Not necessarily surprising that someone who only likes tame coffees likes more distinct tasting coffees espresso extracted with milk added. Properly steamed milk smoothes, mellows and transforms espresso extracted coffee into a beverage that is totally different from espresso.I would be highly surprised if someone who preferred tame coffees actually liked espresso, especially espresso from beans with more distinct flavor characteristics. FWIW espresso extracted coffee is the beverage espresso. Properly pulled espresso can be a smooth, rich, creamy, deep, and oftenintense coffee magnifying experience that will linger for hours. Add milk or other additives and it's no longer the beverage espresso but rather some other beverage with espresso in it. IE a latte is not espresso and the word latte itself says that meaning milk, derived from Italian caffe e latte meaning coffee and milk.Yes indeed, it's a(nother) pet peeve of mine people calling all kinds of beverages "espresso" that are not the beverage espresso. Hell it's not the laymen's fault. Take the new McCafe for instance advertising now offering espresso. The hell they do. They sell beverages with milk, other stuff and espresso. Even their so call "Iced Coffee" by default comes with over half cream so is more accurately an iced Cafe au Lait. Coffee iced or other wise doesn't come with half cream by default!Ask me for an "espresso" and that's exactly what you'll get, a straight shot of espresso. If you expect something else best call it something elsebecause it is something else.End Rant:-)Typed while drinking a quite delicious after dinner watered down doppio aka double shot Americano of 3 parts City IMV 2 parts my City+ McLoughlin House Blend (which is a 1:1:1:1 pre-roast blend of specific Guat,CR,ElSal PN & Brazil SDP) Didn't have enough IMV for both Debi and I so mixed it, turnedout even better than expected...(originally posted last night on private homeroast email chat list stemming from someone saying they only liked mellow chocolaty "coffees" but did like "espresso" made with coffees with pronoucned fruit or citrus or florals etc. When what he meant was he liked lattes of these types of coffees.)
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Last night was a doozie. Good food, (feta/onion embedded hamburgers, roasted asparagus with lemon-garlic butter, oven fries and BOOZE!!!) and awesome friends, board games were played and plans for more of the same next week envisioned. Gabbie and Brian are coming with Lenore and I to Olympia for the Latte Art Throwdown, Gabbie is entering, Brian and Lenore are the cheering section. It took me a few hours this morning to recover from our party, but all has returned to normal (except the dishes). Since I have decided to drive to Olympia, I have been working hard at my pouring skills, and have found that I tend to err on the side of over stretching for fear that I won't get enough texture in the pitcher and end up with really thin milk. Our three group Rio is in good repair, and the steam valves have a good range of pressure, but now that I realize one of my fatal flaws, I have been experimenting with a shorter stretch time and a lower amount of pressure coming through the wand for blending/rolling. This seems to work to my advantage for smaller cups (demi, 8oz) but I think I chicken out and over stretch when prepping for 12 or 16oz pours. Practice Practice Practice.Gabbie and I were talking about coming in to the shop after hours and rocking out with some good tunes and blowing through about a pound or two of espresso and a few gallons of milk between now and the 28th, just the two of us, I'm all in.
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I have decided to, after all these years of being a barista, to get a certification. It turns out that I know all the things that are pertinent in the study handbook, and it would be a sad day if I failed the test. However, brushing up on the little details never hurts, and I found it to be a good training tool for me in the future when I need to hire a new body to man the bar. My goal is to take this test during Coffee Fest this year, and then work on greater certifications in the next year to enhance my work, and deepen my knowledge of coffee and espresso, specifically.A related bit of news: I had my weekly meeting with my bosses yesterday, and they were warning me of the lean times we as a college town are about to experience. (I don't quite believe it, as this morning when I stopped in to get my coffee, we were jammin...but) They put in front of me an incentive to watch hours as much as possible, and eliminate waste everywhere I can. This translates to a staff meeting for me, to explain a few things to everyone. My incentive I get to pick, and I have chosen for them to send me to CoffeeFest and put me up in a hotel for the duration. Not extravagant, but it would be deserved, as long as I was able to make headway in these two areas of keeping costs down in these lean times. In all, though, it would be good to work on eliminating waste anytime of the year, as this saves money all the time. This is not to say that I don't direct employees to reduce waste across the board, but a focused staff meeting on such topics would a good way to address these issues.What's funny is that now half my staff is on bX, so they just got the head's up!ART
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Hey.We, and by that, I mean Temple Coffee, is hiring. For both (cross fingers) locations. Shoot an email/resume to temple_1014@hotmail.com as soon as possible.Dig it.
