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I Love Coffee Op-Art piece in the New York Times

Posted by Jeremy Clouser on December 3, 2008 at 6:30am

Maybe you've seen this, but it is an funny and interesting look at one man's lifelong relationship with coffee.Here's the link:

Trieste- Italy trip

Posted by Alun Evans on December 2, 2008 at 10:33pm

The flight through to Venice's Marco Polo Airport took us almost 18 hours, including the transfer in hyperdelic Dubai International. With the baby in tow it was not an easy trip. He is at the age where "Interactive" can be replaced by ACTIVE (in capitals). It was misty coming into Venice. The Emirates plane seemed to be floating endlessly down through a sea of grey, whispy cotton fluff. At the last second the mist lifted and we bumped down on the tarmac.Although I have flown into Rome before, it was the first time I had encountered the efficiency of the staff in Venice. We were quickly through customs and on our way through light afternoon traffic to Trieste.The previous 24 hours had been a mess. We were supposed to fly midnight on the 10th of November... which I thought was the evening of the 10th, not early am of the same day! A frantic phone call from the airport "where are you???" alerted me to my error. Living someway out of Jakarta making that flight was an impossibility. Fortunately the very, very efficient staff at Emirates managed to accomodate my error and got us on a flight 24 hour later. As I had planned for the later flight, this actually created no extra problems for us.Trieste is located up against the hills on the edge of the Adriatic. Sparkling in summer, the sea is icey blue in November. Driving there in the van we could not help noticing the outside temperature guage was locked on 4 degrees centigrade... bloody chilly after the 32 degrees in Indonesia!We checked into our Hotel on Via Roma and made a mad dash to our favorite restaurant on the Grande Canal. Although it was 2 years since we had been there the staff, menu and quality of the food remained unchanged.The morning of the first day of the Trieste Espresso Expo was cold and grey. The "Bora" (a cold wind blowing down from Icey St Petersberg) was buffering the city at about 120kph! We were glad to get into the Espresso Expo Hall. We were at the Indonesian Exhibit with two other companies. Merdeka Coffee had been here before- with our 2006 effort being pretty succesful. This time around we were doing an espresso blend, the other 2 companies selling various greens from around the Island nation.I had a brand new +4U Astoria to play with. This initially proved rather intimidating, as the machine is as similar to my old San Marino Lisa R as a bike is to a Ferrari. However with some guidance from Paolo and Jason (CMA) and Chartree (Zan from BX) I managed to get acceptable shots by early afternoon. The next 2 days were perfect!The Expo was seemingly quieter than 2 years ago. I think this was for a number of reasons. 1/. Last time the Expo ran Fri, Sat and Sunday (giving 2 weekend days for visitors). In 2008 we ran Thu, Friday and finished Saturday. The weather and the current economic malaise also probably helped none. Still, we had a number of visitors from Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Albania, Germany, France ("you know what Merde means in French???"), UK, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Slovakia, Austria, Spain, Mexico, India... and Thailand to name just a few. The comments were generally very good and we hope to get some business out of the show.Evenings during Expo events are normally taken up with dinners. This was no exception with several good meals enjoyed in good company with good red wine and the local speciality, sparkling Prosseco.I would recommend a visit to Trieste either during the show, or at anytime. It is a true coffee city. Apart from Illy being based here, many of Italy's biggest green bean importers (Sandalj, Alberto Hesse, Cogeco and Demus) aslo are there. The cafes are numerous, the coffee good and the atmosphere genial.To be continued...

4:50am

Posted by Steve MacDowall on December 2, 2008 at 9:49pm

I just put the water on for coffee it's 4:50am here on the east coast - got up early and needed to get working too much to do and not enough time to put it all into action. Here is to a good mug of coffee and a great day.

Roundign up Customers

Posted by John on December 2, 2008 at 1:29pm

So, I'm gathering 2 groups.Group 1: Coffee fanatics or coffee drinkers who normall drink straight espresso or americanos, or italian-style capps.Group 2: General public, focusing on people who normally drink flavored lattes and "wet" cappuccinos or frappes only.

World Barista Champions

Posted by nik orosi on December 2, 2008 at 8:00am

2000 Monte Carlo,Monaco Robert Thoresen, Norway2001 Miami, U.S.A. Martin Hildebrandt, Denmark2002 Oslo, Norway Fritz Storm, Denmark2003 Boston, U.S.A. Paul Bassett, Australia2004 Trieste, Italia Tim Wendelboe, Norway2005 Seattle, U.S.A Trouls Overdahl Poulsen, Denmark2006 Berne, Switzerland Klaus Thomsen, Denmark2007 Tokyo, Japan James Hoffmann, U.K.2008 Copenhagen, Denmark Stephen Morrissey, Ireland2009 Atlanta, U.S.A. ....so noone can ask in future; who's James Hoffmann!!!VIVABARISTA!

