Eastside espresso

okay... so it was hubris.
Latte Art got harder again today. i still managed to pour a few nice ones, but the consistency was way down.
and i actually scalded milk once!! sorry matthew...

none the less, it was fun. good drinks, good coffee, good customers...

mood - movin' and groovin'
music - modern minimal dub
coffees - Yemeni Moka Matari, El Salvador Marina, House Blend

(photos courtesy Billy Gogesch)

I got an awesome email from Bruce (one half of the fabulous coffeegeek couple that visited Spellbinder a few weeks back). With his permission I'm posting it (and the incredibly fully photo he sent with it).

Dear Chris,

I saw your entry on the espressofinger website about our stop at Spellbinder, and wanted to thank you for the kind words. It was a great experience for Lisa and me. Really good espresso is such a rare thing around here, so I always search for better coffee when I travel. I finally found the holy grail. The Bishop populace has no idea how lucky they are!

We stopped again on Sunday. Can you thank the barista working that day for the great restaurant tip? She suggested we stop for lunch at the Still Life cafe in Independence. It was as good as her description. I didn't get her name, but she said she was a reporter.

Regards,

Bruce

First - I'm incredibly honored and flattered.
Second - I'm also totally embarassed. As I pointed out in my response, with folks like Bronwen Serna, Jon Lewis and Dismas Smith et al around I am hardly "the master." If anything, I'm the bumbling freshman!
Third - While it may be true that the people of Bishop are unaware of how lucky they are - our customers are most certainly not that clueless! They are cognizant of the quality of coffee here - and we are equally clued in to how lucky we are to have such passionate and educated regulars. Thank you all!

(they keep on coming in. these are also courtesy of Matt Schober)

Peter Explains It All

maybe i'm finally getting it.
maybe i'm just getting lucky.
but in the last week latte art has (finally) become easier, more consistent, etc.
i poured three gorgeous bits today. very satisfying.

tasted a lovely Guatemala Antigua La Flor del Cafe today. lots of chocolate and spice and fruit... really stellar.

mood - bi-polar
music - Ninja Tunes
coffees - Nicaragua Flor Azul, Costa Rica El Conquistador, Arabian Mocha Java
special - triple Oromo Espresso Cortado

(the previous photos were courtesy Matthew Goike - these are courtesy Matt Schober)

tasters in action...



baristi in action...



caffeine in action...

back in the saddle again... Monday...
it's getting hot here in Bishop.
but the coffee is still good.
It was a pretty slow morning shift - which was good as I had inventory, etc. to take care of.
Still made some nice drinks.

mood - sleepy
music - Massive Attack
coffees - Red Sea Blend, Sulawesi Toraja
special - Oromo Triple Cortado

It was lovely.

People were very excited - and the feedback on the coffee was excellent.

I think we managed to educate people - with any luck we'll have cut the number of people who order by degree of roast rather than type of coffee by some (small) percentage.

Between the various sponsors, we managed to give prizes to almost everyone who attended. Now... some of the prizes were small, but everyone seemed really happy about it none the less.

Coffees tasted:
Arabian Mocha Java
Red Sea Blend
El Salvador La Marina
Costa Rica El Conquistador
Guatemala El Cuervo
Nicaragua Flor Azul
Colombia Reserva del Patron
Mexico La Perla de Oaxaca
Papua New Guinea
Sulawesi Toraja
Sumatra Mandheling
Tanzania Peaberry
Yemen Mocha Matari

First - Customer thoughts...
Favorite coffees were the Tanzania Peaberry, the Arabian Mocha Java and the El Salvador La Marina. Least favorite were the New Guinea, the Colombia and the Sulawesi.
Everyone felt that even the weakest coffees were good coffees - just not to their tastes.
The wild card coffees were the Flor Azul and the Yemeni. These seemed to be most affected by personal taste. There were people who loved one or the other, and others who hated them.

Second - Staff thoughts...
Favorite coffees were the La Marina, the Tanzania and the Yemeni.
Least favorite were the Colombia and the Sumatra.

It was a good event.
I think we're all super happy about it.

Thanks to Intelligentsia Coffee and Spellbinder Books of Bishop for the prizes and support.
Thanks to the staff of Spellbinder Coffee for all the hard work.

And thanks, most of all, to our wonderful customers who turned out to taste the coffees, share the experience and support the business. You all rule.

it seems to have been a success.
i'm still feeling a bit shell-shocked by it all.



more photos, tasting notes, opinions, etc. to follow.