albion espresso bar

"mum look! it's snowing!"

2011-01-20T19:48:00.006-06:00

oh my goodness.
march of last year. seriously?
was that really the last time i put anything up on this solipsistic discourse.

fuck

recapping almost a year would be banal and pointless. boring as shit too. for me and for you... you? like anyone actually reads this crap.

i'm sitting in bed. slouching actually. laptop on my lap and cat on my chest.
my old lady is out of town. baby. love of my life. button face.
and i'm bored. welcome to my internal monologue.

i actually only spend 2days out of the week being a barista. the rest of my time is spent managing things. time money people inventory personalities. the list could go on.
actually. is that true.
no.
i spend 2days at the cafe in the city. the place i grew to love. hated. and then grew to love again. it's a latte factory. and working in a factory is tough, man. real tough. i have soft hand. i'm not built for manual labor.
the other 5days i'm in red hook. at the tasting room. brew bar. cupping lab. whatever the fuck we're calling it this week.
i make coffee like you make it. yes dear reader. i'm talking to you.
just like you make it at home. only better. mine doesn't suck!

sorry

i went to oregon. the homeland. portland.
2reasons.
christmas and new year with friends and family. nerf swords are awesome.
and then work.
a few days working at the annex. talking brewing cupping coffee like a motherfucker. also awesome. i think the nerf swords were better.

i love the new part of my job. getting to talk to people about coffee. to slow things down from the full tilt boogie at the cafe. and really talk to someone about what they like and don't. find out what they know and how much more they want to learn. showing them that brewing great coffee at home isn't unachievable.
i love being out in red hook. it's one of the few places left in brooklyn that feels like it hasn't changed in 40yrs. its the brooklyn that arthur miller and hubert selby jr wrote about.
it's dirty and loud. it smells bad. it's obnoxious and politically incorrect. and it's amazing. i love it.
if it wasn't such a black spot for public transport, i'd move there. seriously. the closest fucking train is a mile away. and the one and only bus that runs through red hook is only there because of ikea. and it might show up. when it feels like it.
but that's the reason it is the way it is.

milwaukee. barista's. why the hell do i do this?

2010-03-11T23:18:00.002-06:00

so i'm back in milwaukee. which is a good thing.
i'm here for a few reasons. the primary one being to judge the great lakes barista competition. and the second is to just catch up with some of the very good friends that i made during my time here.
maybe the first reason was simply the best way i could justify coming back to hang out with some very good people? maybe not? it doesn't matter. i'm here. regardless of the reason.

it kinda caught me off guard a little. i flew in last night. bumpy as all hell. after working a long day in the cafe. and as i was coming over the hoan bridge there it was. the milwaukee skyline.
now i'm not being a knob. i know, compared to the city in which i now reside, the skyline isn't anything that special. but there is something about it. or there was last night. when i saw milwaukee i got really excited to be back. genuinely excited. it was nice. unexpected. but really cool.

barista's are rad. they just are. or rather coffee people are rad. i spent the entire day with a bunch of them. professionals. enthusiasts. barista's. owners. and alike. the certification to become a united states barista competition regional judge is an all day affair. it always is. i've done it a few times before. and it never runs on schedule.
for a group of people who typically have to be up very early to open cafes across the country, when we get together, timekeeping goes out the window. weird.

after exams. discussions. calibrations. coffee. lots of coffee. some good. some bad. we were done. this year we have a huge pool of judges. which is also rad. because now maybe i won't have to judge every single competitor. its not that much fun vibrating from too much espresso for the next three days. the coffee shits suck too.

why do i do this?
because i've found something that i love doing. i've found an industry that i want to be a part of. an industry full of people who are just as passionate as me about what they do. its not just a part time job or something to do until a real job comes along. this is what i, and we love. its what we do. and giving up a little bit of my time to help promote this industry? i love that too.

i couldn't think of a title for this post. so i'm going the call it 'sitting on my couch. listening to 7seconds. on vinyl. writing nonesense'.

2010-01-20T15:35:00.005-06:00

wow...its been forever since i sat down and wrote anything. seriously. what have i been doing with myself?
to be honest, there is no reasonable answer to that question. i've been busy. this living in new york thing is nonstop. busybusybusy. all the freakin time.

oh, hello 2010. wait...where did 2009 go? really. where did it go? it seemed to fly by. but so much is different. a load of shit happened. so i guess its just my perception. or maybe i'm getting old and going senile.

i moved to new york! still seems kinda weird saying that. but its true. and my brother is here too...its the first time in four years that we've lived in the same country, let alone the same city. its awesome. its like nothing has changed. we still finish each others sentences. and my old lady is here too. my boo. my love. my pork chop. we share a rad apartment in brooklyn. with a bi-polar cat. i love it. its comfortable. peaceful. safe. its home.

my co-workers and i have rediscovered...well, i've rediscovered, i don't know how many of them were aware before...how fucking amazing sunny day real estate are. i mean come on. diary is a balls out fantastic record.

this is going to sound ridiculous, but here it is...i'm kinda getting used to seeing pictures of my questionable face in the new york times. see. i told you. sounds ridiculous...but they seem to like us alot right now, us being stumptown, and not myself and kai. the picture at the top was taken from the ny times a few days ago.

people in new york wear alot of black. and by alot. i mean all the time. in any other city i've lived in, you usually save the all black days for funerals. weddings...when perhaps you don't think the union is the best idea... or days when you're feeling particularly elliot smith/the smiths/joy division. but not in new york.
all black. all the time.
i think i'm growing to like it.

regardless of the geographical distance you have to travel. leave yourself an hour to get there.

i've started meditating on a regular basis. actually let me clarify that. i've started formally meditating on a regular basis. every tuesday night. on the bowery. with a bunch of tattooed punk rock kids. dudes in business suits. typical yoga types. and so many more. its awesome. i like it. i'm not becoming all new age. if you call me a hippie i'll fucking kill you.

i now pay someone to wash. dry. and fold my dirty clothes.
it seems so bourgeois. living in milwaukee, it never even occurred to me. why would i pay someone when i can do it myself.
but here. for some reason. and i don't really know why. it seems like the reasonably. almost sensible thing to do.
call me a middle-class capitalist pig if you want. the dude at the launderette is super nice.

famous people everywhere. the city is full of them. i can't go anywhere without bumping into one of them. they just get in the way. they're everywhere.

i've rambled too much.
bye

the albion espresso bar has moved

2009-09-08T21:57:00.004-05:00

so so so... what have i been doing for over a month?

well. new york happened.
thats right. i moved to new york. and its been intense.
the reason i moved from wisconsin was for work. i'm now working for stumptown coffee roasters. as much as i love milwaukee, it was time for me to move on. after being in mke for three and a half years i felt like i'd progressed as far as i was able in my career. yeah thats right. making coffee can be a career. i left behind a bunch of great friends and headed for the big apple.

my first day in the city was also my birthday. what a way to celebrate. well...not really. i worked all day. the first day of stumptown boot camp was gonna start on the 8th, with or without me.

its been one hell of a month.
hours of training down in red hook, at the roastery, while the cafe was under construction.
cupping. studying. espresso training. cupping. studying. espresso training. grind. dose. settle. tamp. repeat. repeat. repeat. oh. and i should probably mention that the time at the roastery was during the hottest few weeks of the summer. and the roastery is essentially a warehouse with no ventilation or air conditioning. needless to say, it was hot. and sweaty.

with the construction work at the cafe nearing completion we moved the training there. the difficulty due to the heat was replaced by difficulties due to contractors and more delays. the scheduled open date came and went.

but finally on september 7th at 6am the cafe opened

on an equally important note. this past weekend kai came out to visit me. this last month i've been out in new york on my own. kai came out for a job interview. and she got the job! plus we also found an awesome apartment in south bushwick, brooklyn.
it was an awesome weekend. it was wonderful to have my lady here with me. and despite it being rough while she's back in milwaukee. i know she'll be here for good real soon.

portland

2009-07-26T18:51:00.002-05:00

so i'm in portland, oregon for work.
my new employer flew me out here for some training before heading out to nyc to open the most ass kicking cafe the world has ever seen....well. that last comment may not be true.
but i am in pdx. and its hot!
whoever told me that the pacific northwest is always damp and raining has obviously never been here during the summer. or they're just a fucking jerk and they lied to me. either way its hot. like 95 hot. and the weird think here is that the hottest part of the day is around 3-5pm. common sense says to me that around noon would be the hottest. the sun is at its highest point etc etc. but no. just as you think its gonna start to cool down. it just keeps getting hotter.
grrrr. next time i come here i'm coming in october.

so work has been fun. long. stressful. intimidating. difficult. scary. and rewarding. really rewarding.
all of the crew out here are super cool. good honest down to earth people. if things don't work out in nyc i can totally see myself here.

i wish i had more to say. but i don't. so there it is.