Single Origin Sumatra Lintong, Lake Toba region

Posted by scott@herkimercoffee.com on December 1, 2008 at 7:30am

Sumatra Lintong Triple PickLake Toba cooperative. Wet-hulled at high moisture content.Acid- 5+Body- 7Texture- Smooth pulped orange juiceFrom the roast- green pepper and garrigue (loam).Dry aroma of soft vegetal acid with slight citrus present supported by sweet caramel.Wet fragrance of butter caramel, sweet acid (orange), and loam.At cupping break- cherry and lemon aerosol (like paint- good acid), sharp spice like fennel and moist green pepper.Flavors...When hot- caramel dominated with a vanilla extract finish.Off hot- bittersweet cocoa emerges nicely to mix with the buttery caramel. Loam starts to hint.Drinking temp- sweet lemon/orange acidity, bittersweet cocoa, butter caramel, loam earthiness in the sinus. Awesome stuff. Juicy, big and smooth. A bit of a departure from the usual gritty character.As it cools- hint of blueberry, butter caramel, cane sugar cola and more loam mustiness.It finishes with caramel, soft vegetal acid still present, dry roasted vanilla extract and smokey garrigue.I'm a big fan of the gravelly side of the musty loam that comes from the wet-hulling process used in Sumatra when it's done well. Reminds me of Bordeaux's rive gauche, Graves et Medoc. Musty but not baggy, tons of layers and big and satisfying. Acid is coming more and more into prevalence in the psyche in Indonesia meaning lots of interesting coffee to choose from. This particular pick has me more intrigued than I have been in awhile for Sumatra. Hope you dig it as well.Cheers,Scott

Variables

Posted by John on December 1, 2008 at 7:12am

Here are some of the variables for the experiment.

Mezcla: Blend of 3 Mexican regions, roasted seperatly to different levels, then blended. Roasted 2-7 days ago.
Molido: 9 grams of ground coffee in the single PortaFilter. 14/15 grams in the Double PF.
Maquina: Rancilio Epoca, 2 group Semi-auto.
Mano: Barista will use 1 ounce shots, pulled in 22-28 seconds (time started when flow begins).

Combinations for Americano taste tests:1 Shot with Single PF in 10oz cup.1 Shot with Single PF in 12oz cup.2 Shots with Double PF in 12oz cup.2 Shots with Double PF in 16oz cup.3 Shots with Double PFs in 16oz cup.Drinks will be prepared in their respective desposable cups, but then served into smaller cups for tasting.The cuppers will be customers or potential customer who drink americanos or drip coffee from coffee shops at least 3 days per week, with or without sugar.

Giving away Panama La Esmeralda Special Gesha #5 dissapointment

Posted by Mike McGinness on November 30, 2008 at 9:18am

Yesterday was a bit of a bummer, poor turn out. Lesson learned, don't schedule giving away free tasting samples of one of the world's top coffees the Saturday after Thanksgiving! Guess most people chose to fight crowds and long lines at the Malls. Oh well! But damn it was tasting good just coming on peak, roasted it Tuesday morning for Saturday...

I woke up early

Posted by Steve MacDowall on November 30, 2008 at 1:00am

It was dark when I woke up this morning and made my way down stairs. I had a real desire for a hot mug of java that I just started to sing to myself the Java Jive song, but the only coffee I had was the house decaf blend from Starbucks (which I pick up for my wife Beverly).I so wanted to sit down with a coffee in the still of the morning with a coffee that I made a pot.So good – I settled down to read and warm myself with my mug of coffee.It's been a good morning..

Way too early!

