This still makes me smile... and people are buying it all the time. No one has even flinched at the price. The only thing I've seen is someone who would love to buy it go for a cheaper coffee based on their budget. It's beautiful. So, I think this says it all. Professionals, keep asking, can it be done... well, it's being done. It's awesome.

Chris Baca asked about my last posting... wondering why we are switching... Well, we're not actually. The GB5 is coming and will be in the cities sometime within a couple weeks... Thanks Lee Walters! However, it will not be in Kopplin's. The GB5 is for Paradise. Roasting is a blast, but sometimes when working with new blends, we'd actually like to taste the espresso as it will be pulled in a cafe. So, now we'll know. Oh, and when it comes time to get serious about the USBC, I can actually get serious now... no more getting lost in the competition machine or struggling to steam on a machine I'm not used to. I'm stoked.

It also comes back to who supports you... I'm proud to have a La Marzocco back where I can use it. They support the USBC and the competitions. They back serious baristas and are good people. Sure, they're not the perfect machine, but they are a quality machine... Other companies are yet to step out and do the same.

It's Coming...

Bolivia Burns Bright...

Interesting... So, today we had a cup of our Bolivia COE returned to us with the complaint that it was too bright... brighter than normal. The customer (a regular) immediately started looking for a new coffee to pick... I wasn't really cool with this being that our 12 oz. Bolivia is selling for $5.75 a cup... yeah, no joke. Anyway, with a closer investigation, I realized that the Clover I used was set at 206... and the other was set at 201. The second cup from the other Clover yielded a much more balanced cup... anyway, I did turn the temperature down to 204 on the one and raised the other to 202. I just found it interesting that we had this incident. I expect more of these, but I love it... I never imagined the Clover would bring us such events.

In other news, Miguel created a new blend he's calling Mohka Java... a tribute to the origin of coffee. It's partially Sumatra Lake Tawar and then a couple a of our many Ethiopians... Anyway, I kind of expected it to be a good espresso... and I was right. It's bright and slightly earthy... with a tang. It's available on our third grinder right now.

Our second grinder is rocking Alterra's espresso right now... Scott gave us some of their leftovers from the MWRBC... I've never enjoyed a crema like this coffee has... and I know it's kinda old right now... It's stripes, it speckles, it dances on your tongue! It's so sweet! Yeah, I'm diggin' it! Thanks much Scott!

Goodbye Yan...

This sucks to say, but I need to say it. A friend of mine and great barista, Yan, took his own life Friday, January 19, 2007. Yan worked at Lava Java up until a couple weeks before his death. Actually, Yan had been around the shop for awhile. He worked as a barista back before I was hired. He was hired there sometime around when Billy left. Anyway, he never competed, never posted on forums, but he was a damn good barista. Yan was there making my drinks as I was discovering coffee and how great it could be. The first time I noticed my shots were really good vs. okay, they were pulled by him. He explained to me how they did look good and why... Yan left Lava Java right before I was hired, only to return shortly after I left. Kinda crazy how that worked. Yan was always a little spacey... but he was a very good kid. He was a wanderer and someone who was never afraid to go someplace new. He's part of the Lava Java family and always will be. We all will miss him.

It's sad, but this is the best picture of him I could find in my archives. This is in October 2004. Please note; Yan is the one on the left.

MWRBC... The experience.

Well, the worst weekend of my life is over. Needless to say, I didn't perform my best for this years MWRBC. But that's not even what made the weekend so rough... It started out about an hour outside of the cities. A lovely white mini-van pulled up next to us on the road to let us know we had a flat tire... After pulling over and a few seconds of examination... yep, they were right. So, we spent an hour and a half getting that fixed. Six hours later we arrived in Kansas City. Our hotel was absolutely sweet. The Marriot President is a historic hotel that has a very grand entrance. I'm not going to lie... I was totally impressed.

Day two started out in the same direction as day one did. Half way to the venue, another white car pulled up next to us... to let us know we had a flat tire... again. In the same spot. So, while I went to the initial meetings at the competition, Andrew and Aaron took my car to get the tire fixed... and somewhere in there the power stearing got a leak... and stopped working. My perspective on this all wasn't too bad at the time. After all, the Altera kids were in town... they seem to make everything more fun. While they were out fixing my tire and exploring what my car is like without power stearing, I had my 10 MINUTES of practice time!!! This is where I made the initial mistake of thinking my signature drink cups were going to work out just fine. Next, Andrew, Aaron, and I all rolled out looking for a grocery store to buy things still needed. We drove a good 45 minutes looking for something, and barely found anything... finally we stumbled into a tiny local grocery store.

