Cogratulations to my good friend Sean Lee on opening his new coffee house and soon to be roasting company. Today was his first full day of business. He has a awesome looking new coffee house that I think will be very successfull.
I first met Sean when he bought a coffee stand that was owned by a Zoka wholesale customer. I gave him is initial training. He actually became a great barista in spite of that. He sold his coffee stand and worked with me at Hotwire for awhile. He also competed in a NW reginal competition and maybe the US in Seattle.
The name of his coffee house is Seven Coffee Roasters and it is in the greenwood neiborhood in Seattle 153 N. 78th St. Good luck and may your espresso run thick.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
This Crazy Life
Well I don't know about you but, life has been crazy for me. My camera was stolen from my car right before Thanksgiving. I'm still upset about that. I'm not sure when I will get a new one and when I do it will be a lesser camera. The weather here in the Seattle area has been crazy. November was a record breaking month of rain. Mt. Baker which holds the world record for snow fall expects to break that record again this year. Then we had a abnormal amount of snow and cold weather for this area. Then last week we had a huge wind storm that blew roofs of knocked down tree's and power lines. Some people will have been without power for over a week by the time they get power back. Both of our Hotwire coffee houses are busier then ever.
We are still trying to get Borogove Coffee of the ground. Borgove is our roasting company. Hopefully our web site will be up and running soon. As soon as the coffees are available Borogove will have some of the Brazil coffees that I went down to Brazil to judge. I found the web site of Christian Wolthers who was with us in Brazil. http://www.blaserwolthers.com/news01.htm He does a great job describing what we did in Brazil.
I have been thinking about my crazy life lately and at times have gotten alittle down but, I remind myself how good I have it. I have great family, a nice house, food to eat and much more. I have the potential to do even much better then my dad ever did. Growing up we were poor by American standards. So, I have allot to be Thankfull for. I really can't complain but, I do. It gives me something to talk about.
On a funny side note I found myself on Utube. Mark Prince put some footage he had of me from the USBC competition. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eta7CvtsqhM
Happy Holidays and I hope to see you all in the new year.
We are still trying to get Borogove Coffee of the ground. Borgove is our roasting company. Hopefully our web site will be up and running soon. As soon as the coffees are available Borogove will have some of the Brazil coffees that I went down to Brazil to judge. I found the web site of Christian Wolthers who was with us in Brazil. http://www.blaserwolthers.com/news01.htm He does a great job describing what we did in Brazil.
I have been thinking about my crazy life lately and at times have gotten alittle down but, I remind myself how good I have it. I have great family, a nice house, food to eat and much more. I have the potential to do even much better then my dad ever did. Growing up we were poor by American standards. So, I have allot to be Thankfull for. I really can't complain but, I do. It gives me something to talk about.
On a funny side note I found myself on Utube. Mark Prince put some footage he had of me from the USBC competition. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eta7CvtsqhM
Happy Holidays and I hope to see you all in the new year.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Brazil
I had a great time in Brazil. I was sorry I had to miss the NW regional Barista competition and Coffeefest but, oh well. Thank you Bruno and Neto for inviting me. I was down there for a cupping coffee for a new coffee auction for coffees in the state of Minas Gerais. I was in country for nine days plus two full days of travel. We visited three farms and a place where they cachaca (a cane alcohol). I will write in more detail later.
Friday, November 10, 2006
New coffee pickers
Because of high labor costs many Brazilian farmers are starting to train monkeys to pick their coffee. One of the unexpected side benefits of this is that the monkeys have begun to eat some of the coffee and the beans that have gone through the monkeys digestive system are fetching prices that are close to the prices of Kopi Luwak. Sometimes the monkeys eat them twice and these are called double pooped and demand a even higher price. We were able to try some while in Brazil and I must say that it is good Crap.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Brazil here I come.
As usual I had stuff to say earlier today, but right now all have to say is "I am going to Brazil and that rocks ha ha ha yea baby.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Sanders new old roaster.
Went to Vancouver BC on Monday for the Canadian Coffee Expo and Canadian Barista Championships. Had a great time watching the competition and seeing all the Canadian coffee people. Went to John Sanders new roasting facility after the show. Overall had a great time but, then I usually do.
I always have alot that I want to blog but, when I sit down my mind goes blank.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Enjoying a summer day on Vancouver Isl.
It has been a fun summer for me. I have barely paid attention to the coffee world at large. I have mostly been trying to get our coffee roasting plant up and running. It is now functinal. We just have one more inspection and we will be good to go. Our roasting company is called Borogove Coffee and is a seperate company from Hotwire. Other then drinking coffee I have gone camping twice and built a big swing set for my kids. Hopefully this next year the two companies that I am apart of make money so I can start travelling again. I am hoping to start blogging more so, that Jeremy will quit bugging me.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Gary Smith
Tim and I took a little trip across the water to visit Gary Smith at Mukilteo Coffee Co. last week. Gary is on the left in the picture. He is a gracious host and a great guy. They have a beutifull roasting plant and cafe in the middle of the woods on Whidbey Isl.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
This is Chris. Chris is a barista. Chris works at Hotwire. Chris used to work at Hinnes. Chris has a blog. Check out Chris's blog . Blog Chris! Blog!