new york new york

2009-06-22T16:21:00.008-05:00

just for the hell of it, kai and i decided to take a trip out to new york. see some old friends. meet some new ones. and just hang out in one of the best cities ever.

friday. mke-lga

after a long day at work we arrive the airport to find our flight is delayed in leaving due to fog in new york. the weather seemed to become a constant obstacle in our travels over the next few days.
flying into la guardia gave us some awesome views of the city as we were circling waiting to land.
we arrived about an hour and a half late due to the delay, but were in the city by about 9:15 thanks to a totally insane taxi driver. fast driving. hard breaking. sharp swerving. and it only cost $30 including tip.

our first taste of new york was sitting at 79th and 1st waiting for brian. as ever brian was to be our gracious host while we were staying in the city. to pass the time kai decided to start looking for the cash cab. alas. her search met a dead end. do you know how many cabs there are in nyc!
some food and then it was back to brian's. cigarettes. cigars. and an amazing view of the empire state building from the roof.

saturday. brown bagging milk in union square.

i love that you can walk in new york. sounds crazy. i know. but in milwaukee people look at you like you've got three heads when you tell them you actually like to walk. 10 mins from b's place and we're at cafe grumpy in chelsea. one of the first coffee shops i went to the first time i was in nyc. i love it for that. and because the coffee is really good. i hear that they're gonna be starting their own roasting operation soon. a sweet cappuccino. an iced americano. and some costa rica from the clover. all of them great and it was off to union square.
the saturday morning farmers market and craft fair. lots of really tasty local produce and some crazy people watching. one guy in particular was just kickin' it on a bench. talking to everybody walking past and drinking some weird bright purple booze from a brown paper bag.
we were in union square to meet up with my friend lizz and the stumptown crew. we were charged with assisting in the milk tasting for the new cafe. we had milk from four local dairies. and passed half gallons back and forth between us. trying to determine which was the best. we were also tasting baked goods from the city bakery. the pretzel croissant is amazing!

from union square it was up to the ace on 29th and broadway to look at the new cafe. and the new hotel. the ace nyc is just as good as the ace pdx. but bigger. much bigger.
the cafe is a construction site, but its gonna be so much fun when it opens.

more bakery sampling from a swank bakery on the upper east side. i couldn't tell if they didn't want a bunch of tattooed coffee kids sitting in their classy cafe, or if we didn't want to be sat in a posh cafe that didn't make us feel welcome. but whatever the reason, we took our swag to variety in williamsburg. one of stumptowns wholesale accounts and began an epic sampling. bakery. deserts. more milk, this time we were able to get one of the barista's to steam up some of those bad boys and make some cappuccinos.

after eating far too many baked goods we headed back into the city for some real food. again we found ourselves in union square. just chillin'. sitting on the steps. and talking shit.
chat n chew, just off the square was the perfect end to an awesome day. good food good friends good times.

sunday. a view from the bridge.

sunday was the day we decided to walk across the brooklyn bridge. headed for the other side of the east river and the brooklyn flea market. which is held under the bridge.
lots of cool stuff. jewlery. clothes. produce. great strawberries and cream popsicles. and sun. lots of sun.
also at the flea market was the first stumptown cafe in new york. a tent. some huge pots of boiling water on a gas burner. and a pour over station.

the confusion of the new york subway system. getting from the brooklyn bridge to williamsburg was interesting. two changes. three different lines. one hour later and we were in hipster central. north williamsburg.
some gumbo on a stoop with some new and old friends. laughing. joking. good times.
on our way back to the city kai and i got a call from brian, telling us he was doing a set at a comedy club just off time square. you see, brian has a day job to pay the bills. but also does stand-up. he seems to be doing pretty well. the weekend we were in town was supposed to be the only weekend he wasn't out doing a gig. but hey. somebody must have called in sick. and we finally got a chance to see him on stage. funny shit.

monday. can you dig it!

up early monday morning for brian to go to work. and kai and i were set loose on the streets on new york with backpacks and a flight to catch later that evening. some breakfast at the lyric diner. and then we headed off to coney island.
an hour on the F train and we were out of the insanity of 8 million people and into the relative peace of the atlantic ocean. the train ride made me think of the warriors. boppin' all night long to get back to coney... a cult classic.

the board walk. the cyclone. the wonder wheel. the ocean. old italian men fishing off the pier. and nathan's. the best hotdog ever. i don't know what they do to them. they look just like regular hotdogs. but they're amazing. i'd love to say i had one. but i couldn't stop and ended up eating three. kai said they also have a so so fish sandwich.

back on the F train. and back to williamsburg to hang out with amanda. williamsburg ranges from uber trendy hipster central. to old italian neighborhood. i think i prefer the old italian part. i'm just not enough of a hipster to fit in.
we decided to hit some of the neighborhoods coffee shops to pass our last few hours in new york.
el beit. a 49th parallel account. my cappuccino was kinda crappy. way too hot and sea foamy. kai had a good cortado. and the kenya i had from the clover was average. i really wanted to like the place. its a super cool little spot. but the major attitude from the guys behind the bar sealed the deal.
more walking around the hood. some thrift stores. and the beaner bar. "brooklyn's first euro-style mexican coffee shop".
what makes a euro style mexican coffee shop? i hear you cry. well. gaudy mexican decour. virgin mary's. day of the dead skulls. the whole 9 yards. a three cup pour over station. a three group ranchillio. intelligentsia coffee. a van's "off the wall" rubber welcome mat. and vegan tamales.
pretty good panama, el machete. so so cortado's. but the tamales were really good.

the sky suddenly filled with black clouds and the heavens opened. we were off to the airport. after some shady car services and major traffic we were back at la guardia.
another delayed flight. again because of the weather in new york. apparently the airports in nyc freak out over some rain. because after 20mins the rain had stopped but it took three hours to clear the back log of flights.
three extra hours in nyc isn't so bad. i guess

good morning

2009-06-03T10:07:00.003-05:00

bright sunshine. a cigarette. a good cup of coffee.
it doesn't happen that often. yeah i like to sleep in sometimes. an early start with nothing to do but sit outside. enjoy the sunshine. and drink some really good coffee. alterra's costa rica campeon del valle...or champion of the valley if you prefer.
bright. clean. fruity. perfect for a somewhat lazy summer day.

reunions

2009-05-30T13:20:00.003-05:00

it's been a long time since i wrote anything here... so i thought it prudent to enlighten the (maybe?) 3 people who read this as to whats been happening over the last month.

well. my brother came to town to visit. it had been far too long since i'd seen him. almost three years. a long time by any standards. but i should point out that bradley is my twin brother. someone who, up until moving to milwaukee, i spent almost everyday with. from sharing a room as kids. throughout school. we went off to university together. and continued to live together after graduation. we were together alot.

and the hardest thing about the last three and a half years since i moved to america, has been the separation. knowing that someone who knows me so completely is so far away. phone calls and emails are great. but they're not the same. not the same as just sitting. not doing anything. not even talking. just sitting. and feeling that connection. knowing that there is someone in this world who understands me so completely. who cares. who worries. but never judges.

it was good to have him here.

our time in both chicago and milwaukee was fun. just hanging out in awesome cities. eating good food. seeing good friends. watching the brewers win. drinking good coffee.

during the early hours of saturday morning. may 16th the impossible happened. after five long years at sea. the good ship albion finally sailed home. well, almost.
peter. carl. gary. drew (unfortunately no john). the libertines. on stage. together again.
they didn't do it for the money. they never would. millions of pounds wouldn't get these guys on stage together. they did it because it was the right thing to do. a tribute gig for johnny sedassy. a promoter who used to put on gigs by the band in years past.

the short set included... up the bracket. what katie did. can't stand me now. time for heroes. death on the stairs.

gwilym davies. world barista champion

2009-04-21T16:55:00.002-05:00

so the results are in. the winner of the 10th world barista championship is gwilym davies. united kingdom, and now world barista champion.

hats off to gwilym, and to square mile coffee roasters. they've roasted the winning coffee for the last three competitions!

the only question remaining is, will gwilym defend his title next year? the 2010 wbc is being held in london...

the dirty south. atl. hot-lanta

2009-04-18T21:56:00.002-05:00

so i'm in atlanta right now for the specialty coffee association of america's annual convention. this year its being held in conjunction with the world barista championship. 61 competitors have gone. from all around the world. and the six finalists have been announced. they are, in no particular order:
attila molnar - hungary
gwilym davies - united kingdom
sammy piccolo - canada
michael phillips - united states
colin harmon - ireland
lee jong hoon - republic of korea

korea and hungary have never made it to the finals before. ireland and the uk were winners in 2008 and 2007 respectivally. the highest the usa has ever finished was second, heather perry 2007. and sammy piccolo is the only repeat competitor.

it should be an interesting day tomorrow.

i'm sorry but in situations like this my national pride comes out....go uk!