So, my round comes up... and I lost it. By lost it, I mean, I first left a puck in the third group head. Automaticly taking my clean work space points to an automatic 0. Then the timer got going and I forgot that I was on a 3 group GB5, not a 2 group Synesso. My milk was crap. And then the big duzzy came. My port sippers... as cool as they are, do not sit very balanced. One fell over while I was preheating them, spilling all the water it contiained onto my hand. Next, as I was brewing the first shot, one of the sippers fell over again... while the shot was still brewing. Finally, as I grabbed for my last portafilter to pull my last set of shots, I grabbed a portafilter with a puck in it... I got lost in the GB5. Not cool. Many other things went very wrong... including how I went a good 36 seconds over time. These though, are all things we can learn from... the rest just drained the life from me.

That night we went out to the BGA party at the Roasterie. Of course, this is where the real fun begins. On the way in I happened to pass somewhat of a diamond in the rough. Apparently the Roasterie owns a Mistral. Apparently the Roasterie couldn't care less about their Mistral. Danny... clean the damn thing. Seriously! Anyway, I told the Altera kids about it and it was only a matter of moments before we found ourselves knocking the dust off. Steam wand tips were caked with milk, portafilters hadn't been scrubbed, it was a mess, but we found what coffee we could and grabbed the milk we had and set out to do what we do best... pour the coolest lattes we could given the circumstances. We had so little milk we even ended up cutting it with water... redefining the ghetto latte. We tried to find a bar after that, but with little success we all called it a night.

The next morning I woke up with more tension in my shoulders than I've ever experience before. I was hurting, and my guess is that the lack of power stearing had something to do with it. Pain man, pain. We bounced to the finals and had a blast watching the last performances. Alex McCrackin... you are an awesome barista and I was pulling for you all the way. Pete Licata, you are a competitor to the core and it was awesome to see someone with such experience rocking it like a pro. Robin Seitz, the new MWRBC, congrats. Well done for a first time competitor. I look forward to seeing you all at the USBC. Oh, and if anyone hasn't heard. Alex pulled off second, Peter third, and Robin, first. The big improvement from round one to finals was the judging. I'm sorry to say, but the first couple rounds of judges were a little shaky at times. I noticed a lot of little technical things that they weren't looking for. Anyway, judging in the finals was WBC certified (head) judge, Mr. Tracy Allen, Technical judge Dan Jansen, WBC certified Lani Peterson, WBC certified Mr. Jeff Babcock, Tech judge Mr. Berry Jarret, Mr. Spencer Turner, and the seventh was some other dude... whatev.

After the finals, the Altera kids took off to book it home before the storms set in. It's always good to see Scott and Co. though. There is talk of a pre-Great Lakes throw down to happen right before Coffee Fest Chicago. We'll see. As soon as we left the venue we took my car to have the power stearing line fixed... and then we found out I need to replace the motor soon as well. Mo' money, mo' money, mo' money... That night we had our first really decent meal since we'd been in town. That was nice, and we ended the day by crashing early.

Aaron and I woke up early today to take my car to another car place to have the pump replaced for the stearing... and apparently, it's not necessarily the pump. It's the belt and some other parts... All in all, it's just more money. At the end of the day, we got back and now I am tired. There will be more stories to tell. but it'll take some time, for now... enjoy some of the great pics.

MWRBC Travel Day

Well, it's 9:49 central time. I'm waiting for Aaron Meza to get to my house... All the equipment is in my car, we just have to stop by the shop to pick up milk. Yes, kids, today we heading to Kansas City... Talk about cities I could have avoided my whole life... Apparently the drive is about as exciting as South Dakota... I can only imagine. Anyway, we're heading to the Midwest Barista Competition. This will be my second competition ever and I am pretty excited. It'll be the true test of my skills when I don't have people like Phuong and Brent looking over my shoulder... I'm hoping to come close to my score from the USBC last year, but it's a regional and scoring seems to drop a lot at this level.

I'm pretty excited just for the experience though. Scott Lucey and the Altera kids are competing out of region! This is sweet just cause this will be the first time any of them actually compete in a full out competition beyond latte art. Beyond them, I really didn't recognize too many names... but a few are heavy hitters... Like, Pete Lucata. Amanda Butler is competing, as is, David Herman from the Roasterie. I believe total there are 16 competitors. This is a huge improvement over last years nine...

