ausin texas, and it's the early 1990's; and for the third time in just as many minutes. the skinny, little, nervous. asthmatic (some say wussie*); gets kicked in the chest by the much taller and and stronger bully. The reason for the beating; mainly just bullies being bullies. So what does the kid do. He starts fantasizing about teaming up with his idol Chuck Norris and fighting for truth, justice, and the American way...Flash forward a couple of months and that same sickly kid is standing next to Chuck and being named texas Karate Champion.For our little Karate champion, it took a chance encounter where he strikes a friendship with the hero of his dreams and begins to train under Mr. Norris, becoming a skinny little kid with a fighter's spirit. I don't think chuck can help me, but Who knows. it wouldn't surprise me if Chuck Norris could ; he can do everything.For one i'm not a skinny little asthmatic kid with no balls, in fact, I am man in my mid twenties who is... I don't know robust? Yup robust, I'm going with robust. Who has no intrest in being a karate champion, but only to do my best to help represent the growing barista community of New Orleans. Myself and the other members of Society of New Orleans Baristas, will be traveling to austin texas, the place of karate dreams and chuck Norris wishes.So Anderson , Greg, Drew, and I, with our support team of Tash and Jeramy, will pack up the 'ol the minivan ( I only mention minivan because I truly appreciate the minivan , it's just so damn versatile, ie. Camping, tailgating, love machine) and drive to the South Central Barista Championship. We've done a lot in the past few weeks. Buying supplies and tweeking signature drinks. I don't think , I'm the only one who is super excited . Yup . Super excited.,We all are looking forward to meeting with some of the best in the business. And vying for a chance at espresso greatness.The road will be cold and hard, and the distance will be great. but we are of stout heart and strong spirit.With all the Help and Support of Coffee Roasters of New Orleans, D's Coffee, and Mojo's Coffee house, we are rolling pretty deep. We look forward to hot showers central heat and espreeso dreams achieved.P.S. HAPPY MARDI GRAS*Seaquest- talking dolphins and Roy Schneider with a beard
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Posted by Paul Yates on January 5, 2010 at 11:39am
Here is the third installment from my future shop's Facebook page...So what's the big deal with specialty coffee? What separates it from the coffee you find on the shelf at the supermarket? Why do some people (including me) feel it is worth the extra expense to buy fresh, roasted coffee beans that have yet to be ground?Well, let's start by talking about coffee as a plant. There are two basic kinds of coffee: robusta, and arabica. Robusta currently makes up anywhere from 70% to 90% of the world's total coffee crop production. The reasons for this are simple: Robusta coffee is, well, robust. It requires less care, and is more disease-resistant and drought resistant than its cousin, the arabica coffee plant. Robusta grows well on the plains, and produces large crops each year. It is a stable commodity in the world market. Arabica coffee plants, on the other hand, grow best at high altitudes, in areas less accessible to modern farming equipment, and are very sensitive to soil ph levels, rainfall, and disease. Arabica coffee farming is just high maintenance, and costs in production are higher.In today's American supermarkets, Arabica coffee is swiftly becoming the most popular, due to the preference the public has shown for its flavor. This was not always the case. Because robusta was so much easier to produce, large coffee roasting companies used robusta as the foundational ingredient in their coffees. Indeed, in Europe today, robusta is a staple in European espresso blends, where robusta and arabica beans are roasted, tasted, then mixed together to achieve a balanced flavor profile.In the United States, as well as in other countries around the globe, arabica coffee is considered superior to robusta, due to the considerable difference in flavor. The wonderful thing about arabica coffee is the sheer variety of flavor possibilities, due to soil acidity, altitude, rainfall, harvest and processing methods, shipping and packaging processes, and roasting processes. For instance, a specialty coffee roaster may include information on the package of fresh, roasted, beans you are holding in your hand. That information may include: country of origin, region of origin, FARM of origin, altitude at which grown, processing method, etc. (And a truly "enlightened" roaster will include the "Roasted on" date, so you will know how fresh it is.) The wonderful thing is, two separate roasters can offer coffee from exactly the same place, the same batch of processed coffee beans, and due to their roasting process, may produce different flavor profiles entirely.In most supermarkets, the most information you can find is the basic geographical region of origin, and the "sell by" date, which is often WAAAAY too long for the coffee to remain fresh. If I can find whole bean coffee, with a sell by date at least 6 months away (a year is better), I am willing to risk trying it. If it is already ground, I won't waste my time. Grinding fresh, and brewing immediately, is by far one of the most critical elements in enjoying a great cup of coffee. We will talk about grinding procedures later.I still have not explained the different ways the coffee fruit is processed to access and dry the coffee beans. This is so important to what you taste in your cup, I am going to dedicate a separate note, just for that.So until next time....