san francisco. part 2

2009-04-15T16:45:00.004-05:00

i'm sat on a flight headed from san francisco to kansas city. from there kai and i connect to milwaukee. where its home for a few days and then off to atlanta for the scaa convention and the wbc.
but as promised, here is part 2 of the san francisco trip.

thursday.
rightly or wrongly, we decided to use public transport today. the bart seemed fairly simple to navigate, so why not? well, one reason why not is because its super expensive. seriously, why make it more affordable to drive than use public transport? and in a city that attracts a substantial amount of tourists, you'd think there would be some sort of 'one-day-pass' for all the transit lines, but no. not san francisco.
we had a relatively simple goal. get to the giants games by 4pm. now as any of my friends will attest, i'm not exactly athletic, or any sort of sports fan. but the brewers were playing the giants. so we had to. a text message to my buddy justin, a recent transplant from mke, revealed he was going to the game too. so it was on. the milwaukee contingent were meeting at four barrel and then heading to the game.
four barrel didn't dissapoint. the daily public cupping was just coming to an end when we arrived. spoons were quickly thrust into our hands and some stellar, although somewhat cold, coffees were tried. the space itself almost looks like a gallery. minimalist to the extreme. no lounging. and no internet access.
justin gave us the tour and some amazing donuts. and it was off to the game.
more money in change machines. more confused and somewhat aimless rambling. and we were back on public transport, muni this time. this shit is getting expensive.
as-far-as baseball stadiums/fields/whatever go, at&t park is kinda cool i guess. although it looks a little too much like disneyland.
the brewers lost because they suck. and they also decided to give the giants pitcher a concussion. there's sportsmanship.
after the game we walked north. under the bay bridge and to the embarcadero. a cool little spot. skateboarding kids. tourists. born-agains preaching to anyone who'll listen. and a definate mediteranian feel. wide boulavards. palm trees. sun. and apparently the location of some powel-peralta skateboard videos in the '80's. from there it was west to chinatown. via a $5 trolley car ride. lots of crowded little streets. lots of tacky tourist crap. it was glorious. we ate sushi that floated past on a little wooden boat. and then hit it back to the mission for some coffee and to chill with jT.

friday.
1pm. the regular public cupping at ritual. the table was full of brazils. seriously full. 5 out of the 8 coffees on the table were brazilian. some really good. some ok. and some amazing. there was a rad ethiopian in there too. from the mission we headed to the haight. if anyone in the uk is reading this, you don't need to go to the haight. just go to camden instead. it's cheaper to get there. i'm serious. its kinda creepy how similar they are. wannabe hippies and wannabe trendies. mixed with old pot stores and new fashionable stores. the smell of weed in the air and being asked if i could spare some change every 7seconds. oh, and don't forget the gutter punks. who are either living further up the haight with their rich parents, or on primrose hill with their rich parents, depending on which side of the atlantic we're on. seiously. don't go to the haight. go to camden. its cheaper.
from the haight we headed downtown to check out the ferry building. kinda a mall. but so much more than that. artisans of every type. cheese. breads. olive oil. face creams. coffee. all under one roof. blue bottle, an sf coffee shop, had just opened a store in the ferry building. so we were excited to check it out. unfortunately, the barista seemed to be having trouble with the dosing timer on the grinder, and the line of inpatient customers was getting longer and longer. we headed for peet's instead.
from downtown we glanced at the levi's factory. and then headed for the most touristy thing ever. lombard st. the famous street on that crazy hill. so not worth the wait.
from lombard st. it was back to the mission for a quick coffee stop. awesome cappucino from justin. notes of pistachio butter. and then to sit.
a meditation class in the panhandle. super good. we sat for about half an hour and then there was a discussion/q&a on buddhism and dharma and stuff.
after all that buddhist contemplation some good vegetarian food was in order. thanks for the recommendation mark. herbivor was awesome.

saturday.
an early start and we were heading north on route 101. through the city and then across the golden gate bridge. its pretty cool. reminds me of the brooklyn bridge in nyc. only red. we stop at the little town of healdburg for brunch. a quaint little town with a really good diner. from the 101 we head west towards the coast on route 128. this is where i get to see the redwoods for the first time. they are absolutely awesome. i can't really describe it any other way. breathtaking. from 128 we hit route 1 and head into mendocino. quaint as quaint can be. its beautiful. relaxed. simple. and now over-run by tourists from the bay area. its not the same town that kai went to high school in. oh. i can't forget to mention that mendo is where the kurt russel/goldie hawn epic overboard was filmed. as well as the long running murder mystery thriller murder she wrote. the beach. ocean. its amazing how these things feed my soul. maybe its because i grew up on an island, but just being close to the ocean makes everything seem ok. burritos at the mendo cafe and sitting on the beach smoking cigarettes with tim and frida, two awesome people, was a load of fun. kai grew up with frida in mendo and tim is her husband. well travelled. well educated. tattooed. my kinda people. from the beach it was off to the mendo hotel for some live music and then into the hot tub before crashing out.

sunday.
unknowingly, kai and i had decided to travel to nor.cal over easter weekend. so the bed and breakfast we stayed at was packed for easter brunch. we had reservations and the food was pretty good. i'm glad we didn't pay for it because it seemed way over priced.
from mendo the next stop is fort bragg. home of the world famous triangle tattoo museum. this place was a trip. run by madam chinchilla and mr. g. as old school as tattoo artists come. really honest and welcoming people. we were greeted with open arms and a warm smile. given the guided tour and chinchilla insisted on taking photographs to put on the wall. from fort bragg to leggett is where the road gets really gnarly. winding doesn't begin to describe it. twists and turns. up hills and down them. more turns. sharper twists. up more hills and down them again. oh, i should mention that all this is on a coastal road. right on the edge of a cliff.
we arrive in legget still in one piece. thankfully. and head to kai's dad's place. a huge property containing mountains. rivers. bridges. and more trees. huge ones. enormous. really fucking big!
we drive through a tree (no we didn't crash. there's a tree with a whole in it that you can drive through. the tree is still alive. its trippy) and then its off on the road again. back towards san francisco and dinner with more family.

monday.
we take the bart to berkeley and the east bay. we hit telegraph, which i'm assured used to be a really cool spot. the original amoeba records is there. but unfortunately, that seems to be the only store thats survived. over half of the store fronts were empty. kinda depressing really. we should've gone to sacramento, to this little coffee shop I know. oh well. next time.
from the east bay we hit bart back to the mission. grab a final cup at ritual and ask where to get good food. we're directed to yamo for noodles. it absolutely tiny. 10 seats at a bar and four chinese ladies shouting at each other. but the noodles are absolutely amazing.

that's it. the sucka free city. one week.
i'm tired.
peace

san francisco trip april 7th 2009

2009-04-13T20:42:00.001-05:00

its 10:45 on thursday morning and i'm sat at amber's dinning room table, thinking about the last few days. the first few days of my holiday in northern california.

tuesday afternoon. 5:30. leaving mke on route to houston, tx.
i really can't stand short domestic flights. the planes are always so small. no standing up. only stooping because the cabin is so low. 2 seats on one side of the isle and 1 on the other side. you know the sort of plane i'm talking about. tiny and kinda scary. is this thing actually gonna make it all the way to texas?
well yes, obviously it did. i wouldn't be writing this if it hadn't. but still, it was an uncomfortable flight.
houston, tx. george bush international airport. alarm bells were ringing right there. do i really want to be coming to a place that names its airport after bush, version 1.0? now isn't the time for a political rant, so all i'll say about texas is that kai and i ate some bad bbq at the airport and our flight to san francisco was delayed in leaving because, apparently, nobody knows what to do in california when it rains. in the midwest planes will land with two feet of snow on the ground, but in cali, a little rain has everything shut down and air traffic control freaking out.

wednesday.
after getting into sfo later than expected i didn't get to sleep until around 2am pacific/4am central, so being woken up at 7am pacific/9am central by a phone call from back home wasn't, to say the least, a welcome surprise.
san mateo. a little town about 25mins south of san francisco is gonna be out base whilst we're here. a quiet suburb that reminds me of most of the movies i watched as a kid. the birth of hardcore punk scene in the bored suburbs of early 80's california.
half moon bay. about 10 miles west from san mateo on route 92. the first time i've seen the pacific ocean, hell the first time i've seen any ocean in far too long. its beautiful. calm. peaceful. tranquil. its exactly what i needed. some time to just relax.
on the way back to san mateo I get my first experience of a california institution, in-n-out burger. sooo good. yum.

and then into the city for the first time. the mission and ritual.
we order a single espresso and a macchiato. the space is great. simple. bright. and in a city thats so densely populated, surprisingly spacious.
the espresso was super bright upfront, with super dry tobacco in the body, and bitter chocolate in the finish. it was a pretty good shot, but to me it seemed as though all three flavors were competing rather than working together.
the macchiato was good. straight up creamed coconut.
and then two mugs of the days french press offering, brasil finca esperança. a sweet lime syrup brightness upfront. with sweet milk chocolate in the body and the dry finish that always accompanies a press.

