I haven’t been completely useless.
9/21/2014
Tag: olympia
January…so far.
Ohh my sweet Jesus you guys! I just realized how awesome it is to post up and chill at a coffee shop. I’ve spent years as a barista working behind the counter and never truly knew the joys that this could bring. I’m so about this lifestyle. People watching, free wifi, and espresso. If you’re planning on doing the same keep in mind that you should buy at least one drink an hour to pay for your seat.
Some of my favorite things right now:
Batdorf & Bronson Coffee The Dancing Goats espresso is real good.
Cycloramic App Take panoramic pictures HANDSFREE!
San Diego Coffee Network Great coffee folks doing great things for the community.
Only Burger The fried green tomato burger will change your life!
Frasier The best show ever!
This is window display rules all,
2014 do we continue…yes
I’ve been running this blog for a few years now and a lot has changed. I got married, bought a home, got a dog, divorced, moved, and started a new career. It’s kind of weird writing a blog because you have to assume other people are reading your posts otherwise your really just talking or “writing” to yourself. Either way it’s therapeutic and I enjoy it. I’ve been toying around with the idea of ending the blog but I’m not completely convinced yet.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you are one of the people that don’t exist in my head sorry not sorry for the sporadic posts. I keep telling myself that I’ll post more or rework the flow of the blog but I think it’s kind of perfect the way it is. Thanks for reading this.
Some of my favorite things right now:
Baby trashes bar in Las Palmas.
Magisto App
Bar Francis
Virgin America
Bay Area Coffee Community
National Coffee Day Round 2
Round two! Stop #3 Olympia Coffee Roasting Co. where I enjoyed a single origin espresso. The Costa Rica Llano Bonito Natural espresso tasted like Sugar Smacks. It was well balanced, sweet, and had a caramel/molasses finish. I really like the ambiance of this shop. The music was pretty dope too. I know it’s super hipster but Bon Iver’s Woods was playing and it’s kinda perfect for a grey rainy day.
The final shop for today was Sizizis. Usually I don’t say anything if my coffee experience was bad…not today. I ordered a macchiato and was served a bad cappuccino. This was not by accident because the barista called out macchiato. The drink was not good. I’m sure it not always this bad. I’m simply reviewing my one experience on this day.
So that’s it!! I hope you have a wonderfully caffeinated National Coffee Day.
National Coffee Day
It’s been a while since my last post. Hopefully you’re all still there. In an effort to get my butt off the couch I’ve decided to contribute more of my time to this blog. So here you go.
It’s national coffee day! I’ve spent most of my weekend on my couch so I decided to force myself out of the apartment to celebrate. My fist stop was Batdorf & Bronson. I enjoyed a nice macchiato and Mighty O donut. A barista from B&B joined me on for my next stop Bar Francis. I’ve been here many times. It’s my favorite place in town to get coffee.
We had a Shrub and espresso. If you’re not familiar with Shrub drinks check wiki. It’s a vinegar based drink that’s to die for. Our shrub had grapefruit and it paired well with the Four Barrel Friendo Blendo espresso. Now I’m off to Oly Coffee!
I take pictures sometimes.
I took these pictures on my way to the bus stop yesterday.
Don’t let bad beans go to waste! ***UPDATE***
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!
Don’t let bad beans go to waste!
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!
tehCoffee review
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.com Dan 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!
Direct link to the review——-> http://tehcoffee.com/reviews/86
_Panda
Fun bike ride
I decided to take a bike ride today, the longest bike ride ever. It was really only 17 miles. I’ve gone that far before but cumulative not all at once. Southbound on Rich road is kinda like a portal to the country. I’ve spent a lot of time in the country…like ten years growing up in Clarksville, TN. Every once in a while I like to go back there and rural Olympia is just the ticket. There are lots of barns and fields along Rich road as well as small “grocery” stores. There’s even a post office. Johnson’s Smoke House is on my route so I stopped by and got some Landjaeger.I stopped into Lattin’s but it’s closed on Sundays so I couldn’t get a fresh apple fritter! I was originally going to bike to Millersylvania park but I missed my turn at McCorkle road so I stopped at the gas station next to The Powder Keg and refueled on Red Bull. One really cool thing that stood out was the amount of trains I heard! I don’t know it it was just one train snaking it’s way through or if there were multiple trains but i felt like it was following me. I’ve been followed by trains before and it’s scary. Anyway I’m drinking beer now to negate all the calories I burned.
Thoughts of Clouds 