Jeff Carlson (.Thought)

Profile of Stumptown Founder Duane Sorenson

The Tacoma News Tribune published a long feature profile of Duane Sorenson, founder of Stumptown Coffee: Coffee’s benevolent Mr. Bean.

If you've wondered what the big deal is with Northwest coffee (specifically in Seattle and Portland), this article gives you a good flavor. It's not just a matter of how to spice up your daily latté - it's a focus on the coffee beans, where they come from, paying better-than-fair prices for good crops, and making sure that the coffee people taste is as good as your own high standards. Plus, Duane just sounds like a cool guy.

Long Hours

Midnight Pavoni Rendezvous
Originally uploaded by Jeff Carlson

On Saturday, I planned on going to bed at the same time as Kim and get a good night's rest. We spent the day with family, watching my 2 year old niece for a few hours and then having dinner at my sister's house. She lives in Bremerton, a little over an hour away (either by ferry or by driving around Puget Sound), so as a result we didn't get home until about 11:30. Still, that was the earliest I'd been to bed all week by about 3 hours.

I'm spending most of my time updating my iMovie/iDVD Visual QuickStart Guide (the new edition isn't yet listed at Amazon), which is more work this time around because iMovie '08 is a completely new video-editing program. I'm starting to warm up to the changes Apple made, and realizing that this version is deeper than I expected it to be (which means more work for me to suss out those depths).

I'm also helping to update a colleague's book in roughly the same timeframe. And since Adobe just released Photoshop Elements 6, the update to the Elements Visual QuickStart Guide is in the mix, too. Sprinkle a few article assignments in there as well.

But why should work occupy all of my attention? Why not do something really out of the ordinary, like have hardwood floors installed in our house (finally)? Heck, I might as well start a family while I'm at it.

This explains why my trusty La Pavoni espresso maker pictured here has become a reliable friend late at night and early every morning. I'm not complaining (much), because I did say yes to all of these projects. It's fun in that overwhelming sort of way. I just don't know where September and October went.

Caffeine Nap

I need to try this soon:

Scientists say that a successful midday nap depends on two things: timing and (no kidding) caffeine consumption. Experiments performed at Loughborough University in the UK showed that the sleep-deprived need only a cup of coffee and 15 minutes of shut-eye to feel amazingly refreshed.

coffee?
Originally uploaded by Jeff Carlson

(From Wired, via Lifehacker)

Helvetica Coffee Mug

Love love love love love this:

(Found via the excellent swiss miss)

Coffee Drinks Illustrated

This is a great, simple-to-understand diagram of popular coffee drinks: Coffee Drinks Illustrated. Click to view the whole thing.

This would make a great poster.

Dear Indy Hipster Coffee Shop Near Where I Work

Radio personality and author John Moe posted a great open letter on his blog to a cafe near his work. I'm curious to know which one, of course, though what he describes isn't unique to just that one shop: Dear Indy Hipster Coffee Shop Near Where I Work.

I know you have a lot on your mind lately, what with the play you're directing at the tiny theater, the band you may or may not be in, and your busy scowling schedule, but maybe when I come by you could sometimes look at me with a hint of welcome. Like I'm not a burden. Maybe you could treat me like the one bringing the money, and really the activity, into this relationship. Because that's what I am.

Making Perfect Espresso at Illy

Chef David Lebovitz is in living in Europe for a while, and went to Trieste to learn about espresso from the masters at Illy: Making Perfect Espresso at Illy. It's a good read, though it does sound like Illy set things up so that they come off as the heroes (see theshot.coffeeratings.com, where I first found the link, for explanation).

I know, I should just turn this into a coffee blog; as JG says, "That Carlson sure does like coffee!"

At the Starbucks Annual Meeting; "The Memo"

At this morning's annual meeting for Starbucks shareholders, Chairman Howard Schultz appeared sternly defensive about what he called, "The Memo," a critical note to the company's board of directors (see "The Commoditization of Starbucks, by Howard Schultz"). Although a small portion of the two-plus hour meeting mentioned the memo specifically, the tone of the presentation seemed focused on pushing the positive aspects of Starbucks's business practices in order to challenge recent criticisms from inside and outside the company.

[Part of] "my role in the company is to ask questions," Schultz said, noting that his 25 years' worth of memos demonstrate an "entrepreneurial push". Within the memo in question, Schultz voiced concerns about the switch to super-automatic espresso machines ("...we overlooked the fact that we would remove much of the romance and theatre that was in play with the La Mazocca machines") and the cookie-cutter nature of the stores ("...stores that no longer have the soul of the past and reflect a chain of stores vs. the warm feeling of a neighborhood store"). He said that contrary to some reports, the memo was not intended for public consumption.

He was a little more visibly agitated by the way Starbucks is often held up as a negative symbol of U.S. capitalism and other global concerns. "We welcome debate," he said, "[we] just want it to be an honest appraisal." Outside McCaw hall in Seattle, a group of protestors (and accompanying large inflatable rat) picketed for fair prices for coffee farmers, unionization for Starbucks employees, and in support of Ethiopia's move to trademark coffee names from associated regions such as Yirgacheffe and Sidamo.

On the latter point, Starbucks President and CEO James Donald stated that the company believes regional certification and its C.A.F.E (coffee and farmer equity) practices are better than the Ethiopian government's trademark move.

Much of the presentation reinforced the idea that Schultz brought up early: "Can a company grow, get big, and stay small?"

Donald said that Starbucks planned to double the amount of coffee bought from east Africa in the coming year, and that in 2006 the company purchased 14 percent of the world's fair-trade certified coffee (it buys 2 percent of the world's coffee, a number I expected to be higher given the company's size). Toward the end of the meeting, the President of the Republic of Rwanda Paul Kagame addressed the crowd, heaping praises on the company and its worldwide efforts, and making an amusing plea for Starbucks to open a store in Rwanda ("Really, please do," I think he said).

Oh, and I can't forget the appearance (via satellite, unfortunately) of Sir Paul McCartney, who just signed with the new Starbucks Hear Music label. I wonder if Sir Paul gets tired of people saying things like, "I can't believe I just talked to a Beatle!"