**there will be much more about this soon. and lots of pictures too**

straight up avenger

2009-03-09T15:19:00.004-05:00

so.
the usbc happened in portland, or. this past weekend. unable to be there in person, due to lack of funds and lack of coworkers to cover my shifts, i spent most of the weekend glued to my laptop, in various coffee shops around town, watching an ever increasingly frustrating live internet feed from the competition.

the final round looked something like this;
devin pedde, intelligentsia los angeles
ryan willbur, intelligentsia los angeles
mike marquard, kaldi's coffee, st. louis
scott lucey, alterra, milwaukee
nick griffith, intelligentsia los angeles
mike phillips, intelligentsia chicago

after judging them both in the finals of the great lakes regional competition, and being good friends with them both, i was super excited to see both scott and mike p in the finals.
all 6 finalists performed fantastically. and when the results were in the top 3 was quite a sight indeed.

3rd scott lucey
2nd nick griffith
1st mike phillips

i'm so happy for mike. after a somewhat dissapointing end to the glrbc, where he finished 5th, he really pulled out a fantastic run when it mattered most.

to quote a text message i got from my friend zak in michigan;
"fuck yeah! mike phillips! straight up avenger!"

a post from my brother

2009-02-23T17:07:00.005-06:00

Taste of the East Coast - Square Mile Coffee Roasters Wednesday 18th Feb 2008

Barismo - Boston, MA
Espresso Blend: Poker Face NERBC Blend (note: i just got a note from ben kaminsky at barismo, and it was their linnaean st. blend, not the nerbc blend)

Plowshares Coffee - NYC, NY
Brazil Daterre Sweet Blue

Gimme! Coffee - Ithaca, NY
Panama Hartmann Honey

Mystery Coffee (oooow the suspense!)

-----------------------------

one doesn't get many chances to indulge ones love of all things espresso here in grey ol' london town very often (yes we do know what coffee is thanks, we don't all just drink endless cups of tea you know!), so when i found out about the 'Taste of the East Coast' espresso tasting over at square mile coffee roasters my espresso starved synapses were tingling in anticipation.

a short ride on the tube to bethnal green, east london and square mile can be found in an industrial unit under the arches of an old railway bridge. i should probably mention at this point that the other exciting thing about going to a tasting at square mile is the fact that its run by 2007 world barista champion james hoffmann and his girlfriend anette moldvaer...bonus! great coffee served by one of the best baristas in the world...what more could this coffee-geek ask for.

right, down to business...

the aroma of the barismo offering was full of caramel, praline and dry tobacco.
slightly surprising was the hint of mint and lemongrass up front, but this initial freshness blended effortlessly into the bitter dark chocolate, toffee and syrupy blueberries that i was expecting.
a nice citrus acidity, specifically lime, and a buttery mouth feel made this an excellent coffee to start the evening with.
bring on the next one...

the only way i can describe the plowshares espresso is as dark stuffy working mans club.
a darker crema that the espresso from barismo was the colour of the stained wood panelling on an edwardian tall boy.
the nose was full of tobacco smoke, liquorice and malted hops.
dark cocoa and hazelnuts were lifted by a hint of vanilla to give a nicely balanced cup.

the expression on james' face while he was dialling the grind in for the next offering suggested to me that this was going to be something a little exciting...i wasn't wrong.
the espresso from gimme! coffee was as bold and assertive as the exclamation point in the middle of their name suggests.
the aroma, with its sack fulls of caramel, cocoa and pipe tobacco, really smack you in the sinuses.
cherries and almonds almost verging on marzipan provide the sweetness to the cup, while a hint of ginger and bergamot provide the acidity that brings these complex flavours together.

so the forth and final coffee was a bit of a mystery...
apparently some of the other roasters that were supposed to be sending coffees over for the event either forgot, got the dates wrong, or their offerings got lost in the post.
so despite the fact that it wasn't technically an east coast coffee, we were treated to one of the first tastings of a sample bag of a single plot etheopian yirgacheffe that james and anette are looking to use in one of their future blends.
a really citrus nose didn't prepare me for the full on fruit assault that was the cup itself.
strawberries in syrup, cherry brandy and blueberry jam dominated any other flavours that might have been hiding in there.
the only concession was the faintest hint of pipe tobacco which cut through the sweetness of all that fruit and stopped it from being sickly.

my favourite?
despite the fact that the coffees from barismos and the sample bag from ethiopia contained all the right elements for a cracking espresso, i couldn't help but fall in love with the espresso from gimme! coffee.
maybe it says more about me than the coffees themselves, but the self confidence of the gimme! coffee cup, the "this is me! take it or leave it" attitude just put a massive smile on my face...and hey, that's all life is about really isn't it...trying to find as many of those moments as possible.

cheers,
bradley fairbrass

greatlakes regional barista competition aka liquid swords

2009-02-23T15:54:00.006-06:00

right now i'm sat on the floor behind the competition area. the finals don't start for an hour and i'm killing time by watching the final round of the latte art competition....its always confused me as to why the winner of the latte art competition wins $5,000 for making something look nice. and the winner of the glrbc, or any barista competition, wins very little in comparison, for so much more time and energy.

its been an exhausting few days, judges certification on thursday morning, a 10+ hr day of tests and calibration and i don't even know what, it seemed harder than last year. maybe i was just less prepared. or maybe the test actually was harder. or maybe it was a little of both. who knows?
i saw some old friends, and met some new ones. this is what these things are really all about for me. meeting people who share common interests. other people who get geeked out over, seemingly silly things. the new single origin guatemalan espresso from intelli. the new brew system that so-and-so are using in their cafe. the new direct trade coffee from stumptown. people who understand when i say, this is what i want to do with my life. i don't want to get a 'proper' job. they understand because they are doing the same thing. the professional barista. we're few in our numbers. but we few know that this is it. coffee is what we love. coffee is what we do.

over the last few days many of us have taken the stage. competing. judging. emceeing. running. score keeping. none of us being paid. simply doing it for the love of it.

....................................................................................................................

so. that's it. the final regional competition of the season is over. the final round has been and gone. a winner has been crowned.

all six finalists performed fantastically. it was a pleasure judging all of them. some familiar and some new faces.
Les Stoneham (LaTerza Coffee, Cinti, OH)
Mike Phillips (Intelligentsia, Chicago, IL)
Scott Lucey (Alterra, Milw., Wisc)
Trevor Corlett (MadCap, Grand Rapids, MI)
Chris DeMarse (Coffee Alliance, Muncie, IN)
Jesse Crouse (Intelligentsia, Chicago, IL)

after all of the points had been counted the top three were as follows;
3rd Trevor Corlett
2nd Jesse Crouse
1st Scott Lucey

scott's performance was fantastic. as was his coffee. a colombian cauca grow by nelson melo, who just happened to be in the audience. bright. fruity. grapefruit and ginger tones. it was outstanding.
really, it was scott's performance and signature beverage that separated him from the other five finalists. he was confident. relaxed. focused. passionate. knowledgeable. these things were pretty much a prerequisite to make the finals. but scott simply raised the bar.

"this drink is my machete"

what could have been a relatively simple sig bev was turned into something quite extraordinary by careful planning. stellar explanation. and near perfect execution.
liquid swords. grapefruit juice and melo espresso. separated by a layer of whipped sweet cream. we were instructed to, confidently, drink the juice first. then break through the cream layer and sip the spro from underneath. the juice and espresso combo worked perfectly. the juice further enhancing the existing grapefruit notes in the melo-spro.

sL, the drink truly was your machete.

photo's by twitchy

oh... one thing i forgot to mention is that scott's winning score was the highest in the country this year!