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Kafes Guatemala now has a house for visitors in Antigua Guatemala, if you don't want to spend to much money in hotels or you have a big family or group, we have a nice house in town. The house can hold 14 people. 10 minutes from the coffee plantation, for prices email me at pablo@kafesguatemala.com
So, I worked for about an hour today...making drinks.. I did get the schedule up and posted for the coming weeks, and realized my presence was not needed for the majority of the afternoon.Breakfast was cooked for Lenore and me, we had Poor Knights of Windsor (look it up) and I had an additional omelet. Like you guys really care. But what is meaningful is that Lenore requested coffee, which is a rarity. I am always happy to oblige, and got water heating for the trusty French Press I have owned for over 10 years.Its not that Lenore doesn't drink coffee, she was one of those kids several years ago that got turned on to espresso and coffee, but drank so much of it, she says it doesn't affect her.I on the other hand, have been behind an espresso machine for almost 14 years, and have pulled, drank, served and tossed so many shots, I have no idea how my life would look if I didn't come home smelling of chocolate & coffee and had splashes of steamed milk all over my shoes.The funny thing is, is that after all this time, and making drinks for so long, I still find myself interested in creating better beverages, pulling better shots, and learning more about the production side of the business with every passing day. I am lucky to have a local roaster that is knowledgeable, approachable and passionate about providing consistent beans for all of his buyers. I have been meaning to get out to Troy ID and visit the roastery, learn about the blends and single origins that Jon uses, but keeping my body at the OWC has taken so much of my attention these days, I feel it will never happen.The nice thing is now, the slow times. From a business standpoint, I don't think its too comfortable for the ownership to go into our lean time, but they have weathered four years of these patterns, and know what to expect. So for the slow times for me, I have some goals.Go to Landgrove Coffee and hang out with Jon and HannahLearn about our beans, their origins, their individual flavors, their collective power in a blendRoast some beans, cup themRepeat.Come back to work and talk up the drip coffee brews to staff, customers and ownershipRefresh my love for tasting espresso, shot after sweet shot, and excite my staff, customers and ownership about these same thingsHost a cupping with Jon for staff and ownershipAnd finally, down the road a bit, get our customers into the shop for education, by hosting quarterly cuppings.This will be my contribution to One World Cafe'.
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Hey everyone my buddies band is playing some shows in Portland at Duke's Landing and Floyd's Coffee. If you can head out to one of the shows would be a good time. Here is a link to their website to see all the shows and hear some of the music.http://atlanticlinemusic.com/
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Moscow, ID has emptied out. The students who graduated last weekend have left, the students who were here for the semester have left too. The die hards who are staying for the summer have left for Sasquatch. A handful of locals have stopped in, left, and now the 'campers' who use One World as their second office are getting here. Josh is carrying the bar without my assistance. His last two hours on our payroll are coming to an end.I started managing One World Cafe' in July of last year, and these past nine months have been a learning experience. Cliques were in place, work flows and processes already established, I was the new guy. Three employees are leaving, ending today, with Josh. Cliques are breaking, and now it is my time to step in and create changes where stagnation had existed.The group of kids here are all friends, and enjoy working with each other, but miniature alliances sometimes get in the way of scheduling. The previous manager left me with a good handle on the business, and I learned much from his training, but I have learned more from myself trying to figure out how to get the results I want with the employees I have.I have decided to move everyone on staff to Google Calendar, so I can schedule from afar, or from a table in the shop, hell, from my phone! I have decided that since most all my employees are students, they can create a schedule online when they are in class, send it to me and I can overlay and schedule around their classes to make things easier for everyone. The paper schedule hanging on the wall will reflect the online one, but I know by now that no schedule I create will ever stay how I leave it. I just decided to adapt to this flux, and make the online calendar the most permanent it has ever been.This is my first blog post here, but, I thought I'd give you all a little glimpse into my Moscow ID happenings, and I hope you find me and my thoughts interesting.ART
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The coffee arrived in a huge truck that parked up on Parnell Road. It was a monster and its presence somewhat irked our new neighbours. Despite the size, the truck was only accompanied by one strong and nuggety driver. Between the two of us we managed to get the pallets of coffee off the truck and down into the brick courtyard that stands in front of the roastery. My Indonesian days had prepared me well for this- 60kg sacks are pretty normal loads for me to handle back in West Java. The driver, who looked like a prop forward, was quite amazed we managed to get the coffee down and stacked within an hour.By lunchtime the Toper had done several roasts. It is very different from the roaster back home- 10kg vs 25kg, heavy German Pig Iron vs Bospherous steel. However all in all I was really quite impressed with the quality of roasts I have initially got from the roaster. Plenty more work to do before we go live... but step by step getting closer to opening day!
