Tamp This

Sorry, one more traveling post and then I can move on. Leaving New Orleans was sad but we felt energized for the days to come. Following I-10 across Louisiana, crossing the longest bridge over swamp/marsh lands and half way through Texas to stop at Chris’ mom’s house in Bandera. No joke, Bandera is the cowboy capital of the world. The next day we made a small day trip with his mom to Austin, TX. Although we didn’t see much of the city, Austin was pretty rad. Of course, we visited Caffe Medici, home of the 1st and 2nd place South Central Regional Barista Champions, . They proudly serve coffees roasted by Cuvee Coffee. I was feeling a little bad for the baristas there though, it was already so hot and humid, I’m sure they were struggling to keep the shots consistent, but they did a stellar job!

Before we could get out of Texas we were stopped by the State Patrol and given a ticket for speeding. As my dad would say, “Damn, the bad luck.” Our drive continued west through New Mexico and into Arizona, where we stayed with Chris’ grandparents in Tucson.

We visited the Safehouse. They brew coffee roasted by Roaster X. Their espresso blends were called Dada and Firecracker, and pulled through a 3 group Astoria lever machine. Next up was a new shop in Tucson, Crave. It’s comfortable with an alternative, retro edge. And they have an amazing bar to sit at. We spoke with the owner, Kim and barista, Logan, for quite a while. Kim really wants to push coffee quality in AZ, she’s going to start leading cuppings and tastings there soon. Plus, they make all of their pastries in house, and they were great!

We took a day trip down to Tombstone and Bisbee. Mostly because I really wanted to see the shoot-out at the OK Corral, but also there’s some great coffee down in Bisbee. After seeing the dramatic reenactment of the gunfight betweent the Earps and Doc Holliday vs. the cowboys, we headed to Bisbee, another small mining town. Bisbee Coffe Co. has a small shop in the historic streets. They’re rockin a Linea/ Super Jolly set-up, and served us one of the best shots we’d had in days, the baristas even knew what their blend consisted of and was pleased to share with us. The roaster is upstairs so we went up and chatted with Justin, who’d just finished roasting all the wholesale coffees for the day. Justin was pretty stoked, he had just returned from his first SCAA conference in Minneapolis and ready to get down to business on the company’s 12 kilo Diedrich roaster.

We continued our travels along the US/Mexico border into California. We stopped in San Diego for fish tacos, but continued on to Los Angeles. Visiting many friends and shops that weren’t opened the year before when we were in town. Thanks again to Tonx and his lovely lady for being our excellent hosts! Of course we visited Intelli.l.a., Choke, and LA Mill. We had fantastic meals with many friends. Basically, everyone should visit.

shot at Choke, pulled by new friend Jules

this is Lilly, the cutest chic in LA, daughter of Nick & Shar Griffith

From L.A. we headed north on the 101. We took a couple of detours to visit the new shop, Verve, in Santa Cruz. It’s a cool beach city and a super cool shop. Placed on the extremely low cement counter is their GB5 that’s pulling super tight ristrettos of both their Street Level and Sermon Espresso blends that they roast right next door. Verve put a big smile on my face, and they gave us plenty of coffee to take with us. Thanks guys!

As we neared San Francisco, we headed to Barefoot Coffee Roasters. They shop was dimly lit and crowded, as it was a Sunday afternoon. They have barista profiles and pictures hanging on the wall so all the customers can know the people behind the bar. They pulled us shots of their Big Foot Espresso blend as well as a single origin shot from El Salvador, the CoE #10, San José.

We arrived in San Francisco just in time for our first staff meeting, at RITUAL COFFEE ROASTERS!! We are stoked to be a part of this team, and excited to continue our coffee education.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

I just found this blog the other day, it’s written by a couple of baristas in Brisbane..  Check it out.

Coffee+Food+Musica and Love

We have arrived at our stopping point, San Francisco! But first, how did we get here.

my car… it’s very small and very full…

Picking the story back up in Gainesville. Volta was fantastic. Their opening party blew me out of the water, I have a feeling they will be quite successful, they’ve hired a great staff who don’t need much pushing to become super baristas. Plus, I had my first Bumper Crop microcosm espresso experience there. YAY, thanks! Before leaving Florida we had to see some gators, not too far from true’s house there is some sort of crazy nature reserve where the gators live, in the wild. It is also gator mating season.

