Monday, June 27, 2005
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Some History
Just did a preliminary taste of my latest creation. I roasted this yesterday, but I already notice a difference. We will be using it in our store tomorrow.
Just briefly a little about me and where I am at now. I have been working in the coffee industry since early in 99. I started as a barista running one of the many kiosks on the campus of Microsoft. I actually enjoyed this a lot, but I hated commuting two hours a day. I then moved to Zoka in November of 99. I started managing the store at the first of the year (January of 2000). I will back up for a second. Before Microsoft I was looking to buy a small coffee shop or a kiosk. I spent some money researching running a coffee shop I bought Bellisimos starter pack (espresso 101, 501, bean basics) I also bought David Schomers book. These early material made a huge impression on what I wanted to do. When they trained me at Microsoft I already new more then the person training me.
When I started at Zoka I thought I would be trained, but that never happened. I started a rudimentary training program. It didn't take long for me to realize that I wanted to learn how to roast coffee. One of the owners was Tim McCormack who holds a mystical status to many. After almost two years of bugging and hanging out at the roaster every available chance Tim agreed to let me begin a six month apprenticeship with him.
Not long after finishing my apprenticeship Tim left Zoka and I found myself in the scary position as head roaster. This also coincided with me winning the 2002 North American Barista Championship (Now United States Barista Championship) even the losers get lucky sometime. He left about a week before the competition. So, after I won I had to get ready for the WBC to be held in Oslo, Norway. Again I got very lucky with the judges I had in the semi-final round and placed fourth. In the final round I place sixth. I can still say that I am the only U.S. citizen to make the finals. Like I said even the losers get lucky sometime.
I then begin to train Chris Davidson how to roast. He has since surpassed me. He is very smart and learns quick. I have since then been very lucky to travel all over the world training and judging.
I started moving over to less roasting and more Training.
July of 04 I left Zoka? I started to work on opening my own coffee house. Main obstacle being lack of money. During this time Lora Vickrey from Hotwire Online Coffee House approached me about working some hours in her stores (a Zoka account). After several months of working with her she approached me about becoming a partner with her. After agreeing to come on I approached Tim about joining us and now we are partners.
We have a lot to do to make the type of company that I think we can be. I think if we can put into practice half of what we talked about we should be a cool and innovative company that is unlike anything out there.
Just briefly a little about me and where I am at now. I have been working in the coffee industry since early in 99. I started as a barista running one of the many kiosks on the campus of Microsoft. I actually enjoyed this a lot, but I hated commuting two hours a day. I then moved to Zoka in November of 99. I started managing the store at the first of the year (January of 2000). I will back up for a second. Before Microsoft I was looking to buy a small coffee shop or a kiosk. I spent some money researching running a coffee shop I bought Bellisimos starter pack (espresso 101, 501, bean basics) I also bought David Schomers book. These early material made a huge impression on what I wanted to do. When they trained me at Microsoft I already new more then the person training me.
When I started at Zoka I thought I would be trained, but that never happened. I started a rudimentary training program. It didn't take long for me to realize that I wanted to learn how to roast coffee. One of the owners was Tim McCormack who holds a mystical status to many. After almost two years of bugging and hanging out at the roaster every available chance Tim agreed to let me begin a six month apprenticeship with him.
Not long after finishing my apprenticeship Tim left Zoka and I found myself in the scary position as head roaster. This also coincided with me winning the 2002 North American Barista Championship (Now United States Barista Championship) even the losers get lucky sometime. He left about a week before the competition. So, after I won I had to get ready for the WBC to be held in Oslo, Norway. Again I got very lucky with the judges I had in the semi-final round and placed fourth. In the final round I place sixth. I can still say that I am the only U.S. citizen to make the finals. Like I said even the losers get lucky sometime.
I then begin to train Chris Davidson how to roast. He has since surpassed me. He is very smart and learns quick. I have since then been very lucky to travel all over the world training and judging.
I started moving over to less roasting and more Training.
July of 04 I left Zoka? I started to work on opening my own coffee house. Main obstacle being lack of money. During this time Lora Vickrey from Hotwire Online Coffee House approached me about working some hours in her stores (a Zoka account). After several months of working with her she approached me about becoming a partner with her. After agreeing to come on I approached Tim about joining us and now we are partners.
We have a lot to do to make the type of company that I think we can be. I think if we can put into practice half of what we talked about we should be a cool and innovative company that is unlike anything out there.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Ok I will write
All right many people have been asking when I will post again, so here it is. I don't really have much to say I just wanted a place to show my pictures. I wish I was as smart as Chris Taci.
I am working on my espresso blend. It is a on going project. It is extremely frustrating at times. Right now I am not real happy with it. I just got some new green coffee in today and I am excited to try some of them in the espresso. I will give feed back on my thoughts of the espresso later. I don't have a name for it yet I am thinking espresso 101. Right now I just give each new variation a different number. I think I am up to 38 even though I will be 35. Well all this writing is exhausting for me. I will try to write more tomorrow when I am more awake.
I am working on my espresso blend. It is a on going project. It is extremely frustrating at times. Right now I am not real happy with it. I just got some new green coffee in today and I am excited to try some of them in the espresso. I will give feed back on my thoughts of the espresso later. I don't have a name for it yet I am thinking espresso 101. Right now I just give each new variation a different number. I think I am up to 38 even though I will be 35. Well all this writing is exhausting for me. I will try to write more tomorrow when I am more awake.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
My First Blog
I am still deciding what I am acutally going to do with this blog. It's mainly dedicated to coffee and other related interests. I hope to use it to post and share pictures I have taken in my coffee travels. I hope to use it to post my thoughts on coffee, people and anything else that takes my fancy. I hope that I am not to boring.
Monday, June 06, 2005
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