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My boss and the other barista who's been here for about 3 years off and on, are both getting on my case because I adjusted the grinder to a finer grind because my shots were too fast (like <15 seconds fast).

Now, during our summer hours, I was the only barista here, so I had time to perfect MY technique, and I didn't have to worry about other people in my workstation. We also are a slow enough place that we only have one person on shift at a time.

Well, we're back to normal hours and the other barista is back from her summer vacation and she's been giving me nothing but trouble. But that's for another post.

So other barista and my boss try doing shots with my grind. Nothing but drips at best. So instead of adjusting the grinder, they get on my case about it being too fine.

Other barista, who mind you, has over 2 year experience on me, tells me it's BAD for the grinder to adjust it so much.

Uhh... Wat? If you weren't supposed to adjust it as needed, why did they put the adjuster right on the front / top? If you were suppose to always keep it at the same grind, why didn't they make all the grinders one setting only?

My boss is completely on her side. Tells me I'm being too anal about my shots and as long as it has a crema, it's a good shot, timing doesn't matter.

So we have officially gone into crazy land.

I'm being as accomodating as possible. I change the grinder at the end of my shift, I leave the doser empty between shots and only grind enough for my shot (They grind about 10 double shots worth of espresso at a time). It's got to the point that anytime I'm not using the grinder, even when I'm the only one working, I change the setting back to what they like, in case my boss happens to come by and notice the grinder.

They on the other hand, are being absolutely ridiculous. They will come to make themselves a drink (the grinder will already be adjusted for them, since I do it) and they will set the timer on the grinder all the way, which is 30 seconds or so? It's enough grinds to fill our portafilters about 10 times.

So I'm left with 9 shots worth of espresso I can do nothing with. I'll attempt about 2 times before I toss all the espresso they've ground.

I have tried every technique I can think of to get an okay shot out of their grind. I've done what they do, lots of twisting and what not, I've even taken the portafilters in both hands and pushed down on the tamper as hard as I can, with both palms and my shots are 10 seconds long, at best.

I could not tell you why I need it so fine. I just do and my boss and the other barista aren't coffee savvy enough to understand.

Even though I've shown them both numerous times what my shots look like with their grind.

I've talked to a friend who used to work here and has worked at Caribou as well as she says that I'm doing nothing wrong, and I have to agree.

This is why I want my own coffeeshop, so I can train the people right.

Do any of you ever need coffee but you don't have time to go where you know the good stuff is or it's to far away?  Most likely not, because the majority of you are Baristas and working in the industry.

That was me today, and on a coffee lovers holiday!  I don't work in the coffee industry, but for me coffee is passion; a daily passion that takes me all over my city seeking out my black gold.

Today was interesting....

I woke up only to realize it was National Coffee Day!  But I was out of bean,  actually I think there where about 5 or 6 stray beans in the jar.   Maybe i should have eaten them.

Anyway...  My wife had this great idea.   Lets break out the old Drip/Filter sunbeam machine and cleaned it up.  So in honer of Coffee Day, we went back to our roots and took some pre-ground beans we snagged from a hotel that had been on a pantry shelf for about a year and brewed them.   My son, who's 8 years old said: "What is that thing?"  so we explained to him what is was, then he made a funny smirk and said "It looks cheap" and he ran out to the bus stop.

So we had our "coffee" and was it great?  Of course not, and that was almost what made it all worth it, Nostalgia!, but really I just needed caffeine.

Well...  Now lets move to lunch time.   My small cup of "coffee" from the morning had not done it for me.   So I found myself in the little town of Loveland, OH going to thrift stores and looking for treasure.  Well that got me thinking about Coffee so I drove to this little "Coffee House".   Its a yellow house that serves coffee, and I wont say names.  

I walk in and find a woman working on a quilt. Hard wood floors and some cafe` tables. Its a cute place, and it smelled good, and lets be real honest I did not have high expectations.