I attended the meeting as the guest of a friend whose mother is a shareholder; I don't own any Starbucks stock, but couldn't help but be envious when Schultz displayed a slide that showed a $10,000 investment in 1992 being worth $467,000 now. Mostly, I wanted to hear what was said about The Memo, and get a sense of what a big public Starbucks event is like.

The meeting started at 10 a.m., but seating opened up at 8 a.m.. When I arrived at 9, McCaw hall was full and my friend and I were led into an overflow pavilion. In addition to chairs and three large displays set up to watch the presentation, this room featured several espresso machine and barista setups (and extremely long lines of shareholders ponying up for free caffeine fixes). Drip coffee and free pastries were also available; I watched two elderly, affluent-looking shareholders transfer probably five muffins and eight cookies to purse and pockets. (I desperately wanted to get a photo of them, but wasn't able to.)

A couple of displays caught my attention. A pair of women were offering free samples of canned, heated coffee from a vending machine that Starbucks expects to introduce in 2008. (The machine is heated, not the cans, unlike a recent self-heating invention.) The cans will cost about $2.00 each.

I tried this Italian Roast Coffee with Whole Milk and Sugar, which tasted like... a Starbucks coffee with milk and sugar. Not something I'd go out of my way for, but would be a nice beverage while waiting for jury duty or someplace else where coffee is typically terrible.

At another display, a large super-automatic, individual-serving coffee maker was being demonstrated. Designed for other self-serve environments such as gas stations or office break rooms, the attractive machine sports two bean hoppers and an easy interface for making a cup of coffee: choose a size (short, tall, or two sizes of carafes), indicate which bean bin to get the source from (for regular and decaf) as well as options for including milk or cocoa, and then press start. It takes a couple of minutes to brew each cup, which, again, didn't taste bad.

I didn't stay for the Q&A session, and was handed a gift bag on my way out containing a bag of ground Costa Rica Tarrazú coffee, a metal Starbucks tumbler (green and nubby), a can of Iced Coffee Light that scares me a little (I'm not a big fan of iced coffee), and a packet of Tazo tea.

02:38 PM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (1)

March 09, 2007

Camping Out in Cafés

In a post's comments, reader Rick writes:

RE: your recent review of Seattle coffeehouses and how nice it is to do work in them: Grr... Jeff, hate to say it, but it's people like you, i.e. those folks who camp out in Seattle coffee houses all day to do their day jobs or homework, that take up 00% if not all the available seats and ruin it for the rest of us. The decor of our coffee houses is now a sea of laptops surrounded by textbooks and workpapers on all the tables. These selfish ones studiously ignore us regular people, who wander the isles looking for a spare seat or corner of a table to hang out for a while with a cup of joe.

  Dean's Office B.A. 
  Originally uploaded by Jeff Carlson.

Actually, Rick, I agree with you. There are a lot of people who camp out for hours at a time. I've found that I can do maybe up to two hours of work in a coffeeshop before I need to move on, but usually I've gone to a cafe as a change of pace, not as a second office.

I'm glad to see that places like Caffe Ladro and Fremont Coffee Company are using a system where you get a code from the counter to get onto their wireless networks, which expires after a set amount of time (usually 1-2 hours). My colleague Glenn Fleishman wrote an article for the New York Times about Victrola when they decided to turn the Wi-Fi off on the weekends.

It's true that some people will just park at a table, laptop or no, and hang out all day. I don't know what can be done except to find ways to discourage them (politely) from doing so. It does annoy me when one person is taking up a four-person table with all their crap. But I'm sure they had this problem in the early coffeehouses in England, too.

12:28 AM in Coffee, Rants | Permalink | Comments (2)

March 07, 2007

Espressomap

Oooooh: espressomap is a simple site that uses Google Maps to identify excellent espresso venues in North America. Type your zip code to find out what's near you!

02:20 PM in Coffee, Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (1)

March 06, 2007

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

My friend Karen pointed me to What Kind of Coffee Are You? No surprise:

You Are an Espresso At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic. At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung. You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping. Your caffeine addiction level: high. What Kind of Coffee Are You?

In fact, I just finished a double espresso, my opening salvo of the day before I ride into the office.

07:27 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 23, 2007

The Commoditization of Starbucks, by Howard Schultz

Because I live in a great, coffee-abundant city, I can be a bit disparaging toward our hometown heroes, Starbucks. I have nothing against the company, and they rightly deserve credit for pushing up the quality of espresso in America. But I find their coffee to be just okay. One of the company's biggest advantages is the fact that a Starbucks latté tastes pretty consistent whether you're in Seattle or Los Angeles or Humboldt, Tennessee.

Over the past couple of years, Starbucks has retooled its equipment, abandoning their La Marzocco espresso machines in favor of super-automatic machines that deliver espresso at the push of a button. On the surface, you'd think this would be a good thing: the time it takes to make a latté (or, more importantly, several hundred lattés during peak hours) is drastically reduced, and you get a level of consistency in temperature and other settings that, as I understand it, tend to fluctuate more with the La Marzocco or other machines. But coffee from a super-automatic often tastes a bit watery or flat to me.

People who really know coffee have expressed this point of view for a while, but now there's a new voice, one that carries quite a bit more weight: Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz. In a memo this month to the Starbucks CEO and others (which Starbucks has verified is legitimate), Schultz notes that the switch to automatic machines is having unintended negative effects:

Over the past ten years, in order to achieve the growth, development, and scale necessary to go from less than 1,000 stores to 13,000 stores and beyond, we have had to make a series of decisions that, in retrospect, have lead to the watering down of the Starbucks experience, and, what some might call the commoditization of our brand.

Many of these decisions were probably right at the time, and on their own merit would not have created the dilution of the experience; but in this case, the sum is much greater and, unfortunately, much more damaging than the individual pieces. For example, when we went to automatic espresso machines, we solved a major problem in terms of speed of service and efficiency. At the same time, we overlooked the fact that we would remove much of the romance and theatre that was in play with the use of the La Marzocca machines. This specific decision became even more damaging when the height of the machines, which are now in thousands of stores, blocked the visual sight line the customer previously had to watch the drink being made, and for the intimate experience with the barista.

