Life is Tough!

I had a great tasing session in my PJs at home the other day. I tasted Ojo de Agua Typica, Catura and Dona Berta all from Panama. The Dona Berta was amazing. Coffee+PJs=:)

Coffee Confusion

I had an interesting realization the other day while riding the A train. I was trying to put myself into the shoes of a confused customer at Starbucks not quite knowing what size "Venti" was or what the hell a "Frappuccino" is and just wanting a cup of coffee. Then I thought about how confusing it can be to get a "regula coffee light an' sweet" at Grumpy. When presented with a choice of different origins, some people don't know what it means and get a little frustrated before we have a chance to educate them. I feel bad sometimes because they want something so simple, "a little sumpn sumpn to wake up in the morning". I think I have decided to stop feeling bad though. Here is my realization: coffee IS exotic and there really is nothing regular about it. It has ALWAYS (meaning since before Americans started drinking it) come from Ethiopia, Kenya, Sumatra, Colombia, Brazil, etc, etc. For some reason, many people have forgotten that this stuff comes from some of the wildest places on Earth before it gets to the can, the pod, the packet, or the bag. This is not a new thing. In the 1600s, coffee hit Europe with a fashionable edge, consumers thought it to be what exciting, exotic, foreign people drank to enlighten themselves. They felt like they were getting cultured by drinking it. I still agree with that. I don't think I believe in "Regula Coffee" any more. Don't forget about the wildness in your cup!

You say Geisha I say Gesha. Don't call this one off!

So as some of you may know from being good little blog readers, the Cafe Grumpy blog tells a story of two young men by the names of Joseph Brodsky and Steven Holt paying a visit to our shop. These events are described on said blog. This will cover the events following. We all went to a rock and roll performance that included fellow barista, Felice on drums. It was his band, Vesper's cd release party in the Lower East Side. Joe and Steve met up with us at Arlene's for drinks and coffee talk. Awesome! (from what I remember). The next day I was invited to join the two at their hotel to mill coffee samples from Panama. I was not aware of what that entailed but I really didn't care. It sounded like a great way for a bouncing baby coffee geek to spend his Sunday. Holy Crap! I didn't realize that we would be milling a naturally processed Geisha from Panama with our feet ($100/lb green). As my hangover subsided, I began to feel the gravity and importance of this coffee. No one has really produced a coffee like this yet and I was grinding it into a screen with my boot (don't worry it is cooked at over 400 degrees after that) on the hotel room floor. Joe took the seeds to Dallis Coffee to roast them. He sent us a sample. I will most definitely blog about the cupping results. Anyway, we made tea out of the dried cherries and parchment. It was interesting and tangy. There were only wine glasses in the hotel but hey, it made us feel a little more elegant drinking Geisha tea out of them. We also milled some washed Geisha from Esmeralda and a couple other farms in Panama. I think I can speak for many coffee geeks out there in saying that we all desire to get as close as we can to the plant or the farm from which our delicious, brown elixir came. One step closer. Thanks guys!

Coffee Party: After the Fact

Well that was a fun night. I understand that some of us had to open coffee shops the next day. Bummer. Yeah me too Dan. We made it though and people have been talking about another one or that we should do this more often. I agree. More fun to be had. Mike, let's do this again!

Coffee Party!!!!

Hey Coffeeheads! Over too many shots of espresso today, Mike White of Gimme! and I decided that it would be a good idea for the Grumps, the Gimme!s and anyone else in the coffee industry to get together for some end of summer fun and beverages. We will be getting together on September 17th at Spuyten Duyvil @ 359 Metropolitan Ave. in Brooklyn @ 8pm. This is a great opportunity for a whole lot of fun and hob nobbery with some of the coolest people in the world...Coffee Professionals, duh! Caroline can I have the night off? Maybe the next morning too? Peace up, word out. Mike and I will arm wrestle for the 2007 East Coast Barista Heavy Tamper Arm Wrestling Semifinal Competition Title. Not really, he would win anyway. See you there!

