In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Just got back from a trip visiting family in New York, and managed to sneak away to visit some of the city's rockin' new cafes. It is incredible how the scene continues to evolve. The espresso I was served, at five different cafes, was consistently high in quality. This is a far cry from the way it was just a few years ago.

Grumpy was using Ecco's Espresso Reserve, and it was the sweetest and fruitiest. Gimme! served their own Leftist blend, which was deep, smoky and tangy. Ninth Street used Counter Culture's Toscano, which, on Day 10, was tasting really smooth. And Joe poured Barrington Coffee Roasters espresso blend with its thick, "touch of robusta" crema.

The flavors varied but the espressos were consistently unbitter and delicious. The textures didn't vary much at all: heavy and rich. This result wasn't too surprising, because the cafes were all using the most modern espresso machines: Synessos or LM GB5s.

Flavorwise, the stainless groups in these machines are easier than ever to keep clean. This, and their good temperature stability helps avoid the bitters.

Texturewise, the consistency from shop to shop may be due to the Synesso/GB5's similar extraction parameters, as well as the fact that they all served pretty short espressos.

And let me not forget that there were some DAMN FINE BARISTAS pouring the shots! As Rickie Lee Jones might have said, they all live on the "Ristretto Side of Life."

Thanks to the crew at all these cafes; your grace and hospitality touched my heart. I hope to return soon!

Podcast 58 - "Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, Harrar... oh my!"

A straight-from-the-horse's-mouth interview with Getachew Mengistie, Director General of the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office in Addis Ababa, regarding the Ethiopian coffee origin names issue that's been in the press and on the blogs. It was an absolute honor and privilege to have the gentleman at the core of the issue on the PF.net microphone, and to have coffee with him.

1 hour 35 minutes and 39 seconds - MP3 format, 43.8 MB

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

The new coolness: Grinder?

2006 was supposed to be the Year of the Grinder. So much for that prediction. Versalab didn't become the It product: too slow, too inconvenient for commercial use, too much attitude.

There have been, however, various reports of Things in the Works. John E, for instance, posted a photo of the prototype LM grinder on his Flickr site.

Meanwhile, John has his own grinder project going...as do a few other folks who may, at this point, prefer to remain nameless.

So, people in the biz, what do you know? Will 2007 be the lucky year?


P.S. Nick, I'm trying to, as you might have said, 'unblow' my wad. :-)

Follow up post . . .

"If someone say that he can build a grand building on a small stone of size 1 cm3, we can do nothing, say nothing, but laughing."

This and more HERE. (I swear, I didn't make this)

Podcast 57 - Portafilter DriveCast

With Katie Carguilo in the back seat, Nick and Jay are P.W.D. (podcasting while driving). Topics include: Visit with Lindsay and Matt from Canada, Aida Batlle, the unnerving world of espresso blend development, a rant on coffee-blogs, and a non-update on PF2007.

1 hour 21 minutes and 20 seconds - MP3 format, 37.3 MB

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

. . .

Can I just tell you how much I love this f*cking guy?!?

NESilvia

Speaking of home machines... I don't know what it is that the old skool Nintendo controller does on this Rancilio Silvia... but I like it. :-D

'Tis the Season

I'm sure a lot of folks here read just about all the coffee sites, so this may not be news, but CoffeeGeek.com has their annual Holiday Gift List. Additionally, there is a charity auction for CoffeeKids...I'd just like to point out that there are some items that are interesting, and just insane.

Home-Barista.com is also having a Holiday Marketplace where many, many industry leaders have donated products and specials to be interactively raffled off on HB.com.

Wherever you go, whatever you do this month...check out these opportunities to give back. It's the season (if you believe in that kind of thing).

Instaurator's New Project

There have been rumors floating around for a while now that someone in Australia was planning a barista competition event to rival the World Barista Championship, and it looks like this is just that.

I can't say that personally, I really know how I feel about an event like this. On the one hand, there's the "more the merrier" perspective. On the other hand, considering the current status of espresso and where the craft is going, is this the sort of competition that 2006/2007 should be producing? How does it all fit in? Is etching really an integral part of this competition? Here in the U.S., are we gonna have to hear chants of, "Zoka-Zoka-Zoka, oy! oy! oy!?"

Interesting stuff. What are your thoughts?


EDIT NOV 30: The video has been removed by the user from YouTube. The plot thickens. . .

EDIT DEC 4: The video is BACK... now with the intro from Instaurator removed. Makes you wonder. . .