Well, we've got some final packing to do and then we're off for 7 hours of fun! Sorta...

PDX~MSP

Well, again, here I am sitting at the gate at PDX... It's been a great visit to Portland and the sourounding areas. It makes me miss home, but whatever... there is work to be done back at the shop!

I am bringing back new knowledge of the Synesso and it's history, as well as, new gaskets, new screens, and some tips on how to rock the thing! The plan is to play with our water level in the steam boiler... Which should apparently make our steaming more rock-steady. Oh, and the screens I have are special... Thanks Philip!

I am also bringing back more excitement and news of the coffee industry. Stumptown is growing so much... more than you'll know for awhile! If you're in the Portland area... cup the damn Kenyans! They are there on the weekends at the Annex for all to enjoy! Philip Search of Paradise Cafe... and the new Mutiny! Roasters gave me some new ideas for roasting. He's got some great ideas for grinders and improvements... It seems everyone in Portland is pushing for something new and bigger and everyone has a secret project. Kevin and Billy are working on the new store, Stumptown is opening in the Ace soon! So much goodness, it's hard not to be excited!

I am also bringing back over twelve pounds of coffee. Stumptown sends their hairbender with love... Also a couple sample bags of a couple of the Kenyan's, and a little bag of something amazing (from Panama). If that's not enough to make you wanna come visit Kopplin's, then let me add, I also have a bag of Mutiny's Dark Horse Blend. In the past, I have enjoyed this blend in milk, but it was still just another coffee to me... but with the rotation of an Indonesian, this coffee is blowing me away... I also have a small bag of their Ethiopia Idido Natural... A coffee (minus defects) that we share at Paradise Roasters... but with Philip's take on the roast profile!

I get back late tonight and open the shop tomorrow... It's going to be a fun shift! I also just shipped a box of beer out from my parents house... I will be happily enjoying Widmer's Drop Top, Fat Tire, and Deschutte's Brewery Obsidian Stout in the comfort of my 1906, Minneapolis, palace! La vita e' bella!

Clover Cupping

So, it's taken me awhile to get this posted, but here are my notes from playing with our new Colombia micro-lot...

Taken December 15, 2006.

Colombia Tolima

Brewed on the Clover, 19 grams, 6 oz. serving size

35 second extraction time-
Smell: initially light, of mild fruits, raisin... then cocoa, light caramel, smokey, fruit
Taste: initial first sip hints of vanilla, tangy~ black tea, citrus, dried fruit, smokey dried raisins, finishes with smokey, tangy raisin, but clean, moist on the palate, not dry.

40 second extraction time-
Smell: initially of chocolate, cinamon, spice, then of dried fruit (kinda prunish)
Taste: initially of mild spicey, tangy plumb, (hint of grapefruit), then moves to be more black tea like, finish is still spicey-tangy (mostly tangy), flavors of darker black tea, stew fruits, mild-strong citrus, grapefruit mostly, kinda lime

45 second extraction time-
Smell: initially of cocoa, sundried raisin, then loses the cocoa, gains spice, still raisin.
Taste: Initially light, mild, tastes of dried fruit and chocolate. Then very stewey, almost chewable (savory), light smokey, dried fruit. Then begins to pick up black tea properties. Mild in both body and flavor, delicate, like a tea. Finishes slightly more bitter, but not in a negative manner. More smokey properties come out, ends as a cup of smoked, stewed fruits...

Andrew and I really enjoy this coffee... he even named it our pick of the season for the holidays. Anyway, it sparked my interest to find the different properties that the Clover was able to pull out. I think we ended up choosing a 38 second extraction time to use in the shop. Well, we will see what coffee I can play with next...

Merry Christmas?

I'm here at my parents house, located in Vancouver, WA, sending all of you reading this the warmest holiday wishes. It's been interesting this year because more than ever it feels less like Christmas. I think that much of those feelings, or lack there of, have been due to my transition, coffee business, and the intense lack of snow in Minneapolis. The cities minus snow equates to saddness this time of year... But what can you do?

I spent last week moving into my new house. The place was built in 1906 and is a masterpiece within itself. The first night I spent there, I slept on my two extremely old mattresses and my stuff sat in piles on the floor. Moving out of the dorms, I hadn't really thought too much about the fact that I had no furniture. That was remedied the next day at Ikea... The place is well located between my two job. Kopplins is just a 10 minute drive east and the roastery is a good 25 minutes northest from there. I really wouldn't want to be much closer to the roastery though... I mean, it's out there. A couple nights after I moved in we had to have a night to break the place in... actually, we broke the place in 3 nights in a row... but Friday was the intense night... It's good to be young.