9 down. 1 to go

2009-02-15T15:37:00.002-06:00

over the last few months barista's around the country have been spending countless hours in training labs. cafes. random machines. practicing. rehearsing. revising. polishing. and practicing again.

the usbc...thats the united states barista championship, not the united states bowling congress...is taking place in portland, or. at the beginning of next month. the usbc is split into 10 regions. with 10 regional competitions, to determine who goes forward to the nationals.
9 of the 10 regional comps have happened. the 9th was in atlanta this weekend. the 10th is in chicago in a weeks time. feb 20-22nd. navy pier.

the results so far are thus;

northwest: alex pond, fresh pot. portland, or.
western: nick griffith, intelligentsia. los angeles, ca.
mountain: greg lefcourt, ozo coffee company. boulder, co.
southwest: jason silberschlag, cartel coffee lab. tempe, az.
midwest: robin seitz, pt's coffee company. topeka, ks
south central: cancey rose, cuvee coffee roasting company. spring, tx
northeast: amber sather, ams. brooklyn, ny
midatlantic: katie duris, murky coffee. arlington, va.
southeast: danielle glasky, ocatane coffee. atlanta, ga.
greatlakes: who knows? will it be a repeat of last year? intelligentsia? alterra? metropolis? scott lucey? mike philips? we will see in one week from today....

the national

2009-02-15T14:44:00.004-06:00

it doesn't happen very often, that there's a coffee shop in milwaukee that i haven't been to atlest a dozen times, so when a new cafe opens i'm itching to check the place out.
when i heard about the national, all the signs were good. sweet location; the corner of 9th st. and national ave. the same spot that brooklyn bob's used to occupy before their ill-advised move downtown. good coffee; they're currently a wholesale account of metropolis out of chicago. and a good espresso machine; faema e61.

saturday afternoon and the cafe was about half full when kai and i arrived. aesthetically the space looks really nice. clean colours, simple design, and a homely feel. high backed dark leather booths eliminate any chance of it feeling clinical.

food offerings contain a wide variety of standard cafe fare, the vast majority of which is made on-site. the coffee menu contained all the usual suspects, as well as a few surprises, espresso with a twist of lemon....

rwanda, butare gkongoro. a super rich body with subtle fruit sweetness, a pleasant crisp acidity and a super clean finish.

this is what i was excited about. red line espresso. i've known tony and the guys down at metropolis for a few years now, so i when i heard about a cafe where i could get some red line i was anxious to see what sort of job they do. i shouldn't have expected anything other than great, metropolis do an awesome job with their wholesale training. a double for kai, and a single for myself, cut me some slack, i was headed to work...
visually the double looked a little better than the single. rich, red-brown crema, with flecks of red, brown and orange. the single on the other hand looked more than a little blond. bright without being overtly sour. raw nuts. chocolate. and a dry tobacco finish. rad.

the only possible negative thing i could say about the national is that they have a wonderful looking espresso machine, and its hidden away in back, on a rickety old prep table. seriously, the thing looks as though its going to collapse whenever anyone pulls a shot. put the machine out front. pride of place. the machine should be the first thing you see when you enter a cafe. its the reason you go there. its the most important piece of equipment in the building. and this one in particular, just looks so so pretty.

check these guys out. they're good people.
839 w national ave.
www.nationaleats.com

i'm in print. this is weird

2009-02-11T14:43:00.004-06:00

so last night i was making my usual rounds online. checking various websites. blogs. forums. that sort of thing. and i found something that i've never seen before....myself. in print.

i've been helping organize a barista jam at one of the local coffee shops in town, and i emailed sarah allen, the editor of barista magazine, to tell her about the event and possibly get a little attention from the wider barista community. yes, there is such a thing! she seemed really interested as asked for some details.
now i'll admit, the reply i sent her was not one of my most structured. gramatically correct. business-like. or even vaguely serious emails. i just figured, she's an editor! she'll take this nonesense and turn it into a somewhat coherent string of prose. something people will actually understand when they read it. if it even makes it into the magazine.

well, i was wrong. my more-than-somewhat-flippant email essentially appears, in full, in the next issue of the magazine. with an awesome picture of current great lakes barista champion mike phillips taken at last years event.
photo credit; brian fuckin' hayes.

note to self: maybe, just maybe, don't always be such a sarcastic barstard...it might come back and bite you in the ass.

p.s a certain someone....ryan....has been giving me shit for not including this in the original post. the barista jam in question will be happening at roast coffee co. check them out here.

records.coffee.cigarettes

2009-02-05T13:24:00.002-06:00

right now i'm trying to enjoy the simple things in life. far too often i find myself getting caught up in 'the future' and projecting about what i want to, or think should happen. when i do this i inevetably find myself feeling out of sorts. frustrated because things aren't going how they 'should', obsessing about things i realistically have absolutely no control over. just generally not feeling good about my life.
so, as i said, i'm trying to enjoy the simple things in life. the things that i can always count on to make me feel content. satisfied with my lot in life.

music. specifically punk. even more specifically, listening to old punk rock vinyl. i don't know why, but there is something about listening to vinyl, as opposed to cd's. part of it, i'm sure, is the romanticized idea that now exists about actually listening to a record, and part, i think, is that vinyl is how most of the albums i listen to regularly were originally heard. minor threat. 7 seconds. black flag. circle jerks. the clash. elvis costello. all were pressed to vinyl originally. before 8-tracks. before cassettes. before cd's.
vinyl has a soul that none of the other formats do. thats my theory anyway, and i'm sticking to it.

coffee. also makes me happy. it feeds my soul. my imagination. my conscience.
today i have two coffee's that i've been meaning to write about; two east african coffee's from johnson brothers, in madison, and from stumptown, in portland.

johnson brothers
organic ethiopian yirgacheffe adado natural processed
the most noticeable things is the crisp clean brightness throughout the cup. there are plenty of lemon and floral tones, with some dark bakers chocolate and caramel stuff going on in the back and in the finish.

stumptown
kenya gaturiri reserve
the thing i love about this coffee is that it makes me think of a christmas pudding, something that i loved as a kid. and still love, although its difficult to find it now. lots of dark dried fruit flavors. raspberries. blackberries. plums. with a super heavy body. stumptown describe it as a stout body, which is perfect, because i've always used guiness in xmas pudds.

now its time to go digging through some crates and buy some new old records

the day off

2009-01-22T13:06:00.002-06:00

i've been somewhat neglectful of my blog recently, so today, my day off, i'm forcing myself to write. anything. something.
the only problem is i can't think of anything to say. life has been somewhat dull recently. kinda like the weather. there hasn't been a whole lot going on recently. my good friend scott was in town to play a show a week or so ago, but writing about us hanging out, drinking coffee, catching up and talking shit would make for some boring reading. although i'm convinced nobody actually reads this stuff. we did kinda get lost walking around the scary basement of the rave, a venue here in mke, which was fun. although the we didn't get to see the pool. darn. thwarted again.

we now have a new president, which is fun. i say we, but its really you, seeing as i couldn't vote. but hey, well done you, for electing someone who at least has a few brain cells to rub together.

i love having the occasional thursday off, because i get to listen to the early morning punk show on wmse while i drink my morning coffee....a natural dry yellow bourbon from cachoeira da grama in brasil. as always i brew on my chemex at home.
raw hazelnuts upfront with overwhelming milk chocolate notes throughout and a dry bakers chocolate gives a pleasant finish. a crisp, juicy apple brightness throughout makes it super easy to drink. then a cigarette and i'm good to face the day.

punk rock to some deep dub reggae. i love wmse. the track cosmo is playing right now is tight. i can't help but nod my head. jah rastafari

mr president

2009-01-21T13:56:00.003-06:00

dear president obama,
you don't know me and i don't know you. i'm happy you made it into office, for a second i thought the dreaded they would get to you before you actually got to sit behind that desk. i certainly don't envy the task you have in front of you. if i may, i'd like to offer some completely unsolicited advice. in the imortal words of albert finney:

don't let the bastards grind you down

cupping notes 12.13.08

2008-12-13T17:35:00.005-06:00

ethiopian sidamo gerbichu lela
kenya aa tembo
guatemala huehuetenago rio azul

all three of these coffee's had a single days rest out of the roaster. the ethiopia i've had before, and loved it, but this time steve's changed the roast profile a little so i'm interested to see how it effects the results in the cup. both the kenya and the guatemala are new to the store, so i'm excited to see what they're all about.

i'll look at the newcomers first;

guatemala huehuetenago rio azul
the best way i can describe the dry aroma is by saying it's savory. there's very little sweetness and no noticeable fruit notes. it kinda reminds me of one of those little cubes you use to make soup or stock. a non-descript savory smell.
great mouth feel, super smooth and creamy with a dry finish. milk chocolate upfront and dark bakers chocolate in the back. there's also a slight smokiness in the cup. some raw nuts and a little reminiscent of spice.

kenya aa tembo
i'm not a huge fan of kenyan coffees, and the tembo seemed to be the perfect example of why i don't care for them too much. initially it seemed pretty one dimensional, lots of dry tobacco and dark chocolate. i'd kinda resigned myself to finding nothing new or interesting in it, but as it cools, the tembo completely changes its character. lots of dried plum and some fermented grapes, not sweet but more winey. and there's an interesting brightness in the finish.

now its time for my current favorite, lets just hope steve didn't screw it all up with the profile change....
ethiopia sidamo gerbichu lela
a plethora of red fruit, cherries and citrus fruit in the aroma. i'm not sure how this is possible, but its sweeter than the last time we cupped this....steve, you're certainly earning your money....
the fragrance had the same sweet and citrus, with a slight hits of organic material and mucilage, signs of the dry processing.
great body and mouth feel with super sweet red fruit and cherries. the citrus acidity is definitely lime, its a pleasant brightness not an aggressively lemon brightness. the finish is drier with a rich chocolate.