A few hours later we arrived in New Orleans, LA. I think NOLA is magical. There is an energy (or ghosts) there like no other. We stayed the night in style at the W Hotel French Quarter. Whenever you get sad that you’re not a famous movie star, rocker, or politician of sorts, stay in a W hotel. They make you feel like you own the world, seriously.

Coffee-wise, New Orleans has a lot of chicory to offer. We indulged at Cafe Du Monde for historical purposes, and for beignets. We also checked out Royal Coffee House and La Boucherie. The only espresso we saw being served without any syrups was at nola, Emeril’s restaurant, but even there it was pods.

I loved NO, it made me want to get dressed up, listen to ragtime and jazz and sit on a stoop.

We continued west on I-10, and into Texas.

This year’s Nordic Barista Cup has been cancelled.  I’m so down.  Thank you Jens and Björg for all the work you put into this event, it really is great place to meet and talk with and challenge all the coffee folk in Scandanavia.

It’s all about next year in Iceland!  Start planning now to go the beautiful country in September-ish 2009!  I know I am!

SCAA is kind of a blur now.  Chris and I are on another trip already.  We are on a road trip!

Friday we departed from Atlanta and headed to Charleston, SC.  While we were there to visit an old friend and celebrate a first birthday, we had our Saturday morning cup at Metto, a new Zoka-selling shop.  Too bad it was our first day of the trip and I was bad at taking my camera with me…

Now I am sitting at the amazing new shop, Volta, down in Gainesville, FL.  Some months ago I came down here to meet with true and gang to give my hand at helping design their bar.  It was a great experience then and seeing it in real life now is awesome!   Plus this chemexed Finca Matalapa micro-lot is delish…   Last night was Volta’s grand opening party and I wouldn’t have missed that! Thank you Anthony and Janet for putting us up last night, I wish you nothing but the best of luck.  I think you have something really special.

Also, thank you to Tony, Diane and all of Octane.  The past year and some months have been great.  The last throwdown was a great send-off.  (Chris technically won, but I got a bonus re-pour and then we tied..).  Thank you thank you thank you thank you!!  I will miss everyone very much.

Today we are headed to New Orleans!  Pictures to follow, I promise.

and happy mother’s day!

Yay for all things new and exciting!  Thank you for continuing to read my posts!

Below are all of the posts I wrote of coffeerevelation.com.

This week’s tasting was olives.  I love olives and all their salty goodness.  Plus I learned a lot of fun, useless facts about them, and I really love fun, useless facts.

“This tree possess a wealth of symbolism - peace, fruitfulness, purification, strength, victory and reward. In Ancient Greece the tree was sacred to Athene and the first olive, which sprang from her quarrel with Poseidon, was preserved as a treasure behind the Erechtheum.  In Jewish and Christian tradition, the olive is a symbol of peace and it was an olive-branch which the dove brought back to Noah when the Flood was over. And old legend tells that Christ’s cross was made of olive-and cedar-wood.  For Islam, the olive is the central tree, the World axis, a symbol of Universal Man and of the Prophet.” “The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols” by Jean Cheavlier and Alain Gheerbrant.

Green olives and black olives are washed thoroughly in water to remove oleuropein, a bitter carbohydrate. Sometimes they are also soaked in a solution of food grade sodium hydroxide in order to accelerate the process.

Green olives are allowed to ferment before being packed in a brine solution. American black (”California”) olives are not fermented, which is why they taste milder than green olives.
Olives are also one of the only fruits that you have to process before eating.

We tasted 6 different olives of different varietals from different regions and having gone through different processes.
Alfonso Olive~ purple from Chile: softer texture, brined with salt, water and citric acid
Halkidiki Olive ~ from the Halkidiki peninsula of Greece: super salty green, brined with salt, water and citric acid
Kalamata Olive ~ named after the city kalamata in Greece: used red wine vinegar in the brine
Mt. Athos Olive ~ from Macedonia: dry cured and so so sweet
Thasos Olive ~ an island of the coast of Greece: oil cured with extra virgin olive oil
Cerignola Olive ~ native to Italy: “normal” black olive, brined with salt, water and lactic acid

Oil Curing ~ confusing but I think in addition to the salt soak you add oil, or you soak in oil afterwards.
Brining~ cover in salt water brine solution for days and up to months, store in a cool place.
Dry Curing~ like curing meats, cover in salt and let hang out for a long time.

the Mt. Athos Olive, photos by Curt

We also had some delicious goat cheese and small glasses of pinot noir.