Posted by Erin on November 29, 2008 at 5:33pm

Scheduled as the opener on Black Friday. 2:30 in the very dark morning. Wow.So My dad and sister took coffee to the endless lines of early morning shoppers and sold them for 2, 3, and 4 dollars each depending on what kind. We sold lattes, mochas, hot cocoas, and drip coffees. They ate it up!While the pops and sis were walking the lines, mommyo and I completed the whole day's chores in less than 2 hours. The coffee shop was so slow!!Finally the stores opened, and we rung in all the drinks that were sold. They totaled $176 and some change. So we counted out the cash, set it on the counter, and put the rest in the till. Holy Crap!! we each made 60 bucks in tips.I could barely keep my eyes open the whole morning! I had gotten 3 hours of sleep the night before, and every word that came out of my mouth sounded like "lkasiieeslffleifffaaslgs". My body screamed for my bed, and my eyes itched SO BADLY. Every minute was one closer to clocking out, and taking my leave.Cassie, just shut up about only getting 6 hours of sleep. You are looking at the queen of unsleepingness.Come to find out, the morning spent selling to the lines wasn't actually that great profit-wise...we accidentally put the tip money in the till, and divvied out the actual charge. OOPS! Haha. Scratch the warnings I voiced to my sister about keeping a tight lip on the tip profit! Next year we'll have to hit up more stores earlier and faster. :) Yummy YummyI slept from 8am to 2:30pm. I don't think I've ever been able to do that before.Was it worth it? Probably not. Will I do it again next year? Probably. (good family experience and all)Note to self: go to bed earlier next time. Don't waste your time "helping decorate" at 9pm the night before when there is a mass of 24 people called family in the way. No way Hosea!

thanksgiving

Posted by judy f mccabe on November 28, 2008 at 2:25am

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! My Mom managed to say a blessing for our dinner, broke my heart because I know she struggled to get the right words out,( Mom has had a stroke and words don't come easy any longer).My siblings were all present and that's all Mama cared about. Hope you all didn't get too buzzed on coffee yesterday. My coffee intake is increasing because of the cold weather here in Fla,( high 30's low 40's in the am.) All you folks that are laughing right now......it's o.k. cause it's not snowing here! All the Southern Barista's know what I mean. Well, I'm on call today..so I have to check in with the charge nurse...bye Ya'll

Silverstone Half Marathon

Posted by Bryn Jones on November 26, 2008 at 9:21am

I ran the Silverstone Half Marathon earlier this year and have decided to run it again next march. This time i thought i should try and raise some money, so im going to do it for Cancer Research. If anybody would be able to donate anything it would be much appreciated. You can donate at this site: http://www.justgiving.com/bbjonesHere is me hitting the 'wall' last march! lolCheers!

Coffee Kids on Google Earth

Posted by Coffee Kids on November 26, 2008 at 5:50am

Ever wanted to travel to see where Coffee Kids' partners work? Well, now you can... on your computer. All of Coffee Kids' partners in Latin America have been posted on Google Earth thanks to help from Winston Rost at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.Simply download Google Earth at http://earth.google.com and install the program on your computer. Then download the link below and double-click it to open up a list of all of Coffee Kids partners. By clicking on the partner's names, you can see where they are based, get information on how they're helping coffee-farming families, and find links to photos of their work.

CoffeeKids_2008-2009.kmz google earth interface

Coffee Kids' Partner Opens Training Center, Celebrates 20 Years

Posted by Coffee Kids on November 26, 2008 at 5:42am

By Kyle FreundThis past weekend (Nov. 21-23), I traveled down to Oaxaca, Mexico, to attend the 20th Anniversary celebration of Coffee Kids’ partner, CAMPO. They also dedicated their new training center, which they built with support from Coffee Kids. photo of CAMPO Training Center

The new training center teaches by example. It was built using an environmentally-friendly compacted earth technique. Similar to adobe, it involves building molds and compacting dirt to form a solid wall. A water catchment system below the building collects rainfall in two large cisterns. The thick walls keep the building cool in the summer and warm when the temperature drops. CAMPO also has a number of demonstration projects to teach visitors from throughout the state of Oaxaca about organic gardening, permaculture, composting, fish farming, grey water treatment and bee keeping.Over 800 people attended the celebration. Before dinner was served, I gave a few words about the importance of CAMPO’s work and presented them with a certificate from Coffee Kids on behalf of all of our supporters to honor their work improving the quality of life in the entire region. photo of Coffee Kids presenting diploma

After dinner I ran into Pedro Osorio. We’d met a year earlier when Coffee Kids staff visited the community of Santa Cruz Tepetotutla, a far-flung community clinging to a mountainside in the Sierra Mixteca. He told me about their efforts to develop a new cooperative for coffee farmers in the area and a number of their efforts to diversify local income. When we last visited the community, they were working on a small eco-hotel for tourists. Santa Cruz is in the middle of a globally-important nature preserve and many in the community have learned the importance of conserving their natural resources and how it can be marketed to attract tourists. Hope I can get back there for a visit some day.After dinner, Jose Carlos Leon Vargas and Jose Luis Zarate from our Oaxaca office and I interviewed Eduardo Torres Navarrete, one of the founders of CAMPO. We had a great conversation and it’s easy to understand why CAMPO has been so effective over the past 20 years thanks to his leadership. I’ll be posting excerpts from our interview with him soon.Thanks to all of our supporters who have make the projects we support possible. These efforts are making a great difference. If you'd like to see more pictures from the event, please visit our Flickr page. If you'd like to support Coffee Kids efforts, Coffee Kids donate page and make your contribution today.