He also talks about store design:

...one of the results has been stores that no longer have the soul of the past and reflect a chain of stores vs. the warm feeling of a neighborhood store. Some people even call our stores sterile, cookie cutter, no longer reflecting the passion our partners feel about our coffee.

However, I think the heart of this criticism is that the stores are so similar everywhere, not that they're necessarily sterile. I'd rather sit in a Starbucks for the atmosphere than a lot of little coffee outfits, but maybe that's because I'm not a fan of linoleum tile and garage-sale furniture.

Schultz concludes with something that tells me he's on the right track:

I have said for 20 years that our success is not an entitlement and now it's proving to be a reality. Let's be smarter about how we are spending our time, money and resources. Let's get back to the core. Push for innovation and do the things necessary to once again differentiate Starbucks from all others.

The question becomes: Will the company follow the founder's advice, or streamline its way into McDonald's style blandness? I'm hoping for innovation.

02:21 PM in Coffee, Rants | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 06, 2007

Terra Bite Cafe Has No Prices

Seen in today's Seattle Times: A Kirkland cafe with no prices

With its blood-red walls and black leather sofas, Kirkland's Terra Bite Lounge looks like any other coffee shop — until you get to the menu. There are no prices listed. Terra Bite doesn't have them.

You read that right: No prices. Customers pay what and when they like, or not at all — it makes no difference to the cafe employees, who are instructed not to peek when people put money in the metal lock box.

"Does it really matter to any of our patrons ... whether they pay a dollar or three dollars or five dollars?" said Terra Bite founder Ervin Peretz, a 37-year-old Google programmer.

It remains to be seen whether this will succeed, or if it will be underwritten by the owner. The article mentions that he does have a plan to be slightly profitable, so that's encouraging. But it's also something that can't just be done anywhere...location and foot traffic would seem to be more important here than anywhere to sustain a level of business required to offset those who think that they should pay only $2 for a latté, for example.

10:42 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 08, 2007

Stumptown Coming to Seattle!

  Removing Grounds During Cupping (BW) 
  Originally uploaded by Jeff Carlson.

Portland's best coffee roaster looks to be opening a shop in Seattle, according to Seattle Weekly. A few days ago I learned (and tasted) that Cafe Verité in Ballard is using Stumptown beans.

I also see from the Weekly that Victrola's second store is about to open (with a bit of drama behind the scenes).

It's good to be a coffee lover in Seattle.

(The image was taken by Kim at the Stumptown Annex in Portland.)

12:05 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (1)

January 07, 2007

Travel Coffee

I spent the weekend at my mom's farm in California, visiting family and friends and getting ready to hit Macworld Expo for the rest of this week. I've spent most of my non-socializing time working on the presentations I'm giving, which means I've been up late working...and drinking coffee.

Understand that the coffee situation here is much different than in Seattle. Starbucks is the quality alternative in Dixon (unless there's some gem I'm not aware of), and even so, Mom's farm is several miles outside of town. So I've been sucking down cups of some caramel-flavored drip coffee.

At home, I freely admit, I turn up my coffee-snob nose at Starbucks because there's so much better coffee nearby: Fremont Coffee Company, Vivolo Coffee Roasters, Caffe Ladro... and that's just within three blocks of my office. But that's not the case on the farm.

And that's okay.

For some reason, my taste buds recalibrate themselves for my location, and this flavored coffee is pretty darn tasty. Given that I'll be at a trade show all week, this might even be the high point of coffee. (I need to check the CoffeeGeek.com forums to see if people have any good nearby espresso recommendations.) Although, to be honest, my taste buds didn't do a good calibrating job when I was in Humboldt, Tennessee. Starbucks became an oasis!

11:57 PM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (1)

January 03, 2007

Coffee Gear of the Future

Lore Sjöberg at Wired.com muses on what coffee gear will look like in a few year's time: "All Hail the Mighty Coffee Bean!"

Step Two: Storage

All coffee lovers know that coffee grounds turn into the very dandruff of the Dark Lord himself if you leave them out for more than 145 seconds. Clearly I'll need a way to store the grounds while I'm having each bean individually ministered to. The CafeStore 4000x creates a vacuum environment for the storage of the ground beans. Not just a vacuum in the usual sense of having very little air, but an ideal vacuum with no air, no black-body radiation, no zero-point energy, nothing but beans. According to the laws of physics, this is impossible, and as such may cause the universe to cease to exist, but isn't that worth it for the perfect cup?

Indeed it is!

02:42 PM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 14, 2006

Home Espresso - The Slippery Slope

Former Seattle espresso guru tonx is writing about coffee at Dethroner.com for a bit, and I found this post to be so true in many ways: Home Espresso - The Slippery Slope.

Don’t do it. You’ve got so much to live for. Don’t listen to the chorus of coffee geeks chanting “one of us, one of us”. Note the skeptical look on the face of your significant other: you’ll be seeing it again many more times before you get within reach of your quixotic goal. Home espresso sounds like an innocent idea but its really the hobbyist equivalent of the Iraq war - it will cost way more than you expect, and in spite of repeated failures you’ll resist cutting and running.

Basically it's a high overview of home espresso, but I found some of the comments just as entertaining, such as this man's repeated attempts to get a good-tasting shot of espresso:

I would say perhaps one in four shots have been drinkable and one in twenty have been excellent. My ratio lately has been much better (every one of the them drinkable, more than half excellent) because I’ve gone absolutely OCD. It’s like rolling a cigarette (as discussed here): you just have to do it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over…

Then do it again and adjust.

Then do it again and adjust.

Then do it again and adjust.

Avoid your wife’s glares.

Then do it again and adjust.

Technorati Tags: coffee, espresso

02:25 PM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 01, 2006

Espresso Machine from Bomb Shells

Okay, enough about me and my progress on conquering all media. Let's get back to the important stuff: coffee! Specifically, a man in Ethiopia who converts old weapon shells into espresso machines: "From weapons of war to great coffee". I love this on so many levels that my head is spinning (or maybe that's from the doppio I polished off a few minutes ago).

But Mr Azmeraw says it can be difficult to convince people to buy because of the mortar shell.

"These shells have all been used. We all need peace and we don't want war but once these shells have been used, we should use our skills to do something with them.