Podcast 56 - Black Gold The Movie

An insightful conversation with the directors, cinematographers, and producers of the documentary film, "Black Gold - The Movie," Mr. Nick Francis and Mr. Marc Francis, along with Counter Culture Coffee Director of Coffee, Mr. Peter Giuliano. Check out their website at www.blackgoldmovie.com. The best part of this chat is that it becomes a true dialogue, not just an interview.

1 hour 21 minutes and 45 seconds - MP3 format, 37.5 MB

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

How much do baristas need to know about home machines?

From the Toronto Star, "Espresso Yourself." November 11, 2006. (link via Dwelltime)

I've been thinking about this for a while, and would be interested to hear folks' opinions.

How much do baristas need to know about home espresso machines?

I'll confess: the only machines that I really know ANYTHING about and the Rancilio Silvia and the Expobar Brewtus (and Brewtus 2). I've played around on a few Silvias, and though I've never even seen a Brewtus in person, I understand it to be a solid machine, with PID, dual-boilers, and a modified E-61 group (which is antithetical to being a dedicated-boiler machine, but whatever). Even then, I admitted that I haven't seen one. I'm just assuming based on positive reports out there.

However, I get asked about home machine recommendations all the time, and I suspect I'm not the only one. I don't like the fact that though I can wax poetic about hybridized groups and 83mm conical burrs and 0.6mm flow restrictors and 6000-watt heating elements, I don't know the first thing about a LaPavoni lever home-machine, or a Solis SL-70, or a Rancilio Rocky.

I remember the first time that someone asked me to make coffee at their house (after dinner), knowing that I'm a "coffee-guy" and feeling insecure about making coffee in my presence. I remember asking, "Do you have a scale?" while suddenly realizing that because our brew-portions for drip coffee had been set and established long ago, I had little to no clue how much coffee I needed for this dude's Mr. Coffee. Some "professional" I turned out to be!

If we claim to want to be coffee sommeliers, aren't we then compelled to familiarize ourselves with the home coffee and espresso equipment?

Whether with CoffeeGeek or Home-Barista or EspressoParts or whoever... I'd like to see some sort of "Home Equipment 101 - What Every Professional Should Know" seminar someday. At SCAA, a Barista Guild Jam, or... perhaps at Portafilter 2007?

---

By the way, I know that folks are chompin' at the bits for some more info on the PF2007 event, including sponsorship info. We'll have a solid run-down of info within the next couple of weeks.

Podcast #55 - NYC Got You SERVED

A shorter-than-normal show, but a definite eye-opener... and I certainly don't mean the political and tabloid jibber-jabber at the beginning. The highlight of this show is an illuminating call with Ken Nye, of Ninth Street Espresso in New York City, on the NY coffee scene, real estate, Martha Stewart, and the most bad-ass, ass-backwards way to grow a coffee business. FYI, I almost called this show "Our penises are small."

1 hour 14 minutes and 28 seconds - MP3 format, 34.1 MB

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

RESPECT!

There are a lot of "A vs. B" battles in our industry. All arabica vs. some robusta? Updosing vs. not-Updosing? Feel like a nut vs. don't?

The ones that can get contentious are the brand wars. La Marzocco vs. La Cimbali? Bunn vs. Fetco? Mahlkonig vs. Ditting? Intelligentsia vs. Starbucks? (just kidding Doug)

Here's a heated debate: VitaMix vs. Blendtec?

Well, there's a CLEAR WINNER. Not because of the quality of their products, not because of reliability, but because someone over there is obviously a f-ing marketing genius!!!

Winner: BLENDTEC. Put that in your book.
For more, check out willitblend.com

BRILLIANT!!! Don't miss the DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME section.

What's with the attitude?

I've been asking myself this question for a while: What is it about the barista craft that seems to breed the primadonna bullshit that I see sometimes?

Well, maybe I can take some solace in the fact that it isn't just an American thing.

[via TheShot.coffeeratings.com]

The First of Many......

I apologize in advance if Primativo's name is spelled incorrectly.
View more here (in the future).

Podcast #54: Trish's Layover

When Zoka's Director of Coffee, Trish Skeie, gets stuck in Washington DC en route to Brazil, what do you do? Answer: break out the microphones! Discussion topics: Why is Trish on the show, news and notes, skate board decks are cool, live audio from the NWRBC awards ceremony, recapping the SERBC, Portafilter 2007, the Celebrity-Barista discussion, and a little five dollar wager. Imagine that: another 2-plus hour podcast.