I made some small talk and looked around at the "crafts" she was selling.   Nothing I am really interested in.  So I look to her menu and its the usual Capps, Latte, Espresso.  I order a double espresso in a cup, for here, and my mind is thinking... "Its coffee, Yes!"  

She grabs the portafilter and gently places it under the super jolly and starts dosing out the coffee, this take 5 attempts and just watching the insane tamping routine I was getting worried.  I wish i could explain to you the strange tamping. 

So she takes her styrofoam cup and tries to slide it under the 2 group Nuova Simonelli. Not only was it not going to fit, but drinking a double from a 16oz cup was not what I had in mind. I stopped her and politely said "Oh can I have one of those little white cups on the machine" and she asked me what I ordered, I told her, and she said she was sorry and took out the cup placed it under the machine and started pulling the shot...  When it started squirting all over the place and burning the lady and making a huge mess.

I felt pretty bad for her...   And she tries again to make this shot.   This goes on for a while, 3 times I think; where she doses and tamps and it doesn't fit in the group and back to the grinder, dump the coffee, and try again.

While all this is going on I ask her if this is her shop or if she just works there, she says to me that its hers, and continues to work on my espresso.   Then she tells me that she doesnt like coffee and only drinks instant when she has nothing else to drink.

My mind is spinning at this point.

Eventually she pulls the shot.   And well it doesn't look like the best espresso I have ever seen but this lady has truly labored for it, and I give her mental credit for this.   How did it taste you ask?   Well...   Hmm..  It was ok, actually it was bad, but I felt so bad I drank it up and smiled and was on my way.

At least I am awake and able to write this.

Hope your National Coffee Day was better than mine.

I find it so frustrating that my boss doesn't give two licks about this place.

I understand that his main business is his cabinets and the coffeeshop was just an after-thought to take up some extra space, but still. If I have to work for anyone, I want to work for someone who is just as enthusiastic about coffee as I am.

If the location of this place was better, I'd work out a deal with him to take over the shop with my husband, but I refuse to stay in Walla Walla / College Place for any more than a year.

The 2011-2012 coffee harvest has officially begun at Beneficio El Manzano, in Santa Ana, El Salvador; receiving its first two batches of bourbon cherries on the twelfth of September from farms: Finca El Manzano and Ayutepeque.

For the last few days, I have been throwing out everything I know about making myself a good cup of coffee and just trying random methods.

My tea ball did not work to brew at all

but

My little tea pot does surprisingly well at brewing coffee.

Adding ingredients too and otherwise being crazy

Honduras

Farmed by Benigno Mejia

San Vicente region

Acid: high

Body: medium-full

Texture: mainly clean, juicy, light powder on finish

Flavor Profile: juicy tropical fruit, peach and guava, even tomato jam.  The acid is high and sweet, no hint of tartness, giving it a long mouth-watering finish.  A spicy cinnamon and cayenne pepper mixes into the mid-tone fruits and lingers with a light powder feeling on the finish.

Noteworthy: second harvest we've purchased from Benigno Mejia.  Farmed at elevation at 5000 and above, this lot totalled 36 bags and was fully washed and processed on the farm.

To communicate that the best way to win in life and in work is for us to start a better habit...a better habit to be connected with oneself and then with others. Hoping as we get better and find meaning, we can altogether have a brighter future for this world we live in. Our place is where better habits brew. Espresso, tea, sandwiches, comfort food and time to feel refresh.

Check out this video of a pour I made in Canyon, Texas. Palace Coffee Shop. 

www.voodoolatteart.com/video216

Best, 

One of my favorite drinks can be found in Portland, Oregon at a long-lasting bar called Paddy’s. Paddy’s is a gorgeous older bar, with a back bar nearly forty feet wide and sixteen feet tall, replete with two of those rolling library ladders for the bartenders to get to the ultra-premium top shelf. This bar, on St. Patrick’s Day, is jammed beyond belief. The drink there I like is their version of a Spanish Coffee. It’s a showy exhibitionistpreparation, with flaming alcohol, rum and whipped cream.