and yes, it's still my current favorite. so so good

milwaukee, how you hurt me so

2008-12-10T00:58:00.002-06:00

when i was young, i was kind of a shy kid. well actually, if i'm honest, i was incredibly shy. painfully so. you see, i have an identical twin brother (yes yes i know, a twin. isn't that weird. please no "what's it like to be a twin" comments. it'd be like me asking you "what's it like to not have a twin". it's normal), and we were both as shy as each other. we were antisocial. not in a pre-teen angst, fucking shit up kinda way, but in an isolated kinda way. we created our own little world. one that didn't really include outsiders. other people. anyone in fact. it was the two of us and that was fine.
well, it was fine until we needed to interact with the outside world. a fairly common thing, so obviously it came up a lot. and this is where the problems started. problems that i'm still working through today. remember your time at school? you were 4 or 5 or 6 or whatever, and you'd come home and tell mummy and daddy that you'd made a new friend at school? yeah, you do? well not me. i never learned how to make friends as a kid. crazy as it sounds i just didn't. i had my best friend in the whole world, my brother, my twin. why did i need to make other friends? they don't know me like bradley, they don't understand me. fuck 'em. i've got my brother and that's all i need.

needless to say, this attitude meant that bradley and i spent a lot of time alone. at home. mainly playing video games and getting fat.
and alas, a vicious cycle begins. i'm gonna stay at home because i either don't have, or don't want any other friends. i get all bent about not having friends. feels bad. do nothing about it and because i'm so socially retarded feel i can't make friends. therefore i just stay at home. fun times. this was my life aged 11-18.

around 17 years old something changed. at the time it seemed small and insignificant. but looking back it changed everything. my last year of school meant a lot more freedom with my class schedule. meaning that by 11am i was pretty much done with class. i'd head off home and put the radio on. 97-99 fm. radio 1. and there she was. jo whiley. the woman that opened the doors and pulled me through them kicking and screaming. and my life changed.

through jo whiley, and subsequently steve lemacq and john peel, my eyes were opened. these three people changed my life forever. they introduced me to music that i didn't even know existed. music that saved my life.
so much of my social and political ideology was influenced by the clash and billy bragg. by fugazi and bad brains. minor threat and mos def. jill scott and dead prez. woody guthrie and steve earle. my national identity and english pride comes from the smiths, joy division and the libertines. these are things that matter deeply to me. in times of crisis, this music was there for me. in times of need, it was there. in times of joy, it was there. jo, steve and john introduced me to new and old. mainstream and underground. the typical and the truly bizarre. they fed, and continue to feed my soul.

milwaukee, wisconsin. land of cheese and beer. the place in which i find myself right now. milwaukee and i have had a difficult relationship. love and hate. joy and despair. gratitude and frustration. one thing that has always struck me about this city is that the people from here, are proud to be from here. they are proud to be from milwaukee. its not glamorous, its not metropolitan, its not a big city. its a blue collar town and they're proud of it. and because of this, i think, milwaukee has an awesome tradition of supporting local business. if its made or grown or brewed in milwaukee. the people support it. big time. almost to a creepy uber-proud way. local independent business thrived here.
at least thats what i thought. notice the past tense in the previous sentence, "thrived".
it seems as though milwaukee has turned its back on its own. brew-city has said "fuck you!" to the indie, in favor of mass market corporations.
i found out last week, as did most of the city, that one such indie, a milwaukee institution of 20yrs, atomic records is to close in february of 2009. people here obviously seem content to buy generic, safe, middle-of-the-road top 40 hits at best buy and wal-mart. or simply steal the music from some random internet site or news group. milwaukee has turned its back on independent music.

another milwaukee institution is under threat. wmse. 91.7fm. true independent radio. the station is completely funded by its listeners. no corporate backers, no private ownership with deep pockets, no government assistance. for the people by the people. twice a year they hold a membership drive. a fund raiser to gather the operating budget for the next 6 months. $125,000. compared to other stations their budget is minuscule. the majority of the dj's and staff are volunteers. no playlists. no commercials. no hidden agenda. just music. good music. music that you won't hear anywhere else.
since moving to milwaukee this station has taken the place of jo whiley and steve lemacq. the music i hear everyday intrigues me, baffles me, confuses me, fills me with hope....it feeds my soul.

this past membership drive wmse fell short of their $125,000 goal. the people of milwaukee, again seem to have turned their backs on their own. they have forsaken them.
its for this reason that 91.7 is holding a 12hr pledge-drive marathon. this friday, december 12th. from 6am til 6pm. to try and make up the last $12,000 of their budget.

please help. don't allow this institution to fall by the way side. without your help there is no station. without your help 91.7fm will be nothing but static. dead air.
wmse.org 414.799.1917

don't let the music die

john peel
RIP

the new york report

2008-12-01T11:21:00.015-06:00

so, here it is. the highly anticipated blog about my very brief thanksgiving trip to nyc.
wednesday nov 26th 3pm
kai and i leave milwaukee on amtrak headed for chicago. this is the first leg of a mammoth 24hr journey to new york city. 90mins of very uneventful travel and we arrive in the windy city. union station. with 2 and a half hrs to kill we eat some disappointing pseudo-mexican food and chain smoke, because washington dc is 18hrs away and there's probably gonna be very few smoke breaks.
its 6:30pm and they just announced that our train is boarding, and the somewhat peaceful waiting room has just been turned into an everyman-for-himself rumble to get onto the train. strollers are knocked over. babies are trampled underfoot. the elderly are left to fend for themselves whilst clutching bags so large three porters would struggle to life them...get the idea?

chicago to washington, dc.
this was one hell of a journey. 18hrs on a train. sleeping whilst sitting upright. trying not to fall over when walking down the aisle because the train is rocking so much. not exactly pleasant, but it was bearable.

any longer and i think i'd have gone insane. but we did it. and the view from the train was absolutely stunning. pennsylvania is absolutely beautiful.

this picture really doesn't do it justice, but its from a moving train, cut me some slack!

thursday nov 27th 1:30pm
washington dc. union station. wait a second....union station to union station, did we just go in an 18hr circle? washington, dc itself (well whats around the station,
anyway) is really cool.

the ride from washington to new york was fairly uneventful. only 3hrs. no biggie after the 18hr marathon we just endured. however this did keep me entertained all the way from philly into nyc

thursday nov 27th 7pm. new york city.
by rights i should be absolutely exhausted. 24hrs of travelling. sleeping upright in a chair. no shower. but i'm not. i feel great. there's something about this city. a buzz. an energy. i can't get enough of it. this was my second visit to nyc and i fell in love all over again. the city just reminds me of home. london. people. lots of people. everywhere. there's stuff going on all the time. its absolutely amazing.

after a short subway ride we dump our bags at our friend brian's place, he's also our gracious host for the next 36hrs, and head out for some thanksgiving dinner.
after trying a couple of brian's favorite spots, and finding them all closed, we settle on a traditional thanksgiving meal of sushi. kosher sushi at that.
good food. good conversation. good company. what else in the world could be better?

friday nov 28th
after a late night, its an early start. lots to see and do and very little time to do it all. after a huge breakfast at an upper westside diner we jump on the subway and head for canal st. chinatown. super fun, if a little intense. right out of the subway station there are people trying to sell you every imaginable item under the sun. some of which i question the authenticity. louis viton bags for $40. are they really that cheap now, who knew?
the side streets were a little more managable. less crowded. less noisy. easier to navigate.
new experience #1.... bubble tea. its kinda like frogspawn at the bottom of a cup of iced tea. weird.
we find a small city park and decide to chill there for a while and wait for another friend to join us. rp, a native of queens. if there is a stereotypical new yorker its rp. he's awesome. we chill in colombus park for a while waiting. watching.

chinese guys gambling at tables. doing thai chi. leaving grandma bundled up in a wheelchair while going off to do something else. whatever it was, it must have taken a while because she was still there, all bundled in blankets when we left.

coffee. we need coffee. just so happens that i know of a great little hole-in-the-wall coffee joint. up-state new york and williamsburg favorites, gimme! coffee recently opened a store on manhattan. mott st. in soho. a short walk from chinatown.
the new gimme! spot is great. standing room only, not because all the seats are taken but because there are no seats. no tables. nothing. get in...get your coffee...get out.

after a killer espresso and a super sweet capp we head north through soho. just walking around the street of new york is so much fun. loud. obnoxious. dirty. just like home.
new experience #2... a real new york hot dog. so bad but so good.

more walking. soho. west village. chelsea. west to the hudson river and a glance at new jersey and the statue of liberty. south through the meat packing district. the food network studio and then into a cab. john's on bleecker.
truly the best pizza in new york. its absolutely awesome. some more coffee at a little bakery down the street from john's. and then pedicures for everyone... brian is one of the funniest people i know. he had us in fits of laughter the entire time.

as everyone was having fun with their feet i left to see a friend who'd just moved to new york for work. we talked all things coffee and all things new york. i reconnected with the gang in union square and decided, rather than freezing our asses off on the staten island ferry, we'd go up the empire state building to get a view of the city at night. touristy, i know. but it was amazing. in a city so manic. so fast paced. so bustling. so loud. its amazing how calm and serene the city looks from up there.