2 hours 15 minutes and 8 seconds
MP3 format, 61.9 MB
Now LEVELATED (an advanced podcast audio compression technology which should, hopefully, resolve our level issues... thanks for everyone's patience, and let us know how the show sounds to you).

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

RESURRECTION....in BC

After ONE YEAR, I am extremely happy to announce that Hines Public Market Coffee is alive once more. We FINALLY have new home. We are currently on Granville Island, in Vancouver, B.C. in an existing roastery called Origins . We decided to keep that name on the existing roastery and make it the organic line of HPMC Canada, Ltd. I'm excited and exhausted, but loving every second. I finally get to continue my roasting apprenticeship (right now on an old peanut roaster from 1916) and will get to play with other different roasters, espresso machines, and other great toys. My favorite part is getting to drink the coffee I've been missing for a year.

My deepest gratitude to Duane and the Stumptown roasters, JJ Bean, and 49th Parallel who put up with Sanders and myself borrowing their spaces while we were in limbo. We could not have existed this past year without your help and I am grateful to have people like you in this industry....and, thank you John Sanders for giving me a chance.

Last, but not least, a great big thanks to all who have supported us in the past and those that continue to support us. COME VISIT US IN B.C.

Bronwen =)

Portafilter 2007

peep this poop

portafilter.ORG

More info to come

save the date...

March 27-29, 2007

the people have spoken...


more details to come as they become available

Podcast 53: Bryant Simon

From murky coffee, Washington, DC. Jay Caragay is away on assignment.

A fascinating and insightful chat with Bryant Simon, Director of American Studies at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, who is working on a book about Starbucks Coffee. Enjoy the first stereo podcast we've uploaded, and enjoy the new intro music ("Portafilter Remix" by Zachary Carlsen, general manager, murky coffee capitol hill).

1 hours 3 minutes and 47 seconds
MP3 format, 58.5 MB in STEREO... WooooOOO!!!

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

The New WBC Website

WorldBaristaChampionship.com

Great work, whoever was responsible for putting this together!

Podcast 52 - "Hijacked"

From Counter Culture Coffee in Durham, NC.

For some odd reason, Janet of Murky Coffee and I found Nick on the floor unconscious. We are joined by Daniel Humphries of Cafe Grumpy. Discussions about the SERBC taking place this weekend, Nick's impending performance, the recent SCAA meetings in Long Beach, possible upcoming USBC rule changes and we try to revive Nick to tell us how to turn the recorder off. We also give the answers to the trivia questions asked of the baristas earlier in the evening.

51 minutes and 21 seconds
MP3 format, 23.6 MB

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

Podcast 51 - "Buzz, Village Buzz"

From murky coffee, Arlington, VA.

Calls in to Matt Milletto, American Barista and Coffee School about the NWRBC, a "mystery guest" from overseas, and Cindy Chang, Counter Culture Coffee, about the SERBC. The Cho Challenge. Milk. Weak coffee by choice? Random news bits, and a great chat with Jennifer Mulchandani, murky coffee barista and proprietor of Village Buzz Coffee and Tea, Arlington, VA (to open in 2019-or-something) about opening her shop (someday).

2 hours 25 minutes and 47 seconds
MP3 format, 66.8 MB

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

Niiice...

...by the time Babcock opened Zoka in 1997, after a stint in the coffee business in Florida, Starbucks had grown more institutional. He wanted Zoka to have that something special that he remembered from Starbucks' early days.

"I wanted to be the Porsche, not the Ford," he said.

- Associated Press, September 8, 2006

Dark roasted podcast

Even less about coffee than the Portafilter.net Podcast!

YouTube.com for coffee

Klaus in Australia





Stockfleth's Move Video (not the one you've probably already seen)





KRUPS Espresso Shorts - A series of six short student films. Below is "Espresso Ninjas." Click here or here for the others.





DRM grinder (combo burr) slow-mo





Cute barista... where can I find this song?!?





Ummm... we'll call this "just for Caragay"

mattriddle.com

Just thought I'd let everyone know that mattriddle.com is up and running.

(CONGRATS Matt and Melissa!!!!!)

Podcast #50 - The John Hornall Show

From Chestnut Hill Coffee, 8620 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA, 19118, USA.

