Thousands of people have lost their lives due to senseless violence carried out in the name of God or nation. It could be the advent of social media or the 24 hour news cycle that make it feel like something bad is always happening or maybe violence in general is on the rise. It has become commonplace to see grizzly scenes of violence and mayhem and it hurts my heart. Paris, Beirut, Mumbai, Baghdad, Afghanistan are just a few that come to mind. Our government and many others around the world do atrocious things. We pay for these acts with our tax money. We have to, it’s the law. Does this make us complicit? Do we have blood on our hands?
All of this shit is making me feel so sad and helpless.
I had the great pleasure to work at TEDx Peachtree this Friday in Atlanta. Here’s a little time-lapse thingy I made. I’ll be posting a more detailed blog later this week.
The good ol’ mason jar has been working perfectly for storing old beans. The one thing I somehow managed to overlook is the lid to the mason jar. I was so stoked about the paint job and forgot about the gas the beans give off. The other day I went to unscrew the lid and it popped off and made a loud noise. DUH!!! There was a bunch of gas built up behind the lid because it had no where else to go. My friend Marcus Young recommended cutting out the one way valve from a bag of coffee!!!!! IT WORKED! Have fun!
I currently live in Olympia, WA and I’m originally from the south which means I’m inclined to re-purposing mason jars. I have a Baratza Maestro plus at home and when I need to dial in the grind for a certain brewing device I don’t waste new coffee I use old coffee. To keep the beans from getting too gross I keep them in an opaque jar covered in ColorTex by Design Master. It’s a spray adhesive that has bits of multi colored plastic in it. After I’ve covered the jar with the ColorTex I let it dry overnight. I noticed that the jar smelled of spray paint afterward so I covered it in two coats of Mod Podge. This helped cover the smell and give the jar a more glossy look. I really love how the jar looks!
I’ve been struggling with updating this blog more often. In an attempt to help with that I’ll also cross-post some things I feel like you guys might want to see. I just posted a review on a really great new site tehcoffee.comDan Baumfeld dreamed this baby up and it’s been picking up speed. These reviews are done by industry professionals. People that actually work as judges for the SCAA & BGA, cafe owners, baristas and other active members in the Barista community. You can trust that these reviews and the places that are reviewed are quality. The next time you go out for coffee check tehCoffee!
We are a little over two weeks into the year and I haven’t posted anything. My bad. I will post more often…starting now.
I’ve been getting ready for NWRBC coming up next Friday in Tacoma. This will be my second time competing and I’m pretty stoked about it. I think Baristas should try it at least once. Regionals are a great opportunity to be in front of your peers, share awesome coffee and create an amazing experience for the judges.
I chose to use Bluebeard Coffee out of Tacoma this year. Kevin Roaster/Owner from Bluebeard visited EP in August and dropped off some of his espresso The Narrows blend. I threw it in the hopper and magic came out. The shot tasted like marzipan and sunshine. From tasting that shot I knew I wanted to use his coffee for competition. I’m so lucky to have them as a coffee sponsor and be able to rep a Tacoma roaster.
Espresso Parts is once again supporting me by covering my entry fees and helping with small-wares costs. I’m fortunate to work for a company that is completely committed to the Barista community and coffee industry.
I know that competing is spendy but there are a few things you can do to cut down on costs. Ask the roaster if they will sponsor you, this can be by selling the coffee to you at a discount or even covering the cost completely. See if your employer will cover any costs you might have be that entry fees or small-wares. Don’t forget BGA members are a great source of knowledge when it comes to competing and anything coffee. There are a lot of people that want to help all you have to do is ask.
Alright, I gotta go play in the snow with my doggy.
The USBC started yesterday. Today the semifinals were held and two of my co-workers participated. Sarah Dooley and Robbie Britt represented Espresso Parts in the Fullest. It makes me proud to have that kind of talent in our company. It was so great to watch competitors from Sam Purvis to Scott Lucey be amazing representatives for our industry. Every year the competitors get even better and make the rest of us practice even harder to be great. Here are the finalists:
1. Kevin Bohlin (Ritual)
2. Pete Licata (Honolulu Coffee Company)
3. Trevor Corlett (Macap)
4. Lorenzo Perkins (Cafe Medici)
5. Ryan Knapp (Macap)
6. Nik Krankl (Gelato Bar & Espresso Cafe)
The first brewers cup was held this weekend and two of my good friends competed. Jared Gum and Mike Cannon repped well for the PNW and have made it to the Finals! I am so glad these two made it, they have worked their asses off since NW regionals and deserve to win it. Good luck guys!
Espresso Parts is hosting a USBC finals viewing party tomorrow starting at 10am and going until the winners are announced. So come to the Olympia lab and make coffee with us while we watch the finals!
I have been going to the lab on Sunday’s to keep sharp, especially now that I don’t work in a cafe. After the first few times I decided I needed to have at least one other person to try the coffee I was making, before my next lab session I tweeted an open invitation to whoever was in the area. My really good friend Larissa who roasts for Seattle Coffee Works was my first visitor for my Trifecta blog. We had a lot of fun and the extra company was nice to have. Last week I had three people visit but I really want to talk about this weekend.
My Sunday started normally I had some breakfast and got my things together for the lab. I jumped on my bike and headed to EP with nothing in particular to work on this week. First I made a Clever of the Guatemala Finca Santa Isabel and headed over to Oly coffee to chat with the staff (we share the same building as Olympia Coffee Roasting Co. and I used to work there). Jared and Carson were working and I invited them over if they had extra time to play. Mr.Elvin was in the cafe so he and I chatted it up for a minute and as I was leaving I noticed my friend Rebeka was there so I invited her over too. After a while I headed back to the lab to start lab time.
As I was getting everything together Mike from shipping showed up. Mike just moved here from Mass. and is looking forward to learning more about coffee. We chose to brew with the clever, which has become my favorite brewing method as of late. Mike really liked how easy it was to use and was impressed with the quality of the coffee. Shortly after that Rebeka and her friend Sara showed to make some coffee. Next up we brewed a syphon using an infrared beam heater and F.S.I from Oly coffee. Everyone loves the show you get when using the syphon and the IR beam heater really adds to that. I normally don’t brew with the syphon because it’s not the easiest thing to use and I really don’t like the cloth taste. A few more people trickled in and before I knew it there were ten people in the lab! We have a new guy from Oakland, his name is Jeff and he’s pretty cool. Jeff dialed in the Big Truck blend from Oly coffee, it ended up tasting sweet with some hints of lemon and had a very syrupy body.
It was so much fun sharing great coffee with people who want to learn more about our industry. This was definitely one of my favorite coffee days I’ve had in a while. The whole room was filled with people eager to learn share techniques and make coffee better. It makes me feel great that even in this small town there are people who do care about the craft and embrace specialty coffee. I want to make it easier for coffee consumers that maybe haven’t worked in a cafe before and lack some basic knowledge that we think of as common sense to join us in celebrating coffee. Educating our customers is one of the most important things we can do. The more we educate our customers the more they can enjoy and appreciate the experience we provide with this amazing beverage. KEEP EDUCATING AND APPRECIATING YOUR CUSTOMERS, without them we wouldn’t have anything to do.
Thoughts of Clouds 