Monday I started at Paradise. Roasting is a lot of fun. I'm not going to say everything I did was all that great, but the idea of doing something coffee intensive... all day... without having to explain to customers why we don't serve 20 oz. or raspberry syrup is kinda a nice relief. I think it will be a nice balance between serving coffee and seeing the expression on my customers face and walking away from that to breath in something different.

Many people have been wondering and asking about the Clovers. So far incredibly good! Almost every regular customer has commented on how much better the coffee is tasting. I have some notes from one of our new coffees I will post a little later. But, I have been playing more and I am finding some awesome things as I go. Honestly though, for the first week I was really fucking up the coffee. I was shrugging off the stirring thing and assuming the Clover was so good I couldn't possibly screw it up. Well, I was wrong. My coffee was tasting lame... and by lame I mean it lacked the clarity I could find in the cupping cup or french press. So, with some reading of coffeed I realized I was over-extracting the stuff. Thanks to Alistairs posting I found some remedies. Right now I have settled on his technique, which is to basically just push the coffee towards the stream of water and to gently saturate it. So far, that has helped massively.

Well, Clovers are in and running well, I am in my new house, I'm roasting at Paradise, and there's a competition coming up. Such craziness... There's much more going on, but for now I will leave it at that. Keep in mind, I am back in Portland, which means there is massive amounts of beer to be consumed, many coffee people to harass, and many friends to see! Peace out for now!

Clover Week

The Clovers have been up and running for a few days now. Beautiful machines... and we have two. Tuesday morning, this dude who looked way too little to be carrying such big boxes dropped off the shipment. What initially threw me off was the fact that he brought in three. When Andrew first mentioned we were buying a Clover, I was stoked... but he didn't tell me right away we bought two... I thought maybe he went totally overboard and bought three... But I was mistaken. Instead, the third Clover was for my other employer... Paradise Roasters. So, I now have access to two Clovers at my shop and another one at the roastery. Talk about spoiled.

Wednesday night Zander and Co. showed up at the shop to setup the machines themselves. They were already in town to install another Clover at some other place... We had a great time and got things running fairly smoothly. Somewhere in the shipping our drip tray disappeared for one of the machines... Which, if you've seen my bar, you'll know I'm slightly OCD when it comes to cleanliness, balance, and such... so, a machine minus drip tray will drive me nuts. Zander made a call though, and we had a box full of Clover shirts and a drip tray by 10AM the next day... I was impressed.

Thursday they installed the machine at the roastery... which wasn't easy. Apparently, the machine doesn't like the cold weather Minneapolis/St. Paul has to offer... but hell! Who does? I guess something within the machine froze because it was left in a car for a bit... Then there was an issue where the machine kept dosing too much coffee... So, a six ounce cup setting was putting out some 8 ounces. Four hours after replacing parts and troubleshooting over the phone, someone suggested double checking the size of the cup... and apparently that was the problem... Not the machine. There's a deeper lesson to be learned in that somewhere... That night all the Kopplin's employees and the Clover crew met at the shop and our crew was taught how to rock the Clover. The highlight for me though, was drinking Red Hook ESB and Hobgoblin Ale out of a french press with Andrew Milstead, one of our baristas... By the way, Andrew is a very cool kid who I am super glad we have at our shop. He started out at a local Dunn Bros. with Kopplin and through family ended up spending his summer in Seattle working for a Zoka wholesale account in Kirkland. He was actually trained by Nathan at Zoka who Phuong trained... welcome to the coffee world people...

My Friday was spent training our newest barista, Katherine. Katherine is the first person I am training from scratch. Everyone else up to this point has just been fine tuning what they already know how to do. Thus far, Katherine is doing an excellent job. She's picky about her tamp and it's a great thing. She's already very level and very solid. She was struggling with consistency, but lately it appears she's mastered that. Now, she just needs to speed up and she'll be great with shots. I also worked with Meghan... When Andrew Kopplin opened the shop, he was the only employee with help from his friends and family... Then he hired a second person, Meghan and until I started at Kopplin's she was the only other barista, so she has the most experience at the shop. Her shots are great, she's cool and confident behind the bar, and now she's beginning to pour some beautiful latte art. Hollow leaves are forming, and oddly enough, the one pour she's struggling with is the heart... She has this natural tendency to move back and pour a rosetta... it's rad. So, our baristas are rockin' it!