"Sometimes I think about the fact they were used for war but I want to change them to do something good. They could be a symbol of war but I am doing something good out of the bad."

(Spotted at boingboing.net.)

04:37 PM in Coffee, Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 29, 2006

Starbucks Obsessive

Look, people often joke about my business name, Never Enough Coffee Creations, but even I have limits when it comes to consuming coffee (well, depending on the project deadline). But 29 espressos in one day? I'd be a quivering mass of jittery vomit. Here's a guy who's decided that he needs to visit every Starbucks store on the planet: The Sage of Starbucks.

The primary rule is I have to drink at least one four-ounce sample of caffeinated coffee from each store. The store has to have actually opened for business; I can't get there the day before, when they have friends-and-family day and they're giving drinks away—in many ways that's kind of arbitrary. It has to be a company-owned store, not a licensed store. I have to drink the coffee, but there is no time limit on when I have to drink the coffee. But the longer I go without drinking it, the greater the risk that I might lose it. There are two stores I need to go back to in Washington State because I didn't finish the coffee—I lost it. I took it out of the store, I had it in a cup, and in the middle of the night I forgot I hadn't drank it all and I used the cup to relieve myself.

The day you hit 29 stores, what were the side effects?
Well, pretty early on I started developing a headache, I started feeling jittery. Later, because of all the liquid I drank, I started feeling bloated. Just looking at the little cup of coffee made me nauseated.

How many total ounces did you drink that day?
One hundred and four ounces and three shots of espresso. It hurt. And I lost an hour when my jeans ripped in the crotch while I was leaping up to a stone ledge to take a photo—so I had to stop at a mall to buy a pair of jeans. Toward the end of the day there were times when I felt like I was going to hurl, and I really didn't want to because I don't have a rule in place for what happens if I vomit. Would I have to go back to the store and drink the coffee? I probably would. So I definitely wanted to avoid vomiting.

(Via BoingBoing.net)

11:20 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (3)

September 13, 2006

Good Espresso in New York City

A colleague of mine recently bemoaned the lack of good coffee in New York City. She said it was surprising that in a city full of amazing food, the coffee was mediocre at best. When Starbucks is your best option, you know something's wrong.

(Personally, I have a small affection for Starbucks in New York: the only time I've been to the city was several years ago to help work at a Web design conference. I flew in the night before, so I didn't get to see much of the city. The hotel was right at Times Square, but because it was a conference, most of one's time is spent indoors. However, on the first morning, I offered to fetch coffees for my fellow workers at the closest Starbucks. I clearly remember stepping out of the hotel and into a mass of people, packed like Disneyland on the fourth of July, headed in all directions. It was truly amazing for this Idaho-raised boy.)

Good espresso can be had in New York, however, and the New York Times has written up some of the places to find it: Espresso's New Wave Hits Town. I particularly like this passage:

At cafes that are part of what some call the artisanal coffee movement the drinks reflect an obsession with each detail of the journey from farm to cup and an almost cultish pride in the results.

Those results are apparent as soon as you pick up the cup. The crema that crowns these espressos is a ruddy, alluring come-on that persists as you decide whether it’s closer to the color of terra cotta or burnt sienna. It’s not the pale froth that quickly dissipates on lesser espressos. And it’s evidence that the sugars and oils in the coffee have been properly emulsified through careful brewing.

08:59 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 09, 2006

Small Coffeehouses Thrive in Seattle (P.I.)

The Seattle P.I. has an article by Allison Lin that looks at some smaller coffee chains in Seattle and how Starbucks' success has affected them: "Small coffeehouses thrive in Seattle."

As other towns worry that Starbucks Corp. will run their local favorites out of business and rob their streets of quirky charm, the owners of several of Seattle's most beloved independent coffee houses say they have found success by going the opposite route of their big competitor - making a selling point of being small.

Also, here's a bonus link I found at coffeeratings.net (which pointed me to the article above): Delocator, a service that helps you find "a non-corporate café, bookstore, or movie theater near you."

03:54 PM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 05, 2006

Coffee Week at Verité Coffee

My good friend Ags pointed me to what must be, based on name alone, a wonderful thing: Coffee Week at Verité Coffee. As in, free coffee. Buy a $20 drink card before September 15 and get a free drink, or buy a mug or tumbler and get a free fill-up. Verité is located in Ballard (next to the Majestic Bay theater), Madrona, and in West Seattle. They use Caffe Umbria beans, which are especially good.

03:25 PM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (1)

August 11, 2006

Good Espresso on the Eastside?

When I lived in Redmond (yes, that one), I had to drive across the 520 bridge to Seattle to get good coffee. Granted, I was an espresso newbie who only drank mochas, but at the time the only options were a smattering of Starbucks and the espresso carts in the mall. Although I now live in Seattle, I've always gotten the sense that the Eastside (Redmond and Bellevue, mostly) have been content to offer Starbucks-quality coffee.

Seattle's Victrola, one of my favorite coffeehouses, points to a (new?) place called The Soulfood Bookstore & Cafe. Unfortunately, they don't seem to offer a location, but it appears to be this place in Redmond.

Other good coffee locations on the Eastside? Email me.

08:09 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 20, 2006

Death by Caffeine Calculator

According to the Death by Caffeine calculator, I can drink 117.39 shots of espresso before the caffeine content would kill me. I think I'm safe (but I'm not currently on a book deadline). Choose your drink, enter your weight, and find out for yourself!

12:00 PM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 14, 2006

How much do you spend on coffee?

I'm not a real strict numbers guy, but I do know that buying an espresso every day adds up (which is one reason why we got a super-automatic machine in the office). Well, here's a calculator to help you figure the costs: Break the Starbucks habit and Save big!:

A new calculator suggested by Erika Lim from Caffeine Central (Seattle, WA). I, too, have been amazed by folks who bring in coffee from a Starbucks or convenience store every single day instead of just contributing to the local "coffee pot fund". I know office coffee may not stack up to the store bought versions, but is it really worth the long term costs? Many folks drink the equivalent of a wide screen TV every year!

09:00 PM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 26, 2006

++ Caffeine - Sleep = Deadline

  Espresso at Cugini Cafe 
  Originally uploaded by Jeff Carlson.