enough. can't stand the tourist trap anymore. get out get out. easier said than done. 86 floors up. 2 elevators. 2 gift shops. some abusive photographers trying to sell us a terrible picture of ourselves. and we're out. a brisk walk through time square. well as brisk as possible, with a seething throng of people all seemingly walking in the other direction. and food again. thai food. again really good. and then back to brian's place to pass out. 14hrs on the go and sleep is shouting my name louder than the honk of the cab drivers horns.

saturday nov 29th
another early start. our train leaves at 11:05 from penn station. breakfast at another upper westside diner. chalah toast. mmmmm good. then its back to brian's to grab our bags and catch a cab to the station. then its a nice relaxing 22hr train ride home.....

more info on new york city

2008-11-20T15:44:00.003-06:00

so. new york, new york. the town so good they named it twice.
kai and i are gonna be there for thanksgiving. only just.
we're riding the train out there. which pretty much means we are gonna spend more time on the train than we are actually in new york. roughly 48hrs on the train and 36hrs in the city.
seems kinda weird, right? well actually, no. not really. the train ride is part of the adventure.
now i'm not sure if the average american reader will really understand this but, for a european, that would be me, riding the train is a very ordinary thing. its an easy way of travelling. especially in the uk. there are train stations everywhere. and i do mean everywhere. from big cities to little towns to a collection of two houses and a barn which calls itself a village. there are stations everywhere.
so its super easy and convenient. here on the other hand, it seems to be the exact opposite. unless you're on the east coast, tell someone you're gonna ride the train and they look at you like you've got three heads.

maybe its some weird sentimental thing, reminding me of my childhood. maybe its another americana, wild west type thing i just need to get out of my system. who knows. who cares. i'm looking forward to the train ride as much as i am the time in new york. care free travel. the potential to meet some strange friends on the train, or at the stations during smoke breaks. and then new york at the end of it all. exciting exciting exciting.

good coffee. good food. good people watching.

who's flynn?

2008-11-14T16:20:00.020-06:00

so, during an IM conversation today i heard, or more accurately read the expression 'in like flynn', baffled and confused by this i pushed for an explanation. and more specifically, who the fuck is this flynn person?
unable to get any sort of reasonable answer from kai, i took matters into my own hands.

so, who is flynn?

“What is the derivation of in like Flynn?”

Reference books almost universally assert that this set phrase, an American expression meaning to be successful emphatically or quickly, especially in regard to sexual seduction, refers to the Australian-born actor Errol Flynn. His drinking, drug-taking and sexual exploits were renowned, even for Hollywood, but the phrase is said to have been coined following his acquittal in February 1943 for the statutory rape of a teenage girl. This seems to be supported by the date of the first example recorded, in American Speech in December 1946, which cited a 1945 use in the sense of something being done easily.

nyc

2008-11-13T17:29:00.010-06:00

having no actual family in milwaukee i've decided to ride the train out to new york for thanksgiving. lots of time on the train. very little time actually in the city. but, as my grandmother always says; fuck it. we'll have fun.

expect more updates on nyc soon. or don't, and then you won't be disappointed when i can't be bothered to post anything.

crazy japanesse stuff

2008-11-13T15:59:00.028-06:00

has anyone used a siphon brewer? or a vacpot?
anyone have any idea what they are? no, well allow me to enlighten you dear reader.
they're a style of coffee brewer found predominantly in japan and asia. and they turn your local neighborhood coffee shop into a chemistry lab.

the idea behind it is super simple. water starts in the bottom. heat is added, in our case a pathetic little burner with denatured alcohol (what is denatured alcohol, anyway? surely the nature of alcohol is to be alcoholic. to denature it implies taking the alcohol out. but then its just water, and that doesn't burn? hmmmm....i'm confusing myself)....

the water boils and rises into another container filled with coffee grounds...

the grounds are allowed to steep for a set amount of time in the upper container. the liquid stays up there because the heat from the burner creates a vacuum....

then the burner is removed. this breaks the vacuum and allows gravity to pull the coffee through a cloth filter and back into the lower container.
coffee chemistry 1.01 simple.

now, how does it taste?
james freemon, owner of blue bottle cafe. who has a dedicated siphon bar in his store says: “Siphon coffee is very delicate,” he said. “It’s sweeter and juicier, and the flavors change as the temperature changes. Sometimes it has a texture so light it’s almost moussey.”

so did we achieve anything close to that? kinda, yeah!

FTO Ethiopian Natural Sidamo Suanta Golba, from Zephyr Green Coffee Importers.

the dry fragrance was super super sweet. loads of red fruit. ripe cherry and red grapes. the aroma was completely different. nothing but earl grey. seriously. it was like smelling a cup of tea. floral notes, bergamot and tannin.

on the first few sips there was lots of mucilage. the remnant of the coffee cherry that remains on the bean because of the way it was processed. it can taste fibrous, vegetative and kinda fermented.
after getting past the taste of the process the sidamo really came to life. clean, with a ton of red berries. under ripe sweet cherries. sweet but not super sickly sweet.
an awesome balanced body and acidity. sweet and orange citrus. the finish was smooth and clean, with the bergamot coming back and adding a nice floral end.

this post is so late its almost comical

2008-11-13T15:43:00.006-06:00

halloween spent with minor threat and the misfits aka get rad and children in heat

friday october 31st. all hallows eve. halloween.
what to do....what to do?
dressing up in costume? not likely. its never really been something i've done. not as a kid and not now. i've just never been comfortable doing it. and, as anyone who knows me will attest, i'm not fun to be around when i'm not comfortable in what i'm wearing. i don't really know why? self image issues? low self-esteem? taking myself too seriously? all of the above? i really have no idea.

so, weeks ago i was told about an awesome gig coming up at the cactus club. a night full of punk and hardcore cover bands, on halloween. could it get any better?

friday night rolls around and i have a house party to attend and the show at the cactus club to get to.
the third annual ghoulie gala at ben and lora's was fun. ridiculously over the top, with a cemetery in the back yard, decorations all over the house, cookies shaped like fingers and a dog dressed as sherlock holmes. and costumes, my word were there costumes. jack the ripper and one of his victims, john and yoko, charlie chaplin/hitler....i wasn't quite sure which?
the fun and booze flowed freely, and as people began to show the effects of the latter i took that as my cue to leave and head to the gig.

the halloween bash at the cactus club was an interesting affair. i got to the club around 11pm and i'm sure it was already over capacity. the bar was packed, i know its always difficult to navigate through the bar when there's a show in the back room because the place is so narrow, but this was seriously full. arseholes to elbows. getting into the back room was no problem, $8 and go right on through. enjoy the carnage.
the back room was even worse. kinda dangerously full. i'm sure if there was a fire we'd all be crispy.
get rad, aka minor threat, were just about to start. unable to move any further i watched from the very back, getting hit by the door everytime someone entered the mayhem or took a breather at the bar.
first song and the room explodes. guilty of being white. almost the entire room is engulfed in a circle pit, bodies are flying everywhere. stage dives. crowd surfing. people hanging from the ceiling rafters. and thats pretty much how the entire set went. utterly wonderful chaos.

i guess i can take this opportunity to say that my assumption about the type of kids who go to the cactus club was completely wrong. i assumed that everyone would be far too cool to dress up. my oh my was i wrong. zombies. gnomes. lance armstrong. motorcycle crash victims and many more.

children in heat, aka the misfits.... well i don't really have too much to say about the misfits. i was still sick, and coughing so badly i almost puked. i went home.

day 2 at wmse

2008-11-11T21:29:00.012-06:00

so today was the second day of my volunteer work at wmse. i know yesterday's post was kinda brief, but i was actually in the studio while i was posting....should give you an idea of how slow the pledge drive has been, and how desperately the station needs your cash money.
helping out down at the station has been something i've wanted to do for a long time. i've known tom, the station manager since i arrived in milwaukee almost 3 years ago, and i've never actually followed through and done it until now. it felt really good to know that i was doing more than just giving money. there are other ways to help out.

fun was had by all. some money was raised. and i actually got on the air. scary!
i've recorded some promo spots for the station in the past, and i'll continue to do them for as long as they want me to. but being live on air waas a weird experience.

feeling somewhat impowered by being there and helping out, i announced to erin that if she played a song for me i'd give another $50 to the pledge drive. she totally called my bluff and told me to grab the record from the archive. whilst trying to find the right track she announced, live on air, that she was handing the mic over to me. urgh!

i don't really know what the hell i said but all seemed to go pretty well. i didn't swear. there was no dead air. and the record got played.

go check it out in the archive section of the website for tuesday november 11th here:
http://wmse.org/archive/new.php?dow=Tue&hour=120

we might have run over a little, so some of it might appear at the start of cosmo's show, right here: http://wmse.org/archive/new.php?dow=Tue&hour=150