A couple of words regarding Nick's rant on the last podcast, followed by a lovely chat with Mr. John Hornall, of Chestnut Hill Coffee, Philadelphia, PA (formerly of Hines Public Market Coffee, Seattle, WA), about his take on Seattle coffee history, barista competitions, baby strollers, the barista craft, advances in espresso, and buy-ten-get-one-free. An amazingly insightful chat with one of Seattle's coffee legends.

2 hours 17 minutes and 1 second
MP3 format, 62.8 MB

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

Remember... we've consolidated the podcast RSS feeds... there will be no new updates to the old MP3 feed... the new "normal" feed at http://www.portafilter.org/podcast.xml is the one, new, consolidated MP3 feed.

Podcast 49... "Due Diligence"

From Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA, Stately Caragay Manor.

Discussion topics: News & calendar, other coffee podcasts, email bag, "The Cup of Excellence and the NCA" article by Susie Spindler on the front page of CoffeeGeek.com, Mark Prince = Rush Limbaugh, and coffeeshops that are so expensive that they're not supposed to make money.

1 hour 57 minutes and 51 seconds
MP3 format, 54 MB

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

My new car

Just a fleeting thought that I thought I'd make public...

Just bought a new car... a Honda Fit. Known as the Honda Jazz in the rest of the world, it's a sub-compact 5-door hatchback from Honda, and smaller and cheaper (it's around $15K) than the Civic.

Totally nothing particularly profound, but I noticed something about this car... when you first get into it, your first reaction is, "Wow... this is really nice for such a cheap car!"

You sit in it and the seats are really supportive and firm. The steering wheel (on my Fit Sport-model) is leather-wrapped and luxurious. The illuminated dials and gauges look like they belong in an Acura costing twice the price. The overall lines of the exterior are really slick... not the type of econobox design that you wonder if they purposely dumbed-down to make their more mid-priced models look better.

But then, after I owned it for a few hours, I started to look deeper. The little dial that diverts the air vents... is made of really cheap-looking plastic. I'm still waiting for the floormats to come in, and the floor-carpet material looks barely better than cardboard. Stuff like that.

The moral of the story? What you touch and feel... what a customer is most intimate with, is vitally important. When we first started murky coffee, I had six different plastic hot-cup lids laid out in front of me, and my wife and I took turns putting each one up to our mouths. How the lid feels against a customer's lips is a much more important element than many might think. If you need to skimp a little, skimp on the toilet... not on the toilet seat. Buy cheap tables, but never cheap chairs. Spend on nice lighting, and don't stress so much about how beat up your hardwood floor is.

However, next to lovemaking, the most intimate human interaction is through food and drink. What you offer becomes physically ingested... absorbed... it becomes part of their body. Never skimp on quality of the coffee itself.

I hear retailers tell me all the time, "I can't afford to go all-out on the coffee," or "People around here don't care that much about coffee." That's all bullshit. Someone probably said, "You can't have a leather-wrapped sport steering wheel and ABS and alloy wheels AND a V-TEC engine on a $15K econobox," too. See? A little creativity and ingenuity and you can make it work.

FYI, introduced in the US this past spring, every Honda dealership in the country still has waiting lists for over two months for this little car. You can drive off-the-lot a Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, Hyundai Accent, or Chevrolet Aveo (the other cars in its segment) whenever you want.

You wouldn't make love with/to a dirty sweat-sock, would you? Don't serve coffee that tastes like one either.

Podcast 48 - "Donuts"

From Timonium, Maryland, USA, Jay's Shave Ice International Headquarters.

Discussion topics: Tribute to Ward Barbee (1938-2006), publisher and founder of Fresh Cup Magazine, including a phone call with Julie Beals, Fresh Cup's editor. Also, news and notes, mailbag, Billy Wilson's podcast, What's Peter Giuliano Thinking About Today? a conversation about porn, restaurant coffee roasters, and the etiquette for visiting coffeeshops. Also, a special appendix at the end of the show.

2 hours 18 minutes and 34 seconds
MP3 format, 51.1 MB

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

In memoriam...

From Freshcup.com :

Ward Barbee : 1938-2006

It is with our deepest sadness that we give the news that Ward passed away on August 5. We will miss him for countless reasons, not the least of which were his generosity of spirit and raucous laughter. We will never forget all he had to teach, share and give to us.

A celebration of life party will be held soon. Details will be posted here once final arrangements are made.

Fresh Cup co-owner Jan Weigel and Fresh Cup's staff ask that in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to the AIDS charity of your choice in honor of his brother, Stanford.