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Soy milk, what works and what doesn't?Monin, the new purees that just came out?Is there a frappe powder that doesn't taste like powder?Whats new and exciting out there?
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The world of milk is an interesting one. Until I got involved in compeition I had no idea how complex and varying the qualities of milk are based on their nutritional sources and processing. It's amazing to taste milk as it shapes your coffee for capps and becomes a tool of texture and taste symmetry. However, bad milk is more than capable of derailing an otherwise wonderful coffee experience.The other day I was in a hurry to catch my shift at the bar I work at. I stopped by the Meijer grocery store to pick up a half gallon of my favorite organic milk, but because I was in a such a rush I ended up grabbing milk slightly out of date. Not realizing this, I poured an afternoon capp for myself and fellow employee and sat down for a moment. When I first sipped what I expected to be a rich, buttery drink was instead much like a raw piece of salmon being raked across my tongue! I figured at first that it might've been some fluke with the cup being dirty or something of the sort and went to pour yet another. This yielded the same results.I promptly returned the past date milk and have now returned to a state of coffee enjoyment. Having experienced that I am amazed at how little detail is shown in milk selections in many coffee bars I know. My friends at MadCap in MI spent days going through multiple dairies and even different process types before they found the milk for them. The coffee is valuable and the milk added to it should show that.
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Uh, what can you say about Kenya that hasn't already been said...Deeply layered, exotic and satisfying is this lovely peaberry from Kenya. Ruera Estate is in the Thika district near Nairobi at an elevation just under 5000 ft from the usual rich red loam soil, shade grown and both Utz and Cafe Practices certified.Acid- 7.5Body- 9Texture- syrup and buttery yet still juicy and refreshing with a slight grit.Flavor- on the grind the sweet fruity tomato and basil are the most prevalent. Once wet the acid starts off with a tinge of grapefruit quickly emerging sweeter with a meyer lemon vibe. Refreshing green grape and even a scent of spring rain mix in with a sugar caramel. The acid and sugar are linked and stay balanced throughout. Main flavors emerging are the colas (cinnamon, lemon, lime, orange, and the secret ingredient), blackberry tea, licorice (not roasty), very herby, sweet tomato and thai basil and the unexpected coconut in butter. Aftertaste leaves a sweet juicy blueberry, nice and filling.Loaded!Cheers,Scott
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I know I can complain, its -7c down around Christchurch today with the wind chill factor put into the equation. Auckland, by comparrison, is a tropical 9c in the plus. As I look out the window, the water from the fountain is still flowing- which is a good sign. Its a long way away from Jakarta's 32c days- 365 days a year... but really the change is kind of refreshing.We are still waiting for our greens to clear MAF's very tight border controls. With the Kiwi economy beng based on lamb, apples, kiwifruit and other agricultural products, it is perhaps prudent to look at anything and everything coming into port. Our beans have been fumigated at origin- being 100% organic this would be a must for NZ or Australia anyway.While waiting we have been busy painting and interviewing, nterviewing and painting. in between been talking with the NZCRA (NZ Coffee Roasters Assoc) and trying a wide range of espresso blends that are being roasted in Auckland and around the country. There are some impressive coffees out there- which is excellent in helping pull the standards in the right direction. On the down side- customer service standards in NZ generally suck the big Kumara. 11 years ago when I left these shores I was highly impressed with how NZ CS stood up against service standards around the world. Today they would rank right at the very bottom vs ASEAN countries (+ Australia). Hopefully this has something to do with the fact that the country is (or was up until recently) almost fully employed. Things may be changing- which would be a huge bonus for the service and hospitality sectorsHoping the coffee comes through tomorrow- the roaster is ready and waiting...