There’s some argument in Portland that this drink has it’s roots at a venerable local restaurant,Huber’s. Here’s a video I found on Youtube of them making it at Huber’s.

Last night I decided to try remixing this recipe with Mocafe Azteca D’oro 1519 Spiced Ground Chocolate. Oh my lord. It was one of those clear chilly New England summer nights and this drink was a hit with my friends. Simply substitute the coffee in the drink with Mocafe Spiced Ground Chocolate hot chocolate.

If you entertain a lot at home, this drink is sure to be a crowd pleaser at your next party. By the way, I stood in for my Dad years ago, giving my sister away in marriage to one of those Paddy’s Bar ladder-jockey bartenders, in the back dining room. Talk about an Irish wedding!

Jeff from Mocafe

Solutions for Operators

A standard practice in the restaurant industry is to calculate the food cost of every item you sell. Knowing this cost allows you to a) purchase ingredients more wisely and b) maintain and train staff to standards. There is a time investment in making these calculations, but the reward is a "tighter ship", leading to greater profit opportunity and lessening of production costs.

So how do you calculate the production cost of your menu items? If you ballpark it in your head, it's likely to not be accurate. Let's get started in a demonstration. First, download the sample Food Cost Worksheet. Then you'll need tools to measure: a scale and volume measuring (cup/teaspoon) tools are necessary.

Click this link to open a Food Cost Worksheet Template you can download for your use.

Please notice there are formulas in some of the cells. Be careful to not edit those cells.

Let's fill this worksheet out for a bagel with plain cream cheese. The first thing to do is enter the date and the recipe name: "Bagel with Cream Cheese". We're not going to enter anything in the cells named "RecipeMultiplied" nor "Size" - we don't need these for this sample.

Next, let's enter the sell price for this item. I randomly chose $2.95. We don't need to enter anything in either of these two cells (there are auto-formulas in them): "Cost Per Portion" and "Cost %".

Now let's enter our ingredients. We type in Bagel (be as specific as you want - this is a text cell). Moving right, we enter the number 1 in the "Count" column. Moving right again, we enter the cost of that one bagel in the "AP$/unit" cell. Let's pause so I can explain these column heading in both the measures section and the costing section.

In the measures section, we have three columns marked "Weight", "Volume" and "Count". If the ingredient is measured by weight, enter it in that column (this is when you need a scale). If measured by volume, enter the volume amount in that column. The same goes for count.

In the costing section, we have the column marked "AP$/unit". "AP$/unit" stands for Price of Ingredient As Purchased, per unit of measure. In this example, the cost of one plain bagel is $0.75 each.

The right-most column is the subtotal for this ingredient. You'll need to enter a formula in here. The formula for the bagel in this example looks like this:

=sum(E10*F10)

E10 is the cell that contains the count of the ingredient. F10 is the ingredient cost. The multiply function is the star character *

Writing the formula in this column is pretty easy. You only need to choose which cell from the measure of the ingredient you want in the formula. It is going to be in either the Weight, Volume of Count cell of that row. Let's look at the next ingredient to demonstrate what I mean by this.

The next row down has the cream cheese ingredient. I've put in one ounce by weight and entered the cost per that weight measure (ounces). The formula I write in the subtotal column looks like this:

=sum(C11*F11)

Pretty simple, really. In the old days, they'd do this with a calculator and note paper. Once you get comfortable entering the subtotal formulas, it goes pretty quick. By the way, if you have multiple ingredients in the same measuring column, simple copy the formula from one row to the next.

So what happens now?

The worksheet automatically adds up all the subtotals at the bottom. It also calculates the food cost percentage. These are handy numbers for you to know. You now know exactly how much a menu item costs in raw materials. You also know how much of the menu selling price that cost is; in this example, 36.6 percent.

Got questions? Feel free to comment below and I'll answer.

Jeff from Mocafe

Starting to look like a machine.  Just need to tie up some loose ends!!