1st ever Latte Art throw down for Haiti - in Victoria at DISCO · Monday January 25, 2010 by colin newell
I had the pleasure of watching all of Victoria’s coffee passion packed into one room at Discovery Coffee on Discovery Street…
and I got to judge a round. How about that.
Tonight in Victoria.
Everyone was there and the love was in the air.
There was enough zippy coffee groove to knock small planets out of their orbits. But that is not why we were there.
A good dozen or so of the Island’s best baristi duked it out for the Earthquake ravaged country of Haiti – and we raised almost $1000.
The winner was one of the lovely and charming gals from DISCO on Oak Bay Avenue – runner-ups included Geir Oglend of the Drumroaster in Mill Bay.
More photos here
Coffee in Victoria B.C. and the lower Island EAT Magazine · Friday January 22, 2010 by colin newell
I will let the article do the talking… or the reading I guess.
Many thanks to Rebecca Baugniet of EAT Magazine for kick starting this.
Baby bottom bugaboos and other bewildering blather · Tuesday December 8, 2009 by colin newell
While waiting in line for my favorite serving of breakfast (a weekend or so ago…) I noticed a young parent plunk down their diapered bambino on the cafe counter adjacent to the POS terminal. You know, where staff put food and beverages…
The young couple had just pushed their way into the cafe with a HUMVEE sized stroller that essentially trapped us mortal folk inside the cafe. In the event of fire or pestilence we would have died happy while grabbing for our favorite baked goodies while fire and smoke overtook our sorry souls.
But this does not bother me half as much as Tim Horton’s HQ who are desperately trying to hang on to their profit share by using some kind of Faith based science in defending their unbridled expansion of drive through extensions in the Province of Ontario.
I use the term Faith in that they must really take themselves seriously if they expect us to believe in the nonsense that they are pitching.
Facing a rising brew ha ha of municipal anti-drive-thru ordinances, Horton’s parent company TDL commissioned a study last year from RWDI consultants, based in Guelph, Ont… comparing total emissions given off by customers’ cars that use drive-thrus and those that use parking lots.
The stunning result: — that cars using drive-thrus produce lower emissions than those using parking lots.
The suggestion is… parked cars generate more pollution than the idling cars in the drive-through. Right.
Fact is, it is a high stakes game because Timmies makes almost 50% of its revenue from un-conscientious smoggers. Yes lots of folks simply cannot get out of their cars because of squalling babies and implacable pets – and there are other reasons.
Timmies supposition that Drive-Throughs work towards a general social good is cynical and deceptive. And we are not buying it.
And neither should you.
Comment [2]
Book review - Driven to Espresso by Ray Weisgerber · Wednesday December 2, 2009 by colin newell
People ask me: What is it about coffee and cafe culture that has given it that certain lasting quality? That particular something that keeps it on our radar time and again… I mean, one need only subscribe to a newspaper or magazine or watch TV to experience how pervasive coffee culture is in society. For me, although not a life vocation, coffee has been a steady source of fascination and creative output.
And I cannot help but admire the person that captures some of the energy and puts it into book form. Because from where I am sitting, books are forever baby!
A successful photographer in his own right, Ray Weisgerber’s has put some of his coffee love into a soft cover book that we can all enjoy – and on several levels.
For the coffee lover, the drive-through espresso stand or kiosk is the alter of caffeine, the church of brew, the mosque of hot, black and satisfying java. And as we now know – the thing that makes the coffee stand or cafe that sacred place is its ability to take you away from the everyday. The coffee house is not your home and it’s not your office. And with the blurring of the work place, the cafe has become that one place where you can chill for 15 minutes to a half hour and get away from all the day to day demands.
Ray Weisgerber’s photos encapsulate a part of the American experience that is familiar and reassuring. He accurately captures the breadth of architectural style that is at once common to the North-west but also unique in its variance.
Driven to Espresso would make a great gift for anyone who enjoys a hot cup of joe or simply wants to share in the American journey. Driven to Espresso is available directly from Ray’s website or via online vendors like Amazon.
Tropical Colors Warm Winds Tour Chapter 3 · Monday November 23, 2009 by colin newell
Sunset. It is a day. A week. A month. It’s your life.
And birth. A death.
Joy. Elation. Celebration. Renewal.
We hang our souls to dry like tropical themed towels at the pool-side.
And while staring into the sun gives clarity and honesty, home is
where the heart is.
Yes. It is here. Some of the time. And it’s back home with friends and loved ones.
After we hung out with a seasoned coffee farmer at Lehuulu Farms we sat in an old theater cafe up-country where they grow coffee.
The Aloha cafe is at 79-7384 Mamalahoa Hwy in Kealakekua, Hawaii – a mere 15 minutes from Kona, Hawaii.
We start to take root. We realize that we now have friends for life here.
And there. Back home.
I guess. Even though our family shrunk by one recently (and we were broken…)
Our World grew a bit bigger today.
Such is life.
