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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Presenting the Baratza Virtuoso grinder blog · Friday June 30, 2006 by colin newell
That is right folks – there is nothing else like this on the Planet.
At least – we are pretty sure.
I have asked Ottawa Dave to participate with me on this one.
We will talk about the Virtuoso Grinder.
A lot.
Enjoy!
Sitting at Bubby Rose's Bakery... · Saturday June 24, 2006 by colin newell
Could be as close to heaven as possible.
Sitting at Bubby Rose’s Bakery, on the sidewalk.
With a mug of Sam Jone’s Discovery Coffee Yirghacheffe.
And one of Mark Engel’s fabulous Cinnamon Buns.
This is not one of your run-of-the-mill sticky buns folks.
This is a Mark Engels tour-de-force.
This baby contains real butter, flour, milk, cinnamon, more butter and some secret ingredients.
Imagine that with a great cup of coffee… on the avenue in historic Cook Street Village, Victoria.
Pretty girls walk by. Some with their dogs. Some with their pretty boyfriends. Ah. Cook Street village.
This is living!
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