I'm working frantically on the last stretch of my iMovie Visual QuickStart Guide, which means I'm going to bed no earlier than 1 am and drinking an absurd amount of coffee. But it's good coffee. And there's a certain satisfaction about being in the middle of a project, eyeball-deep, with a deadline looming. Maybe I'm masochistic.

Maybe I just need another espresso.

"When I'm running out of steam,
I pray to you St. Caffeine."
–John Gorka, "St. Caffeine"

09:57 AM in Articles and Books, Coffee | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 23, 2006

KISS Coffeehouse

Look, how else do we expect to rock and roll all night, and party every day? Caffeine at the KISS Coffeehouse:

Myrtle Beach, SC - May 23, 2006 - If you want rock and roll all night, KISS Coffeehouse will be the place to be. On Tuesday, June 27th, legendary KISS band members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons will be on hand at Myrtle Beach South Carolina’s Broadway at the Beach to cut the ribbon on the most outrageous coffee and dessert shop ever constructed.

Through a deal brokered by Signatures Network, Inc., KISS’s exclusive merchandising company, the KISS Coffeehouse in Myrtle Beach, SC is the first licensed coffeehouse by the band known for their incredible stage show, face paint and full throttle rock and roll.

“The idea was to take the energy and excitement of the live KISS show and bring it into a retail setting,” explains long- time KISS fan and storeowner Brian Galvin. “KISS fans will not be disappointed!” pledged Galvin, who knows firsthand the high expectations loyal KISS fans will have for this concept. The coffeehouse will also serve as an official KISS Army recruiting office, exposing new fans and reminding die-hard supporters why KISS continues to be one of the most exciting bands in history.

Although I admit that I can't read these two quotes without picturing Alan Rickman in Galaxy Quest morosely opening an electronics store with, "By Grabthar's hammer... what savings."

The KISS Coffeehouse menu will feature Signature KISS Coffee, including Demon Dark Roast and French KISS Vanilla, eight flavors of the KISS Frozen Rockuccino™, the most caffeinated and refreshing coffee beverage on the market, as well as full array of cookies, brownies and cupcakes. According to Paul Stanley, “The KISS Coffeehouse is our way of providing everyone with the buzz of great, quality treats and coffee filled with enough sugar and caffeine to get the party started, and keep it going!”

Gene Simmons adds, “Every army needs food and drink and the KISS Army is no exception! Even the non-enlisted will find our treats and java rockin’ good!”

(Link via The Stranger)

12:13 PM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (1)

May 14, 2006

New Coffee Grinder and Office Espresso Machine

After my Solis Maestro Plus grinder broke, I took it to Home Espresso Repair, a local shop that I've turned to in the past. Unfortunately, they weren't able to do much with it, and I was still wary of spending $80+ to send it to Oregon for repairs. So, I decided to go ahead and buy a new grinder, the Baratza Virtuoso, which is the next generation of my old model. So now I'm back to making espresso at home, which is a welcome development as I crank on finishing up my latest book project.

Alas, I didn't stop there.

As I've mentioned before, I'm blessed with having numerous good coffee shops near my office in Fremont. We also have an older La Pavoni lever espresso machine, but there's one problem: in our new space, there's no sink. And although it's possible to make espresso without a sink nearby, it's a royal pain in the butt (we have to use the sink in the shared bathroom down the hall). So if I want espresso, I have to go walking for it—and sometimes, darn it, I just want to have a shot of espresso in the middle of the afternoon without walking three blocks to get it.

So, in addition to the grinder, I bought a Gaggia Syncrony Compact, a superautomatic espresso machine that does everything at the touch of a button: it grinds the coffee beans, tamps the grounds, extracts a double-shot of espresso, and ejects the grounds in a hopper that you empty later. If you follow the link above, you'll see that the Gaggia isn't cheap at $650—but actually, it turns out, that is fairly cheap (compare to the $1500 Saeco Royal Professional or the $3600 Jura Capresso Impressa Z6, holy cow). However, I pulled out the calculator and figured I'm spending roughly $400 per year on afternoon espressos (not counting the occasional latté on the way to work, etc.). I'm splitting the cost with my officemates, so shelling out $350 for an in-office machine that does everything actually makes some sense.

It arrived on Friday, so I haven't spent too much time fiddling with it. It works exactly as advertised, and the espresso is pretty good, with lots of nice crema, though a bit flat. The package from Whole Latte Love included 2 pounds of coffee, and although it was vacuum-sealed, there's no indication how old the beans are. So, I'll swing by Lighthouse Roasters on my way to the office Monday and pick up half a pound of freshly-roasted Sumatra beans to try.

12:40 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 01, 2006

If you weren't sure if Seattle was a coffee town...

How about grabbing some friends, some firewood, and some green coffee beans and making some Beach Roasted Coffee? It looks like this crew from Zoka and other cafes went to Golden Gardens park, which is about 10 minutes from my house.

Bronwen made a killer dark roast Sumatra and George (the green buyer for Alterra) turned out a mighty fine Huehue medium roast. Soon we were serving all the beachgoers that were hanging around. We roasted into the night and had a ball.... then the Alterra kids spent the night in my basement. BBF YBBI (bestbudsforeveryoubetterbelieveit!)

02:24 PM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 17, 2006

Grinder Update

(If this isn't a bloggish post, I don't know what is. Tomorrow: belly button lint!)

After receiving the replacement part for my broken Solis Maestro Plus grinder on Friday, I've had no luck grinding coffee: it's all too coarse. So I called Cafe West (the company that handles repairs for the Solis grinders) and spoke to Clarence, who had no suggestions except to send the grinder in for repair.

After having gone to bed at 3:15 a.m., I started to brew up a French Press pot (which works for the coarse grind), and while waiting for the water to boil I ground a few spoonfuls of beans... and saw that the grind was surprisingly fine. In fact, espresso-quality fine. Curious, I flicked on the La Pavoni and pulled a decent espresso shot. Thinking it to be a fluke, I ground a few more small batches at various levels, which all seemed okay.

I'm flummoxed. The only difference between this morning and this weekend is that I called the repair company!

