Hi everyone,
Thanks for your participation on bX. I am pleased with the growth of the site so far, and have some great PR stuff planned in the near future. I recently added a new "Jobs" posting page on the site. The format and functionality is killer and as someone who has posted jobs on bX before I encourage you to try it out.
http://www.baristaexchange.com/jobs
There is a nominal fee involved, but I tried to make it as cheap as possible. I didn't do this to make money, but rather to provide a much more valuable service to our members. The proceeds for any job posting in the month or March will go to Edwin Martinez Family, toward the efforts blogged about here. All of the postings are not only stored on barista exchange, but go out into the millions of searchable jobs on the Simply Hired search engine. Also, with it's own section, the Jobs area will get alot more exposure. We have roughly 10K UNIQUE visitors each month, and those numbers are growing ... we've only been live for 3 months.
I will keep the existing jobs on the forum up for another week or so, but will be changing that section to be just for baristas to post if they are looking for work, that will always be free.
Please email me with any feedback or questions. Thanks!
- Matt
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I've been here in Guatemala now for a month. I'm now doing all the roasting orders for Mike with the exception of a few special ones he directs, but still involves me in. I've visited several farms and learned about green coffee selection and what to look for.My next big task is taking my own farm trip. I'm planning on spending a week in Antigua visiting friends and checking out a few farms. There is also a possibility that I'll make a trip up to Hue Hue Tenango, though I'm not sure about that yet. I'm excited/nervous about doing this myself. It will be interesting for me to see how things go. I'm really excited about being able to offer a coffee on my list where I have met the farmer.I'm also making plans for when I return state side. I've picked out my city and am now looking at rent prices and things like that. Fortunately my brother lives there and can look at things and take some pictures for me. The current plan is to start out just roasting as this will be a much lower start up cost and will have the opportunity to spend time getting clients while not being tied down in a cafe setting. So when I get started, you guys feel free to place some orders or come visit me in . . . well I'm not saying yet (call me paranoid). Peace.
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Thank you to all the great people who put their money where their heart is and donated money to help support Juana Martin and her family. Together we raised $3,803.00 for the Martin family!!Edwin Martinez of Finca Vista Hermosa is flying to Guatemala Friday the 7th and will be bringing down the money to help out the entire family. Thank you so much to all who donated, chipped in and helped out. I know that several other great roasters like Victrola Coffee, Brown Coffee and others all had donation drives as well and raised a great deal of money.And a huge heartfelt thanks goes out to the amazing Barefoot Baristas who on their own decided to band together and donate all of their tips for the last week to Juana and her family! That is a strong move for a Barista to give up that much percentage of their income. Thank you Barefoot Baristas and crew!Thank you so much everyone who helped out! We will still be raising money for the next few weeks so donate online or in the cafe!donate:http://stores.homestead.com/barefootcoffeeroasters/-strse-90/FVH-donation-for-Carlos%27/Detail.bok
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Does your coffee shop have free internet access? Did you know there are several online Wi-Fi directories where you can list your Coffee Shop Hotspot for free? It's true and it's quick and easy to do. Visit our website to read the rest of the article, Free Coffee Shop Advertising.
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So, another little thing about living on a small island way out in the Pacific is that you can't find anyone to fix your espresso machine. Needless to say, I'm doing pretty good at fixing stuff, reading manuals, and I'm way more mechanically inclined than I ever knew. However, our steam want pulled out of it's socket a few weeks ago. What do you do? So we jimmy-rigged a wand from another machine that we have (our current method of competing with other shops is to buy up all the espresso machines on the island so no one else can have one unless they pay a heck of a lot for shipping - we own four) and screwed it onto our machine and now there's this big dangly weird thing hanging off the side. Then, we hated the tip on the new wand, so we unscrewed it from the old wand and put it on the new wand.Now, our machine is old to begin with, so old in fact, that I have been unable to find any manuals for it. It just goes to show you that you don't need all the new-fangled equipment to make kick ass coffee; you just have to take care of it. Growing out of that, we have this weird arm dangling, and it looks like a nightmare. The baristas are pissed, too, because they were losing their milk-steaming mojo, a definite depressant.So we're practicing and practicing, and whining, and pounding pitchers, and waiting for the new wand to be shipped from Italy, and I just want to tell you how cute all my baristas are now. They learned their tricks, trading info and tips, and they're getting the silkiest milk ever right now. And showing each other, and cheering for each other. High-fives over foam. Making me get up and look at their latte art. And the customers are in to it, too, they now know all the tricks for steaming milk because that's all we talk about anymore behind the counter. I think it was that they had to still perform with the adversity of the machine being broken and really put their thinking caps on to re-get their dexterity and really find their mojo. My input on re-training: break something irreparably.