7seconds: walk together. rock together.
enjoy.
and keep giving money to keep a milwaukee institution on the air www.wmse.org

support a milwaukee institution

2008-11-10T15:16:00.005-06:00

greetings fair reader.
i have to ask something of you.
something very close to my heart is in need of help.... wmse. a radio station in milwaukee.
91.7fm wmse is a community supported radio station. by that i mean they are completely funded by their listeners. they're a noncommercial station that relies on volunteers for everything. events, answering phones, dj's...everything.
twice a year they hold their membership drive. its a way of raising the $125,000 operating budget for the next 6months. compaired to other stations, $125,000 is nothing! other stations need 3 times that to run.

wmse is the best station in the city. seriously. volunteer dj's play what they want when they want. anything from punk to blues. hip-hop to surf guitars. roots reggae to classical. there's something for everyone.

listen online at www.wmse.org and if you like what you hear donate. please.

octane 2.0

2008-10-29T10:30:00.003-05:00

after kinda working out the atlanta transit system last night i decided to try and get back to octane one more time before leaving atlanta and heading home to the cold and grey (or more likely dreaded white) of wisconsin.
this time it was super easy. a short train ride and hop on the bus, bingo. i'm stood outside atl's best coffee bar once more.

this time it's danielle how greet me as i stumble inside. another seasoned serbc and usbc competitor.
spro... super sweet and syrupy. bakers chocolate and cream. with a pleasant acidity in the finish.

after i was through with my spro, danielle brought over a chemex of finca mauritania from el salvador.
sweet plum and dried fruit up front. syrupy body. kinda dry finish, but still with a load of plum sweetness.

octane

2008-10-28T23:49:00.003-05:00

so after spending four and a half days in the middle of nowhere, GA. i was craving some good coffee. hell, i was craving anything that wasn't folgers.

i left the family at the airport, headed home to merry ol' england, and i jumped on the marta headed for 5points.

the little sister and i on the way to the airport

subway map understood? check. checked into hotel? errr... check. know where i'm going? check. and i was off to octane.
apparently i'm not particularly good at judging distances. because what i thought would be a 20min walk ended up being closer to an hour. through some neighborhoods i wouldn't walk at night.
but non-the-less i arrive at octane. a little later than i'd have liked, but who cares. i'm here. bring on the coffee!

i have to make a confession. i actually walked past the store initially, and had to double back about a block. the exterior is absolutely not what i was expecting. the "b" in the address made me think it'd be a basement dive-bar type deal, which would have been just fine by me. but no.... turns out its the joint corner unit of a strip-mall type deal. the interior is super dark with a long red brick exterior wall. there are separate stations on the bar, one dedicated to espresso and one to beer and wine. ben is the barista on tonight, he's stood in front of the three group lm linea as i walk in. he also happens to be the SE chapter rep for the bga, a seasoned usbc competitor, and a really nice guy.

the first order of business is my introduction to counter culture's espresso. served in a classic, plain white nuova point demitasse, i was excited. kinda peppery in the aroma and the initial taste, followed up with bittersweet bakers chocolate. so so good.
next up was a cappuccino. this time served in sweet black ceramic. i've gotta say i was kinda surprised. it was super wet, honestly more like a 5oz latte than a cap. and it was a little hot.... but looking past those things it as still super sweet and creamy, with a load of espresso flavor coming through. counter cultures' spro really cuts through milk!

goodbyes were said. coffee was purchased, to prolong the geeking out at home. and that was it. octane is a truly awesome coffee bar, and thoroughly deserves the reputation they've achieved recently.

back to milwaukee tomorrow. back to my bar. back to the cold. grrrrr

the joy of airline travel?

2008-10-28T21:03:00.002-05:00

you know what i hate the most about airline travel? the packing in of people like cattle, giving us only enough room to sway our heads, in true bovine style? the crappy microwaved food most likely impregnated with some sort of pathogen? the guy in front who has his seat reclined all the way back from take off to landing, who therefore has the top of his inevitably bald head in my face the entire journey? these would all be good guesses but alas, they'd all be wrong. for me, the worst thing about airline travel is the coffee at the airport.

yesterday i was forced to stoop this low. now i know that the coffee industry owes ☆$'s a huge debt. but the coffee is just bad. cafe verona, thick syrupy body with a load of burnt hazelnut and not very much else.

so after being legally violated going through security, i arrive at my gate expecting to be boarding anytime soon, only to be told that the flight has been delayed, for apparently absolutely no discernible reason. another luxury of air travel, being treated like an idiot by patronising flight attendants. the flight itself wasn't too bad. nothing amazing, nothing terrible. just ok.
upon arrival in atlanta i'm greeted by family i haven't seen for too long. some almost three years and some even longer. suddenly all the airport nonsense seems unimportant. this is why i came down here to spend some much needed time with family.

two days of sickly cupping

2008-10-23T20:49:00.000-05:00

i must preface this by saying i was, and unfortunately still am, sick. my head is full of enough mucus to sink the proverbial "ship" and my muscles ache to the extent that i question what i've been doing in my sleep.
so, you get the idea. the pallet isn't what it could be. that being said, i was the one pushing for regular cuppings at the store so i felt compelled to take part, flu-shaped handicap and all.

tuesday oct 21st.
why do i feel the need to preface everything i say with some feeble excuse or explanation for my shortcomings...?
i showed up at the cupping after he crusts were broken and after the samples had cooled somewhat, so my notes weren't as comprehensive as i'd have liked. but what is a boy to do? my bar shift finished at 11, and steve and matt (somewhat excitable roaster and super-chill owner, respectively) started the proceedings at 1045.
on the table was a new mexican chiapas onix, a guatemalan, a bolivian (again my half-assed notes let me down... and all this sickness prevents me from remembering the specifics for the guat and bolivian, sorry) and a new sample of an ethiopia harrar from the wonderful boys at atlas.

guatemala: a good medium-heavy body with super dark bakers chocolate throughout with a surprising subtle acidity. not much to speak of, but a little snap on the sides of the tongue. the finish was kinda dry, which combined with the snappy acidy in a strange, and not necessarily pleasant way.

bolivia: a mouthful of chocolate and hazelnuts, some dry tobacco with a pleasant clean finish.

mexican chiapas onix: hmmmm.... my notes really let me down here;
"good chiapas" and "boring" were the extent of them.

ethiopia harrar: now this was the stand out on the table. a superb cup and everything i was hoping for from the birthplace of all of this nonsense. great body, not too thin, not too thick and heavy. super sweet with buckets of blueberry and sweet cherry notes, with a clean lime acidity in the finish.

...........

on my way home i stopped into alterra to see superstar barista sL, and after shooting some shit and a killer single shot (pulled kinda short with some "oh so sweet" cherries in the finish) i was presented with the remainder of an, obviously much enjoyed, ethiopia sedoma from batdorf&bronson.

...........

wednesday oct 22nd.
cupping the sedoma from b&b was equal parts wonderful and frustrating. wonderful because its awesome, and frustrating because of my mucus-filled head and the coffee was obviously not super fresh.

i couldn't tell you what the dry fragrance was. seriously. i got nothin'. damn snot-filled head. but the wet aroma was full of bergamot and lemongrass. the body was evident from before the beans were even ground, roasted of the lighter side with a really drinkable body. a pleasant snappy citric acidity with loads of bergamot, cocoa and bakers chocolate in the finish. as it cooled a nice berry sweetness came through the cup.

the first blog proper

2008-10-20T19:28:00.000-05:00

i've been stuck in milwaukee, wisconsin for far too long. and by that i don't mean i've been actively trying to leave for any considerable period of time. i simply mean that i haven't actually left the city for more than a day in almost a year. its certainly time to get the fuck out for a while.
destination? atlanta, georgia. ATL or the diiiirty south, whichever you prefer.
why atlanta? to see the family. oh my, its been too long. i moved to this drunken suburb of chicago almost 3 yrs. and i haven't really seen much of my family since. mum. nana. uncle. aunt. 2 cousins. have all converged in ted turners city and now seems like a good time to see alot of people in a short space of time. not to mention, its about a third of the cost of transatlantic air travel. although, my o my, i really do miss england.

so. atlanta here i come. and just an added note, whilst i'm down in the south, it'd be terribly rude of me if i didn't stop in @ octane and say hello. they've been throwing down in the south-east region and nationally for a while now, and i want to see what its all about.....more about this in time *promise*

the first blog post

2008-10-20T19:26:00.000-05:00

i guess i should start with some sort of introduction....
there is nothing tangible about albion espresso bar. it doesn't actually exist, yet. albion is the coffee house that i dream of opening. some day, possibly in the future, probably not in the past, it'll be open and i'll be able to chronical my freak-outs and verbose meanderings about being a coffeeshop owner into the ether. but for now, this is my space to collect idea's and inspirations. share experiences. express thought. and hopefully learn more than a few things.