I'm growing more convinced that machines are sentient (the first step toward the impending robot uprising?). In the meantime, I need to do more testing before sending the grinder off.

Update: The robots must've read this blog. Now the grinder isn't working correctly again. It's off to Oregon for it!

10:08 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 08, 2006

Grinder Malfunction

A piece of my Solis Maestro Plus grinder broke today, which means I can only grind very coarse coffee. No espresso at the Carlson household until it gets fixed! Quel horreur!

(I'm mostly writing this to test an RSS thing. But still... no espresso!!)

11:54 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (3)

March 31, 2006

Buzzaire - Metered Dose Caffeine Inhaler

It's the solution to my deadline difficulties! ThinkGeek :: Buzzaire - Metered Dose Caffeine Inhaler.

Buzzaire is, quite simply, a caffeine inhaler. One squeeze, one inhale, and you've just rushed 150mg of caffeine into your blood stream. Mints or drinks have to go through your digestive tract first before partying in your blood (or through your skin, in the case of caffeinated soap). But the lung/blood barrier is the fastest way (other than injection or IV) to get caffeine into your system. Not only will you get one heck of a rush, but you'll also freshen your breath! A hint of peppermint oil in each puff will give you a little extra perk with its peppy zing. Buzzaire can beat up your air!

Get 'em fast... I'm sure they'll be gone by Sunday.

08:06 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 24, 2006

MapMuse Coffeehouse Maps

I received an email this morning from MapMuse.com pointing me to their service that maps independent coffeehouses. Plug in an address or metro area to see where local coffee can be found. I'm not sure where they're getting their listings, which seem a little sparse and outdated right now (the Torrefazione Italia near my office no longer exists, and other fine cafés nearby aren't yet listed), but you can add your favorite location.

10:44 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 22, 2006

New Espresso Vivace

After seeing a post by tonx, I headed over to the new Espresso Vivace café located near the REI flagship store here in Seattle.

Long marble bars accommodate singles or those who take their espresso European style -- buy, consume, and be on your way, There’s also a good mixture of tables for two and tables that can sit four or squeeze in a few more.

There’s a subtle 1950s throwback to the style here, with lots of curving chrome, elliptical tables, a few rich leather booth seats, and boomerang-patterned table tops. But this by no means suggests a retro burger joint: the style meshes comfortably with the warm coffee tones throughout the rest of the space.

Vivace’s president, David Schomer, is a leading figure in the espresso world, having authored several books and videos on making and serving espresso -- which means Vivace takes its espresso seriously. Don’t miss a single or doppio (double) shot of espresso or a macchiato so you can experience the smooth brew without a lot of milk distraction.

10:35 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (2)

February 28, 2006

How Caffeine Works

Here's a 1 minute video on how caffeine works: How Caffeine Works - Google Video. Cool!

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February 13, 2006

The Coffeehouse Dictionary

Looking for a good primer on the coffee terms that people are slinging at your neighborhood java joint? Check out The Coffeehouse Dictionary.

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January 19, 2006

Coffee Grinders in NYT

Article about buying coffee grinders appears in the New York Times, with special mention from Coffeegeek.com head honcho Mark Prince: Establishing Some Ground Rules - New York Times.

"I've had terrible, cheap grinders in the past," I said. "They all broke and now we buy ground beans."

I heard a sharp intake of breath.

"Never buy ground beans," Mr. Prince said, maintaining a level tone. "I can recommend good grinders at different price points."

(I wrote about my own grinder purchase last year. Yeah, the grinder is important.)

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December 30, 2005

Coffeehouse Successes and Failures

My office is located in the heart of Fremont, a funky artistic neighborhood in Seattle, which also happens to have three very good coffeeshops (Caffe Ladro, Fremont Coffee Company, and e.t.g.) and two half-decent ones (Starbucks, Peet's Coffee & Tea), all within a four-minute walk. After grabbing a nice hot latté (at Ladro; I'm not exclusive to any of the first three) for this cold, wet winter morning, I came back to my office to find a link to the following great article in my email: "Bitter Brew - I opened a charming neighborhood coffee shop. Then it destroyed my life."

Some years ago, my officemates and I tossed around the idea of finding a space that let us have a coffeeshop in front and our working offices in back, but we knew the idea was folly: we'd never leave the front if we expected to actually make money.

Of course, not everyone fails. A long-time Apple employee I know got burnt out writing code and decided to open his own café. When I saw him the next year at Macworld Expo, he confessed that he missed the "slower pace" of his previous 80-hour workweeks. But he's doing something right: although I haven't visited the place, Zocalo Coffeehouse in San Leandro, California is not only still in business, but they've just undergone a major renovation. Stop by for a cup if you're in town and tell me how it is!

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October 10, 2005

RIP Torrefazione Italia Fremont

Torrefazione - 3
Originally uploaded by Jeff Carlson.

The beautiful Torrefazione Italia cafe near my office closed in September. Corporate owner Starbucks decided to shutter the Italian-themed cafes and concentrate on selling beans wholesale.

This is my favorite picture of the ones I took a week or so before it closed. The baristas working there got a little jittery, and told me that I really wasn't allowed to take pictures for fear that I was actually scoping the place out to rob later. But then one of them said, "Ehh, we're not going to be open long anyway," (or something similar) and didn't give me any trouble.

01:07 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (2)

September 23, 2005

Cafexperiment.com

Someone posted a comment on this page of my Flickr photo collection that I should check out www.cafexperiment.com. So I did.

Wow! I'm in coffee-photo-heaven. I've sent my photo to them for posting.

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April 22, 2005

Hotwire Coffee

I've been working all hours lately to finish iMovie HD & iDVD 5 for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide, but there's only so much time I can spend at my regular office or in my home office. So a few nights ago, Kim and I ventured out to a coffeehouse I've been wanting to visit, Hotwire Online Coffeehouse in Shoreline (they also have a cafe in West Seattle).

Hotwire has the right mix of open space, free tables, and PCs set up for Internet access (when you buy a drink, you get 15 minutes of free online time). They also have free Wi-Fi, of course. They also boast some darn fine coffee, which they roast themselves. I don't want to sound urban elitist, and there are always exceptions, but oftentimes the further you get away from the Seattle core, the quality of espresso drops. Not in this case.

