2.4.04
humid days, easy espresso
it's humid, cold and overcast.
and the espresso is easy. or, at least, easier.
it's shocking the difference the weather makes. the first shot i pulled today... wonderful. customers were happy, i was happy. even the latte art was pouring with less struggle.
hard not to smile - but at the same time hard not to be frustrated. i wish it were always this way.
mood - muggy, mellow, happy
music - Nightmares on Wax
coffees - House Blend, Guatemala El Cuervo
special - Espresso Forte
and the espresso is easy. or, at least, easier.
it's shocking the difference the weather makes. the first shot i pulled today... wonderful. customers were happy, i was happy. even the latte art was pouring with less struggle.
hard not to smile - but at the same time hard not to be frustrated. i wish it were always this way.
mood - muggy, mellow, happy
music - Nightmares on Wax
coffees - House Blend, Guatemala El Cuervo
special - Espresso Forte
31.3.04
i guess the hubris finally caught up to me...
after almost a week of espresso being seemingly easy, i had one of "those" days today. one of those days where everything is hard. one of those days where anything that can go wrong does, where everything is frustrating.
i wrestled with the grind for almost two hours before i caught on. i'd started thinking the machine was broken, that the grinder wasn't working quite right. but no... the night before, when the espresso started getting low in the hopper, a new bag was opened and dumped in with the old beans. thus... a random mix shot to shot, different moisure content dose to dose, and no way in hell to get the grind right.
sigh...
but, in the end, i think all the drinks i actually served were good. and that is what matters.
tasted a wonderful Kauai Estate coffee today. truly lovely stuff.
mood - manic
music - classic jamaican dub
coffees - Hawaiian, Papua New Guinea
special - triple cortado
after almost a week of espresso being seemingly easy, i had one of "those" days today. one of those days where everything is hard. one of those days where anything that can go wrong does, where everything is frustrating.
i wrestled with the grind for almost two hours before i caught on. i'd started thinking the machine was broken, that the grinder wasn't working quite right. but no... the night before, when the espresso started getting low in the hopper, a new bag was opened and dumped in with the old beans. thus... a random mix shot to shot, different moisure content dose to dose, and no way in hell to get the grind right.
sigh...
but, in the end, i think all the drinks i actually served were good. and that is what matters.
tasted a wonderful Kauai Estate coffee today. truly lovely stuff.
mood - manic
music - classic jamaican dub
coffees - Hawaiian, Papua New Guinea
special - triple cortado
29.3.04
formal coffee tasting
it looks like we're going to do a (formal) coffee tasting on the 24th of April. it's tentative, but with luck we'll have stacks of Intelligentsia coffees to taste and some great door prizes to be given away. it should be affordable, fun and informative for all our customers (and for us as well). more to follow...
today was a fun day. the machine continues to function well, and to make life better for me. it truly is a lot easier to do good to great drinks with this machine (though it does come at the cost of being harder to get used to and harder to pull a merely decent shot on).
i poured a couple really nice bits of latte art - including one super surreal one on an Espresso Forte (nice integration of chocolate). with luck i'll source some photos.
mood - mellow, monday
music - Nightmares on Wax
coffees - Red Sea Blend, House Blend
special - Machiatto Forte
today was a fun day. the machine continues to function well, and to make life better for me. it truly is a lot easier to do good to great drinks with this machine (though it does come at the cost of being harder to get used to and harder to pull a merely decent shot on).
i poured a couple really nice bits of latte art - including one super surreal one on an Espresso Forte (nice integration of chocolate). with luck i'll source some photos.
mood - mellow, monday
music - Nightmares on Wax
coffees - Red Sea Blend, House Blend
special - Machiatto Forte
28.3.04
photos courtesy Mathew Goike
