Memorial Day at DoubleShot was pretty exciting. A mostly-local team of filmmakers used our store as a set for a movie that they are hoping to take to the Sundance Film Festival. Writer and director Sterlin Harjo brought his crew down Monday afternoon to film a few shots for his movie, "Four Sheets to the Wind." It's a movie by and about Native Americans, so that's pretty cool. The film was chosen for and developed in the Sundance Labs, which I guess is a pretty big deal. Everyone was very nice and courteous and the place was full of fake customers. My friend Chad Burris and my new friend Ted Kroeber are producers of the movie and I am the one making all the "ambient noise." And when it comes to coffeeshop scenes, the real star is the guy pulling shots and steaming milk, right?
It was actually really cool to watch. I've never seen anything like it before. I'm curious. I thought it was really funny to watch them put up all the lights and sound equipment, make everything just right, roll the cameras and sound, have the girl do the snapper thingy, have the director call action and then watch a guy take two steps forward and say, "Miri, I need to talk to you." Over and over and over again. Ha. I got to teach Miri (Tamara) the basics of how to make espresso (or at least look like it). She is cute and nice and I think we could've spent some more time hitting the knock box... or whatever.
So from what I hear, the movie should be at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City Utah in January 2007 (Good Lord willin and the crik don't rise). The movie may also get some play on the Sundance Channel on TV. Hopefully they won't cut out the numerous places that my logo appears in our scene!
Good luck guys!

Ok, really it was yesterday. Not a bad day. Slept in, had coffee, rode my bike, drank too much beer. That last part wasn't too fun, but everything else was fine, relaxing, enjoyable. The picture is really from Josh's birthday last Monday. I got him a birthday chicken™. We wore birthday hats and ate birthday chicken™ and some of Andrea's graduation cupcakes.
On my birthday this year, there seemed to be a lot of thinking about what's missing. Who isn't around. Where I'm not. The goals I haven't reached. All I can say is, I'm trying.
My motto for this year is, "You haven't actually done anything until you get caught." Or maybe it's "If you don't crash, you're not going fast enough." Or possibly, "Fallacy is the best policy." Nah, I'll probably just make it up as I go.
As for my goals. Well, coffee is going to explode at DoubleShot this year. I am going to get better and better at roasting each bean, and I hope to bring in some outstanding, very unique coffees and roast them in my own special way to produce tastes that rarely are found on the planet. I also hope to take back some of my personal time. I need time to exercise and to sit on my porch with a beer and a book. I need to stop and smell the flowers, because tomorrow the flowers may not be there. And I want to be free.
Those are my goals. Stay tuned.
Brian

Now I've gone and done it! DoubleShot Coffee Company is the proud owner of the first coffee widget. If you don't know what widgets are, you should find out. They are awesome. Our widget is for ordering coffee. All you have to do is download the widget, pull up Dashboard, fill in your shipping and billing info on the back of the widget, choose a coffee from the drop-down menu, and click the "Order" button. Your coffee will magically appear on your doorstep. Easy as pie and coffee.
Check it out. I think it's awesome. Even if I did design it myself. :)
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/food/coffeeorderwidget.html
Do a search on apple's website for DoubleShot or Coffee widget and it will pop up. If you are on a pc... well, you suck. But I guess we're working on a conversion to Konfabulator. So stay tuned.

So a funny thing happened today. I talked one of my baristas into going for a ride with me. We rode our mountain bikes on the roads- maybe 25 miles, hilly. And at some point, I dropped back to talk to my friend, my barista, my co-cyclist. He said that he was learning a lot about shifting gears on the ride- because of the constant changes in grade.

It's like changing the grind when pulling shots of espresso.

Man, does this thing feel circular...

This weekend, I drove to St. Louis for a dear friend of mine's wedding. It was beautiful. Everything was so well put together and sincerely, lovingly composed; I was truly affected.
A few things occurred to me.
First, the coffee at the Hyatt in Union Station is terrible. The meal and dessert were so spectacular that it justified real coffee. I even thought about putting sugar in it, but only consumed a few sips. The day-old, cold Ethiopia Harrar I brought with me was amazing compared to the swill served in the Grand Hall of the reception.
Second, I don't dance. I mean, when it comes to dancing, I'm retarded. I can't. I'm not sure why that is so hard for people to understand. Dancing is just like everything else- some people are good at it, some people do it anyway, and some people just can't. I can't. I'm fascinated watching others do it. But when I step foot on a dance floor, I feel very uncomfortable. I don't derive any joy from it. My body just doesn't have a compulsion to move.
I can run really far. I can mountain bike like nobody's business. And I don't act astounded when someone tells me they can't mountain bike or run 100 miles. Maybe it's because I'm so obviously intrigued that people think I should be able to do it. Maybe I just need a better cover. I don't know.
On my drive home, I heard the song "I Hope You Dance" on the radio. It made me think. I don't take the path of least resistance. I climb the mountains. Daily, I am amazed at life. I take chances. I just can't dance. I wish I could.
The last thing I thought about is this. Gwendolyn and Sloan are really lucky. I watched them make a promise to one another before God. I see her loving him, and him loving her. That is rare. I hope they never let it die. I hope they hold onto it despite everything else. Love is elusive; I can't think of anything I'd rather have. Not even the ability to dance. Not even a fresh-roasted pourover of Kenya Peaberry. Well... let's not get carried away.

Ambergris Espresso Blend from DoubleShot Coffee Company.
That's what I'm talking about. I made sure to nip a little extra espresso today so I could take it all in. All of the little things, the subtle things, the things that blow up in my mouth, the texture, the smooth transition, and the sweet finish. Because today my espresso is on Ken Davids' list of the best boutique espressos in the country.
Ken Davids is a master cupper, very much respected in the industry. And many years ago, his was the first book I read about roasting coffee. In some ways, it feels like a circle has been completed. I began roasting and reading Davids' roasting book, learning and evaluating what I learned. Ken helped me discover the physical parts of coffee, how to roast and taste coffee, the geography of coffees, and eventually I bought his book about espresso. Then I REALLY started roasting coffee when I bought the Vittoria. I roasted and I cupped and I pulled shots and blended. And pulled more shots and blended some more. For two years I blended and changed things, even subtly, to account for my transient tastes or the perfect inconsistency of coffees, blends, and brewing. Right now it is as I want it to be. And Ken likes it, so I guess I'm doing ok.
www.CoffeeReview.com
Read Mr. Davids' article about Boutique espressos and the reviews of espressos rating 89 points or higher. The detailed review of DoubleShot's Ambergris Espresso Blend, scoring 91 points.
Buy some and then YOU tell me.

I haven't raced my bike in a really long time. Haven't even ridden much in the last couple years. But for some reason, yesterday I got the idea that I might go race today. And then when I woke up this morning, despite it raining ALL day yesterday, I decided to go. And I rounded up the troops very quickly.
We drove through Bartlesville to Osage Hills State Park. The race was three 6-mile loops. And it was so f'ing muddy that the third lap was pretty much un-ridable. But I suffered through it. Even though it sucked.

When I came back to the coffeeshop, one of my employees was asking me about the espresso grind. Seemed like the espresso was coming out too fast. I had a conniption fit on the inside and tried, as calmly as possible (for me), to tell the employee to change the grind constantly. Like this: changing the grind for espresso is like shifting gears on a mountain bike. Do it every time you pull a shot if you need to.
I'm roasting coffee again; and Amy is here from San Francisco watching my every move...
Still no word back from Starbucks.