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We are proud to announce the next Barista Exchange Meet Up will take place Friday, April 11th in conjunction with the NERBC. The party is sponsored by the American Barista & Coffee School
Here are the details:
Friday, April 11th, 2008
8pm - 1am
Ithaca, NY
The Chanticleer Loft (corner of Cayuga St. and State St.)
Barista Exchange members will receive their official Barista Exchange Member buttons, if you don't already have one. Come rock out with baristas and coffee fanatics. For more info you can message Erin McCarthy.
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Major coffee producing regions of the world have also been the sites of bitter conflict, including Columbia, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Vietnam, Laos, Uganda, Angola and Ethiopia. Tragically, areas with the heaviest concentrations of landmine use and the best coffee producing regions frequently overlap.One of the best places to grow high quality coffee is in the mountains, the same areas that in times of war are strategically significant as borders between territories, or as strongholds for opposing forces. Landmines are a particularly effective weapon in steep terrain where movement is limited to mountain passes and trails that traverse agricultural areas – the same areas where coffee farmers live and work.For example, take Colombia. Colombian coffee farms covers 800,000 hectares of cultivated land, and the Colombian coffee industry supports 500,000 farmers. Guerilla and paramilitary groups intentionally use landmines to displace citizens by mining villages and farms and then mining houses and roads to prevent their return. While landmines are a persistent problem throughout Colombia, they are particularly concentrated in the mountainous coffee areas. 23% of Colombia’s mine related incidents have occurred in Antioquia, the heart of Colombia’s coffee growing region.The Universal Impact of Landmines in the Coffeelands:good land often goes uncultivatedcoffee trees in mined areas go unpickedmined roads cannot be used to transport good to marketpeople lose their homes and farmspeople live in constant fear of stepping on a landminelandmine survivors and their families spend the rest of their lives dealing with the physical and emotional impact of landmine injuriesagronomists who help farmers improve their crops and means of production are fearful of going into areas that are minedI think this is an important issue that is very pertinent to this website and its members. We should help these people. I know probably everyone on this website already drinks fair trade coffee. One other way to that is to get involved in the Coffeelands Landmine Victims Trust, who provide microgrants, mobility aids, and emergency services to this coffee farming victims. Please visit their website and help today: http://coffeelandstrust.org
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For donations or more information please contact me or: escuelatloma@gmail.com.Tloma Primary school is located in Karatu, Tanzania. A little village situated west of Arusha. The conditions of their school is what you can see in the pic... it is really horrible...A group of friends will be travelling soon to help them built a better school so any thing will be helpfull...Pens, books, ETC ETC is needed.I have the information in spanish but if anyone is interested in helping with the proyect please let me know! Anything will be welcome!!Tloma Primary School is a school located in Karatu (Tanzania), a little village best of Arusha, between Lake Manyara and the “crater” Ngorongoro and more to the north The Serengeti.Few year ago, some of us had the privilege of traveling to this lands, totally innocent of what we were going to see, the emtions and the impact this will give us when we got back home….. Sin embargo nos sorprendió por encima de todo el modo en que los niños, en nuestro trayecto por las calles de Karatu, se dirigían a nosotros para pedirnos un bolígrafo. Nos pareció increíble. En medio de todo aquel horror, un boli…Volvimos con el firme propósito de que aquello de lo que fuimos testigos no quedara reducido a una escena más del paisaje, de manera que decidimos hacer algo entre amigos, llenar de sentido nuestra estancia en aquel lugar haciéndoles llegar el material escolar que les urgía. Concretamente pensamos en remitirlo a la Tloma Primary School, puesto que en el camino tuvimos oportunidad de cruzarnos con sus alumnos, que acudían a clase, mientras se volvían hacia nuestro auto, sonriendo de oreja a oreja y gritándonos ‘pen, pen!’ (‘¡un boli, un boli!). Así nació la idea.Desde entonces ha pasado ya algún tiempo y no deseamos que esto se vaya alargando sin hacer nada, de modo que hemos decidido llevar a cabo de una vez por todas ese primer impulso que sentimos al aterrizar de vuelta en casa, pero ahora multiplicado. Es decir, pensamos que tal vez podíamos, no sólo poner dinero de nuestro bolsillo, sino también llevarlo si cabe un poco más allá y pedir la colaboración de amigos, conocidos y la tuya con el objeto de conseguir enviar más material. La lógica es aplastante: más personas, más euros, más libretas y más bolígrafos. Y el método sencillo: alojar huchas en establecimientos públicos, junto a una explicación de nuestro pequeño proyecto, para intentar recaudar una cifra mayor y enviar a la escuela primaria Tloma, que cuenta con 650 alumnos, un volumen suficiente de material escolar que facilite y dignifique el aprendizaje de sus alumnos.No somos una ONG, ni pretendemos serlo o parecerlo. Sólo somos un grupo de amigos con esta idea que ahora queremos compartir contigo y para la que pedimos tu colaboración. Bajo ningún concepto vamos a enviar el dinero recaudado, sino que nosotros mismos adquiriremos los materiales y los enviaremos a Karatu, puesto que nuestra obsesión es que en efecto acaben llegando a manos de los chicos de la Tloma Primary School.No piden demasiado, sólo un bolígrafo. ¿Qué representa un bolígrafo para nosotros? ¿Qué es un bolígrafo para ti? Seguramente estamos hartos de ver cientos de ellos por todas partes. Para ellos, sin embargo, para los chicos de la escuela Tloma, un bolígrafo es el instrumento primordial para una educación básica, elemental.Creemos sinceramente que no, no piden demasiado. ¿Y tú? ¿Tú qué crees?Nuestro objetivo inicial es alojar huchas en una veintena de establecimientos públicos, junto a un cartel explicativo del proyecto y una lista donde todo el que lo desee deje anotada su dirección de correo electrónico. De este modo haríamos llegar una relación detallando en que gastamos cada céntimo recaudado.
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Sunday, March 9th, there will be Spring Bashage to be had at Harefield Road! Harefield Road is a great little spot just east of the corner of Graham and Metropolitan Avenues. Bashage will take form at this event in many coffee professionals, enthusiasts and friends getting together for beer and good times with no espresso machine in sight. Easy arrival at the Graham Avenue stop on the L train. See you there!
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This Sunday night at 6PM. Informal barista jam. Sling some espresso, throw some milk, talk some smack.Next Friday, March 14th. Coffee cupping and roundtable. 10AM. Cup some coffees, talk about the state of coffee in the area.Dilworth Coffee Roastery, Charlotte.Contact me if you're interested.704.340.3005.
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We just received a DVD here in the Coffee Kids offices and thought you should check it out as well.
Black Coffee is a three-hour, three part movie chronicling the history of coffee and the conditions faced by coffee farmers. It gives a great unbiased overview of the coffee industry, but also explains the challenges that coffee farmers are facing.
Black Gold is another good movie to check out. It's gotten a bit more publicity than Black Coffee, but gives a good overview of the plight of coffee farmers.
Let us know if you get a chance to check them out and what you think.
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Well, I just got back from a trip up the mountain to Asheville, NC. It's a pretty laid back town, with a broad spectrum of people. Every time I get up there, the place is a little different, so it's fun to see what's going on there. I visited several coffeehouses in the area, even one in a red double-decker bus that was cool. The shops I visited were, Double Decker Coffee, Izzy's Coffee Den, World Coffee, Asheville Coffee Roasters, and Caffeind. I had some great coffee, I had some horrible coffee. I won't say where each was, suffice to say it's the same everywhere. I will give the highlights. Talking to Jay at the Double Decker. Really cool guy who seemed passionate about coffee, and wanted to learn alot more. Cool guy, and some good coffee. Meeting up with Chris, Lindsay and Jessie, who are opening up their own shop this August. I actually met them on here, and they were good people for sure, I hope I can help them in some way. I had a great Counter Culture Rwanda and Greenlife, a "Earth-Fare" "Whole Foods" kinda store there. I had a great Counter Culture Bolivia at Izzy's. That place is always good, and I was seeing some sweet heart art on the lattes. Nice. I also got to visit my firs chocolate lounge. The French Broad Chocolate Lounge was a unique place where you could get sipping chocolate, organic hand-made truffles, and coffee only by french press. It was a very cool concept.Overall, it was cool to get up there and see what was going on with coffee up there. It's clear Counter Culture has done a good job in that area, they were everywhere, and I guess so with a training center there now. It's just great to get up there to Asheville, to breathe the mountain air, to live laid back for a weekend. Saturday night I spent with my wife eating barbecue and listening to live bluegrass at a cool place called "Fiddlin' Pig." It just doesn't get much better than stopping for a second and smelling the barbecue. (Then going out for a cup of coffee that ended up being one of the worst I have ever had.) So, to sum it up, Life Is Good.(I should add, I have been to Dripolator many times, and it's always been a cool place. I just didn't have time to get in there this trip....)
