Join the CoffeeCrew for the Grand Opening... · Sunday September 17, 2006 by colin newell
FLASH: Nanaimo, B.C. Cafe, Coyote Cafe has been destroyed, from water damage and heat, while firefighters struggled to save the Condominium that was adjacent to an arson fire.
Join the CoffeeCrew next Saturday at Coyote Cafe-2 Roastery Cafe at their (ironically) Grand Opening – 1045 Terminal Avenue Nanaimo B.C. There will be free coffee and baked goods.
Coyote Cafe and their wonderful owners and staff (Philip and Nancy) are in crisis now – Their main business has been wiped out and they really need some community support right now. If you love coffee and feel the pain for these devoted cafe owners, please pick up the phone and offer them a word of encouragement. Their home-number is (250)468-2771. Tell them you read about this on the CoffeeCrew Blog.
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Take the coffeecrew challenge and stop drinking coffee. · Sunday July 16, 2006 by colin newell
As mentioned over on the homepage
I have been working downward (in my consumption habits) toward zero coffee consumption.
I know. I know. The looks I have been getting since I started this adventure. Dude you are the coffee guy. You. Coffee. You are inseparable. No Coffee. No Colin.
Oh well.
Anyway. I would like to experience a coffee free body.
I tried this once before. Suddenly actually. And the results were less than pretty.
Picture me writhing on the floor in agony.
Hallucinations.
Flu-like symptoms.
Purple Spiders crawling down the melting walls of my cage.
And that was day 2.
I lasted about 5 or 6 days before the blinding headaches became
implacable.
That first cup after 7 days away from the bean was like drinking a combination of liquid treacle laced with Afghani heroin.
The relief flowed through my body like a warm tropical rain…
and faster than a morphine epidural.
Caffeine. This stuff is nasty. I am getting off of it (at least in this form) for a couple of monthes.
Don’t worry reader It is not forever.
Learn the drinks before you serve them · Thursday July 6, 2006 by colin newell
My wife was served a lousy specialty coffee the other day.
The World needs to know.
To start with, my wife does not drink coffee. She drinks Tea. When she has coffee, it is a special occasion.
What was the occasion?
Uhm. I had just bought some hiking boots at Mountain Equipment Co-op in Victoria, B.C. and I needed to run down to Lens & Shutter to grab some film for the West Coast trip on the weekend.
The occasion you ask?
Well. She was in work shoes and wanted to chill while I flew, sub-light speed, down to L&S to grab my film. It is about 8 city blocks. By the time I would get back, the microfoam on her coffee would have hardly settled.
Wrong.
She stepped into Fresh Cup Roastery Cafe on Government at the corner of Pandora. Great location.
New staff apparently.
As I buzzed off toward the camera store, she ordered a Cafe au Lait. Now we all know what a Cafe au Lait is right? Yes we do.
She listened to the barista ask the manager how to make a Cafe au Lait. That was the beginning of my wife’s Cafe trip into Doom.
The manager said: “First you take a shot of espresso”...
Wrong!
“Then you take some hot water and put it in the cup.”
WRONG!
“Then you add foamed milk to it.”
Wrong wrong wrong!
By the time I came back from Lens and Shutter, she had taken one or two mouthfuls.
She said: “This is the worse cup of coffee I have ever had.”
Although I do not drink milk, I had to try it.
Sure enough. It sucked. Big time.
Look people – if you are going to make a beverage and charge me for it, do it right.
Fresh cup roastery will be installing a roaster shortly at this location.
Hopefully they will get their shit together.
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Great coffee - start from the top... · Tuesday July 4, 2006 by colin newell
Synesso, Aeropress, Clover, Baratza Virtuoso, Cup-of-Excellence, Panama hat…
huh?
The last six monthes have been a wake-up call for me. There has been an endless stream of things to get a handle on and a mouthful of words and terms to file away with suitable explanations.
All the while, we have been thinking about branding our website some, if only for fun.
Ok. Well, ball-cap? T-Shirt? Coffee-mug?
What would people want, if they wanted a piece of our online thing?
How about a hat? Something with style?
A Panama hat.
Haven’t you always wanted a Panama Hat?
Truth be told – my hair is not getting thicker as I get older.
And the ozone layer is not getting thicker either.
Seems I burn way quicker.
And if I ever want to spend a day or a week picking coffee, I will need some protection.
Well here it is.
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Welcome to Colin's Coffee Orphanage · Saturday June 17, 2006 by colin newell
Was walking through Victoria’s historic General Store Capital Iron and Steel.
Yea, it is an odd name for a family owned business that has been around for, I dunno, about 100 years.
Probably wrong about that.
I digress.
They have a pretty good garden centre.
Someone told me that there we coffee plants there.
I found one (with the help of a wonderful gardener-lady-staffer).
I think I got the last one. Neglected? You betcha.
No offense to the staff at Capital Iron & Steel but you cannot know the ins and outs of every single tropical plant. Or can you?
Anyway – this is day one of the adoption of Khan the new coffee plant in the coffeecrew.com orphanage.
My other coffee plant, Juan de Fuca was 4’ high but sadly neglected by Reg James (of EspressoTec) – he forced me to take it.
Glad I did.
I stumped it down to about 12” in height. After 3 monthes or so, it is now 17” in height.
Khan is 7” in height.
Anyho. Stay tuned for updated in the coffee plant.
A big hello to our 7 readers of the coffeecrew blog! Okay, so I get about 10,000 hits a month on this blog. I am sure most of those are mistaken hits. Apologies all around!
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