Yesterday, after being out till 3AM at a party... bad idea... I opened the shop and we featured free coffee samples all day long. The samples are 6 oz. and are free in a ceramic cup... Cups which Andrew bought at a used restaurant supply store... Anyway, the idea was we had somewhere around 20 coffees available. Andrew sent out a press release and personally invited coffee professionals from all over the area. It was the first Saturday I was consistently busy making coffee all morning. If I wasn't preparing a cup on the Clover, I was pulling double espressos or making cappuccinos. It was a ton of fun! I met some of the folks from Cafe Imports. Really cool people and I look forward to cupping the COEs with them soon. The crew from Peace Coffee dropped by as well... Oh, and of course, Miguel and Aaron were there from Paradise. Miguel brought in some awesome coffees that were just jaw-dropping. Of course there was some Esmerelda... I'm still taken back by that coffee every time. We also tried some mouth-watering brazils and damn good Ethiopias.

My week capped off last night chillin' with Aaron and Andrew Kopplin and celebrating with some sparking wine and cognac. Aaron is a very knowledgeable source on spirits and fine liquors... lately he's been helping me learn about bourbon and build my collection. Great week over-all! Things are moving quickly! Last class in school is tomorrow! Then I drop of the deposit to my place and pick up the keys. I'll be moving stuff throughout the week and then I start roasting next week. Oh, and then I get to reset... I fly home to Portland Dec. 19... I'll be taking a break from the shop, school, responsibility... all to just sit in Lava Java and drink hairbender! Mmmm...

Life: WTF?

Well, Kopplin's is now on myspace. Make sure to check it out. Add us as a friend. You can see many of my flickr pics of the shop there, as well as keep up on what is currently in our espresso grinders.

Big news friends! This blog is long over-due. Some of you know this, others this is new... but life for me is changing in a big way. Ever since I arrived in the cities life in coffee has been awesome. I've been given fresh opportunities every few weeks. Things keep progressing and growing. Kopplin's has changed so much just since I've been around. The shop still looks the same, but the drinks are so much better! Our espresso tastes great, we've got more blends to offer, and in a week we'll be dealing Clover style.

The biggest news is life changing though... Paradise has been looking for a production roaster for awhile now. I am falling more and more in love with coffee... and when I say coffee, I don't mean being a barista. I mean, I am falling for the bean, the product, and the process. I said I would never get into roasting, and I still have apprehension and fear within me, but I am taking the job at Paradise. No, I am not leaving Kopplin's. I am leaving school. As important as academics are to so many people's futures, I believe in chasing what you dream about and what drives you. School means nothing to me. Not now at least. I am putting 10% of my heart into school and about 40% into coffee. The other 50% has been lost in trying to figure out what to do with this all... and a chunk of it's been into this girl. Well, I've realized some things and it's time to pursue what I love. I am diving whole-heartedly into coffee.

My week will look something like this... Monday I will head to the Roastery and catch up on the weekends orders. Tuesday as well will be spent roasting coffee. Wednesday morning will be done doing the same. Then Wednesday afternoon I will head to Kopplin's to work the bar and close the place. Thursday and Friday mornings I will be at Kopplin's rockin' out drinks... and then I'll be back at the shop to serve drinks one shift a weekend. So, I'll be at work six days a week and have an entire day to do nothing... Which being in school hasn't even really allowed.


Other random events involved will include training new baristas as the time comes, possible training for Paradise accounts, teaching classes in the evening at Kopplin's, and training & competing when the time rolls around. Somewhere in there, I am hoping to work in a few origin trips as well... Which, would be amazing... So, here we go. I am launching what I would call a career. Doing what I love. I am very excited to be doing all this. I feel it is best for me. School is not out of the question for the future, but it won't be at North Central... in fact, I'm thinking something in the area of food science...

Well, mid December classes end, I start moving into my new house... and then I take off to Portland for the holidays... When I get back, the true craziness begins!

The Legend of the MAW...

I just witnessed a new move. This is one I haven't seen in awhile, but it's out there... The one enemy I find in this industry... well, one of a few, is the "MAW." Otherwise known as a middle aged woman. You've seen them... Some of them can be incredibly cool... others are what drives this congromerate society we live in.