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An intrepid band of home roasters has put together "Kick it up for Coffee Kids," an online auction to benefit Coffee Kids. The group is offering over $3,000 worth of items throughout the month of May.Items include: five home roasters, a top-flight Zass 580, top-shelf specialty greens, industry magazine subscriptions, logo and design work by Dillanos, a gorgeous shop sign to be personalized, coffee preps (Yamas, Chemex, Bodum, Bunn) and lots more. Forty separate items will be auctioned off throughout the month of May.Visit http://homeroasters.org for details and to place your bids.Special thanks to all of our friends at homeroasters.org and all of the businesses, organizations and individuals who have donated items and their time to make this auction possible.
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José Luis Zárate of Coffee Kids recently spoke with Fatima Ismael Espinoza, the general manager of the Coffee Kids’ partner Society of Small Producers for Coffee Export (SOPPEXCCA) to get a sense of how coffee farmers deal with unstable coffee prices and provide for their families.Located in Jinotega, Nicaragua, SOPPEXCCA is a 650-member cooperative known throughout the coffee industry for their innovative practices and approaches to sustainability. Like many coffee-farming communities, they confront unstable prices for their product and variable yields.JL: How much land does the average farmer in your cooperative have in coffee?FE: Small producers in our cooperative on average cultivate about 1.8-2 hectares of coffee. This is insufficient for many and propagates poverty, which will continue for the foreseeable future.JL: Is poverty an issue of access to sufficient land or low productivity?FE: It is primarily a result of small properties, but there are two factors that go together. Limited land combined with inefficient use of that land and the lack of technical resources make it very difficult for families to survive.JL: And when you talk about that lack of technical resources, what do you refer to?FE: I mean technical support in the sector of organic coffee production. For example, to produce organic coffee, our producers expect a 50% reduction in production. The effect should be the opposite, organic production should be higher than with agro-chemicals because agro-chemicals deteriorate the environment.In all the years that we have worked with organic production, we have noticed the damage to the environment that was caused by agro-chemicals. The problem that we face now is called soil infertility. My hypothesis is that this issue of infertility is the result of all the years that the land suffered from agro-chemicals, particularly in the 60s and 70s during the coffee boom. Also big estates used large amounts of agro-chemicals to make the land productive and generated such soil infertility.JL: Maybe it's not that the soil is poor but that it is toxic…FE: Moreover, the hurricanes now wash away the nutrients from the soil eroding the richest layers of the land. I remember days after Hurricane Mitch I saw those soils totally bleached, white and hard. This means that a process of soil rehabilitation is needed.We have had to analyze the soils, which is expensive. The price is unreachable to producers, so they cannot understand the condition of their soils. It is not worth it for them. This is why we have done various soils samplings with the cooperatives.Thanks to this we have realized that although some of the soils are not as poor as we thought, there are some elements in it that show deficiencies. Then, as an alternative we have been attempting at working with the young people to process organic fertilizers that, apart from providing youngsters with a source of employment, help reduce the problem for the producers of organic coffee.Conventional producers will have to move to organic gradually because the cost of chemical fertilizers is higher and higher. This increase in the price of chemicals is going to benefit us because there will be more and more organic producers.JL: How many sacks of export-ready green coffee do the farmers produce per hectare?FE: Our farmers produce about six sacks of green coffee (100 pounds per sack) per hectare.JL: In your opinion, how much coffee does a family need to produce to cover living expenses?FE: An average family should produce approximately 30 sacks of green coffee for export. But in order to survive, this production must be accompanied by the production of basic grains, fruits and some vegetables, along with other cash crops.The aim is to diversify the products that fit into the agro-ecological system of coffee. This will prevent over dependence on coffee because if the price falls, families are helpless. If the harvest is bad, families are helpless. In our case, we have been encouraging cultivation of cocoa alongside coffee. The cocoa has a good price and it’s a more efficient use of the soil.JL: In your experience, how much money is necessary to cover a family’s needs?FE: For a normal family, without wasting anything, a family could spend about $30 a day. And the average income in Nicaragua is $2 per day.JL: What happens during the ‘silent months’ when there is no coffee production?FE: Coffee has very little silence. Most of the energy is put in November through February, which is harvest time. But after that there is the pruning, fertilization and coffee maintenance.JL: It seems obvious that families do not earn enough to cover their expenses. What are they doing to cover that missing part?FE: Well, this means they’re eating badly. It’s an issue of malnutrition. And what are we doing about this? We are trying to find alternatives for the people so they can diversify their diets starting with backyard production of fruits and vegetables.JL: What kind of projects are you promoting?FE: There are some who have already diversified their production. Some produce coffee and cocoa, others have coffee and sheep and some others are managing coffee and cattle. There is a group of poor women that have little land and we’ve provided them with training to produce jam for local sale and consumption.Learn more about SOPPEXCCA's efforts here or check out our Flickr page to see photos from Coffee Kids' latest visit!