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Here is Part 2 of my continuing informational note series on my future shop's Facebook page...You've heard it before, probably countless times."I wish coffee would just taste as good as it smells!"And I can understand that, really.I have had coffee that smelled awesome. But when I tasted it....ICK. It was either too weak, too strong, too bitter, too cold....what a letdown! Some of you non-coffee drinkers, reading this because you are hoping you can understand my pathological obsession with coffee, you are nodding your heads over that letdown. Drink a nasty cup once, shame on your host; drink one twice, shame on you. Right? Never will that tainted substance cross your lips again...But wait...I have also had coffee that smelled...unimpressive. It promised nothing, at least nothing my nose could detect. Well, until the beans were ground. And then I knew that this coffee was holding nothing back, that the taste was going to be everything I could hope for. And it was. Flavors that I didn't even know could exist in coffee danced across my tongue, flirted with my tastebuds, and generally blew my mind.And those of you who have experienced that sensation are nodding YOUR heads, maybe reliving that moment, that first French press, or that first Chemex.And you can never go back. Once you have experienced great coffee, and you KNOW it is possible, it is almost impossible to go back to the same convenience store sludge without your tongue bitterly reminding you of what could have been.So what makes the difference? Why the discrepancy in flavor and experience? Isn't coffee just....coffee? Yes. And no.Stay tuned for Part 3.
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I wrote this in the note section on my Facebook page as part of a series of informative articles, intended to help my future customers understand what I was trying to accomplish.Making a great cup of coffee is no accident. It requires at least a basic understanding of coffee, and its extraction. The great thing about this is that anyone can learn it. A lot of coffee brewing is common sense, when you really think about it. But coffee brewing is not where great coffee starts.Having been pegged as the "coffee nut", I am often asked to brew coffee for this event, or that gathering, partly because people sometimes perceive what I do as some kind of mysterious alchemy, and partly because the equipment I use to brew coffee can be intimidating to the uninitiated. I know I was intimidated when I first became aware of the multiple ways one could brew a quality cup of coffee. But with the encouragement and guidance of some great "Jedi Coffee Masters", I have discovered the excitement of uncovering the nuances contained in the simple coffee bean....which does not mean it is not complex. The coffee bean is a marvel of God's creation. By varying the agricultural process, be it soil, water, altitude, or varietal (coffee plants are like rosebushes, they have different kinds), one can influence flavor qualities. Those flavor qualities can be further influenced by how the coffee berries (they look rather like cherries, in a cluster) are processed (washed, natural, or pulp natural -- there will be a separate post in the future defining these terms. Check back frequently). Next, the roaster will further affect the flavor profile of the coffee bean by how long he roasts the beans, and at what temperature. The last person to influence that cup of coffee in your hand is the barista in your favorite coffee shop. The barista is responsible for how the coffee bean is ground, the method in which it is brewed, the temperature at which it is brewed, and the time taken to brew the coffee. All of these elements culminate in what is in your cup and the possibilities are almost limitless!So coffee is simple...and yet, it is complex. And that is why I never take coffee lightly. Too many people have invested their passion, skill, and dedication....their lives, really....for me to shrug this great cup of coffee off as "no big deal".Stay tuned for the next installment in Part 2!
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Add lack of access to good coffee to the list of sacrifices required of deployed military service members..So my supervisor (MAJ B) recently ordered a Keurig for our regional trans office in Afghanistan.. At first I was excited about getting away from the $20 coffeemaker, but my hopes would soon be crushed by the lack of good coffee it produced.I don't know as much as I'd like to about quality coffee, but the bitter brew this 'revolutionary' machine kicked out was on par with the old coffee maker..I'm curious to see what happened in the next 20 years with advances in technology and how they may impact the coffee house customer bases. I don't propose to have any answers, but what if someone came up with a machine for home that would make quality coffee, espresso, and foamed milk...? I haven't seen anything that can replace a talented barista at this point, at least not affordably, but what if such a machine existed, and was priced around $4-500? Would we see more and more commuters and other demographics who put a premium on convenience opt to press a button at home instead of stopping on the way to work?Would there be a minimal impact on the customer base that enjoys the ambiance? Or would some allow the convenience to over-rule the opportunity to get out of the house?Personally, I will always enjoy the feel of a good coffee shop ambiance, coupled with a great cup of coffee. There's nothing like it.. In college, I had a NEED for a 'Third Place', to get away from my room and the campus, but the options were the overcrowded and slightly pretentious SBux, the devoid of any hint of ambiance Dunkin Donuts, and an independent shop that to me felt like an overcrowded library without a soul. I'd be more than happy to pay $5 for a great cappuccino and a seat in a coffee house with a great ambiance.With all these new products and processes that feature less work, less time, less effort, less thought, is all this 'progress' taking us away from the real treasures in life?
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