PEARL Project update...

... courtesy the New York Times: "Coffee, and Hope, Grow in Rwanda." (If it asks for a name and password, use bugmenot.com)
After reading this, I'm left with one burning question: What does the "D." stand for?!?


New podcast coming soon.

Who DARES to "pair" great food and great coffee?

A little announcement from my buddy Jeff Jassmond from Stumptown Coffee's Annex that everyone needs to hear:

Stumptown is working with John Taboada from Navarre Restaurant to put together the first-ever coffee dinner in the US. We have been working for the past month to pair coffees with food to challenge ourselves and, hopefully, illuminate the ways in which flavors of any kind can be used to create new thoughts and emotions in the consumer. The tastings that we have been doing have been challenging, bringing out the best in John and Duane. For those who are unfamiliar with John's cooking it is a hard thing to describe. His creativity would be stifled if his ability to execute innovative techniques was not so sharp. His playfulness in the kitchen takes delicate and complex flavors and brings them to new levels with juxtaposition and balance. Quite simply, if anyone in town could makes us think about food and coffee together, it will be him.

The dinners will take place Tuesday and Wednesday, August 1st and 2nd, at 7pm at Navarre. Tuesday night is nearly sold out, but space remains for Wednesday. Price per person, for 5 or 6 courses, with wine accompaniments, is $65, $55 without the booze. While there is a lot of room for us to fail with this project, I have confidence that John and Duane, more so than any others out there, will be able to pull it off. Reservations can be made at eatatnavarre@gmail.com, or call 503-232-3555. Navarre: 10 NE 28th Avenue.

Podcast #43 - *shrug*... what the hell.

From the Piazza della Repubblica, Florence (Firenze), Italy.
Special co-hosts: Mark Prince (CoffeeGeek.com) and Andrew Barnett (Ecco Caffe).

Recorded back in May, Nick and his traveling companions recap the excursion through Switzerland and Italy. A continuation of a CoffeeGeek Podcast (soon, hopefully, to be released at CoffeeGeek.com).

One more time: thanks to our European-excursion podcast sponsors: DaVinci Gourmet and EspressoParts.com.

1 hour 8 minutes and 5 seconds
MP3 format, 25 MB

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

Some changes to the podcast

A few small changes to the Portafilter Podcast...

• Über-techno-geek podcasts have multiple file formats, and although I've always been a fan of Apple's AAC format, having two different formats has been a pain in the ass, so MP3 wins (for now). Starting with the next show, we'll be offering the MP3 format only.
• Also, we're changing the XML feed for the podcast to: http://www.portafilter.org/podcast.xml We'll maintain the old feeds for a little while, but it would behoove you to move over to the new URL.
• We're ALSO changing the RSS sitefeed URL to: http://www.portafilter.org/atom.xml. Point your RSS newsreader to the new URL please.
  
• We will be reducing the length of the average podcast by about 30 seconds. You'll still be able to enjoy all of the banter, interviews, debates, and bullsh*t as usual, but now in a much more portable and reasonable size!

Hope these changes will help enhance your PF Podcast experience. Take care, and good day.

Podcast 47 - The Live Show

LIVE from McLean, Virginia, 6:00pm - 8:02pm EDT on Skypecast. Call-ins from around the globe.

2 hours 2 minute and 22 seconds

AAC format, 48.5 MB - MP3 format, 45.3 MB

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

It was fun! Thanks to all who called in! We'll try to do it again soon!

More about Esmeralda

One of the things that's funny about my participation on portafilter.net is that I'm still a part-time amateur in this full-time professional arena. Read the masthead: there's no getting around the fact that I'm surrounded here by legendary coffee directors, barista champions, podcast celebrities, coffee gurus, and even the occasional shave-ice visionary. The intimidation factor is lessened, of course, by the fact that most of the resident coffee legends never bother to post. :-)

Sometimes I regret that I haven't made any trips to origin, developed relationships with Ethiopian farmers, built schools in Panama, or even bid on any Cup of Excellence coffees. I simply plod along in my home workshop, regularly dismantling the work of good espresso machine designers while trying hard not to electrocute myself.