It's also clear that Hotwire makes an effort to serve high-quality coffee. I noticed that the barista was using a bottomless portafilter, the first I'd seen in person. When I commented on it, he said I was the first customer to ever ask, and invited me behind the bar so that I could watch the shots being pulled (see these pictures, which I've linked to before). The tiger striping of the crema and espresso was lovely to watch, and the rosette that he poured into the top of the drink added to the presentation.

If you're in the Shoreline/North Seattle area and looking for a great cup of coffee in a warm atmosphere, Hotwire is the place to go.

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April 17, 2005

Vintage Espresso Machines

In conjunction with the SCAA conference, Hines Public Market in Seattle is showing off some vintage espresso machines. I hope to get over there on Sunday and see them for myself, but in the meantime here are some pics that someone snapped: espresso museum.

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April 16, 2005

Best US Barista

The New York Times has an article about Phuong Tran, this year's United States Barista champion. I saw her get the title last month at the US Barista Championships, which was fun and a new experience. I'll be at the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) conference this weekend, which is being held in Seattle, to soak up as much as I can.

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March 02, 2005

Ruined by Perfection

Last coffee post of the day: an online addendum to a recent National Geographic cover story on caffeine, the "world's most popular psychoactive drug." Photographer Bob Sacha narrates a slideshow of photos taken while researching the article. National Geographic Magazine's Sights & Sounds: What's the Buzz?.

Man, I just finished a latté and already I want another!

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Naked Portafilter Espresso

Reading through the forums at CoffeeGeek, I came across a thread about naked portafilters. Apparently, baristas at Seattle coffeehouse Zoka modified a portafilter (the cup that holds the espresso grinds) so that the espresso comes straight from the basket, rather than through a lower piece that directs the espresso into the cup. I don't know how it tastes, but the photos taken by Jon Rosenthal are incredible.

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November 29, 2004

By Caffeine Alone...

I saw an amusing signature in a friend's email tonight that echoes the current week. I'm editing three Take Control ebooks simultaneously, which all need to go out post-haste. So, my self-assigned label of "Late-Nighter" is certainly apt right now.

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed,
the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

A quick Google search reveals that the poem is oft-quoted, and a parody of a mantra from Dune attributed to Dennis Ferguson (though I don't know who that is) or a National Lampoon pardody called Doon.

(If you're curious, I'm making lattes and espresso shots using fresh Sumatra beans from Lighthouse Roasters.)

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September 05, 2004

CoffeeGeek Espresso Glossary

What's the difference between a ristretto and a doppio espresso? Now you can look up those and other often arcane espresso terms at CoffeeGeek's Espresso Glossary.

09:23 PM in Coffee | Permalink | TrackBack

April 02, 2004

How a New Coffee Grinder Makes All the Difference

I've been a coffee fan for a while, but I've gotten more serious about it since my wife bought me a La Pavoni Europicola for our ten-year wedding anniversary. Since I had moved up to a better machine than my trustworthy Krups Mini, I decided it was time to buy a burr grinder to go with it.

For years I've used a simple Krups blade grinder, which is fine for most uses. However, it's not consistent: part of the coffee gets ground coarse, while the stuff that settles nearer the blades is extremely fine. A truly good shot of espresso is the product of several factors: the fineness of the grind, the pressure that the coffee is tamped into the brew basket, the quality and temperature of the water you use, and the pressure at which the water is forced through the grinds (notice that the list doesn't include quality and freshness of the coffee itself, which is almost an entirely other topic - the short version is that you want as fresh as you can get, and grind only what you'll use for the next shot to get the best flavor). A burr grinder uses two rotating metal burrs that crush the beans instead of chopping them, producing a consistent grind.

After doing a bit of research at Amazon and other online outlets, I decided to get a $60 Capresso 555 Burr Grinder (which was actually given to me as a Christmas present... coffee at Christmas, yay!). The Capresso 555 offers 17 grinding settings, a hopper with a portion control mechanism so you can dole out roughly the same quantity each time, and a single push button operation that automatically stops grinding once the burrs are clear. Since I'm not insanely fanatical about my espresso (yet, anyway), this seemed like a good mid-range solution.

Unfortunately, I was wrong. The Capresso is a good machine, but it's not a good match for my La Pavoni, which demands a finer grind. Even at the Capresso's finest setting (1), the pressurized water would shoot through the beans way too fast, resulting in weak espresso and, frequently, a splattered mess on the counter.

The coffee gurus at CoffeeGeek opined that the problem was my grinder, not the La Pavoni, so I upgraded to the $150 Solis Maestro Plus, which boasts a conical burr grinder that can produce a much finer grind. The difference has been night and day. My first espresso shot was nearly perfect, with no water spluttering or mess. I'm still trying to find the optimal grind; a shot I made last night was pretty good with the gauge set to two notches finer than its "Esp" (espresso) setting.

You might be thinking, "$150 just to grind coffee??" I thought so, too, and was more amazed when I discovered that the Maestro Plus is still on the low end of the scale; based on reports at CoffeeGeek, the Rancilio Rocky seems to be the mid-range gold standard at $270, and you can easily spend $400 or more for "prosumer" grinders. But after just a few exceptional espresso shots, I can say my $150 is completely worth it.

(As a side note, the Maestro Plus arrived with a timer switch that had been damaged during shipping. I made a quick call to Baratza, the machine's distributor, who sent me a replacement switch and instructions for replacing the broken one (a simple task) without a fuss. Great service always deserves a mention!)

11:23 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 01, 2004

CaffeDerm at ThinkGeek

OMG, I must have this!

ThinkGeek :: CaffeDerm

"So drop that Dew, put down that Jolt catheter, and grab hold of our newly patented CaffeDerm® caffeine patches - they easily apply to your shoulder and provide a steady dose of caffeine throughout the day. These calorie-free fixes are just enough to keep you from ripping your teeth out without generating any brain fuzz so you can actually present yourself as a sentient!"

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February 15, 2004

New Coffeehouse Worth Mentioning

I'm working on three articles today, so I decided to get out of the house and absorb some coffeehouse atmosphere while I worked. Normally, I'd stick to one of my favorites, but today I took a drive to the University district to check out the new UZ (University Zoka), a few blocks north of University Village.