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Located in Jinotega, Nicaragua, SOPPEXCCA is a 650-member cooperative known throughout the coffee industry for their innovative practices and approaches to sustainability. Like many coffee-farming communities, they confront unstable prices for their product and variable yields.JL: How much land does the average farmer in your cooperative have in coffee?FE: Small producers in our cooperative on average cultivate about 1.8-2 hectares of coffee. This is insufficient for many and propagates poverty, which will continue for the foreseeable future.JL: Is poverty an issue of access to sufficient land or low productivity?FE: It is primarily a result of small properties, but there are two factors that go together. Limited land combined with inefficient use of that land and the lack of technical resources make it very difficult for families to survive.JL: And when you talk about that lack of technical resources, what do you refer to?
FE: I mean technical support in the sector of organic coffee production. For example, to produce organic coffee, our producers expect a 50% reduction in production. The effect should be the opposite, organic production should be higher than with agro-chemicals because agro-chemicals deteriorate the environment.In all the years that we have worked with organic production, we have noticed the damage to the environment that was caused by agro-chemicals. The problem that we face now is called soil infertility. My hypothesis is that this issue of infertility is the result of all the years that the land suffered from agro-chemicals, particularly in the 60s and 70s during the coffee boom. Also big estates used large amounts of agro-chemicals to make the land productive and generated such soil infertility.JL: Maybe it's not that the soil is poor but that it is toxic…FE: Moreover, the hurricanes now wash away the nutrients from the soil eroding the richest layers of the land. I remember days after Hurricane Mitch I saw those soils totally bleached, white and hard. This means that a process of soil rehabilitation is needed.We have had to analyze the soils, which is expensive. The price is unreachable to producers, so they cannot understand the condition of their soils. It is not worth it for them. This is why we have done various soils samplings with the cooperatives.Thanks to this we have realized that although some of the soils are not as poor as we thought, there are some elements in it that show deficiencies. Then, as an alternative we have been attempting at working with the young people to process organic fertilizers that, apart from providing youngsters with a source of employment, help reduce the problem for the producers of organic coffee.Conventional producers will have to move to organic gradually because the cost of chemical fertilizers is higher and higher. This increase in the price of chemicals is going to benefit us because there will be more and more organic producers.
JL: How many sacks of export-ready green coffee do the farmers produce per hectare?FE: Our farmers produce about six sacks of green coffee (100 pounds per sack) per hectare.JL: In your opinion, how much coffee does a family need to produce to cover living expenses?FE: An average family should produce approximately 30 sacks of green coffee for export. But in order to survive, this production must be accompanied by the production of basic grains, fruits and some vegetables, along with other cash crops.The aim is to diversify the products that fit into the agro-ecological system of coffee. This will prevent over dependence on coffee because if the price falls, families are helpless. If the harvest is bad, families are helpless. In our case, we have been encouraging cultivation of cocoa alongside coffee. The cocoa has a good price and it’s a more efficient use of the soil.