In Search of an Ethical Bean This recent article from News Leader in Staunton, Va., gives a recap of local efforts to ensure fair trade for coffee farmers. It's a nice article covering the benefits of a variety of price premiums for farmers. But in the seventh paragraph, Melissa Scholl, co-owner of Lexington Coffee Roasting Company and a Coffee Kids member, makes a great point.
"Fair Trade Certified coffee is a wonderful program, but it's only part of the answer," she says.
Fair trade and other price premiums are all good approaches, but poverty is complex and the real problem in many of these communities is not so much a low price as the complete dependence on one crop. That's why Coffee Kids isn't involved with the commercialization of coffee.
We work exclusively in coffee-farming communities, but we really have little to do with coffee. Our approach to helping coffee communities lift themselves out of poverty is to help them develop vibrant local economies that can function independent of coffee. Without complete dependence on one crop, coffee farmers can continue raising coffee without the daily worry of how they will survive.
Coffee Kids isn't the only answer either, but complex problems are solved with a variety of approaches. Check out our programs and find out how you can help.
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Posted by Jason Casale on February 29, 2008 at 6:15pm
Okay so i have been an official latte art shot pulling barista for about a month now.I have quickly realized at times it is stressful.You see peeps there is usually only 2 people in the morning to run the register make drinks and food.So if we get a ton of food orders the customers at the register wait and the bar person usually gets stacked with drinks at the same time.It does not help we offer every breakfast option known to man breakfast burritos made from scratch, Breakfast sandwich on bagels croissants and toast.Eggs bacon sausage toast. Oatmeal to It would be hard to find a breakfast option we don't offer.Needless to say I hate the huge food options we offer and would like them to be reduced significantly so would the other baristas.Needless to say I feel like food slinger half the time not a barista.Not exactly why I wanted to be in the industry.I do realize food is a necessary evil.I would just like less of it.Needless to say someone walks off like almost everyday out of line cause they can't anymore or they leave without getting there food because they can not wait anymore and they usually get mad at someone meaning me.I hate that.But what I hate even more is we stiff the customers and they do not get the service they deserve.Anyway there is a fair amount of stress in serving the customers when everyone is mad at you.So when it slows down I go back and wash dishes and freaking mutter quietly about unreasonable customers who yelled at me.I would like a poppy seed bagel please toasted with cream cheese 2 pieces of swiss cheese 2 slices of tomato cut into 4 equal pieces for here. What I kid you not I had to right it down to get it right.I graciously filled the request told them thanks have a nice day the usual banter.later however that customer got the dishes muttering treatment later when I was by myself in the back.They won the prestigious worse customer of the day award of course without them knowing it.I realize there will always be customers like this and we are there to provide the best service to them and our good customers.However this does add to your stress level and can make what was a good day a sour one at times.Also it can to your frustration level as well.We have other stresses as well the drain box on the machine yup clogged today as well.leaking everywhere.Trying to work with and train the new girl.Thank goodness she pretty much new what she was doing on the bar so there she stayed.While I handled the register and the food uggggghhhhhh.Coffee hopper was broken and cracked for like a month until we got a new one.It litterally almost fell apart it was cracked so bad.Got the new one in the nick of time.You see peeps I put up with the food and the other things to work the bar and make great drinks.All the other stuff we have to grind out to be able to do this to me is worth it.I love making great drinks and getting compliments on the art and drink quality.This is reason I am a barista.Lord knows it isn't for the the pay or the tips or even the glory.I also love other baristas they are always great and encouraging I have made some good friends.The quiet muttering technique does seem to work some what.Cranking the music on the way home that helps to if things did not go so well that day.Well there is my stress management for ya peeps what about you.
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Posted by Coffee Kids on February 20, 2008 at 6:00am
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 ever seen such an extraordinary spirit of generosity, compassion, adventure, fun and learning. I myself learned about the Irish and their history and just what incredible people they are. There were people from each region of Ireland, including Northern Ireland. Because of the history of poverty and violence that Ireland has experienced and because they were able to overcome that history largely due to education, these travelers felt a sense of solidarity with the Nicaraguan people. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti. Nicaragua has experienced a long history of civil strife, corruption, and poverty.