This is the second Zoka store, after the first one in the Meridian District (near my old offices). I never took to the original one: despite serving good coffee and offering free Wi-Fi access, the place is cavernous and not, to me, very conducive to working. I prefer something slightly more intimate.

UZ achieves what I like: wood-paneled walls (the good type of wood paneling, not the icky 70s stuff), lots of tables - including long tables where up to eight or ten people can work) - and good coffee. I ended up not staying long, though, because the table I chose wasn't sturdy or flat; typing jostled my PowerBook, and every time I leaned on the table it dipped toward me. Surprising, since this is a brand new coffeeshop, but in fairness the table looked hewn from a tree trunk, so it had its own charm. I'm sure that having coffee without a laptop would be nice.

Anyway, it's worth checking out. Given the high student population in the area, I imagine it will do well.

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August 17, 2003

Superautomatic Coffee Makers

I've recently begun reading the Interesting Thing of the Day, a fantastic weblog written by my friend Joe Kissell. ITotD isn't a daily link to a Web page; Joe finds something interesting, explains why it's interesting, and gives some background on it. Absolutely required reading, and I'm ashamed that I haven't been reading it longer.

In this case, he's talking about superautomatic coffee machines. If I had a grand right now, I might consider buying one of these. Perhaps in the future.

In the meantime, I limp by with a Krups Mini espresso maker at home, a nicer La Pavoni machine at the office, but mostly I spend too much money at Herkimer and Diva Espresso. I'm getting more and more spoiled by quality coffee, though. In Friday Harbor today (where I wrapped up a week's vacation), I had what I'm sure was a decent latte. But it was actually quite bitter, making me realize that good coffee is truly hard to find. (Semi-unrelated: apparently there is NO good espresso to be had on the Eastside -- Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland area -- except for Victor's Coffee Co. in Redmond. I've been to Victor's a long time ago and can vouch for it. But for whatever reason, the best you can get throughout most of the Eastside is Starbucks.)

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July 26, 2003

Starbucks Power Minutia

How nitpicky can a blog entry be? I'm at a Starbucks in Bellevue, WA, the one adjacent to Barnes & Noble on 106th Ave. If you're planning to be here, note that not all of the power outlets work... specifically, the very convenient one by the door. The outlet on the floor near the coffee bar, just beneath the square table for handicapped patrons, does work.

Being a mobile laptop user, this kind of stuff can be important if you sit down, get situated, work for a while, then realize that you're not getting the juice your laptop needs.

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July 07, 2003

Coffee Fanatics

Yet another example of how my own coffee enthusiasm is but a drop of crema in the world of espresso: In Search of the Perfect Cup, the Old Coffee Pot Is Passé (NY Times, free subscription required to view) talks about a selection of coffee fanatics for whom a $2000 or even $7500 espresso machine at home sounds perfectly acceptable. Yikes!

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June 13, 2003

New Favorite Coffeehouse

Herkimer Coffee is my new favorite coffeehouse. Why?

Location: At the corner of Greenwood and N. 74th St. in Seattle, it gets a good deal of foot traffic, lots of morning coffee commuters, and there are a number of cool funky shops nearby.

Caffe Vita Coffee: Caffe Vita is a Seattle coffee roaster that's starting to make a name for itself. The blends are rich, not overly dark and not bitter.

Free Wireless Net Access: Yes, I'm biased, but having free Wi-Fi clinches the deal here. I like to work on my laptop in coffeehouses, and judging by the number of people I see here with computers, so do lots of others. The fact that it's free makes it an immediate draw for those who don't want to go to Starbucks. At some point all Wi-Fi access will be free, just as you don't pay for comfortable seating or pleasurable decor. Largely because of the free wirelessness, I've been here several more times than if they just offered good coffee.

Compare this to Diva Espresso down the street, which still ranks right up there for me but doesn't have wireless Net access. When wireless networking first started popping up, I dreamed of ways to get a place like Diva set up, going so far as to start working on a business plan before realizing that I didn't have the time to pursue it thoroughly. I've asked the folks at Diva about putting in some type of Wi-Fi, and while they seem open to the idea, they haven't yet been able to justify the added costs. (And I don't blame them: the coffeehouse business operates on slim margins and is notoriously difficult. To give you an idea: I know a guy who used to have an extremely stressful job at a technology company who decided to get out and start his own cafe; although it's been rewarding, from what I understand, he sometimes wishes he could go back to his "easy" job at the former company.)

Although I don't see Diva folding, I'll bet they're going to lose a significant amount of business to this upstart six blocks away. As a freelance writer I know who lives in this area says, "Herkimer is my new office." After all, I'm writing this blog entry from Herkimer now.

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May 12, 2003

Coffee Geek

Here's my brief coffee story: I've always loved the smell of coffee, but didn't develop a taste for it until college, when I needed to stay up late to write papers but the sugar in Coke was playing havoc with my stomach. This is around the time that espresso carts started to appear everywhere in Seattle, and I remember giving my dad shit about him needing to stop at the Nordstrom espresso cart when we went to the mall. Then someone bought me a mocha, and I was hooked (yes, I've always leaned toward the sweeter drinks). Being on a college budget, I approximated this newfound pleasure by getting a 4-cup Mr. Coffee, some off-the-shelf French Roast, and a vat of hot chocolate mix, which kept me going through graduation.

Since then, largely due to living in Seattle, I've been drinking espresso-based drinks for years. (Staying up late with coffee was the inspiration for naming my company Never Enough Coffee Creations.) I don't order mochas anymore because most places put way too much chocolate in them... ideally, I want a latte with a hint of chocolate, but something gets lost in the translation from "light chocolate" to the six spurts of syrup that coagulates at the bottom of the cup. So I mostly just drink double-tall lattes now. (What does that make me? Consult the Starbucks Oracle to find out!) Of course, I also brew my own at home and at the office.

All this is to point out that I love coffee, I enjoy coffee, but I'm nowhere near the level of the folks at CoffeeGeek. It looks like a great community site, and I'm looking forward to spending more time exploring once I have some more free time.

11:19 AM in Coffee | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack