;t seem to make any effort or maybe thats the point. If you only have the baristas that are activley in search of information( there are a whole lot of us out there), and that are working everyday to preach the Gospel that is Espresso in the streets and the coffeehouses that are trying to make customers more aware of quality espresso and are trying to make the position of barista as proffesional as possible. We might be missing a bunch who might take that extra step if they knew something so great as the BGA was out there. It just seems to me that, that if we went in search of the passionate baristas in our individual areas, our community would be much bigger, and stronger and in a better place to help grow the industry.
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Haiti - Call for Professional Chef Volunteers

Posted by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 16, 2010 at 2:24pm
This was posted on FohBoh.com today - the largest social network for the restaurant industry. The relief workers and citizens of Haiti could probably use some coffee and tea right about now. Please share this information with your culinary friends.This is an alert seeking Chef Volunteers willing to work in field kitchens in Haiti.Over the past 72 hours I've been networking with:U.N. World Food ProgrammeAmerican Culinary FederationFohBoh (Michael Atkinson, CEO)Share Our Strength (Billy Shore, Deb Shore and Ashley Graham)People Report (Joni Doolin, CEO)Fast Casual (Paul Barron, CEO)U.S. Department of Defense (Col. David Lapan, USMC, Chief Public Affairs Officer)U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps (Lt. Col. Samuel Russell, QM, Chief of Commanding Generals Office)Sodexo (USA and China)I've had direct conversations with the above entities. Some of these conversations have led to this call being shared with the Executive Board of the National Restaurant Association, McDonalds Corporate Office, Chefs for Humanity and the U.S. White House Office of the First Lady.The next two to three weeks in Haiti will see prepackaged ready-to-eat meals being distributed. Then, transition will occur to actual food preparation in the field. The field will be extremely challenging.Specifics have not been solidified at this time - but I encourage anyone interested in volunteering to leave a comment here to this blogpost.The full conversation/dialogue/concept has been documented at Chalkboarder here.
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What Menu Combo is working out there?

Posted by comforteagle1965 on January 16, 2010 at 7:21am
Many people have decided to expand or diversify their menu. There are classic combo's like bakery/coffee or breakfast/coffee and there are newer combos like yogurt/coffee and coffee/bar. Are there combo's you see out there or combos your doing that are working well together? I have a great local spot I'm looking at but it is more space than required for a coffee shop and I'm looking to maximize the space and give it more community pull.
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Executive Summit at Coffee Fest NYC

Posted by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 15, 2010 at 1:00pm
Join Coffee Fest in Meadowlands NJ March 4, 2010 for the Executive SummitCoffee Fest NYC Executive SummitThursday, March 4, 2010 from 9:00am-5:00pmWe are thrilled to make our Executive Summit a permanent fixture on the Coffee Fest line-up of events carefully crafted to help you build your bottom line. Held on Thursday, March 4, 2010, the Executive Summit titled Survive and Thrive in Coffee Today, culls from the industry's most respected professionals to bring participants a line-up of instructors and moderators who work as both guides and coaches -- directing you toward tools that will help you get the best out of your business. This day-long program serves up marketing and sales advice, techniques and stories to keep the momentum of your business rolling along.Executive Summit attendees will receive a complimentary copy of presenter, Ed Arvidson's new book, "Coffee Business, Success in a Turbulent Economy, Your Definitive Guide to Business Survival." Valued at more than $89, this book will become part of your business toolkit. The Executive Summit includes a lunch banquet. The summit is limited to the first 50 individuals and the cost is $249 -- a small investment for a big day.9:00 am – 10:00amBusiness Essentials to Survive the Economic FirestormLon LaFlamme – The BrandCoaches / Dillanos Coffee Roasters10:00am - 11:00amStrategies for Asset Protection, Cost Cutting and Employee Retention.Ed Arvidson - E&C Consulting11:00am - 12:00pmSocial Media How to Harness its Power to Build Your BusinessJeffrey Kingman – Chalkboarder12:00pm - 1:00pmLunch Banquet (provided)1:00pm - 1:30pmRound Table Networking SessionDebt management - Risks and Rewards of Various Financing OptionsModerator; Dan Bolton - Specialty Coffee Retailer1:30pm - 2:00pmRound Table Networking SessionCurrent Economic Firestorm, When and How will We EmergeModerator; Lon LaFlamme- Brand Coaches / Dillanos Coffee Roasters2:00pm - 2:30pmRound Table Networking SessionStaffing and Labor Management in These Challenging TimesModerator; Ed Arvidson - E&C Consulting2:30pm – 3:30pmSBA Programs and Case Studies on How SBDC designed to help small businesses grow and succeedVincent A. D'Elia, Regional Director – New Jersey Small Business Development Center at Bergen Community College3:30pm - 4:30pmA Fresh Marketing Strategy for This EconomyBruce Milletto - Bellissimo Coffee Info/Group
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Featured Donor: Sweet Maria's

Posted by Coffee Kids on January 15, 2010 at 9:05am
Over the past few years, interest in home coffee roasting has grown exponentially and Sweet Maria’s, based in Oakland, CA, has played a central role in the movement.Their website offers advice on how to choose a home roaster, detailed roasting instructions, photos of beans at each roasting stage and forums for discussing all things coffee. They also sell supplies and equipment, and green coffee to get eager home roasters started.Sweet Maria's Dog CalendarThis holiday season, Sweet Maria’s produced “The Unofficial 2010 Dogs of Coffee Calendar,” which was sold to benefit Coffee Kids and five other charities. The calendar has 15 full-color photographs of dogs from various coffee-producing regions. Co-owner Thompson Owen took the photographs during his travels around the world in search of coffee.“Maybe he misses our dogs, West Oakland mutts of the first degree, or maybe dogs tend to be a friendly presence. Whatever the reason, over time, Tom has amassed quite a collection of photographs of dogs at coffee origins,” said Maria Troy, co-owner of Sweet Maria’s.The unique calendar is available for purchase on Sweet Maria’s Web site.For over ten years, Sweet Maria’s has supported Coffee Kids through various fundraisers and they strive to educate their customers and online followers about our work. Their site is consistently one of the top referrer’s to the Coffee Kids Web site.
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Latin American Farmers Leaving Organic Coffee

Posted by Coffee Kids on January 12, 2010 at 7:13am
Latin American countries account for 75% of the world's organic coffee production. But even as demand for organic coffee has increased, coffee farmers are being forced to return to conventional cultivation using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In the article, "Organic coffee: Why Latin America's farmers are abandoning it," reporter Ezra Feiser talks with coffee farmers and researchers to uncover what's happening.coffee harvest The Center for Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education in Costa Rica (CATIE) estimates that at least 10% of organic coffee farmers have gone back to conventional production. The article goes on to state that the high prices that had been associated with organic coffee are diminishing and many farmers are being forced to sell their organic beans in the conventional market.In Chiapas, Mexico, farmers associated with our partner ICSUR experienced this firsthand when a buyer canceled two large contracts and farmers were forced to sell their coffee in local markets. Many families sustained a heavy loss (Read more here).ICSUR Mushrooms According to the article, farmers using chemical fertilizers and pesticides harvest about 485 pounds of coffee out of one acre, versus 285 pounds per acre on an organic farm. If they cannot justify the cost, they are forced to return to conventional methods.The impact is heavy in many communities. Given a lack of education on proper usage, local water sources are frequently contaminated with chemicals, much of the land is rendered sterile from overuse, and families are frequently exposed to toxic chemicals.Families working with our partner ICSUR have incorporated edible mushroom production and chicken-raising efforts to diversify their income and lessen their dependence on income from coffee. With economic diversity, many of these families can continue their organic farming and weather the finicky markets.
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5 Free Ways to Market Your Business

Posted by Jennifer Vaaler on January 11, 2010 at 8:00pm
Marketing is one of the biggest ways to gain customers. You need to get them in your store so they can experience your great coffee.Just be sure to fit your Advertising to your goals. Marketing is not created equal.Word of mouth Marketing is best, but how do you begin? By building trust with customers so they buy from you. Then they tell all their friends! Get people talking with these 5 free Marketing strategy ideas:Social MediaThis isn’t just a trend anymore. Twitter and Facebook are just two sites to stay connected and build relationships with your customers. You can see what others are saying about your business and to easily take care of any customer complaints that may arise and quickly fix the situation. You can even post proceedings to Facebooks “event” feature.E-newsletterKeep customers updated on events, specials, and coupons, even highlight an employee or co-worker. Offer a sign-up sheet for your customers at the cafe’ counter and a subscription on your site to keep them updated. Try Mailchimp or Aweber.BlogWrite about events-music, throw-downs, fundraisers, meetups, networking groups. Be sure to take a lot of pictures so customers can see what a great time others are having and will want to make the next event. For customers that did attend, can tell about their experience (customer testimonials) of how much fun they had.Yelp.comRegister your cafe’ on Yelp to be reviewed and see how you stack up to other local businesses. Will yours be the “Top cafe’” in town?Be NewsworthyAre you sponsoring an event, hosting a fundraiser or donating coffee? Build company reputation and goodwill within the community while gaining the attention of the media. And in-turn, gain more customers.How do you market your company? Do you use any of these strategies? What experience have you had using these strategies?
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Passion

Posted by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 10, 2010 at 8:10am
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 of the barista craft, but only marginally.Moments after arriving at Fresh Cup's Open House, the owner showed me her demitasse cup collection from around the world. As the next two hours unfolded and I spoke with people from all over the globe - it dawned on me just how passionate an industry specialty coffee and tea is.A long conversation with Barista Exchange's founder Matt Milletto, another long conversation with Martin Barrett from Portland Roasting and several conversations with people attending a class at American Barista & Coffee School (from all over the globe) all contributed to a much deeper awareness.I'm very excited to journey into the depths of specialty coffee and tea, meet all kinds of passionate people and experience your knowledge shares.Cross posted from Leaf & Berry Blog
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The Great Good Place - Part 1

Posted by Mike M on January 9, 2010 at 6:34pm
This is the first of a short series of blogs written to document my thoughts on Ray Oldenburg's book, "The Great Good Place." In his book, Ray discusses the 'Third Place' as the public places where people go to enjoy the company of others in an informal social setting as necessities for our personal and community health. Henceforth, references to the author's work will be discussed as Ray's ideas/assertions.Ray makes a historical reference to the post WWII era, where after the masses of veterans and others ushered in a new consumer era marked by affordable housing, the proliferation of the automobile industry for the masses, and America's stock was on the rise. This became the new 'American Dream,' right? The emphasis was on consumerism, growth was rampant, and the changing culture promoted a solid work ethic and a solid home life. That's my speculation, at least. Being in my mid-20s in the 21st century doesn't afford me the ability to be too empathetic when it comes to understanding what that life was like. All I have are stories and textbooks, but for the sake of this blog, it's good enough for me. I digress..This may very well have been the birth of the consumerism and competition we know today. Once individuals were provided the opportunity to own their own houses and buy their own cars, they had the opportunity to seclude themselves as much as they wanted to, to self-eliminate from the communities in which they live. I'm not implying that the masses trapped themselves in their houses and became xenophobic, but it provided an opportunity to become less connected to those around them. During this period, there were candy shops, soda fountains, malt shops, and cigar stores that served these communities well by offering 'third places' for its members.Now fast forward a number of decades and America's citizens have once again found themselves in a changing social paradigm:"America does not rank well on the dimension of her informal life and less well now than in the past. Increasingly, her citizens are encouraged to find their relaxation, entertainment, companionship, even safety, almost entirely within the privacy of homes that have become more a retreat from society than a connection to it...Daily life amid the urban sprawl is like a grammar school without its recess periods." -Ray OldenburgWhat caused this shift from the post WW-II era to now? I'll say that there was an increased emphasis on consumerism and competition. While my elementary explanation does nothing to change the fact that it has changed, I merely hope to acknowledge that there has been a shift in the way we conduct our lives and the society that we belong to. Also worth noting is that I will use the terms society and community interchangeably, but I believe our experiential understanding of community is as elementary as my explanation of the cultural shift from WW-II to now."Unfortunately, opinion leans toward the view that the causes of stress are social but the cures are individual. It is widely assumed that high levels of stress are an unavoidable condition of modern life, that these are built into the social system, and that one must get outside the system in order to gain relief. Even our efforts at entertaining and being entertained tend toward the competitive and stressful. We come dangerously close to the notion that one "gets sick" in the world beyond one's domicile and one "gets well" by retreating from it. Thus, while German's relax amid the rousing company of the bier garten or the French recuperate in their animated little bistros, Americans turn to massaging, meditating, jogging, hot-tubbing, or escape fiction. While others take full advantage of their freedom to associate, we glorify our freedom not to associate." -Ray OldenburgI could write my own book around that quote and how valid of an opinion I believe it to be..Ray goes on to explain how "leisure has been perverted into consumption" and how advertising has convinced people that the 'good life' is a purchase away, and pins people against each other in having the monetary resources to acquire the goods so cleverly advertised. This, coupled with the rarity or absence of places such as coffee shops, cafes, bookstores, etc that facilitate social gatherings for people to spend time outside of the home or work, define the reality we now face.
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Coffee in our household

Posted by Steve MacDowall on January 9, 2010 at 9:46am
Beverly, my wife; Liz, my daughter along with myself love our coffee. - every morning I'm the first up and I put the water on - then taking the two french presses down along with my Italian espresso pot. I make a decaf for my wife; a good strong non-decaf coffee for Liz and I have the espresso. It makes for more of a clean up but we all love our coffee.
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Phish and Joe

Posted by Nathan Talley on January 6, 2010 at 12:02pm
So i am wondering....is there anyone out there who loves waking up in the morning, loading up the french press with JBM and popping in your favorite phish dvd as me?? (oh yeah and smoking weed in that process) Coffee is an awesome thing although not as cool as phish:) i promise im not obsesive or crazy i just know what i like and what gets me off...
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Hi, I'm Jeff and I'm a coffee and tea addict...

Posted by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 6, 2010 at 11:58am
Originally posted at the new blog Leaf & BerryI’ve been drinking coffee and tea all my life, since I was about ten. It’s always had a hold on me, remaining a constant part of my daily existence.Much as I might think I could – there’s just no way I could ever stop drinking coffee and tea. I’ve finally given up the remote thought of ever quitting and as a result…have turned my life over to the god/dess of specialty coffee and tea..Please join me as I journey deeper into this brave new world of coffee and tea. My quest is part professional (with a contract to be the social media voice of Coffee Fest) and part personal growth.This blog – Leaf & Berry – is where I will detail the adventures, knowledge-immersion and stories of my coffee and tea journey. It is my hope that those in the hospitality industry, those in the coffee/tea world and regular joe/jane’s will find some amusement, some knowledge share – that I am able to at least minimally delight or intrigue you here.And with that, I lift this cuppa joe at Spring Creek Coffee House in Milwaukie Oregon in salutations to you… here we go….
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