This came out today! YAY!!

This is an amazing piece written by Mark Overbay at Counter Culture, and I couldn’t have said it better…

Rising from the rubble of its catastrophic civil war and genocide in the early 1990s, Rwanda is in the midst of an extraordinary coffee renaissance and coffee-fueled socio-economic recovery, becoming a source of some of the world’s finest, most sought after beans. With the help of USAID, a handful of NGOs, and a few U.S. coffee roasters, Rwanda’s growing, quality-driven coffee trade has not only helped the country experience economic recovery; it also has led to social reconciliation among people on both sides of the recent conflict. In April, Atlanta’s Octane Coffee Bar & Lounge, located in the city’s renovated Westside neighborhood, is celebrating the incomparable quality of Rwandan coffee and the country’s coffee-fueled triumphs with a month-long series of events designed to honor and benefit the country’s artisan farming communities.

For the entire month of April, Octane’s regular espresso blend will be replaced by a special, single-origin espresso roast from Humure, Rwanda, a partnering coffee growing community of the Durham, NC-based Counter Culture Coffee, which works on the ground-level with Rwandan coffee farmers and supplies Octane with all its fresh-roasted coffees. Also, instead of its normal daily selection, Octane’s French press program – which involves grinding and brewing to order – will feature coffee from a different Rwandan coffee farmer cooperative each week. Other Rwandan coffee events include: (all events at Octane)

April 11: Latte Art Throwdown and Grill-out
April 12, 6 PM: Charity Bike Race and Spoke Card Art Show (8pm) to benefit Bikes to Rwanda, a nonprofit working to the improve quality of life in Rwandan communities through a bike workshop and maintenance program that provides transportation resources for basic needs and enhances production of quality coffee.       April 13, 8:20 PM: Pecha Kucha Night Art Show, featuring original art inspired by Rwanda’s coffee growing communities.

“We have been really impressed with the quality of the incredible Rwandan coffees, as well as the reactions we receive from customers who not only love the quality, but also support Rwandan coffees for social and humanitarian reasons,” said Octane owner Tony Riffel. “Rwandan coffee, because of its unique flavor and inspiring story, tends to spark conversation, and we’re hoping that our month-long Rwandan coffee celebration will help communicate the message that our coffee choices can have far-reaching, potentially very positive effects on the world.”

Our house became an international barista hostel for the past week. It was so exciting to see friends and hear their stories of coffee. First was a murky coffee team, Katie Duris and Shannon Ducrest.

They were coming through Atlanta on their way to Florida. It was a quick visit as they were quite tired after a long drive. We showed them Octane and then took them to Tilt, a new omer to the ATL coffee scene also brewing up Counter Culture goodness.

The following night, during a long layover on a flight to Guatemala, was Klaus Thomsen and Mads HØgstad.

Man, do I love the Danes, but I guess the US Customs agents don’t as much, it took them hours to get through! We took them to see Octane and the CCC training center of course!

Next up to slumber in the small house was James Hoffmann and Anette Moldvaer.

photo by Ken. thanks.

Atlanta was the last stop on their East Coast Tour with Counter Culture. They brought a tornado with them but we tried to show the drrty drrty as best we could.

The last crasher on our rad little air mattress was Ben Kaminsky, on a layover coming back to the States from Guatemala (he was on the same origin visit to Finca Vista Hermosa as Klaus and Mads).

most excellent photo from tonx’s flickr (sorry/thank you)

I’d like to thank everyone who stayed with us, it really made this house feel like a home.

And yesterday, I went uptown to Buckhead to train one of our regulars and his friends on his new GS3 and Versalab grinder! It was such a blast and by the end of the afternoon they were all pulling gorgeous shots and having fun with it. Even his 10-month-old darling was excited!