I just witnessed a "MAW Lunge." This is where the creature jumps at something with a complete and total lack of patience, as if the world cannot stop to breathe, even if for a few seconds. This encounter started with the MAW running into the cafe, and before I could utter the words, "Good morning" she was blurting out her order as though it hurt, "Large, skinny, vanilla latte, with whip!" So, I cut the comradery short to make the latte... trying to meet her demands on time... I finished the drink and before I had a chance to set the whip cream canister down I became a victim to the lunge. You've seen it before... I made my move to set the drink down on the bar, declaring what it was... and before the drink was a few feet away from the counter, she made her move... damn near leaping over the bar in effort to grab the drink! Milliseconds had already been lost in my motion to set the drink down... life was wasting away for her right before her eyes... So, she felt the need to take aciton! Nearling taking my life in the process of recieving the drink. As she made contact with the latte, I could feel the determined creature begin to pull the drink away before I could begin to release my grasp on my finished work... Before I could even utter the words, "Have a good day!" it was though the MAW had disappeared faster than it had appeared.

I escaped with my life. For that I am greatful... but I walk with caution. You never know when another of these attacks may occure...

So, if that wasn't enough...

I don't know what I did to deserve this, but somehow my life in coffee keeps getting better. We've got the Roburs... and a Synesso, which isn't bad when you start playing with group temps... The steaming still leaves a lot to be desired... but who knows, maybe soon I'll find a way to manipulate the steam wands... Our espresso is tasting incredible...

As I've mentioned before, all our coffee is made "by the cup." Currently, we malitta all our standard coffees... We also offer the option of french press, but most people choose the malitta. Well, many of you have seen this new machine that's just hitting the market. That is the Clover. It's a sweet automatic, temperature stable machine that allows you to brew one cup of coffee at a time. The key is you can adjust the temperature very easily for each cup. You can also set it to brew anywhere from 8-16 ounces. The idea is it creates the perfect cup of coffee... one cup at a time. It's incredible. Coming from Portland it's nothing too new for me. Stumptown's had a Clover in their Annex shop for almost a year. It does produce excellent coffee...

Anyway, yesterday we put in the order for two. That's right folks... not just one clover... No, we are buying two for Kopplin's. This wasn't even my call. I didn't even fight for this... I don't disagree... but it wasn't my ambition to purchase two so quickly... It's all been Andrew and his dreams. I am very lucky to have such a passionate boss who is this into delivering the highest quality coffee... I've heard the machines should arrive sometime in mid December... We are going to have to figure some electrical things out, but once we get that taken care of we will be rocking THE BEST coffee in the cities... and even the greatest of coffee geeks won't be able to deny it... Assuming we aren't retarded with it.

This leaves one last step to take... a new space... more to come in the future...

They're in...

The espresso is already so much better. Currently rocking Paradise Roaster's Classico Espresso in the full griner and using the remants of out El Salvador SO in the other... Tomorrow we get a larger order to play and train with and we'll be moving to Paradise Roaster's Espresso Havana. It'll be the first time I taste the stuff in a decent grinder! Stop on by~

Roburs and Photos!

So, just got off the phone with the lovely Jana Oppenheimer... Can I just let everyone know how much I love this woman! She is absolutely one bad-ass chick. She has taken excellent care of me over the last year or so, starting with competition and that ordeal and now by helping me get two Roburs! Thank you Jana!

As you can see from the picture... Andrew had some fun with Halloween this year. Don't let the corporate world get ahold of this... We may have to burn the costume!

I also decided to add some more photos of Kopplin's and what's going on there... So, feel free to click the blog title and enjoy!

New Flickr

Well, Scott Lucey suggested I get Flickr to post some of the many pictures from my trip and the competition. So, I did. So, go ahead and click on the entry title and check out the stuff...

Beyond Flickr a lot of great things have been happening. This weekend, my boss, Andrew Kopplin took off to North Carolina. Not for the best reasons, but he was able to go... this is the first weekend he's taken off since he opened the shop. Our staff is now 10 deep and we've got 4 capable baristas. I'm currently in the works of retraining Andrew. We also have hired another dude named Andrew (Milstead) who is already Zoka trained. Actually, it was Nathan, whom Phuong trained, who trained Andrew. Small world.

We also just made the decision to purchase 2 (not just 1, but 2!) Roburs from ESI. So, in a few weeks we'll be double armed and very dangerous. The Synesso hasn't been my favorite machine, but I am slowly falling for her. The last week I've been playing with the machine temperature and messing with steam wand pressure. I'm finally rocking the kind of milk our espresso deserves. The espresso is tasting less like a fuit basket and featuring more chocolate flavors. Right now, the stuff is just awesome.