Cafe Creme

Well my girlfriend and I recently went to a wedding in France. I had been warned that the coffee in France wasn't all that great but I thought to myself, "I bet I can find a good shop there." I mean come on, the French Press?, one of the oldest coffee epicenters in Europe is Paris, the French Revolution was started at a coffee shop. Anyway, I was sure there would be a gem there and I was going to find it. Well I found something. It seems as if the Parisians are all about Nespresso (little coffee pods cooked in a machine that looks kinda like an espresso machine but I think that's to make people feel like they are baristas. It feels good to be a barista! What a great marketing tool). We explored outside of Nespressoland to find that most of the cafes were serving old preground espresso and using it to pull bad long-ass shots, not long bad-ass shots. They needed milk so we learned that the things to order were Cafe Creme and Cappuccinos. They worked to provide us with our caffeine but flavors weren't the best. BUT, THE FACT THAT WE WERE SITTING AT A SIDEWALK CAFE IN PARIS DRINKING CAPPUCCINOS made it pretty damn good!
We also spent some time in Amsterdam. I found the best Cappuccino there at a shop called Belgica. Tomas, our star barista ground the shot after we ordered it, pulled the shot with a newer lever machine (I couldn't tell what brand it was or how old it was) while he steamed the milk. They steamed the milk like we do with nice thick microfoam as opposed to the dishsuds I had been getting in my caps. Tomas talked about how he would love to visit New York and how his bosses thought that latte art was a waste of time. Poor guy was chompin' at the bit to pour a rosetta. I thought about buying a late and pouring it myself to show him but I think the previous "Coffee Shop" visit would have made it difficult for me to even find the steam wand let alone pour a latte.
The day after we got back to the city, I had to open the shop. I unlocked the door at 6:15am and was pounded with the smells of awesome fresh coffee. I missed it so much. I Clovered up a cup of Yirgacheffee Worka and was in heaven again. Thank you Grumpy...Thank you..sniff sniff.

Get to Worka!

One of my favorite things about the coffee industry is that all of the "Rockstars" are available by email or telephone still. Peter Giuliano still picks up the phone and talks to people. I don't even think Peter has a security guard. Duane Sorenson stops in for shots and Nick Cho podcasts about our Clovers. One of the best visits happened this week; a wonderful visit and dinner with The Petersons from Hacienda La Esmeralda. Bow down! If you were trying to contact your favorite musicians, you would probably have a lot more trouble getting them to pick up the phone, getting their security guard to pick up the phone...hell I don't think you could even get an email back from the security guard's security guard. I love you coffee. Don't you worry Vince Piccollo, I think you are a Rockstar too.

p.s. I am enjoying a Chemex of Yergacheffe Worka from Novo Roasters. Yummy.

Valuable Lesson

During the last few days at the cafe we have been making so many changes. We are trying a grinder timer on our Robur espresso grinder where after dialing in for the day, it was recommended that the barista make adjustments on the time to regulate flow rate as opposed to grind. This is a little backwards from what I have learned in the past. I have also been trying to get comfortable with using a bottomless portafilter. There are so many reasons to switch from spouted but of course the main one should be that the shots taste better. That should be the goal with any changes one makes to his/her espresso routine. Well by the end of my shift today I was over-caffeinated from tasting so many shots and frustrated that I could not get an amazing shot with all of these new improvements. I realized the importance of only changing ONE variable at a time. I couldn't focus on mastering one thing at a time and instead ended up chasing espresso shots up and down the block. Note to self: Slow it down there Turbo.

Coffee Blog!

Well I have gone and done it. I have taken the next step to coffee geekdome and started a coffee blog. Welcome to Jitterville! I work as a Barista and as the Executive Coffee Inventory & Freshness Inspection Specialism Administrator at Cafe Grumpy in NYC. I started this in order to strengthen the network of coffee gurus, baristas, Grumpsters, growers, green buyers, roasters, cafe owners, cuppers, enthusiasts, experts, wannabe experts, drinkers, and my mom so she thinks I am doing something important in NYC. Viva Jitterville!
(BTW I am at the moment, enjoying a wonderful French press of Guatemala Finca Nueva Armenia...Deeeelish!)