Eastside espresso

some recognition of sorts...

From Ken Davids' Coffee Review

Barista-Driven Revival?

And so, allow me to take my foot out of my mouth and return, for one issue at least, to praising the efforts of these small roasters who seem to have revived the original tradition of American specialty coffee.

This latest revival of fine small-batch roasting may be fueled by a related new development in American specialty coffee history, the emergence of the barista culture. A barista, of course, is a fancy name for someone who operates an espresso machine and assembles espresso drinks. While larger companies like Starbucks may be on the way to replacing the skills of the barista with automatic machines, other independent, smaller cafes and chains have fueled a worldwide movement to dignify and professionalize the job of barista by instituting barista competitions, informal barista "jams," and by the recent establishment of the Barista Guild, now under the auspices of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. These barista competitions not only encourage skill in producing espresso and espresso drinks and an elegance and economy of gesture, but also - and more to the point here - an appreciation of fine and distinctive espresso blends. Those interested in the contemporary barista movement will find information on the Barista Guild at www.scaa.org/related_organizations.asp

Most of the baristas driving this movement are relatively young in years and counterculture in attitude and affiliation. The combination of irreverence and passion that animates the bags and websites of many of the roasting companies highlighted in this month's review certainly derives from this new, espresso-and-youth centered coffee culture. And I suspect that the elegance and sophistication of the blends reviewed here may rise from their creators' direct, hands-on engagement with espresso, starting with the experience of pulling a perfect espresso shot and working from there back into the subtleties of roasting, blending and green coffee sourcing.

Oh yes... we are changing things...

steady business... good people... great drinks...
the kind of shift you think you can only dream of.

we're recovering from Mule Days (thanks to AT, the Saturday chaos passed without the usual total breakdown or disaster). folks are tired, folks are worn out. but at the same time - people seem happy. perhaps it's just the recent improvement in drink quality - perhaps it is the sense of relief at having our town back.

in any event, the last few days have been good. mellow, steady, never boring but never stressful. and Elaine is back. i'm sure she'll post her thoughts at some point - but i'll be the first to say it's great to see her - and even better to have her back behind the bar.

i poured some nice latte art.
the new Omahene chocolate is awesome (makes a mean Espresso Forte).

mood - mellow
music - Hi-Fidelity Lounge
coffees - House Blend, Colombia Riserva del Patron, Papua New Guinea
special - Espresso Forte

further tweaks to the machine have yielded a breakthrough.
Billy and I did some work on the machine, and it looks like we may have begun to address some of the issues with working at this elevation.
we're now getting shots with the deep, dark mahogony red colour and the persistent crema I know and love. and the mouthfeel of the shots has changed dramatically - becoming very thick and rich and heavy.
it's fabulous - and very rewarding.
I owe a huge debt to David Schomer, as it was a discussion with him that inspired the changes.

in any event - the Black Cat has become a much heavier and yet more balanced espresso. the days of the "chocolate bomb" are gone, and the shot now has a huge and yet rounded mouthfeel and body with the dark chocolate offset by notes of fruit and spice - all leading to a wonderful, buttery caramel finish. lovely! and the Oromo has improved to an even great extent. the body is much bigger and more velvety, which makes the Harrar fruit notes less pronounced. it's a super intense espresso - reminding me of some of the big Ausie Shirazes. extracted and concentrated and bruising. not something to drink straight every day, but a wonderful treat now and then and truly extraordinary in a milk drink. in fact - i'm drinking Caffe Lattes with some regularity now!

happy day.