Life has all around been swell. School is school. It's midterm season... I just registered for my next semester and I am taking a majorly light load. I plan on hitting three regionals before the USBC so I didn't want to over-due anything. I am taking an audio engineering class which should be cool. There's a new girl. Well, not too new, but I can say there is only one... Now, all I need to do is lock in a sig drink and get my shit together for the midwest regionals...

Seattle adventures and more...!

Well, I'm currently situated in the Portland airport, just chillin', waiting for my flight to board. It's been an incredible 10 days and I have loved most of it. I've also learned something about coffee and about myself. Bottom line, at this point, I am just excited to get back and start to really develop the potential that Kopplin's has... We just decided to pick up one of the Roburs from this past weekend. So, in a few weeks we'll be rockin' that beast... Which makes me extremely happy! I've been working with Andrew to make him a rockstar as well... We have a very bright future ahead of us...

So, I spent Saturday in Seattle... I went to visit the Coffee Fest Show, but ended up mostly just chillin' with the homies... and by homies I mean kids like Scott Lucey, Chris Baca, and Tony Serrano... We did have lunch with Steve Vick as well... Actually, in exchange for some coffee, I gave that fricker a ride up to Seattle. That was fun. We stopped in Olympia for a cup of Clover at Batwicks & Bronsons (Or whatever the name is, sorry, I'm tired)... We both went with the Kenyan. Not bad.

Once in Seattle, I hit the show floor and stopped by the Barista Mag booth... FINALLY, I signed up for my subscription... Apparently now I'm set with issues until 2008. Heck yes... I moved from Barista Mag to Zoka... caught up with Chris Davidson a bit... Big congrats to Zoka's head roaster... His Paladino Beer is now going to be featured in a local pub... There are even possibilities of it moving beyond there... Someday I'll get to try it.

Once I was done chatting with the Zoka crew, Chris Baca called me... I ran downstairs to catch up with him, Lucey, Tony, Vick, Justin from Alterra, and Al (Sorry, Al, but your name is entirely too complicated for me to remember it's full form at this point)... Anyway, the group all piled into Baca's mom's Explorer and busted over to Victrola. It was cool to see a Synesso at work in someone else's shop. I think I may have learned a thing or two from just watching. We left Victrola to get lunch at a place called "The Honey Hole." Amazing food, great beer, messed up name!

So, my set is now complete. Once out bellies were full of food and beer... ah! Beer... We went over to Vivace... Right before I left for college, I visited Seattle with some very noncoffee people. I explained the significance of Vivace to my friend Mike, to which he replied, "Dude, let's steal a suvinere..." I told him no at the time, but within 5 minutes after we left we both revealed out booty... demitas spoons... Again, before returning to college the second time, I was in Seattle with Brent Fortune picking up my friend Devin. We visited the new vivace... and when we left, my bag contained a demitas cup... Now, with the help of Lucey, Baca, Serrano, & Co... I have completed the set with a saucer... Hooray. David, if you read this... Don't hate me. This would not have been done if you were not the "holy grail" of espresso.

From Vivace we bounced back to the show floor. Baca and myself took over a GB5 at the ESI booth and started pouring the latte's... this would not be the last of our impromptu latte are expositions... We left the show and headed to Casa De Alterra and enjoyed several PBR's... which do taste better when consumed with a guy from Milwaukee. From there, we bounced to the Visions espresso party... where, when we realized the GS3 was on, the next big latte art exposition began! Before we knew it, everyone was trying to pour the design Chris Baca's been pouring in competition... you know, the heart with the wreath thing...

Well, I need to get running soon. My plane is being cleaned and we'll be boarding soon. I head to San Fransisco first. Then I have one hour to chill. Then, I board a plane at midnight to fly into Minneapolis. I land at 6 AM, then I have class at 7:45... but wait, it doesn't stop at that. I have to run by Kopplin's to drop off the Hairbender I am bringing back... yes, we will have Hairbender! All Grapefruit infused and shit... It will be available tomorrow too! Yeah! I'm actually carrying it with me to keep it in a pressurized cabin and everything... Well, Portland it's been great! Billy~ Thanks for the drinks today. If you haven't heard... Mr. Wilson will be returning to Lava Java to work a guest shift on Nov. 11... wish I could be there. Peace.