24oz flavored lattes....

Posted by Kelly David H. on November 25, 2008 at 7:03pm

The head roaster and I were talking today about how much of a tragedy it is to serve any coffee drinks over a 16oz let alone our "huge" size (24oz). HOWEVER...we live in America in which bigger is better and sweeter is better than bitter. Being in the coffee business, it is our job to try and show people what coffee really should be but until that day...we must serve those 24oz "cappucino" with extra flavor, extra hot, and no foam. We have to give people what they want because its not about what we want, its all about the customer. Sad. Very sad.

TNT Charlotte December 11th

Posted by Brent hall on November 25, 2008 at 1:34pm

Time Change?!

Posted by Erin on November 24, 2008 at 5:30pm

So mom decided to change the hours for our shop from 5am-8pm to 6am-6pm. It'll be nice in some ways (I don't have to get up so early when I open), and lame in other ways (the high schoolers lose major hours). They decided to have one person to a shift because we aren't busy enough to need to people there. This is a bummer if you end up having to go to the bathroom while alone. :/ We should be making 23cups per person each hour. WOW that would be amazing! I absolutely love when things get that busy. Anyway, there's a large cut in hours which will be a bummer for those people who swap shifts often or at the last minute, request off every weekend on the calendar, and/or break rules (ie: texting, bar skills, customer service etc...). Thankfully, I can honestly say that none of these describe me. Not to say that I'm the perfect employee, or the best barista of them all. It just bugs me when people disrespect their owner or manager and think they can get away with it or won't have it swing around and bite them in the rear. :)Some thing I have fallen short on is gossiping about the people I work with ahem KRISTEN, and trying to tell people how to do things right. I'm working on making suggestions rather than telling people that they're doing something wrong, and I'm trying to be not cocky about it. I want others to be able to take the same pride that I do in my job. I want them to be able to hand a perfect latte to a customer, confident that they'll come back because it was the best they've ever had. It is just easy for me sometimes to be too blunt with people. I prefer others to tell me exactly what I'm doing wrong, why it is, and how to fix it. I forget that others don't expect the same from me, so I need to be easier on my words. :/

It's roasting day.

Posted by Bj Davis on November 23, 2008 at 11:34am

Here I sit listening to the roaster hum, and Sandy curse the flame for going out.She roasted last week and yesterday after we closed. We tasted some Colombia that she roasted yesterday. It was a little too fruity for her tastes, but I thought it was ok. I would like to see a bit more caramel in the flavor. It did go a tad sour once cooled.Flame didn't go out yesterday, so she thought it was perhaps some moisture in the drum. Wonder why it is doing this today?Well today she roasted some more of the Colombia, Kauai, and now she is starting on a French roast blend.Let's hope the flame keeps up with the darker roast.I guess I should go do something constructive.......

Bakery Bar Glisan

Posted by rob on November 22, 2008 at 6:18am

We are now open on 2935 NE Glisan, I would love to see some familiar faces so stop by, oh and we have a 3 group Synesso!!!

Nuova Simonelli Mythos

Posted by nik orosi on November 22, 2008 at 3:30am

Iv had a chance to get one Nuova Simonelli Mythos grinder, i think this is special version called Victoria Arduino to be a pair to their new espresso machine, this grinder is in white finish, like new fashion car color, and if looks could kill, this grinder is the one! Has build in led lights as GB5 has and its so much fun to see your grounded coffee on the light. Build in tamper works great with option to fix the pressure of tamping, even im using my own tamper to tamp with. Build in tamper is probably for huge chains or shops with a lot of diff baristi. Hooper is 3,2 kg, in plastic, with plastic top too, so you can see all the beans inside that i like a lot comparing to other grinders that have black finish. Micro metrical fixing of grinding, 72mm burns that are gold plated and 'they say' they guarantee 900kg! Works as it looks, great! Fast and reliable, doses are correct and in only 2,45sec you get 18,65g of coffee!!! Grinds on demand one shot, two shots or three shots, as well continuous grinding...Has almost all, only what id like to see in future is portafilter holder, Mahlkonig look a like, and people from Nuova Simonelli said to me that they are working on new holder as well as on new software! IT SOUNDS GREAT! One of the best grinders and in look and in work...All the best to new WBC sponsor!

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Note: this page contains paid content.

Note: this page contains paid content.