Occasionally something fun comes along, and this time its name was "Esmeralda." When Sweet Maria's offered a three-pack of exquisite Panamanian coffees, including the ultra-hyped Esmeralda, I laid down my hundred bucks faster than you can say "actively-heated grouphead." Just yesterday I roasted up a batch of Esmeralda on my funkay third-of-a-pound "sample roaster." It's shown in all its glory in the photo above. The roaster's in the middle, the control panel is on the right, and my custom-engineered cooling apparatus sits on the left. :-) No snickering, please!


Because of weather and personal commitments, I often get away from home roasting and buy coffee from some of the well-known mail order places. This is good, because I get to taste stuff that's prepared more skillfully than my own. But I love the process of roasting so much that it's always very satisfying to be able to return to it. Boy, these beans are dense. I'm pretty sure the picture on the left was taken right in the middle of first crack. It's a rockin' and a rollin'.



About eleven minutes after the start, it's all over. The beans are laid out in the cooling collander, and they sure are beautiful. I'm hoping bigtime that I did them justice. If not, I have only two more chances to get it right. But even if not perfect, I'm confident the character of these famous beans will show through.








Today, with great expectation, I brewed the first cup. After measuring 15 grams of beans, I milled them carefully in a Versa M3 grinder. The dry fragrance was enchanting, like floating through a sea of jasmine blossoms.

The photo on the left shows the resulting brew prepared in my "poor man's Clover." Hey, at least I have the cup! The Esmeralda was surprisingly savory, like meaty, tomatoey soup broth. Then there was sweetness, and a fruity-floral note above it all. This was a really nice cup. You could kind of dig into it and it kept coming back to you.

I'm just finishing it now, and the fruit has receded to leave a malty richness, and underneath that, earthiness. A wonderful cup of coffee, and great fun to experience. Thanks to all that made it possible.

More than just a year.

Congrats, Steve Ford, on your 365 First Cups.

Update

Update to my post from June 6:


Old and busted:

New hotness:

Esmeralda

People often think I'm weird when I get excited about stuff like when I had a cup of coffee from mold-tainted (green) coffee. Every coffee experience, both good and bad, is an educational opportunity. It's a little bittersweet, though, when the cost of tuition ends up being a half of my one bag of Intelly Panama Esmeralda Especial... (...well, one of my bags... a little shout-out to fans of David Sedaris.)

It's not so much that I learned something I didn't know... it's more a poignant reminder of a basic principle.

I've brewed the coffee from this 8 ounce bag three times so far. I guess I should mention that I'm not at home. We're on a little family vacation, staying at my sister-in-law's house in San Antonio, Texas, many miles away from the tools of my trade that I've become so used to having around, especially our Mahlkonig Guatemala grinder and our digital scale (with 0.1 gram resolution). Mary and David have a Bodum Antigua grinder that we gave them as a Christmas present, and in lieu of a digital scale: a lowly tablespoon.

So three times: twice here at Mary and David's (once on a Chemex once in a french press), and once at my friend Loris' shop here in San Antonio, called "Cafeggio" (in a french press). At Cafeggio, we ground the coffee on a Bunn G2 grinder.

The Esmeralda was EFFING BOOM-DIGGITY AWESOME once. It was an "HJ-BJ Combo" (inside joke) in the mouth of jasmine, orangey-citrus, and something I can only call "The Taste of Clean." It was only so-so the other two times. So guess which was which?

.

.

So on Monday, I'm going to Cafeggio to do some latte art training, and before I come back to our home-away-from-home, I'm grinding the last of the Esmeralda on their G2 and bringing it back to brew for my wife Suzy and our hosts, cuz I ain't gonna let them think that what they've been calling "That Really Expensive Coffee" is as mediocre as what they've had.

I've never experienced the result of "uneven grind" in brewed coffee quite so succinctly. The Bodum Antigua created a VERY muddled cup. It's like putting an ill-fitting muumuu on Gisele Bündchen: you could JUST make out the beauty that's there... but only because I've known it before... and it's shrouded in this cloud of... okay I'll say it... murkiness. Clearly, the overly-fine particles created the muddy overextracted-part that simply drowned out the delicate flavors.

So let this be a lesson to you, both in coffee, and in life: if you KNOW that the hottest supermodel ever to grace the bedroom of Leonardo DiCaprio is coming to see YOU, have the appropriate apparel ready for her to wear... or you'll miss-out on what could be the most intensely erotic experiences of your life, and you might never know it.

Podcast 46 - Less Coffee, More Polka!!!

From Jay's Shave Ice, Timonium, Maryland, with Katie Carguilo, General Manager, murky coffee arlington.