Education Necessary?

This past weekend has been a huge success, but now it's reminding me of why I moved back to Minnesota... I have so much down time right now that I don't even know what to do with myself. Monday was spent lounging around the house and just killing time... To some this may seem luxurious, but to me and where I am in life, it felt like a big waste of time. Seriously, the homework and school junk I left behind is going to catch up with me when I get back and for what? To sit around all day...

Which brings me to a long time delema that has been raising new questions in my mind... Why am I in school? And by "why am I in school?" I mean, "Why am I not just pursuing coffee with all my heart?" Every time one of these trade shows or events comes up I find myself questioning why I am in school, dumping much money into an education I care about, mmm... sometimes. Logic tells me this, I'm young (21), I've got time (both to finish school and to develop a coffee career), and it would be difficult to raise and support a family on just a cafe income...

I've got a sweet situation with a cafe I truly believe in. Kopplin's, in short, is my dream cafe, just in a way where I don't see the main profits... which is fine. I just find that the majority of me wants to be there more. There also is that side of me that is partially looking to just find a way out of school. I'm not that great at it and I have never really wanted to be. It stresses me out in a way I don't appreciate. I mean, coffee, customers, business all stresses me out, but I see the profit and reap many of the benefits from the stress... schooling just sort of pisses me off.

I guess we'll see where my priorities lie in about 6 months or so... This years USBC runs May 3-7. My finals week is the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday before that. I could be screwed...

NWRBC Finals

Well, the results are in and the competition has ended. The finals were tough. I, personally, do not like any situation where 4 of my favorite baristas are up and only one can win... or almost worse, only 3 of the 4 will be recognized with a prize. As you all have probably heard, Billy Wilson is the new reigning Northwest Regional Barista Champion. Jon Lewis, one of the best men I know, not only as a barista but as a human being and father, took second, and Kevin Fuller, owner of the Albina Press took third. Kyle Larson, whose attitude towards coffee I greatly admire, was another finalist, as were the two girls from Zoka...

Billy and I were talking before the announcement and he kept worrying about placing and felt like he had made some mistakes... and this is the point I make then and now... Two years ago, Billy was one of the best baristas I knew. He had passion, drive, and much skill. But he kept competing and making it into the finals to only have his signature drinks shot down for lack of creativity... mainly cause they sucked. Now, with time and maturity, Billy is the best American barista I know... He's taken his weakness (a lack of signature drink) and become a food scientist. So, with this, I say congratulations Billy Wilson. I'm proud to have my roots in the same place you do. I admire anyone who can target their weakness and work hard to over-come it.

I am so tired right now it's kinda crazy. Tonight is the Bikes to Rwanda benefit show. Lots of fun there. Oh, and I leave everyone with this... The first round was kind of rediculous... Kevin Fuller actually had the highest score and it was his first run through in competition ever. Billy was #2... Ryan Dixon, also a first timer, finished 7th tieing with Lorrie from Trabant. Congrats Kevin... top score, 2nd anniversary, great party... sounds like a decent weekend to me...

NWRBC Travels Pt. 4

I don't know how I let it slip my mind last night to update this thing, but here I am now. For the most part, I'm sure you all know who's in the finals... In case you don't, let me fill you in...

1. Kevin Fuller- Albina Press
2. Jon Lewis- Bumper Crop Coffee
3. Kyle Larson-Stumptown Coffee Roasters
4. Billy Wilson- Albina Press
5. Maki Campbell- Zoka
6. Lindsay Elliot- Zoka

It's been an awesome competition with much happening. There are a few people beyond the finalist I feel need mentioning... Kyle from Zoka did an excellent job. He really rocked it steady. Also, Ryan Dixon did a great job and though he made some slightly larger mistakes, he really did well at keeping his cool and really remaining focused.

Last nights party was an great time too. Thanks again Duane for all the great food, beer, and music! Highlights for me here were talking to Klaus and really getting to ask him a lot of questions about coffee. I've been wondering a few things lately and he set me straight on some issues. Watching Duane occassionally bust out a dance or two was awesome... Many of my favorite coffee people were there just chilling. It was good to see Ryan Wolf from Crema, Rhiannon, Grady, and of course the Ritual kids. By the way, I have to tell you, Liz from Stumpies is doing an amazing job at just dominating this weekend. She's been most of the organizational mind behind the competition and she's a large part of what has made this weekend such a success...

Well, off I go to the finals....