Perhaps it was this ability to identify with this shared history and to see the hope for the future that lead to such exceptional generosity on behalf of these Irish travelers. But I don't think so. I think they are just highly compassionate people. .. I watched as 17 people made a concrete difference in the tiny community of Aguas Amarillas by supporting the students struggling to continue their education and learn new technologies to bring them into the future. Perhaps the most moving gesture, at least to me, was that each one of these people brought back the knowledge that they can make a difference -- not just by being associated with Java Republic, but through their own personal commitments to support Coffee Kids and generate more support for the town of Aguas Amarillas and so many like it throughout Latin America...
I have never been so proud to represent Coffee Kids internationally and of the work that we do. I can't thank them enough for all that they taught me about the impact an individual can have on the lives of others. They each touched many lives, not least of all my own.
Check out pictures from the trip at Coffee Kids Flickr site or you can visit this site and see photos of the trip from our friend Patrick Jordan who was one of the visitors with the Java Republic. ..
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Posted by Coffee Kids on January 12, 2008 at 6:00am
In early December, Coffee Kids staff visited Oaxaca, Mexico, to learn about some of the programs supported by Coffee Kids partner, CAMPO, and a dry mill run by our partner, FomCafe.
The visit included a tour of CAMPO's new educational center. Buildings are still under construction, but CAMPO is already using the installations to provide training to coffee farmers from around the state of Oaxaca. Demonstration projects include worm composting and standard composting; organic gardening and greehouse projects; fish, sheep, rabbit and chicken production; and responsible building techniques (Check out our programs page for more information on CAMPO).
CAMPO's offices are being constructed using a compacted earth technique, which is similar to adobe with a mix of soil, sand, lime and water optimized for local conditions and compacted into a sturdy wall.
The day after our visit to the center, we traveled two hours down windy roads into the mountains outside of Oaxaca, and then two more hours down a dirt road clinging to the side of said mountains. After four hours of stomach-turning travel, we arrived in Santa Cruz Tepetotutla, a small town clinging to the mountain.
The town is in the middle of a globally important bio-reserve. Jaguars and tepesquintle (similar to a giant spotted rat) maraud the area and lush forests hem the town in. Most families work in coffee and have struggled for years. Thanks to CAMPO's help many have begun working in other areas to supplement their income and provide a better quality of life for their families and improve their community.
The organic coffee plot of Don Raymundo Osorio was a striking example of biodiversity and responsible management. His tall coffee bushes were ready for harvest and vanilla vines crawled up their stems providing two cash crops on the same shady plot. Raymundo showed us the beginnings of a greenhouse which will provide vegetables year round, part of a project the community is doing with CAMPO's support.
We returned to the town center to visit with local leaders and learn more about Santa Cruz's history. The town's commitment to protecting their forests, water supply and biodiversity has earned them financial incentives from the government for the maintenance of their resources. Their environmental vision and resources also attract a steady stream of students and researchers to the area and they are constructing a research center for these visitors to create additional income for the community.
Community leaders also told us about their struggle to build a road to their community. Until about four years ago, people from Santa Cruz had to walk hours to reach the nearest road. All supplies were packed in. But with a strong effort and support from CAMPO, determined community leaders navigated endless bureaucratic processes to build a road and connect their town with the outside world.
The following day we followed a steep footpath straight down the mountain to arrive at the neighboring community of San Antonio del Barrio, still inaccessible by road. We arrived sweaty and tired in this tiny town in the valley, where we were welcomed by local officials and a marimba band. We met with a group of women who, with CAMPO's help, have started selling their elaborate, hand-embroidered huipiles (traditional blouses) in Oaxaca City. After the visit, we made the long journey back to Oaxaca City.
The next morning we visited with Coffee Kids partner FomCafe and toured a dry mill, recently purchased by four Oaxacan coffee cooperatives to consolidate and gain control over their production process. We learned about the detailed steps of dry mill processing, but more importantly how the four cooperatives pooled their resources to purchase the mill.
Like so much of what we saw on this trip, it was a reminder of just how enterprising people can be when they are determined to create a better life, and just how much impoverished communities can accomplish with a little bit of help.
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The visit included a tour of CAMPO's new educational center. Buildings are still under construction, but CAMPO is already using the installations to provide training to coffee farmers from around the state of Oaxaca. Demonstration projects include worm composting and standard composting; organic gardening and greehouse projects; fish, sheep, rabbit and chicken production; and responsible building techniques (Check out our programs page for more information on CAMPO).
The organic coffee plot of Don Raymundo Osorio was a striking example of biodiversity and responsible management. His tall coffee bushes were ready for harvest and vanilla vines crawled up their stems providing two cash crops on the same shady plot. Raymundo showed us the beginnings of a greenhouse which will provide vegetables year round, part of a project the community is doing with CAMPO's support.