Jay and Nick go on and on about Sanford and Son, Geoff Watts in the New York Times, Nick asks for help from the pf.net listeners, a special coffee tasting, Peter Giuliano rocks the house, Trish Skeie's live parallel parking, a little contest, and we finish up with a chat about branding.

2 hours 1 minute and 34 seconds

AAC format, 48.9 MB - MP3 format, 44.2 MB

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

Remember, the next podcast will be a LIVE SHOW on SkypeCast. Go to Skype.com and register yourself for the show! Basically, we'll post the podcast as usual, but via Skype, we can have YOU, our listeners, listen live and take part with your own microphone. Live and uncensored, as usual!!!

Cafe Grumpy

On Sunday I had the good fortune to visit Cafe Grumpy in Brooklyn, NY. It's a mile or two from Gimme Brooklyn in a mixed residential/commercial neighborhood. I'm always excited to visit cafes that have been talked up online -- it's almost guaranteed to be a good time. This is in stark contrast, of course, to walking blindly into 95% of the coffee shops out there, where you pretty much know the coffee's gonna be awful.

Grumpy ain't much to look out from the outside, but the interior space is airy and fun. I'm a sucker for sandblasted brick walls and tin ceilings, and the place didn't disappoint.



Husband and wife owners Caroline Bell and Chris Timbrell greeted me from behind a counter that sported a gleaming 2 group Synesso. Although the incandescents were turned down low, plenty of light spilled in the windows, making the brick, stainless and brightly colored walls feel friendly and inviting.



After quick introductions it became obvious that I wasn't a local stopping by for casual coffee. Chris vaguely recognized my name (from posting here and on alt.coffee, I guess), so this must have added a hair more pressure than usual as he pulled my first espresso.



It was a teenie weenie ristretto, using Victrola's Streamline, pulled into a beautiful blue ceramic cup. I've only tasted Streamline once before, during the Seattle SCAA show, but that was when the Glimmer Twins worked there. How much had changed? I was very curious to taste this new generation of Streamline.



I found it quite restrained, even elegant. Heavy in body, but not "in your face" with big fruit or thundering caramel. Perhaps it was like a good quality French Chardonnay as compared to one from California -- I enjoyed the subtle balance between roast notes, sweetness, and a hint of acidity.

As I sipped and we chatted, Chris prepared a cappucino, also excellent. Caroline joked about folks from other shops who dropped in anonymously to check out Grumpy's coffee. She could often tell who the "coffee spies" were: they were the only people to order macchiatos. So be forewarned, coffee spies, you've been made!



If Grumpy had a weakness, I would venture that it was in their surprisingly low-key approach. Subtle on the building exterior, elegant on the inside, offering restrained yet delicious drinks, all was in order. But nowhere was a message that said, "OUR COFFEE IS FREAKING GREAT, PEOPLE, GET YOUR BUTTS IN HERE." I hope Caroline and Chris continue to find ways to make their cafe, like Gimme, a destination stop for their coffee-loving, quality-starved Brooklyn neighbors.



More Grumpy photos are in the "Cafes" section of my Flickr site.

Props

Smellderelda in the hizzay.

For those not familiar with alt.coffee, it's a USENET group (sort of like an email mailing-list discussion, but that has a permanent home on the internet). Like many things, Google has taken USENET newsgroups and made then all slick.

Anyway, I was lurking today and people were discussing the $100/pound+ (roasted) price of the Esmerelda Especial that just hit Intelligentsia's virtual store shelves. As usual, there were the typical responses to this, including the one that many of those in our community have been throwing around to justify (and rightly-so) the seemingly exorbitant price for this coffee and those like it: a guy with the screen name "yEnc Man" writes, "Some people (not me) pay hundreds of dollars for a 750ml bottle of wine, brandy or whiskey. Some people pay hundreds of dollars per pound for gourmet chocolate. Some people pay hundreds of dollars per ounce for extremely salty and fishy tasting fish eggs. Why should high end coffee be any different?"

What was a bit surprising and really refreshing and inspiring to see was one of the responses that came soon after:

From: Omniryx@gmail.com
Date: Fri, Jun 23 2006 1:10 pm

This post smacked me right between the eyes because I HAVE paid hundreds of dollars for a single bottle of wine and I HAVE paid hundreds of dollars for a bottle of single malt and I HAVE paid nearly $100 per ounce for fish eggs. Yet, when I got the email from Intelligentsia offering me the opportunity to buy half a pound of this
Esmeralda at 52 bucks, I went "Pfff" and deleted it without a second thought.
Now why would that be? In my life, coffee is just as important as wine, more important than single malt, and one helluva lot more important than fish eggs.