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Watch out for falling barista's
So this friend of mine Steve Ford fell out a window and broke his back. You can read his account here http://dogmilque.wordpress.com/2006/04/18/a-little-about-falling-out-of-windows/
There is a fund started for him because he had just started a new job and his new insurance hadn't kicked in yet http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/worldregional/uswest/229997
help out if you can or if you would like to order a shirt to remember the incident click here http://www.valerium.net/steve/
Get well soon Steve.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Setting up the BGA booth
Jay Caragay waxing eloquent on the health benefits of adding aged cigar tobacco to your diet.
Combat Trained Barista
These guys set up a espresso bar and roaster in Iraq and were at the SCAA show to say thanks to all the coffee people who supported them while they were in Iraq. They hope to have one of their barista compete next year. They were very excited to be at the SCAA trade show and wanted to learn as much as they could. In this picture they were giving Probat a framed certificat of appreciation for the Probatino that they used while in Iraq.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Oh Heather.
Just for the two of you who commented about my lack of blogging for long periods of time I will be at it with a vengence. I had some computer issues and couldn't get my pictures from flickr over to my blog.
I had a great time at the SCAA/USBC and from the looks of it I wasn't the only one.
US Barista Champion 2006
Matt Riddle the US Champion. Congratulations and Good Luck at the WBC in Berne, Switzerland.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Break out the whip
Every once and awhile we all need a little whip. My first mocha in maybe two years. It was really good, but my stomach hurt later because I ate a bunch of other weird stuff with it. Yes coffee and chocolate go together.
http://static.flickr.com/22/117371103_2400e9d2dc.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/22/117371103_2400e9d2dc.jpg
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Monday, March 13, 2006
I know it's only coffee, but I like it.
Last year during the WBC/SCAA here in Seattle I was at one of the many parties and a guy I know who is a local coffee house owner made the comment "It's only coffee." Now this is fairly interesting since he owns a well known local coffee house and makes his living off peddling coffee. In his comment he was referring to all the fuss about the barista competitions and I imagine also all the coffee geeks from around the world talking roasting, dosing and debating anything coffee. I have thought of this comment many times since then and I have thought he is right it is only coffee. At the same time you can say the same thing about anything that people get passionate about. I sort of feel sorry for the guy because having a passion for something anything is fun. Whether it is computers, sports, wine, food, cars, music or coffee, but passion about almost anything is what makes life exciting. So while I agree "it is only coffee" I like it and I like talking about it, making it, taking pictures of it and I like discovering it in it's many facets. Like the Stones who said it is only rock and roll but I like it I say the same about coffee.
So enjoy your coffee however you drink it and have passion in everything, but at the same time remember it is only coffee.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Old friends
I had a chance last night to catch up with two friends. We meet up at Lighthouse Coffee House. Steve Ford aka boyman,dogmilque who you might know from Blue Bottle is on the left. He is now roasting for Andrew at Ecco Coffee. Josh Russert who until recently he was the head trainer with Fairstart which is a organization here in Seattle that trains homeless teens how to be Batista's he is now a international trainer with Starbucks. I had the privilege of working with Steve and Josh in my early Zoka days.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
It's been awhile
Well it's been awhile since I have posted and my fans have been clamoring for me to write and maybe post some pictures. That is Jeremy keeps bugging me and some stalker girl or maybe there the same person. I have had lots of thoughts of what I should do next, but the holidays came and it's been so dark and dreary hear in Seattle and the extended install of our theoretical roaster and afterburner I just haven't had any extra energy. So I thought I would just let people know that I am still here.
Here is what is going on in my coffee world. First of all our roaster ordeal I think is coming to an end and hopefully we will be up and roasting by....... next month maybe I hope sooner hopefully not later. I should also say that I am sitting at this moment writing this blog at the place that is the current coffee illuminates favorite coffee house that is Victrola. I really like their bar seating. I want a coffee house with bar seating like this but longer. Anyway back to my coffee world. There has been construction going on up and down the street of our main store since last spring and it seems like it is taking forever. It has kill about half our morning business. I am working on a barista certification that was supposed to be done before the first of the year. The first phase is almost done. I hope to make it as comprehensive as a basic barista certification can be. I have actually been working on this for a few years and most of my notes got stolen with my back pack about a year ago. It was very depressing.
I am also currently working on a new and exciting side project that I can't elaborate on at the moment that you will be hearing about either right before or after the SCAA show in NC. I can't say more this is Top Secret.
That's all for now.
Peace to your Grannie
Here is what is going on in my coffee world. First of all our roaster ordeal I think is coming to an end and hopefully we will be up and roasting by....... next month maybe I hope sooner hopefully not later. I should also say that I am sitting at this moment writing this blog at the place that is the current coffee illuminates favorite coffee house that is Victrola. I really like their bar seating. I want a coffee house with bar seating like this but longer. Anyway back to my coffee world. There has been construction going on up and down the street of our main store since last spring and it seems like it is taking forever. It has kill about half our morning business. I am working on a barista certification that was supposed to be done before the first of the year. The first phase is almost done. I hope to make it as comprehensive as a basic barista certification can be. I have actually been working on this for a few years and most of my notes got stolen with my back pack about a year ago. It was very depressing.
I am also currently working on a new and exciting side project that I can't elaborate on at the moment that you will be hearing about either right before or after the SCAA show in NC. I can't say more this is Top Secret.
That's all for now.
Peace to your Grannie
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