I dunno. I suppose that I don't believe there can be that much difference between Intel's usual offerings and this one. OTOH, some people say that about wine, too, and they are dead wrong.

Must think about his more...

Will

Mr. Will Omniryx-whatever, I salute you. The entire cadre of high-specialty green buyers, roasters, retailers, and baristas, ALL salute you. You are our harbinger of hope. You represent why we work so hard. We talk about "changing the industry as we know it," and creating a new segment of the market: ultra-high-quality, high-priced coffees that will make men weep and make their women start creating petitions against coffee (again). But without open-minded, quality-minded (and yes, deep-pocketed) people like you, we'd be fighting the good fight for the fight alone.

So yes, Will-Omniryx, think about this more. With your next Bordeaux or beluga acquisition, consider how a beautiful (yet fleeting) Esmerelda Especial or Brazil Santa Ines might fit in your culinary-life. From the producers, through the importers, into the roaster and out to your "coffee cupboard," the circle is only complete when we have folks like you.

All hail, Will-Omniryx!


On a related thought... I was thinking today... is the "foil-valve-bag" really the "ultimate" vessel for the finest coffees that the world has known? There's gotta be something that's more appropriate to hold such treasures!

My basement

A while ago I posted a picture of my kitchen counter. I also thought you might enjoy this picture of my basement.

Podcast 45 - Kopi Luwak Cupping

On location at Counter Culture Coffee, Durham, NC. Cupping Kopi Luwak coffee from Animalcoffee.com with the boyz from the C.C.C.

15 minutes and 56 seconds

AAC format, 6.3 MB - MP3 format, 5.9 MB

See the sidebar to the right for more information and how to subscribe or download.

Even better than Garbage Pail Kids

I'll trade you my Jay Caragay rookie for your Billy Wilson limited edition.
I'm keeping mine in the wax packs.

FreshCup.com

//edit
No, I don't think it really comes with gum...but you'd have to ask Julie.

Who will be the next Juan Valdez?

With the current JV, Carlos Sanchez, now retiring at the ripe young age of 71, the search is on for someone to replace The Man.

My vote is for Ted Lingle.

Or, maybe it's time for a female? Juanita Valdez? It COULD happen!

Classic Machine Aesthetics

Like many other folks, I've always admired espresso machines that had the "classic" European look. You know, those big gold-domed machines with the eagle on top.

So when the GS3 prototypes first made the rounds, I loved the function but found the appearance lacking. That's when I posted my first GS3 "appearance mod" on Coffeegeek.com:



For those of you who didn't see the discussion back then, the interesting result was a faux-angry response from Bill Crossland at La Marzocco. He was pissed that I had put an "Astoria eagle" on top of his beloved machine, and sent me a freshly photoshopped version that replaced the eagle with a La Marzocco lion:



That was pretty inspiring, and since I had a picture of Bill on my computer, it was only a few minutes before I was able to post a version that "honored" Bill's contribution to coffee technology:



As far as I know, this "Bill" version will eventually go into production, but those folks who want it will be forced to pay a steep premium. I know I have my order in.


-------------------------------------------------------


Fast forwarding a little bit, the latest high tech machine is now the Clover brewer. I would like to generously offer a suggestion to Zander and company for improving the "classic" look of their rather austere-looking machine.

You may remember that the Clover prototype version used a shower head type sprayer to help disperse water over the ground coffee:



Apparently this spray head had an undesirable effect: it mixed the hot water with a great deal of room temperature air on its way to the coffee, lowering the carefully controlled water temperature. So the Clover engineers devised a single spigot version:






That was a big improvement in function, but it looks plain...barren...so UNclassical.

In looking for aesthetic inspiration, I always find myself drawn to the wonderful fountains that are placed so conspicuously in European public squares.

And for Clover, I found my inspiration in a classic fountain sculpture that perfectly marries proven single-spigot technology with old-world artistic expression.

And so, from the bottom of my heart, I humbly and respectfully offer a new design suggestion for the high-tech "Clover Classic":














[edit, 12:03 AM]
I bow deeply, in appreciation of a finer aesthetic mind: Mark Prince has kindly sent his own "Clover Classic Mk. III" version.

I am going to put my order in, now!